9132. He shall be sold for his theft. That this signifies alienation, is evident from the signification of “to be sold,” as being alienation (see n. 4752, 4758, 5886), here of the good and truth taken away, of which nothing remains (n. 9131); and from the signification of “for the theft,” as being amendment and restoration by other good or truth in place of that taken away, which is signified by “repaying” (n. 9130); for the thief was sold that the theft might be repaid. With what is contained in this verse the case is this. He who sees that the good or truth with him is being taken away by falsity derived from evil, is guilty of the violence done to them, for it is done with his knowledge. For that which is done with the man’s knowledge, proceeds from the will, and at the same time from the understanding, thus from the whole man, because man is man from these two, and what is done from these two is done from the falsity which is from evil—from falsity, because from the understanding; and from evil, because from the will. It is from this that the man is guilty. That which comes from a man’s understanding, and at the same time from his will, is made his own (see n. 9009, 9069, 9071); and that a man becomes guilty if when he sees the evil of his will he does not repress it by means of his understanding, see n. 9075.

9009. And he that hath not lain in wait. That this signifies when it was not of foresight from the will, is evident from the signification of “lying in wait,” as being to act with deliberation, thus with foresight, for the evil which one who lies in wait is about to do he foresees in his mind; and because he does such evil with foresight, he therefore does it also from the will, for it proceeds therefrom. There are evils which proceed from the will of man, but are not of foresight; and there are evils which proceed from the will, and are of foresight. Those which proceed from the will, and from foresight, are much worse than those which are not from foresight; because the man sees that they are evils, and can therefore desist from them, but is not willing, and he thereby confirms them in himself, and evils confirmed put on nature, so that afterward they can scarcely be extirpated; for in such case he summons spirits from hell who afterward do not easily retire.

[2] Evils which proceed from one part of the mind and not at the same time from the other, such as those which come from the intellectual part, and not at the same time from the will part, are not rooted in and appropriated to the man. That alone is rooted in and appropriated to him which passes from the intellectual part into the will part; or what is the same, which passes from the thought which is of the understanding into the affection which is of the will, and thence into act. Those things which enter into the will are those which are said to enter into the heart.

[3] But evils which proceed solely from the will, thus not with premeditation, are such as the man inclines to hereditarily, or from some previous consequent actual doing of evil. These are not imputed to the man unless he has confirmed them in his intellectual part (see n. 966, 2308, 8806); but when they have been confirmed in this part, they have then been inscribed on the man, and become his own, and are imputed to him. But these evils cannot be confirmed with a man in his intellectual part except in his adult age, namely, when he begins to think, and understand things, for himself; for before this he had no faith from himself, but only from his teachers and parents. From all this it is evident what is signified by, “if he has not lain in wait,” namely, when it was not of foresight from the will.