Arcana Coelestia #9070
9070. 'And if the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past' means if the affection for evil has existed for a long time. This is clear from the meaning of 'an ox accustomed to gore' as an affection for evil, dealt with above in 9065; and from the meaning of 'in the past' as the previous state and time, dealt with in 6983, 7114, thus that which has existed previously and for a long time.
