8910. 'You shall not covet your neighbour's house; you shall not covet your neighbour's wife, nor his male slave nor his female slave, nor his ox nor his ass, nor anything that is your neighbour's' means that one must be on one's guard against self-love and love of the world, and so one must take care to prevent the evils contained in the preceding commandments from becoming present in the will and consequently going out of it. This is clear from the meaning of 'coveting' as a wanting that springs from an evil love. The reason why 'coveting' has this meaning is that all covetousness or craving exists as the result of some kind of love. For nothing is coveted unless there is a love of it, and therefore covetousness extends as a continuation from some kind of love, in this instance from self-love and love of the world. It is so to speak the life of what those loves breathe, for what an evil kind of love breathes is called covetousness or craving, whereas what a good kind breathes is called desire. The love itself belongs to one of two parts of the mind, which is called the will; for what a person loves, that he wills and intends. but covetousness belongs to both parts, to both the will and the understanding, that is, it is an attribute of the will within the understanding, to be precise. All this shows why it is that the words 'you shall not covet the things that are your neighbour's' mean that one must take care to prevent them from becoming present in the will, since what takes possession of the will becomes the person's own; for, to be sure, the will is the real person.

[2] The world believes that thought is the person. But there are two powers that constitute a person's life - understanding and will - and thought belongs to the understanding, the affection inherent in love being what belongs to the will. Thought without the affection inherent in love does not in any way at all constitute a person's life; but thought springing from such affection, that is, the understanding springing from the will, does constitute it. Those two powers are distinct from each other, which is evident to anyone who stops to reflect on the matter from the consideration that with his understanding a person can perceive that that thing is bad which his will desires, and that that thing is good which his will either does or does not desire. From all this it is plain that the will is the real person, not his thought, except so far as anything passes into it from the will. So it is that things which enter a person's thought but do not pass on through it into his will do not render him unclean; only those which pass through thought on into the will do so. The reason why the latter render a person unclean is that he takes them to himself then and makes them his; for the will, as has been stated, is the real person. The things which become part of his will are said to go into his heart and to go out from there, whereas those which are merely part of his thought are said to go into the mouth and to go out by way of the bowels into the sewer, according to the Lord's words in Matthew,

Not what enters the mouth renders a person unclean, but what comes out of the mouth, this renders the person unclean. Everything that goes into the mouth departs into the bowels and is cast out into the sewer. But the things which come out of the mouth come out of the heart, and these render a person unclean. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, ravishments, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. Matthew 15:11, 17-19.

[3] From these words as from all the others the nature of the Lord's manner of speaking becomes clear. That is, its nature was such that internal or spiritual matters were meant, but they were expressed by means of external or natural things and in accordance with correspondences. For the mouth corresponds to thought, and so do all parts of the mouth, such as the lips, tongue, and throat, while the heart corresponds to the affection inherent in love, and so to the will. For the correspondence of the heart to these, see 2930, 3313, 3883-3896, 7542. Consequently 'entering the mouth' is entering thought, and 'going out of the heart' is going out of the will. 'Departing into the bowels and being cast out into the sewer (or latrine)' is going away into hell; for the bowels correspond to the way to hell, while the sewer or latrine corresponds to hell itself. Hell also in the Word is called 'the latrine'. All this shows what is meant by 'everything that goes into the mouth departs into the bowels and is cast out into the sewer', namely that evil and falsity are introduced into a person's thought by hell and are discharged back there again. Such evil and falsity cannot render a person unclean because they are discharged from him. For a person cannot help thinking what is evil, but he can refrain from doing it. As soon however as he receives evil from his thought into his will it does not go out but enters into him; and this is said 'to enter the heart'. The things that go out from here are what render him unclean; for what a person desires in his will goes out into speech and action, so far as external restraints do not inhibit him, those restraints being fear of the law, and fear of the loss of reputation, position, gain, or life. From all this it is now evident that 'you shall not covet' means that one must take care to prevent evils from becoming present in the will and consequently going out of it.

[4] The fact that 'covetousness' is a craving or lusting on the part of the will, and so of the heart, is also clear from the Lord's words in Matthew,

You have heard that it was said to those of old, You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that if anyone looks at a woman ¹ so that he lusts after her he has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Matthew 5:27-28.

'Lusting for' is used here to mean desiring in the will, and - but for the fears acting as external restraints - also doing. This is why it says that one who looks at a woman so that he lusts after her has committed adultery with her in his heart.

[5] Lusting after what is evil is also meant by 'the right eye causing one to stumble', and lusting after what is false by 'the right hand causing one to stumble' in the Lord's words, again in Matthew,

If your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it away from you; for it will be better for you that one of your members perish, than that your whole body be cast into gehenna. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away from you; for it will be better for you that one of your members perish, than that your whole body be cast into gehenna. Matthew 5:29-30.

From these words the Lord's way of saying things is again clear. That is to say, He was speaking from the Divine, as in every other place in the Word, in such a way that He expressed inward and heavenly matters through outward or natural ones in accordance with correspondences. In this instance He expressed an affection for evil or lusting after it by 'the right eye causing one to stumble', and an affection for falsity or lusting after it by 'the right hand causing one to stumble'. For the eye corresponds to faith, the left eye to the truth of faith, and the right eye to the good of faith, or in the contrary sense to the evil of faith, so that 'the right eye causing one to stumble' corresponds to lusting after what is evil, 4403-4421, 4523-4534. But the hand corresponds to the power that truth possesses, the right hand to the power of truth coming from good, or in the contrary sense the power of falsity coming from evil, so that 'the right hand causing one to stumble' corresponds to a lusting after it, 3091, 4931-4937, 8281. 'Gehenna' is the hell of lusts, cravings, or covetousness. Anyone may see that here 'the right eye' was not used to mean the right eye or that it was to be plucked out; also that 'the right hand' was not used to mean the right hand or that it was to be cut off, but that something other was meant. What this is cannot be known unless one knows what is really meant by 'the eye', in particular by 'the right eye', also what is meant by 'the hand', and in particular by 'the right hand', as well as what 'causing to stumble' really means. Nor can the meaning of these expressions be known except from the internal sense.

[6] Lusts, cravings, or covetous desires are what spring from an evil will, thus from a heart that is such; and according to the Lord's words in Matthew 15:19, murders, adulteries, ravishments, thefts, false witness, blasphemies come out of the heart or will, that is, the kinds of evils contained in the preceding commandments of the Decalogue. In all this lies the reason for saying that this - 'you must not covet the things which are your neighbour's' - means that one must take care to prevent the evils contained in the ''receding commandments from becoming present in the will and consequently going out of it. The reason why 'you shall not covet the things which are your neighbour's' also means that one must be on one's guard against self-love and love of the world is that all the evils composing covetousness well up from those loves as their source, see 2045, 7178, 7255, 7366 7377, 7488, 8318, 8678.

Footnotes:

8318. 'Alarm and dread fell on them' means that they were without any hope of dominion. This is clear from the meaning of 'alarm and dread' - when the phrase applies to those ruled by self-love and therefore by falsities and evils, who are meant by 'the chiefs of Edom' and 'the powerful ones of Moab' - as being without any hope of dominion. Those ruled by the evil of self-love have a constant desire to dominate, but when terror caused by a triumphant enemy strikes them the hope of being able to dominate forsakes them.

[2] It should be recognized that evils arise from a dual origin - self-love and love of the world. People ruled by evils arising from self-love love only themselves and despise everyone else except those who make common cause with them. And if they love these they do not really love them, only themselves, because they see themselves in them. Evils arising from this origin are the worst of all; for those people not only despise all others in contrast to themselves but also heap insults on them, hate them for the slightest reason, and long for their destruction. Vengeance and cruelty accordingly become the delight of their life. People ruled by the evil of self-love are in hell at a great depth determined by the nature and amount of that love.

[3] As for those ruled by evil arising from love of the world, they too regard the neighbour as being worthless. They value him only for his wealth, and so value his wealth but not the person himself. They have the desire to own everything belonging to their neighbour; and when this desire rules them they are devoid of any charity or pity. Robbing their neighbour of his goods is the delight of their life, especially of those who are disgustingly avaricious, that is to say, of those who love gold and silver for their own sakes, not for the sake of any useful purpose served by them. Those with whom the evil of this love reigns are also in hells, but in ones not so deep as the hells which those ruled by the evil of self-love are in. In addition to these two origins of evil there is also a third, which consists in doing evil as a result of false religious principles. But this kind of evil is calculated as evil when it exists with those ruled by self-love and love of the world, but not when it exists with those governed by love towards the neighbour and to their God, since good is their end in view and the end determines the nature of all else, see 8311.

5943. 'And you will eat the fat of the land' means making the good there their own. This is clear from the meaning of 'eating' as being communicated, joined together, and made one's own, dealt with in 2187, 2343, 3168, 3517 (end), 3832, 4745; and from the meaning of 'the fat of the land' - of Egypt - as the good within the natural. The meaning of 'fat' as that which is celestial or good is clear from many places in the Word, not only the fat found in an animal's body but also fat obtained from other sources, such as butter and oil; and other products with any fat in them - such as milk, honeys, or resins - also mean good in the measure that they have it in them.

[2] 'Fat' was representative of celestial good, thus of love received from the Lord, as is clear from the burnt offerings and sacrifices in these all the fat had to be burned on the altar, thereby providing 'an odour of rest to Jehovah'; and the children of Israel were forbidden because of this to eat fat. From these regulations, as from all the rest, it may be plain to see that the observances established among the Israelites were representative of celestial and spiritual realities and thus held what was holy within them. If this had not been so there would have been no Divine purpose at all behind the requirements to sacrifice all the fat of an animal, making this 'an odour of rest to Jehovah', or behind the Prohibition that forbade the eating of fat, and also of blood. It would surely be a stupid way of thinking about the Divine if one were to believe that He could take pleasure in fat or that Jehovah should make a requirement that did not conceal something deeper. Furthermore a person would be far too earthly - and bodily-minded if he had no interest at all in knowing the real meaning of such requirements; it would be a sign that he had no desire to know anything about the Word and eternal life.

[3] Regarding 'the fat' the following is stated in Moses,

You shall take all the fat covering the entrails, and the omentum over the liver, and the fat on the kidneys; and you shall burn them on the altar. Exodus 29:13, 22.

See also Leviticus 3:4-5, 9-10, 14-15; 4:8-9, 19, 26, 31, 35; 7:3-4. They were also required to sacrifice the fat on the breast, Leviticus 7:30-31. The phrase 'an odour of rest to Jehovah' occurs in the following places,

This is the bread of Jehovah's fire-offering for an odour of rest. Leviticus 3:16. The priest shall sprinkle the blood on the altar of Jehovah, and shall offer the fat for an odour of rest to Jehovah. Leviticus 17:6.

And elsewhere,

The fat of the firstborn of an ox and of a sheep must be burned on the altar as an odour of rest to Jehovah. Numbers 18:17.

'An odour of rest' means the pleasure gained from the good of love.

[4] As regards the non-eating of fat by the children of Israel, Let all the fat be for Jehovah. Therefore this is a perpetual statute throughout your generations, in all your dwelling-places: You shall not eat any fat or any blood. Leviticus 3:16-17.

And elsewhere,

Speak to the children of Israel, saying, You shall not eat any fat, neither of ox, nor sheep, nor she-goat. Everyone who eats the fat from a beast, from one offered as a fire-offering to Jehovah, that soul eating it will be cut off from his peoples. Nor shall you eat any blood Leviticus 7:23-26.

[5] Burnt offerings and sacrifices were the main form taken by Divine worship among those people, 923, 2180. For this reason worship is meant by 'burnt offerings and sacrifices' in general, while the essential nature of worship is meant by what was offered in sacrifice and by the whole procedure followed then. 'The fat and the burning of it' meant the very Divine celestial itself, namely the good of love received from the Lord, as may also be seen in the following places:

In Isaiah,

Jacob, you have not bought Me [sweet] cane with silver, and you have not satisfied Me with the fat of your sacrifices; you have wearied Me so much with your sins. ¹ Isaiah 43:24.

'You have not bought [sweet] cane with silver' stands for, You have not acquired the truths of faith for yourself; and 'you have not satisfied Me with the fat of sacrifices' stands for, Nor [have you offered] the good of love.

[6] In David,

I will offer You burnt offerings of fat ones, with the incense of rams. Psalms 66:15.

'Burnt offerings of fat ones' stands for worship fired by love. In Moses,

When it will be said, Where are their gods, the rock in which they trusted, who ate the fat of their sacrifices, [who] drank the wine of their drink-offering? Deuteronomy 32:37-38.

This would have been said by gentiles who imagined that the gods were fed especially by such offerings. They were totally unaware of the fact that 'the fat of sacrifices' was what was celestial, or the good of love, within worship, and that 'the wine of a drink-offering' was the truth of faith derived from that good. These offerings, when they were made, stirred the affections of the angels and were therefore prescribed so that through representatives and correspondences heaven might be near to man.

[7] In David,

Jehovah will remember all your offerings, and will make your burnt offering fat. Psalms 20:3.

'Making a burnt offering fat' stands for making worship good. In Isaiah,

Jehovah Zebaoth will make for all peoples on this mountain a feast of fat things, a feast of lees, ² of fat things full of marrow, of sedimentary lees. ³ He will swallow up death for ever, and the Lord Jehovah will wipe away tears from upon all faces. Isaiah 25:6, 8.

'A feast' stands for heaven and being joined to angels there through love and charity, 3596, 3832, 5161, 'fat things' being forms of the good of love and charity. In the same prophet,

Why do you spend money on that which is not bread, and your labour on that which does not satisfy? Attend diligently to Me and eat what is good, that your soul may delight itself in fatness. Isaiah 55:2.

[8] In Jeremiah,

I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and will give them gladness instead of their sorrow. And I will fill the soul of the priests with fat, and My people will be satisfied with My goodness. Jeremiah 31:13-14.

'Fat' plainly stands for what is good, for it is said that 'the soul will be satisfied' with it and it is referred to as 'Jehovah's goodness', meaning nothing else than what is celestial, which is received from Him. In David,

My soul will be satisfied as with fatness and fat, and my mouth will praise You with joyful lips. ⁴ Psalms 63:5.

Here the meaning is similar. In the same author,

You have crowned the year of Your goodness, and Your tracks drip with fatness. Psalms 65:11

In the same author,

The sons of man put their trust in the shadow of Your wings. They will be filled with the fat of Your house, and You give them drink from the river of Your delights. Psalms 36:7-8.

In Isaiah,

Then Jehovah will give rain for your seed with which you will sow the land, and bread of the produce of the earth; and there will be fatness and wealthiness. Isaiah 30:23.

[9] In John,

All things fat and splendid have gone away, and you will find them no more. Revelation 18:14.

This refers to Babylon. 'All things fat and splendid have gone away' stands for the departure of all forms of the good of love and truth of faith. In Moses,

He caused him to suck honey out of the crag and oil out of the stony rock - butter from the herd, and milk from the flock, with the fat of lambs and of rams, the breed ⁵ of Bashan, and of goats, with the kidney-fat of wheat; and of the blood of the grape you drink unmixed wine. Deuteronomy 32:13-14.

This refers to the spiritual Ancient Church, whose various kinds of good - meant by 'honey', 'oil', 'butter', 'milk', and 'fat' - are enumerated.

[10] Because 'fat' meant good, the word was also applied to the kinds of things that had no fat in them but nevertheless had good as their meaning, so that 'fat' and 'good' were so to speak one and the same. An example of this is the fat of wheat in the verses quoted immediately above, and similarly in David,

I would feed them with the fat of wheat. Psalms 81:16.

And elsewhere,

He is the one who makes peace your border, and with the fat of wheat He satisfies you. Psalms 147:14.

Also in Moses,

Because all the fat of the pure oil, and all the fat of the new wine and of the grain, which were the first fruits, were Jehovah's, they were given to Aaron. Numbers 18:12.

Footnotes: