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:

9817. 'And you shall speak to all the wise at heart' means an influx from the Lord through the Word into all who are governed by the good of love. This is clear from the meaning of 'speaking' as influx, dealt with in 2951, 5481, 5743, 5797, 7270; and from the meaning of 'the wise at heart' as those who are governed by the good of love, dealt with below. The reason why influx from the Lord through the Word is meant is that for members of the Church the main channel by which the Lord flows in is the Word. This is so because the nature of the Word is such that all things without exception there correspond to the Divine spiritual and Divine celestial realities that exist in the heavens; and as a result of this a person shares affections and thoughts with angels, in so complete a manner that he and they are seemingly one. So it is that the world has been joined to heaven through the Word, but only among those who are governed by the good of faith and love. From all this it becomes clear that for members of the Church the Lord flows in through the Word; for the Lord is the all in the heavens, since what is Divine and emanates from the Lord, and is received by angels, composes heaven.

[2] The reason why 'the wise at heart' means those who are governed by the good of love is that the presence of wisdom in a person is attributable to the life of heaven in him, also that 'heart' means the good of love. In the Word 'spirit' and 'heart' are expressions that have regard to the life of heaven present with a person, 'spirit' being used to mean that life in the understanding part of the person's mind and 'heart' that life in the will part. To the understanding part belongs truth, but to the will part belongs good; the former has to do with faith, but the latter with love. For the understanding receives truths that constitute faith, and the will forms of good that are aspects of love. From this it is evident that by 'the wise at heart' those governed by the good of love received from the Lord are meant. The good of love is celestial good, through which spiritual good comes into being; and spiritual good is that which covers celestial good, like garments the body. And since Aaron's garments represented the Lord's spiritual kingdom lying adjacent to His celestial kingdom, and the former comes into being through the latter, the present verse goes on to say that 'the wise at heart', that is, those governed by the good of love received from the Lord, should make the garments for Aaron and his sons. As regards 'heart', that it means the good of love or celestial good, see 3635, 3880, 3883-3896, 9050; and that it therefore means the will, 2930, 3888, 7542, 8910, 9113, 9300, 9495.

3812. 'Laban said to him, Surely you are my bone and my flesh' means joined together as regards truths and as regards goods. This is clear from the meaning of 'you are my bone and my flesh' as a being joined together. The ancients were accustomed to speak of people who belonged to the same house, or to the same family, or who were related in some other way, as 'my bone and my flesh', see 157. This is why those words mean a being joined together. The reason it is as regards truths and as regards goods is that all spiritual joining together is effected by them, and all natural joining together has reference to them. Furthermore by 'bone and flesh' is meant a person's proprium - 'bone' the understanding side of the proprium, 'flesh' the will side of it. 'Bone' accordingly means the proprium as regards truth since truth belongs to the understanding, while 'flesh' means the proprium as regards good since good belongs to the will, see 148, 149.

[2] As regards the proprium in general there are two kinds, the first being the hellish proprium, the second the heavenly. The hellish proprium is acquired by a person from hell, the heavenly from heaven, that is, from the Lord through heaven. For all evil and all falsity from evil enter in from hell, and all good and all truth from good do so from the Lord. People know this from the doctrine of faith, but scarcely one in a million believes it. Consequently a person appropriates - that is, makes his own - evil entering in from hell; but good entering in from the Lord does not move him and cannot therefore be said to have a place in him. The reason why a person does not believe that evil enters in from hell and good from the Lord is that he is governed by self-love, a love which carries such unbelief with it and which goes so far as to be highly indignant when that person is told that everything comes into him from somewhere else. This then is why a person's entire proprium is nothing but evil, see 210, 215, 694, 731, 874-876, 987, 1023, 1044, 1047. But the belief that evil is from hell and good from the Lord exists with him when he is not governed by self-love but by love towards the neighbour and love to the Lord; for this love carries such belief with it. So it is that a person receives from the Lord the heavenly proprium referred to in 155, 164, 731, 1023, 1044, 1937, 1947, 2882, 2883, 2891.

[3] In both senses this proprium is meant by 'bone and flesh'. Consequently 'bones' in the Word means truth and in the contrary sense falsity, and 'flesh' good and in the contrary sense evil. As regards truth being meant by 'bones', this may be seen from the following places: In Isaiah,

Jehovah will guide you all the time, and will satisfy your soul in arid places, and will render your bones free, so that you are like a watered garden. Isaiah 58:11.

'Rendering bones free' stands for bringing life to the understanding side of the proprium, that is, enlightening it with intelligence. Hence the statement 'so that you are like a watered garden' - 'a garden' meaning intelligence, see 100, 108, 1588. In the same prophet,

Then you will see, and your heart will be joyful, and your bones will flourish like the grass. Isaiah 66:14.

'Bones flourishing like the grass' has a similar meaning.

[4] In Jeremiah,

[Her] Nazirites were brighter than snow, they were whiter than milk. Their bodies ¹ were ruddier than gem stones, polished like sapphire. ² Their form is darker than black; they are not recognized in the streets; their skin has stuck to their bone; it has dried up; it has become like wood. Lamentations 4:7-8.

'Nazirite' stands for a celestial man, 3301. 'Brighter than snow and whiter than milk' stands for his possession of celestial truth. And because this truth derives from the love of good, it is said that 'their bodies were ruddier than gem stones'. 'Brightness' and 'whiteness' have reference to truth, 3301, 'ruddiness' to good, 3300, 'gem stones' to truths stemming from good, 114. 'Their skin stuck to their bone' describes a changed state as regards the celestial things of love, which is to say, that there was no flesh on the bones, that is, there was no longer any good, for in that case all truth comes to be like skin which sticks to the bone, dries up, and becomes like wood.

[5] In Ezekiel,

Tell a parable against the house of rebellion, and say to them, Thus said the Lord Jehovih, Put on the pot, put it on, and also pour water into it; gather the pieces of it into it - every good piece, the thigh and the shoulder. Fill it with the choice of the bones by taking the choice of the flock, and let there be a hearth of bones under it. Let the bones also be cooked in the midst of it. Ezekiel 24:3-5, 10.

'The pot' stands for violence offered to good and truth, which is why it is called 'the city of bloodshed' in verse 6. 'The pieces', 'the good piece, the thigh and the shoulder' gathered into it are pieces of flesh, which are items of good. 'The choice of the bones' with which the pot was filled stands for truths, 'the hearth of bones' for the affection for truth. 'Let the bones be cooked in the midst of it' stands for violence offered to them. Anyone may see that this parable conceals arcana that are Divine, and also that these can in no way be known unless one knows what is meant in the internal sense by 'a pot', by 'pieces, the thigh and the shoulder', by 'the choice of the bones', by 'a hearth of bones', and by 'cooking'. In Micah,

Is it not for you to know judgement - you who hate the good and love the evil, who tear their skin from upon them and their flesh from upon their bones; who have eaten the flesh of My people and flayed their skin from upon them and broken their bones in pieces, and divided them as into a pot and like flesh into the middle of the cauldron? Micah 3:1-3.

Here the meaning is similar.

[6] In Ezekiel,

He brought me out in the Spirit of Jehovah and set me down in the midst of the valley, which was full of bones. He said to me, Will these bones live? He said to me, Prophesy over these bones and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of Jehovah: Thus said the Lord Jehovih to these bones, Behold, I am bringing spirit into you that you may live. I will lay sinews upon you and cause flesh to come over you and cover you with skin, and I will put spirit within you so that you may live. I prophesied, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and behold, there were sinews upon them, and flesh came up, and skin covered them above, but there was no spirit in them. And spirit entered into them, and they were alive again and stood upon their feet. Ezekiel 37:1 and following verses.

This refers in general to the re-establishment of the Church among gentiles, and in particular to the regeneration of the individual. 'Dry bones' stands for the understanding side of the proprium, which is lifeless until it receives the life of good from the Lord. The latter life is what quickens it or brings life to it. The flesh which the Lord causes to come up over the bones is the will side of the proprium, which is called the heavenly proprium, and so means good. 'Spirit' means the Lord's life, and when this flows into a person's good which he seems to himself to will and perform from his proprium, the good is in that case made alive, and from that good the truth also; and out of the dry bones a human being is made.

[7] In David,

All my bones have been disconnected; my heart has become like wax. I can count all my bones. They have divided my garments among them, and for my clothing have cast lots. Psalms 22:14, 17-18.

This refers to the Lord's temptations as regards Divine Truths, which, being the Lord's own, are consequently called 'my bones', and as regards Divine Good, which, being the Lord's own, is consequently called 'my heart'. For 'heart' means good, see 3313, 3635. And because 'bones' means those truths, 'counting' them is wishing to get rid of them by means of reasonings and falsities. This is also the reason for the statement immediately following about their dividing garments and casting lots for clothing, for 'garments' also means truths, though a more external variety, 297, 1073, 2576. 'Dividing garments and casting lots for clothing' has the same meaning as it does also in Matthew 27:35. In the same author,

Let my soul exult in Jehovah, let it be glad in His salvation. Let all my bones say, Who is like You? Psalms 35:9-10.

'Bones' in the spiritual sense clearly means the understanding side of the proprium. In the same author,

You shall cause me to hear joy and gladness; the bones You have broken will be exultant. Psalms 51:8.

'The bones which You have broken will be exultant' stands for a re-creation by means of truths following temptations.

[8] Because 'bone' meant the understanding side of the proprium, or the proprium as regards truth, and in the highest sense meant Divine Truth, which was the Lord's Proprium, it was therefore required at the Passover not to break any bone of the paschal lamb. This is referred to in Moses as follows,

It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not bring any of the flesh outside the house; and you shall not break a bone in it. Exodus 12:46.

And elsewhere in Moses,

They shall not leave any of it until morning, and they shall not break a bone of it. Numbers 9:12.

'Not breaking a bone' stands in the highest sense for not offering violence to Divine truth, and in the representative sense for not offering violence to the truth connected with any good at all, for the nature of good and the form it takes depend on truths, and truth is the mainstay of good, as the bones are of the flesh.

[9] The fact that the Word, which is Divine truth itself, gives life to the dead was represented by the revival and the standing on his feet of the man who, having been cast into the grave of Elisha, touched his bones, 2 Kings 13:21. Elisha represented the Lord as regards Divine truth or the Word, see 2762.

'Bones' in the contrary sense means falsity which springs from the proprium, as is evident from the following places: In Jeremiah,

At that time they will bring the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of its princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem out of their tombs, and they will spread them before the sun and the moon, and all the host of heaven, which they have loved and which they have served. Jeremiah 8:1-2.

In Ezekiel,

I will lay the corpses of the children of Israel before their idols, and I will scatter your bones around your altars. Ezekiel 6:5.

In Moses,

God who brought him out of Egypt has as it were the strength of a unicorn. He will eat up the nations, his enemies, and will break their bones, and smash their weapons. Numbers 24:8.

In the second Book of Kings,

King Josiah broke in pieces the pillars, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of people. He took the bones out of the graves and burned them on the altar to render it unclean. He sacrificed all the priests of the high places who were there, on the altars, and burned the bones of people on them. 2 Kings 23:14, 16, 20.

In Moses,

The soul which has touched on the surface of the field anyone slain with the sword, or one dead, or a human bone, or a sepulchre, will be unclean for seven days. Numbers 19:16, 18.

[10] Since 'bones' means falsities, and 'sepulchres' evils containing them, and since hypocrisy is evil which on the outside looks like good but is inwardly rotten from things that are false and unholy, the Lord therefore says the following in Matthew,

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you make yourselves like white-washed sepulchres, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and of all uncleanness. So too do you outwardly appear just to men (homo) but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Matthew 23:27-28.

From all these quotations it is now evident that 'bones' means the understanding side of the proprium either as regards truth or else as regards falsity.

Footnotes: