841. 'Noah', as previously, means the member of the Ancient Church, and 'every wild animal and every beast that was with him in the ark' means all things that resided with him. This becomes clear from what has been stated already concerning Noah and concerning the meaning of 'wild animal' and 'beast'. In the Word 'wild animal' takes on a two-fold sense; it stands for things with a person that are alive and for things that are dead. The reason why it stands for those that are alive is that this expression in Hebrew means a living thing. But because the most ancient people in their humility acknowledged that they themselves were but wild animals, things with a person that are dead were therefore meant as well by the same expression. Here 'wild animal' means both what is alive and what is dead in their entirety, as is usually the case with someone after temptation. Things that are alive and those that are dead - that is, those that are the Lord's and those that are the person's own - seem so intermingled that at that time the person scarcely knows what truth and good are. At that time however the Lord is re-arranging and restoring all things to order, as becomes clear from what follows. For the fact that 'wild animal' means things that are alive with man, see the previous chapter, 7:14, and also verses 17, 19 of the present chapter. And from what has been shown several times already about wild animals and beasts, for example in 45, 46, 142, 143, 246, it is clear that it also means the things with a person that are dead.

245. 'He said to the serpent, Cursed are you, more than every beast and more than every wild animal of the field' means that the sensory part turned away from the heavenly and towards the bodily, and in so doing brought condemnation, that is, a curse, upon itself. This becomes quite clear from the internal sense of the Word. Jehovah God or the Lord never curses anyone, is never angry with anyone, never leads anyone into temptation, and never punishes, let alone curses anybody. It is the devil's crew who do such things. Such things cannot possibly come from the fountain of mercy, peace, and goodness. The reason why here and elsewhere in the Word it is said that Jehovah God not only turns His face away, is angry, punishes, and tempts, but also slays and even curses, is that people may believe that the Lord rules over and disposes every single thing in the whole world, including evil itself, punishments, and temptations. And after people have grasped this very general concept, they may then learn in what ways He rules and disposes, and how He converts into good the evil inherent in punishment and the evil inherent in temptation. In teaching and learning the Word very general concepts have to come first; and therefore the sense of the letter is full of such general concepts.