9231. 'You shall throw it to the dogs' means that these things are unclean. This is clear from the meaning of 'dogs' as those who render the good of faith unclean by means of falsifications. For all beasts in the Word mean the affections and inclinations such as exist with a human being; gentle and useful beasts mean good affections and inclinations, but fierce and useless ones mean bad affections and inclinations. The reason why such things are meant by beasts is that the external or natural man is endowed with affections and inclinations similar to those that beasts possess, and also with similar appetites and similar senses. But the difference is that the human being has within himself what is called the internal man. And the internal man is so distinct and separate from the external that it can see things that arise in the external, rule them, and control them. The internal man can also be raised to heaven, even up to the Lord, and so be joined to Him in thought and affection, consequently in faith and love. Furthermore the internal man is so distinct and separate that it is parted from the external after death and lives on for evermore. These characteristics mark the human being off from beasts. But they are not seen by people who look at things on merely the natural level and the level of the senses; for their internal man is closed towards heaven. They draw no distinction therefore between the human being and a beast other than this, that the human being has the ability to speak; and even this is considered to be of little importance by those seeing things on merely the level of the senses.

[2] The reason why 'dogs' means those who render the good of faith unclean by means of falsifications is that dogs eat unclean things, and also yap and bite people. This also explains why nations outside the Church who were steeped in falsities arising from evil were called dogs by the Jews and considered to be utterly worthless. The fact that they were called 'dogs' is evident from the Lord's words addressed to the woman who was a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician, whose daughter was troubled grievously by a demon,

It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs. But she said, To be sure, Lord, but even the dogs eat from the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. Matthew 15:26-27; Mark 7:26-28.

Here it is self-evident that those outside the Church are meant by 'the dogs', and those within the Church by 'the children'.

[3] Similarly in Luke,

There was a certain rich man (homo) who was clothed in purple and fine linen and indulged himself splendidly every day. But there was a poor one whose name was Lazarus, who was laid at his gate, full of sores, and desiring to be filled with the crumbs falling from the rich one's table. Furthermore the dogs came and licked his sores. Luke 16:19-21.

'The rich one clothed in purple and fine linen' means those within the Church, 'the purple and fine linen' with which he was clothed being cognitions or knowledge of goodness and truth that come from the Word. 'A poor one' means those within the Church with whom there is little good because they have no knowledge of truth, but who nevertheless have had a desire to receive instruction, 9209. He was referred to as Lazarus after the Lazarus whom the Lord raised from the dead, about whom it says that the Lord loved him, John 11:1-3, 36; that he was His friend, John 11:11; and that he sat at the table with the Lord, John 12:2. 'His wish to be filled with the crumbs falling from the rich one's table' meant his desire to learn a few truths from those within the Church possessing them in abundance. 'The dogs that licked his sores' are those outside the Church who are governed by good, though not the authentic good of faith; 'licking the sores' is curing them as best they can.

[4] In John,

Outside are dogs, sorcerers, and fornicators. Revelation 22:15.

'Dogs, sorcerers, and fornicators' stands for those who falsify the good and truth of faith. They are said 'to be outside' when they are outside heaven or the Church. The fact that good which has been falsified, and so made unclean, is meant by 'the dogs' is also evident in Matthew,

Do not give what is holy to the dogs; do not cast your pearls before swine. Matthew 7:6.

In Moses,

You shall not bring a harlot's reward, or the price of a dog, into Jehovah's house for any vowed offering, because both are an abomination to your God. Deuteronomy 23:18.

'A harlot's reward' stands for falsified truths of faith, 'the price of a dog' for falsified forms of the good of faith. For the meaning of 'whoredom' as falsification of the truth of faith, see 2466, 2729, 4865, 8904.

[5] In David,

Dogs have surrounded me, the assembly of the wicked has encompassed me, piercing my hands and my feet. Deliver my soul from the sword, my only one from the power ¹ of the dog. Psalms 22:16, 20.

'Dogs' here stands for those who destroy forms of the good of faith, who are therefore called 'the assembly of the wicked'. 'Delivering one's soul from the sword' means rescuing it from falsity that lays waste the truth of faith, 'the sword' being the falsity that lays waste the truth of faith, see 2799, 4499, 6353, 7102, 8294, and 'soul' the life of faith, 9050. From this it is also evident that 'delivering my only soul from the power of the dog' means rescuing it from falsity that lays waste the good of faith. When it was said that people were to be dragged and eaten by dogs, 1 Kings 14:11; 16:4; 21:23-24; 2 Kings 9:10, 36; Jeremiah 15:3, the meaning was that they would be destroyed by unclean things. When people compared themselves to dead dogs, 1 Samuel 24:14; 2 Samuel 3:8; 9:8; 16:9, the meaning was that they would be considered utterly worthless ones who were to be cast out. What more is meant by 'dogs', see 7784.

Footnotes:

4156. And put them in the camel’s straw. That this signifies in memory-knowledges, is evident from the signification of the “camel’s straw,” as being such knowledges (n. 3114). They are called “straw,” both because this is the food of a camel, and because they are relatively gross and devoid of order. For this reason memory-knowledges are also signified by “thickets” of trees and of the forest (n. 2831). (That “camels” denote the general memory-knowledges which are of the natural man, may be seen above, n. 3048, 3071, 3143, 3145.)

[2] That memory-knowledges are relatively gross and devoid of order, and are therefore signified by “straw,” and also by “thickets,” is not apparent to those who are in mere memory-knowledges, and are on this account reputed learned. These believe that the more a man knows, or the more memory-knowledge he possesses, the wiser he is. But that the case is very different has been made evident to me from those in the other life who when they had lived in the world had been in mere memory-knowledges, and thereby had gained the name and reputation of being learned, for they are sometimes more stupid than those who have no such skill in memory-knowledges. The reason of this has also been disclosed, namely, that memory-knowledges are indeed a means of becoming wise, but are also a means of becoming insane. To those who are in the life of good, memory-knowledges are a means of becoming wise; but to those who are in a life of evil, they are a means of becoming insane; for by means of memory-knowledges these persons confirm not only their life of evil, but also principles of falsity, and this arrogantly and with persuasion, because they believe themselves to be wiser than others.

[3] From this it comes to pass that they destroy their rational; for it is not the man who can reason from memory-knowledges, even when he can apparently do so in a more lofty manner than others, who is in the enjoyment of the rational faculty; for this skill is the result of a mere fatuous light. But that man excels in the rational who is able clearly to see that good is good, and truth truth, consequently that evil is evil, and falsity falsity; whereas the man who regards good as evil and evil as good, and also the man who regards truth as falsity and falsity as truth, can by no means be said to be rational, but rather, irrational, however able he may be to reason. With him who clearly sees that good is good and that truth is truth, and on the other hand that evil is evil and falsity is falsity, light flows in from heaven, and enlightens his intellectual faculty, and causes the reasons which he sees in his understanding to be so many rays of that light. The same light also illuminates the memory-knowledges, so that they confirm the truth, and moreover disposes them into order and into heavenly form. But they who are against good and truth, as are all who are in the life of evil, do not admit that heavenly light, but are delighted solely with their own fatuous light, the nature of which is to see as one who in the dark beholds spots and streaks on a wall, and out of them fancifully makes all kinds of figures, which however are not really figures, for when the light of day is let in, it is seen that they are nothing but spots and streaks.

[4] From all this we can see that memory-knowledges are a means of becoming wise, and also a means of becoming insane; that is, that they are a means of perfecting the rational, and also a means of destroying the rational. In the other life therefore they who by means of such knowledges have destroyed their rational, are much more stupid than they who have not been versed in them. That these knowledges are relatively gross, is manifest from their belonging to the natural or external man; whereas the rational, which is cultivated by their means, belongs to the spiritual or internal man. How far these differ and are distant the one from the other in regard to purity, may be known from what has been said and shown concerning the two memories (n. 2469-2494).