9335. And the wild beast of the field be multiplied upon thee. That this signifies a flowing in of falsities from the delights of the loves of self and of the world, is evident from the signification of “being multiplied,” when said of the hasty removal of evils and falsities, as being a flowing in; and from the signification of “the wild beast of the field,” as being falsities from the delights of the loves of self and of the world. By “beasts” of various kinds mentioned in the Word are signified good and evil affections (see n. 9280); consequently by “wild beasts” are signified the affections of falsity that arise from the delights of the loves of self and of the world. Moreover, these affections are represented in the other life by wild beasts, as by panthers, tigers, wild boars, wolves, and bears. They are also like wild beasts, for those who are in these loves are in evils of every kind and in the derivative falsities, and like wild beasts do they look at and act toward their associates. (That all evils and falsities spring from these loves, see n. 2041, 2045, 2057, 2363, 2364, 2444, 4750, 4776, 6667, 7178, 7255, 7364, 7366-7377, 7488, 7490-7494, 7643, 8318, 8487, 8678)

[2] That through the hasty removal of evils and falsities, the falsities from these loves would flow in, is because goods and truths must remove the evils and falsities by being successively implanted; for falsities can only be removed by truths; and evils can only be removed by goods. If this is not done successively and according to order, the falsities which favor these loves will flow in; for before he has been regenerated these loves reign in every man, and when falsities flow in, truths are no longer acknowledged. Moreover, the man who is being regenerated is kept in the affection of truth, and while he is in this affection he seeks on all sides for truths among the memory-knowledges in the natural; and the fallacies of the external senses then present themselves there—for they are very abundant there—and when the delights of the loves of self and of the world breathe on the man, he infers from these fallacies nothing but falsities, which follow on, and fill the mind, if the falsities of evil are suddenly removed. These are the things which are meant in the internal sense by “I will not drive him out from before thee in one year, lest the land be desolate, and the wild beast of the field multiply upon thee; by little and little I will drive him out from before thee, until thou be fruitful and inherit the land.”

[3] That “a wild beast” denotes falsity and evil springing from the loves of self and of the world, is plain from the passages in the Word where it is mentioned; as in Isaiah:

A path shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called the way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass through it, nor shall any ravenous wild beast go up thereon (Isaiah 35:8-9).

I will send upon thee famine, and an evil wild beast, and they shall bereave thee (Ezekiel 5:17).

When I cause the evil wild beast to pass through the land, and it bereave it, and it become a desolation, so that no one passeth through because of the beast (Ezekiel 14:15).

Thou shalt fall upon the faces of the field; I will give thee for food to the wild beast of the earth, and to the bird of the heaven (Ezekiel 29:5).

Then I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will make the evil wild beast to cease out of the land; that they may dwell securely in the wilderness. They shall no more be a prey to the nations, and the wild beast of the field shall no longer devour them (Ezekiel 34:25, 28).

[4] I will lay waste her vine and her fig-tree, and I will make them into a forest, and the wild beast of the field shall devour them (Hos. 2:12).

The land shall mourn, and everyone that dwelleth therein shall waste away, because of the wild beast of the field, and because of the bird of the heavens (Hos. 4:3).

The boar out of the wood doth trample it, and the wild beast of the fields doth consume it. Turn again, O God Zebaoth, and visit Thy vine (Psalms 80:13-14).

Thou makest darkness that it may be night; wherein every wild beast of the forest doth come forth (Psalms 104:20).

If ye shall walk in My statutes, and keep My commandments, and do them, I will cause the evil wild beast to cease out of the land. But if ye shall reject My statutes, I will send against you the wild beast of the field, which shall lay you waste (Leviticus 26:3, 6, 15, 22).

Jehovah thy God will drive out those nations before thee by little and little, lest perchance the wild beast of the field multiply against thee (Deuteronomy 7:22).

In these passages “the wild beast of the field,” “the wild beast of the earth,” and “the wild beast of the forest” denote the falsities and evils which are of the loves of self and of the world.

[5] As by “a wild beast” is signified falsity, and falsity is from a double origin, namely, from what is evil, and from what is upright (n. 9258), therefore by “wild beasts” in the Word are also signified the upright Gentiles, who although in falsity, are yet in uprightness of life. In this sense the term “wild animal” ¹ is used in David:

Every wild animal of the forest is Mine, and the beasts upon a thousand mountains. I know every bird of the mountains; and the wild animal of My fields is with Me (Psalms 50:10-11).

Praise ye Jehovah, ye wild animal, and every beast (Psalms 148:7, 10).

Every wild animal of My fields, come ye to devour, every wild animal in the forest (Isaiah 56:9).

All the birds of the heavens made their nests in the branches of the cedar, which is Asshur, and under his branches every wild animal of the field brought forth, and in his shadow dwelt all great nations (Ezekiel 31:6).

Fotnoter:

8678. For the reason that they dealt proudly over them. That this signifies by reason of the endeavor and the force used to rule over those who are of the church, is evident from the signification of “dealing proudly,” as being the endeavor and the force used to rule (of which below); and from the representation of the sons of Israel, who are they over whom they dealt proudly, as being those who are of the spiritual church (see above, n. 8645). That “to deal proudly” denotes the endeavor and the force used to rule, is because this endeavor and the consequent force are in all pride, for pride is to love self more than others, and to set self above them, and to wish to exercise command over others; and they who wish this also despise others in comparison with self, and also persecute from hatred and revenge those who set themselves above them, or do not pay them respect. The love of self, which is pride, is of such a quality that so far as the rein is given it, it rushes on, growing step by step to the utmost of the ability that is granted to it, until at last it lifts itself to the very throne of God with the desire to be in His stead. Such are all who are in hell. That they are such is perceived from their endeavor from there, and also from their dangerous hatreds and direful revenges one against another for the sake of rule. This endeavor is what is restrained by the Lord, and is meant by “the head of the serpent which the seed of the woman shall trample on” (n. 257). Such are also meant by “Lucifer” in Isaiah:

How hast thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the dawn! thou hast been cut off to the earth, thou hath been weakened beneath the nations; yet thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into the heavens, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; and I will sit on the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the cloud; I will become like the Most High. Yet verily thou hast been let down to hell, to the sides of the pit, thou hast been cast forth out of thy sepulcher like an abominable shoot, the raiment of the slain, thrust through with the sword, that go down to the stones of the pit, like a carcass that is trampled on (Isaiah 14:12-19).

[2] That pride of heart, which is the love of self, repels from itself the Divine, and removes heaven from itself, can be plainly seen from the state of reception of the Divine and of heaven, which is a state of love toward the neighbor, and a state of humiliation toward God. So far as a man can humble himself before the Lord, and so far as he can love his neighbor as himself, and, as in heaven, above himself, so far he receives the Divine, and consequently is so far in heaven. From all this it is evident in what state are those who love themselves more than the neighbor, and who “deal proudly over him,” that is, who are in the love of self; namely, that they are in a state opposite to heaven and to the Divine, consequently in the state in which the infernals are. (See what has been already said and shown about the love of self, n. 2041, 2045, 2051, 2057, 2219, 2363, 2364, 2444, 3413, 3610, 4225, 4750, 4776, 4947, 5721, 6667, 7178, 7255, 7364, 7366-7377, 7488-7492, 7494, 7643, 7819, 7820, 8318, 8487)