8909. Verse 17 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.

167. And all [the churches] shall know that I am He that searcheth the reins and hearts, signifies the acknowledgment of all who are of the church, that the Lord alone knows and explores the exteriors and interiors, and the things that are of faith and love. This is evident from the signification of "searching," as being, in reference to the Lord, that He alone knows and explores; also from the signification of "reins" as being the truths of faith and their purification from falsities (of which in what follows); also from the signification of "hearts," as being the goods of love. "Heart" signifies the good of love, because there are two things that rule in man, and from these is the whole life of his body, namely the heart and the lungs. And as all things in man's body correspond to the things that are in his mind, there are two things also that rule there, namely the will and the understanding. These two kingdoms of the mind correspond to the two kingdoms of the body, namely the will to the heart and its pulse, and the understanding to the lungs and their respiration. Without this correspondence the body could not live, not even a particle of it. As the heart corresponds to the will, so it corresponds to the good of love; and as the lungs correspond to the understanding, so they also correspond to the truths of faith. It is from this correspondence that "heart" signifies love, and "soul" signifies faith. It is from this that the expression "from the heart and soul" is so often used in the Word, by which is meant from love and faith. (As this correspondence is much treated of in the Arcana Coelestia, these things may be seen more fully explained there, namely, that "heart" in the Word signifies love; and because it signifies love, it also signifies the will, n.2930, 3313, 7542, 8910, 9050, 9113, 10336. That the heart corresponds to the things that are of love with man, and the lungs to the things that are of faith with him, n. 3883-3896. That in heaven there is a pulse such as that of the heart, and a respiration such as that of the lungs, n. 3884, 3885, 3887. That the pulse of the heart there is in accordance with the state of love, and the respiration of the lungs in accord with the state of faith, n. 3886-3889. That the influx of the heart into the lungs is like the influx of good into truth, and like the influx of the will into the understanding; it is also according to the influx of love into faith, and there are like communications and conjunctions, n. 3884, 3887-3889, 9300, 9495. Of the influx of heaven into the heart and into the lungs, from experience, n. Arcana Coelestia 3884. That from this the correspondence in the Word, "from the heart and soul" signifies from love and faith, n. 2930, 9050. That the conjunction of man's spirit with his body is by means of the respiration of the lungs and the pulse of the heart, and that therefore when these cease man dies as to the body, but lives as to the spirit, see in the work on Heaven and Hell [n. 521]; and that when the pulse of the heart ceases the spirit is separated, because the heart corresponds to love, which is the vital heat, n. 447, in the same work. Many other things respecting this correspondence, see n. 95.) "Reins" signify the truths of faith, and their purification from falsities, because the purification of the blood is performed in the reins and "blood" in the Word signifies truth (as may be seen in Arcana Coelestia 4735[1-15], 9127). The like is signified by the organ that purifies; and all purification from falsities is effected by truths. From this it is clear what is signified in the Word by the expression, that Jehovah, or the Lord, "searcheth the hearts and reins," namely, that He explores the truths of faith and the goods of love, and separates them from evils and falsities.

[2] This is signified by "reins" in the following places. In Jeremiah:

Jehovah Zebaoth, Judge of righteousness, trying the reins and the heart (Jeremiah 11:20).

In the same:

Thou hast proved ¹ them, yea, they have taken root; they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: Thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins. But thou, O Jehovah, Thou shalt see me, and shalt prove my heart (Jeremiah 12:2, 3).

"Near in the mouth and far from the reins" is truth in the memory only, and in some thought therefrom when man speaks, but not in the will and from that in act. Truth in the will and from that in the act is what separates and dissipates falsities. Truth in the will and from that in the act is willing and doing what a man knows and thinks to be true; such truth is what is especially meant by "reins."

[3] In the same:

I, Jehovah, search the heart, I prove the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruits of his works (Jeremiah 17:10).

"Searching the heart" is purifying good by separating evil from it; "proving the reins" is purifying truth by separating falsity from it; it is therefore said "to give to every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his works;" "ways" are the truths that are of faith, and "the fruit of works" are the goods that are of love. (That "ways" are truths that are of faith, see above, n. 97[1-2]; and that "the fruit of works" are the goods that are of love, n. 98, 109, 116.)

[4] In the same:

Jehovah Zebaoth, that provest the righteous, that seest the reins, and the heart (Jeremiah 20:12).

And in David:

Establish Thou the righteous; for Thou that provest the hearts and the reins art a righteous God (Psalms 7:9);

"the righteous" are those who love to do what is true and good, their goods and truths are purified by the Lord, which is meant by "seeing" and by "proving the reins and the hearts."

In David:

Prove me, O Jehovah, and try me, explore my reins and my heart (Psalms 26:2).

Because truths are separated from falsities and goods from evils by means of temptations, it is said, "Try me." In the same:

My heart is in a ferment, and I am pricked in my reins, but I am foolish and know not (Psalms 73:21, 22).

The infestation of good by evil and of truth by falsity is described by these words. In the same:

Behold, thou desirest truth in the reins and in the hidden part thou makest wisdom known to me (Psalms 51:6).

Here there is another word in the original for "reins," that includes the separation both of falsities from truths and of evils from goods. This shows that the "reins" signify purification and separation.

[5] In the same:

I will bless Jehovah, who hath given me counsel; also my reins chastise me in the night (Psalms 16:7).

"Night" signifies the state of man when falsities rise up; the consequent combat of truths with falsities is signified by "my reins chastise me." In the same:

Even the darkness doth not make darkness before Thee, but the night is lucid as the day; as the darkness so is the light. For thou possessest my reins, my bone was not hidden from Thee when I was made in secret (Psalms 139:12, 13, 15).

"Darkness" means falsities, and "light" truths; to "possess the reins" is to know falsities and truths with man; therefore it is said, "my bone was not hidden from Thee when I was made in secret," which signifies that no falsity that was made was hidden. (That "darkness" means falsity and "light" truth, see in the work on Heaven and Hell 126-140; and that "bone" means truth in the ultimate of order and in the contrary sense, falsity, Arcana Coelestia 3812, 5560, 5565, 6592, 8005.)

[6] As "the reins" signified truths purified from falsities, so:

In the sacrifices, the fats and reins alone were offered up (as may be seen in Exodus 29:13; Leviticus 3:4, 10, 15; 4:9 and elsewhere).

Fats and reins alone were offered upon the altar because "fats" signified the goods of love, and "reins" the truths of faith. (That "fats" or "fatnesses" signify the goods of love, see Arcana Coelestia 353, 5943, 6409, 10033. That the "reins" signify the truths of faith, examining, purifying, and rejecting from themselves falsities, is from correspondence; for each and every thing of the body corresponds, as can be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell, where this is shown in its chapter entitled, There is a Correspondence of all things of Heaven with all things of Man, n. 87-102; and on the Reins, n. 96, 97.) Unless it be known that there is such a correspondence, who could ever know why it is so often said of Jehovah or the Lord in the Word, that "He searcheth and proveth the reins and the heart?" (On the correspondence of the reins, of the ureters, and of the bladder, see further in Arcana Coelestia 5380-5386.) To "search the reins and the heart" signifies also to explore the exteriors and the interiors of man, because truth is without and good is within; and spiritual good, which in its essence is truth, and in particular is signified by the "reins," is exterior good; while celestial good which in particular is signified by the "heart," is interior good. (This can be seen more fully from what is shown respecting The Spiritual Kingdom and the Celestial Kingdom, in the work on Heaven and Hell 20-26.)

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3245. 'Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac' in the highest sense means all the Divine things within the Divine Rational, and in the relative sense the celestial things of love imparted to the Lord's celestial kingdom. This is clear from the representation of 'Abraham' as the Lord as regards the Divine itself, dealt with already, and from the representation of 'Isaac' as the Lord as regards the Divine Rational, also dealt with already. Now because in the internal sense the Lord is represented by both Abraham and Isaac, and the Lord made His Rational Divine from His own Divine, 'Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac' therefore means all the Divine things within the Divine Rational. All that precedes and follows has regard to this, that is to say, to the consideration that everything in the Lord's Rational was made Divine. Indeed in the places where Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are the subject, the Lord's Human, how it was made Divine, is dealt with in the internal sense.

[2] There are two components which strictly speaking make up the human - the rational and the natural. The Lord's Rational is represented by 'Isaac', but His Natural by 'Jacob'. The Lord made both of these Divine. How He made the Rational Divine is contained in what is stated regarding Isaac, but how He made the Natural so in what is stated later on regarding Jacob. But the latter - the Natural - could not be made Divine before the Rational was made Divine, for it was by means of the Rational that the Natural became Divine. This explains why the words that are being explained here mean all the Divine things within the Divine Rational.

[3] Furthermore every single detail which in the internal sense has reference to the Lord also has reference to His kingdom and Church, the reason being that the Lord's Divine constitutes His kingdom. Consequently when the Lord is the subject so also is His kingdom the subject; see 1965. However when the internal sense has reference to the Lord it is the highest sense, but when it has reference to His kingdom it is the relative sense. The relative sense of these words - 'Abraham gave all to Isaac' - is that the celestial things of love were imparted to the Lord's celestial kingdom. Indeed in the relative sense 'Isaac' means the celestial kingdom, for the rest of Abraham's sons, that is to say, those he had by Keturah, mean the Lord's spiritual kingdom, as shown above, as also does Ishmael, who is dealt with below.