Arcana Coelestia #46
46. That 'beasts' means affections residing with man - evil affections in evil men and good affections in good men - becomes clear from many examples in the Word, as in Ezekiel,
Behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, so that you will be tilled and sown; and I will multiply upon you man and beast, and they will be multiplied and be fruitful, and I will resettle you 1 to be as in your ancient times. Ezekiel 36:9-11.
This refers to regeneration. In Joel,
Fear not, you beasts of My field, for the dwelling-places of the wilderness have been made green. Joel 2:22.
In David,
I was stupid, a beast 2 was I with God. Psalms 73:12.
In Jeremiah,
Behold, the days are coming when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast, and I will watch over them to build and to plant. Jeremiah 31:27-28.
This refers to regeneration.
[2] 'Wild animals' (fera) has a similar meaning, as in Hosea,
I will make for them a covenant on that day, with the wild animals of the field, and with the birds of the air, 3 and with the creeping things of the earth. Hosea 2:18.
In Job,
You will not fear the wild animals of the earth, for your covenant will be with the stones of the field, and the wild beasts of the field will be at peace with you. Job 5:22-23.
In Ezekiel,
I will make with them 4 a covenant of peace, and I will banish the evil wild animal from the land, so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness. Ezekiel 34:25.
In Isaiah,
The wild animals of the field will honour me, for I have given water in the desert. Isaiah 43:20.
In Ezekiel,
In its branches all the birds of the air 3 made their nests and under its branches every wild animal of the field gave birth, and in its shadow dwelt all great nations. Ezekiel 31:6.
This refers to Assyria, which means the spiritual man and is compared to the Garden of Eden. In David,
Praise Jehovah, all his angels, praise Him from the earth, sea monsters, fruit trees, wild animals, and all beasts, creeping things, and flying birds! Psalms 148:2-4, 7, 9-10.
Here the list is precisely the same - sea monsters, fruit trees, wild animals, beasts, creeping things, and birds. Unless they all mean things that are alive in human beings, they cannot possibly be referred to as praising Jehovah.
[3] A careful distinction is made in the Prophets between beasts and wild animals of the earth, and between beasts and wild animals of the field. The practice of calling goods 'beasts' extends to calling people in heaven who are nearest to the Lord 'living creatures', both in Ezekiel and in John,
All the angels stood around the throne, and the elders, and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God. 5 Revelation 7:11; 19:4.
The expression 'creatures' is also used of people who are to have the gospel preached to them because they are to be created anew, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Mark 16:15.
Footnotes:
1. literally, I will cause you to inhabit
2. literally, beasts
3. literally, bird of the heavens (or the skies)
4. The Latin means with you; but the Hebrew means with them which Swedenborg has in other places where he quotes this verse.
5. The Latin means the Lamb; but the Greek means God which Swedenborg has in other places where he quotes this verse.
Arcana Coelestia #7780
7780. 'Even to the firstborn of the servant-girl who is behind the mill' means falsified truths of faith that occupy the very last place. This is clear from the meaning of 'the firstborn' as faith, dealt with immediately above in 7779, and since faith is meant, so is truth in its entirety because truth, being that which one ought to believe, is the component of faith; and from the meaning of 'a servant-girl' as a rather external affection for truth, or an affection for knowledge, dealt with in 1895, 2567, 3835, 3849, and 'the servant-girl behind the mill' as the most external affection for knowledge since 'behind the mill' means that which occupies the very last place. The expression 'behind the mill' is used because 'the mill' has reference to matters of faith. For by means of a mill grain is ground into flour and so prepared for making bread, and 'flour' means truth which results in good, 'bread' the actual good that results from it. Thus 'sitting at the mill' is acquiring and learning the kinds of things that will be of service to faith, and through faith of service to charity. This is why when the ancients described learning the basic elements of faith they described it as 'sitting at the mill', or learning elements even more basic as 'sitting behind the mill'. It is because such things were meant that in His teachings about the final period of the Church the Lord says,
Two women grinding at the mill; one will be taken and the other will be left behind. Matthew 24:41.
These words would never have been used if 'the mill' had not meant matters of faith. For what 'the mill' and 'grinding' mean in the internal sense, see 4335. With regard to the truths of faith that occupy the first place and those that occupy the very last, it should be recognized that the truths of faith which emanate directly from the good of charity occupy the first place, for they are the outward form taken by good, whereas the truths which occupy the last place are bare truths. For when truths derive in succession from good, each degree of them departs further away from it, till at length they become bare truths. This is the kind of truths meant by 'servant-girls behind mills'.
