10456. 'And he said, It is not the noise of the cry in victory, and it is not the noise of the cry in defeat' means heaven acting from one side and hell from the other, thus falsity acting against truth, and truth against falsity. This is clear from the meaning of 'the noise of the cry', or the noise of shouting, as the essential nature of that nation's interiors, dealt with above in 10454; from the meaning of 'neither victory nor defeat' as the indecisive nature of the conflict between falsity and evil and its failure to be resolved. And since all falsity comes from hell and truth from heaven the same words serve to mean that heaven acts from one side and hell from the other. ('Cry' means falsity, see 2240, also thought with full intention to act, 7119, and deep grief, 7782.) The words used here describe the condition of that nation's interiors when hell with them acts against heaven, and heaven acts against hell, thus when they are held between the two, as happened when with their internal closed they were engaged in an outward act of worship. Their internal was closed in order that through outward observances, which were representative of more internal things, there might be contact with heaven, a subject that has been dealt with above.

10458. 'And it happened, as he came near the camp' means near to hell, in which that nation was then. This is clear from the meaning of 'the camp of the children of Israel' as heaven and the Church, dealt with in 4236, 10038, so that when they engaged in idolatrous worship, venerating the calf instead of Jehovah, their camp means hell. For what is representative of heaven and the Church is turned into that which is representative of hell when the people turned from the worship of God to worship of the devil, which worship of the calf was. 'The camp' has a similar meaning in Amos,

I have sent the pestilence upon you in the way of Egypt, I have killed your young men with the sword, along with your captured horses ¹ , to such an extent that I have caused the stench of your camp to come up also into your nose. Amos 4:10.

This refers to the vastation of truth; and when truth has been laid waste 'the camp' means hell. The fact that it refers to the vastation of truth is evident from the specific details of the verse when looked at in the internal sense. 'The pestilence' means vastation, 7102, 7505; 'the way' means truth, and in the contrary sense falsity, 10422; 'Egypt' that which is external, and also hell, see in the places referred to in 10437; 'the sword' falsity engaged in conflict against truths, 2799, 4499, 6353, 7102, 8294; 'young men' the Church's truths, 7668; 'being killed' being destroyed spiritually, 6767, 8902; 'captivity' deprivation of truth, 7990; 'horses' an enlightened power of understanding, 2760-2762, 3217, 5321, 6125, 6534; and 'stench' that which is abominable, emanating from hell, 7161. From all this it is evident that in the internal sense 'the camp' means hell. Hell is also meant in the historical narratives of the Word by the camp of enemies opposed to Jerusalem, and in general of those opposed to the children of Israel.

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