'Wilderness' signifies something with little life in it, as described in the internal sense in Luke 1:80 'Wilderness' signifies somewhere there is no good because there is no truth. 'Wilderness,' as in Jeremiah 23:10, signifies the Word when it is adulterated.

(Referencat: Arcana Coelestia 1927)

495. And if anyone wants to do them injury, he must be killed in that way. This symbolically means that anyone who condemns the two essential elements is likewise condemned.

To do injury here means, symbolically, to condemn, because it is followed by the statement that the person must be killed, and in the Word to be killed means, symbolically, to be killed spiritually, which is to be condemned. For the Lord says, "With what judgment you judge, you will be judged." (Matthew 7:1-2)