559. And they had tails like unto scorpions.- That this signifies sensual scientifics, which are persuasive, is evident from the signification of tails, as denoting sensual scientifics, concerning which in what follows; and from the signification of scorpions, as denoting things persuasive, infatuating, and suffocating (see above, n. 544). Hence tails like unto scorpions signify sensual scientifics, which are persuasive. Tails signify sensual scientifics, because the tails which the animals of the earth have, are continuations of the spine of the back, which is called the spinal marrow, and this is a continuation of the brain, and the brain like the head, signifies intelligence and wisdom, because intelligence and wisdom reside there in their beginnings, and because tails are the ultimates of it, they signify sensual scientifics, for these are the ultimates of intelligence and wisdom.

[2] Sensual scientifics are those scientifics which enter from the world through the five senses of the body, and hence, viewed in themselves, are material, corporeal, and worldly, as compared with those which are more interior. All those who are in the love of self, and have confirmed themselves against Divine and spiritual things, are sensual men, and when they think in their spirit, as is the case when they are left to themselves, they think concerning things Divine and spiritual things from sensual scientifics, and therefore they reject Divine and spiritual things as not worthy of belief, because they do not see them with their eyes, or touch them with their hands, and they apply their own scientifics, which they have made sensual and material, for the purpose of destroying them.

Take for example, learned men of this kind who are skilled in natural philosophy, anatomy, botany, and the other branches of human learning; when such persons see the wonderful things that exist in the animal and vegetable kingdoms, they say in their hearts that all these things are from nature, and not from the Divine, because they believe in nothing but what they can see with their eyes, and touch with their hands. For they cannot raise their minds, and thus see those things from the light of heaven, this light being thick darkness to them, but they keep their minds fixed on earthly things, almost like the animals of the earth, with which they also compare themselves. In a word, with such persons, all knowledges (scientiae) become sensual. For as is the man himself, such are all things pertaining to his understanding and will. If the man is spiritual, all things become spiritual; if he is only natural, all things become natural and not spiritual; if he is sensual, all things become sensual, and this is the case, however learned and scholarly he may appear to be before the world. But since all men have the faculty of understanding truths and perceiving goods, they are able to speak, by virtue of this faculty, as though they were spiritual-rational, but still they are sensual as to the spirit, for when such persons speak before the world, they do so not from the spirit, but from the memory which pertains to the body. These things are stated in order that it may be known what sensual scientifics are.

[3] The reason why these are exceedingly persuasive is, that they are the ultimates of the understanding; for the understanding terminates therein, as in its ultimates, and these captivate the vulgar, because they are appearances arising from such things as they see with their eyes in the world; and as long as the thought adheres in them, the mind cannot be disposed to think interiorly or above them, until they are removed. For the interior things of the mind all terminate in ultimates, and rest upon them as a house upon its foundation, wherefore [sensual scientifics] are exceedingly persuasive, but only in the case of those whose minds cannot be elevated above sensual things. But with those who are in the light of heaven from the Lord, the mind is elevated above these things, and the light of heaven dissipates them. Spiritual men therefore rarely think from sensual things, for they think from things rational and intellectual, while sensual men, who have confirmed themselves in falsities against things divine and spiritual, think only from things sensual when they are left to themselves.

[4] That tails signify sensual scientifics, is evident from the following passages.

Thus in Isaiah:

"Jehovah will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush. The old man and honourable, he is the head; but the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail" (9:14, 15).

These words mean that all intelligence and wisdom are about to perish, and all the knowledge (scientia) of truth. By the head are signified intelligence and wisdom, therefore it is said, "the old man and honourable, he is the head," for an old man signifies the intelligence of truth, and the honourable, the wisdom of good. But by the tail is signified sensual knowledge (scientificum), which is the ultimate of intelligence and wisdom; when this is not conjoined with spiritual intelligence, it becomes false knowledge, or knowledge applied to confirm falsities, which is sensual knowledge like that of the sensual man, who sees nothing from the understanding. Hence the prophet that teacheth a lie is called the tail; for a prophet signifies the doctrine of truth, and therefore the knowledge (scientia) of truth, but in this case the doctrine and knowledge (scientia) of falsity. For a lie signifies falsity, and the teacher of a lie, him who teaches falsity by applying scientifics from the sense of the letter of the Word to confirm falsities.

[5] Again, in the same prophet:

"Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which may make the head and tail, branch and rush" (19:15).

Here Egypt signifies the knowledge (scientia) of both spiritual and natural things. By there being no work for it which may make the head and tail, is signified, that it possesses neither spiritual things, nor natural things that confirm the spiritual, the head there denoting the cognitions of spiritual things by means of which comes intelligence, and the tail denoting natural scientifics, which are serviceable to spiritual things as means of intelligence. Similar things are signified by the branch and the rush, the branch denoting spiritual truth, and the rush, the sensual scientific, which is ultimate truth; for if the prior and the posterior, or the first and ultimate, do not make one in man, then he has not the head and the tail.

[6] So in Moses:

"Thus Jehovah shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath, if that thou hearken unto the commandments of thy God" (Deuteronomy 28:13).

"To make the head" signifies to make [a man] spiritual and intelligent, so that he may be elevated out of the light of the world into the light of heaven; and to make the tail, denotes to make [a man] sensual and foolish, so that he looks not to heaven but to the world; therefore it is said, "and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath." To be above denotes to be elevated by the Lord so as to look to heaven, and to be beneath denotes not to be elevated by the Lord, but from self, and man from self looks only to the world. For the interiors of man which pertain to thought and affection are raised to heaven by the Lord, when he is in good of life and thence in truths of doctrine, but if he is in evil of life, and consequently in falsities, then lower things look downwards, thus only to his own body and to such things as are in the world, and thus to hell, whence he puts off the nature which is truly human, and puts on the nature of a beast; for beasts look downwards, and to such things only as they meet with in the world and upon the earth. Elevation into the light of heaven by the Lord is an actual elevation of the interiors of man to the Lord, and depression or casting down to such things as are beneath and outside of the eyes, is an actual depression and casting down of the interiors, and when this is the case, then all the thought of his spirit is immersed in the ultimate Sensual.

[7] Again, in Moses:

"The sojourner who is in the midst of thee shall ascend high above thee more and more, but thou shalt descend downwards more and more. He shall lend to thee, but thou shalt not lend to him; he shall be the head, but thou shalt be the tail" (Deuteronomy 28:43, 44).

These words must be similarly understood. To be the head signifies to be spiritual and intelligent, and to be the tail signifies to be sensual and foolish; therefore it is also said, "he shall lend to thee, but thou shalt not lend to him," by which is signified, that he shall teach thee truths, but thou shalt not teach him.

[8] So in Isaiah:

"Say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted, for the two tails of smoking fire-brands, for the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and of the son of Remaliah" (7:4).

Rezin and Syria signify the Rational perverted, and the son of Remaliah the king of Israel, also called Ephraim, signifies the Intellectual perverted. It is the Intellectual in relation to the Word that is signified by the king of Israel and by Ephraim, while it is the Rational in relation to confirmatory knowledges (scientiae) that is signified by Rezin and Syria. For a man must have a Rational in order that he may understand the Word. When these two are perverted, they look only downwards to the earth, and outward to the world, as sensual men do who are in the falsities of evil; therefore they are called tails. A smoking fire-brand signifies the lust (concupiscentia) of falsity, and thence wrath against the truths and goods of the church.

[9] So again, in Moses:

"Jehovah said unto Moses, Put forth thy hand, and take the serpent by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand" (Exodus 4:4).

That here also by tail is meant the Sensual, which is the ultimate of the natural, may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia 6951-6955). Since tails signify the ultimates of intelligence and wisdom, which are sensual scientifics, and since all the details of the sacrifices signified celestial and spiritual Divine things, therefore also it was commanded that they should remove the tail near the spine of the back, and also should sacrifice it with other parts there mentioned (Leviticus 3:9; 8:25; 9:19; Exodus 29:22). That the burnt-offerings and sacrifices signified celestial and spiritual Divine things, which are the internals of the church, and from which worship is performed, may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia 2180, 2805, 2807, 2830, 3519, 6905, 8936). Because tails signify sensual scientifics, which, when separated from interior things which are spiritual - that is, when they do not with the interiors, look inwards and upwards, but outwards and downwards - signify falsities confirmed by scientifics, therefore also in the following parts of the Apocalypse, where falsities from that source are treated of, it is said that the tails of the horses seen in the vision were like serpents, having heads with which they do hurt (9:19); and afterwards that the dragon drew with his tail the third part of the stars of heaven, and cast them upon the earth (12:3, 4). These things may be seen explained below.

543. And out of the smoke came forth locusts upon the earth. That this signifies that from infernal falsities they became corporeal sensual in the church, is plain from the signification of smoke, which denotes infernal falsity, concerning which see above (n. 539), where it is shewn, that by the well of the abyss, out of which the smoke ascended, is signified the hell where and whence are the falsities of evil which falsify the truths of the Word; consequently, smoke here signifies infernal falsity; and from the signification of locusts, which denote the ultimate Sensual of man which is in the falsity of evil, concerning which we shall speak presently; and from the signification of coming forth upon the earth, as denoting upon the church, for the earth signifies the church. The things also, which are contained in the Apocalypse are predicted concerning the church and its state.

[2] That the locust signifies the ultimate Sensual of man, which is in the falsity of evil, is evident from all the details in this chapter as far as verse 12; and it is evident from the explanation of these that nothing else is meant by locusts. But here it shall first be explained what is meant by the ultimate Sensual of man. It is not the Sensual of sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch, that is here meant, for these things are proper to the body, but it is the ultimate of thought and affection, which is first opened with infants, and which is of such a nature that they think of nothing else, and are influenced by no other objects than those which make one with the senses above mentioned. For infants learn to think by means of the senses, and to be affected by objects according to the things which have pleased the senses; wherefore, the first Internal that is opened in them is the Sensual, which is called the ultimate Sensual of man, and also the corporeal Sensual. But afterwards, as the infant grows older and reaches boyhood, the more interior Sensual is opened, from which he thinks naturally, and is also affected naturally. At length, when he becomes a youth and young man, the Sensual still more interior is opened, from which he thinks rationally, and, if he is in the good of charity and faith, spiritually; and also he is rationally and spiritually affected. This thought and affection is called the rational and spiritual man, while the former is called the natural man, and the first the sensual man.

[3] With every man, the interiors of his thought and affection, are successively opened, and this by continual influx out of heaven from the Lord; by this influx the Sensual is first formed which is nearest to the body, whence man becomes sensual; afterwards the Natural whence he becomes natural; and after this the Rational and with that the Spiritual, whence he becomes a rational and spiritual man. But this is formed and perfected only in proportion as man thinks concerning God, and Divine things from God, and in proportion as he is affected with them, that is, in proportion as he wills and lives according to them. For if this does not take place, then the spiritual man is opened in a general way, but is not formed, much less perfected. By the opening of the spiritual man in a general way, man has the faculty of thinking, and from thought of speaking rationally, for this is the common effect of the influx of heaven with every man. Hence it is clear, that man has thoughts and affections both spiritual, natural, as well as sensual, and that those have spiritual thoughts and affections who think from God concerning God and Divine things; but that those only have natural thoughts and affections who do not think from God concerning God and Divine things, but only from themselves, or from the world concerning themselves or the world. But it must be understood, that to think from self or from the world is not to think from these but from hell, for he who does not think from God thinks from hell, it being impossible for any one to think from both at the same time.

But those who deny God, and thence the Divine things of heaven and the church, and confirm themselves against them, all become sensual men more or less, according to confirmations. When their minds are engaged upon spiritual things they think only about falsities, and are affected with evils; and if they think about any truths, whether they be spiritual, moral, or civil, it is only from the knowledge (scientia) of such things as are in the memory, and they see nothing beyond causes the most obvious, and which they are also able to confirm; and if they are influenced by goods, it is merely from a delight which is for the sake of themselves, or of the world, thus from some desire pertaining to the love of self, or to the love of the world. The thought of the sensual man is called material thought, and his affection is called corporeal affection, which is cupidity.

[4] Moreover, it is to be observed that all the evils derived by man from his parents, which are called hereditary evils, reside in his natural and sensual man, but not in the spiritual; hence it is that the natural man, and particularly the sensual man is opposed to the spiritual. For the spiritual man from infancy is closed, and it is opened and formed only by Divine Truths received in the understanding and will; and in proportion as the spiritual man is opened and formed, and according to the quality thereof, in the same proportion are the evils of the natural and sensual man removed, and goods implanted in their place. Since all evils reside in the natural and sensual man, it follows that falsities reside there also, because all falsities are of evil; for while man desires, and wills from evil, he thinks and speaks from falsity; for the evil of the will, when it forms itself in the thought, so that its quality is clear to others, or to himself, is called falsity, wherefore falsity is the form of evil, as truth is the form of good.

From these considerations the nature and quality of the man who is called a sensual man is evident, and that a man becomes sensual when he acts out the evils into which he is born and adds more to them from himself. So far as he does this, and confirms himself therein, so far the spiritual man is kept closed; in which case the natural and sensual man denies Divine things which pertain to heaven and the church, and acknowledges only such things as pertain to the world and Nature; in fact, the sensual man, is then so blind as to believe nothing but what he sees with his eyes, and touches with his hands. In this state are many of the learned, however wise and intelligent they may be supposed to be from their ability to speak from the knowledges (scientiae) that are in the memory, and this apparently like rational men; because their spiritual mind is opened in a general way, as is the case with every man, as shown above.

[5] Because in that which follows in this chapter much is said concerning the locust, and as the locust signifies the Sensual, which is the ultimate or extreme of the natural man, it is important that the nature and quality of this Sensual should be fully known, and therefore also who and what the sensual man is. I shall, therefore, quote here what has been stated and shown in the Arcana Coelestia on this subject as follows. The Sensual is the ultimate of the life of man, inhering and adhering to his Corporeal (n. 5077, 5767, 9212, 9216, 9331, 9730). He is called a sensual man, who judges all things from the bodily senses, and who, believes nothing but what he can see with his eyes and touch with his hands, saying that this is something, and rejecting everything else (n. 5094, 7693). Such a man thinks in things outermost, and not interiorly from any spiritual light (n. 5089, 5094, 6564, 7693). The interiors of the mind, which sees from the light of heaven, are closed, so that a man sees therein nothing of the truth pertaining to heaven and the church (n. 6564, 6844, 6845). In a word, he is in a gross natural light, and thus perceives nothing that is from the light of heaven (n. 6201, 6310, 6564, 6844, 6845, 6598, 6612, 6614, 6622, 6624). Hence he is interiorly opposed to the things of heaven and the church (n. 6201, 6317, 6844, 6845, 6948, 6949). The learned, who have confirmed themselves against the truths of the church, are sensual (n. 6316). Sensual men reason with acuteness and readiness, because their thought lies near their speech, so as to be almost in it, and because they place all intelligence in discoursing from the memory alone (n. 195, 196, 5700, 10236); but they reason from the fallacies of the senses, with which the vulgar are captivated (n. 5084, 6948, 6949, 7693). Sensual men are crafty and malicious above all others (n. 7693, 10236). The covetous, adulterers, the voluptuous, and the deceitful, are especially sensual (n. 6310); their interiors are unclean and filthy (n. 6201); thereby they communicate with the hells (n. 6311). They who are in the hells are sensual, and the more so the deeper their hells (n. 4623, 6311). The sphere of infernal spirits conjoins itself with the Sensual of man from behind (n. 6312). Those who reasoned from the Sensual, and thence against the genuine truths of faith, were called by the ancients serpents of the tree of knowledge (n. 195, 196, 197, 6398, 6949, 10313). The Sensual of man, and the sensual man, are further described (n. 10236); and the extension of the Sensual in man (n. 9731). Sensual things ought to be in the last place and not in the first, and with a wise and intelligent man, they are in the last place, and subject to interior things, but with an unwise man, they are in the first place, and govern, and these are they who are properly called sensual (n. 5077, 5125, 5128, 7645). If sensual things are in the last place, a way is opened by them to the understanding, and truths are perfected by a mode of extraction (n. 5580). The sensual things of man are proximately extant to the world, and admit the things which flow to them from the world, and as it were sift them (n. 9726). The external or natural man communicates by means of those things with the world, but by rational things with heaven (n. 4009). Sensuals thus minister such things as are serviceable to the interiors of the mind (n. 5077, 5081). There are sensual things which minister to the intellectual part, and others which minister to the will part (n. 5077). Unless the thought be elevated from sensual things, man can attain but little wisdom (n. 5089). A wise man thinks above the Sensual (n. 5089, 5094). Man, when his thought is elevated above sensual things, comes into a clearer light, and at length into heavenly light (n. 6183, 6313, 6315, 9407, 9730, 9922). Elevation above things sensual, and withdrawal from them, were known to the ancients (n. 6313). Man in his spirit might see things that are in the spiritual world, if he could be drawn away from the sensual things of the body, and be elevated into the light of heaven by the Lord (n. 4622); the reason of this is, that it is not the body which thinks, but the spirit of man in the body in proportion as he thinks in the body, in the same proportion he thinks grossly obscurely, thus in darkness, but in proportion as he thinks not in the body, he thinks clearly in the light 4622, 6614, 6622). The ultimate of the understanding is the Scientific Sensual, and the ultimate of the will is sensual delight (n. 9996). What the difference is between the sensual things which are in common with the beasts, and those which are not common with them (n. 10236). There are sensual persons who are not evil, because their interiors are not shut, in the manner [above described]; concerning their state in the other life see n. 6311.

[6] That the locust signifies nothing else but the Sensual of man just described, is evident also from other passages in the Word where the locust is mentioned.

Thus in Moses:

"Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and Jehovah brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all that night; and when it was morning the east wind brought the locust. And the locust went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the border of Egypt, very grievous, before it there was no such locust, neither after it shall there be such. And they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the tree which the hail had left; and there remained not any green thing on the trees, or in the herb of the field, through all the land of Egypt." And the locust filled the house of Pharaoh, and the house of all his servants, and the house of all the Egyptians (Exodus 10:4, 6, 13-15).

All the miracles in Egypt, as well as all the other miracles recorded in the Word, involve and signify spiritual things pertaining to heaven and the church, consequently the plagues of Egypt signify spiritual plagues. This plague of the locusts denotes the destruction of the whole natural man by the rushing in of evil and falsity from the Sensual. Egypt signifies the natural man as to the Scientific and what is pleasurable therein, and "locust" the falsity and evil of the sensual man vastating the natural man, that is, expelling thence and destroying all the truth and good of the church; therefore it is said, "The locust went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the border of it." The land of Egypt signifies the Natural of the men of the church, and by the border of Egypt is signified their Sensual. For the Sensual is the ultimate or outermost of the Natural, wherefore it is its boundary; the locust is the falsity and evil therein.

Because the falsity and the evil of the sensual man are the most grievous, being corporeal and earthly, therefore it is said that the locust was very grievous, that there was none like it before, nor would there be any such after it. The reason of this was, that the Egyptians had the knowledge (scientia) of correspondences, and from it they had a knowledge of spiritual things pertaining to heaven, but these they turned into what was magical. Because the falsity and evil [of the sensual man] when they break into the natural man, lay it altogether waste, by destroying every truth and every good therein, it is therefore said that the locust "covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened, and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees"; the land of Egypt, denoting the Natural of the men of the church, the herb of the land denoting the truth, and the fruit of the tree the good therein. The same is also meant by the locust filling the houses of Pharaoh, and the houses of his servants, and of all the Egyptians, for the house of Pharaoh, and the houses of his servants and all the Egyptians signify the natural mind in its whole extent. For house in the Word signifies the interior things of man which belong to his inner and to his outer mind, and in this case those things which are of his natural mind.

[7] It is said that here by the locust going up over all the land of Egypt, is signified the irruption of falsity and evil out of the sensual man into the natural, when yet the natural man is interior and the sensual exterior, and irruption or influx proceeds not from the exterior into the interior, but from the interior into the exterior. It must be known therefore that the irruption or influx of the sensual man into the natural means the closing up of the natural man until it becomes like the sensual, whence, the extension of the evil and falsity is greater, and both in like manner become corporeal and earthly. Otherwise, however man, from his infancy, learns to separate the sensual man from the natural, by speaking truth and doing good, although from the sensual man he thinks falsity, and wills evil, and he does this until they are altogether separated, which takes place when man is reformed and regenerated by the Lord; but if they are not separated, man cannot do otherwise than think and will insanely, and therefore speak and act insanely.

[8] Because the locust signifies the Sensual as to falsity and evil, or, what is the same thing, the falsity and evil of the sensual man, therefore the signification of the locust and the grasshopper is similar, as in David:

"He sent a swarm among them, which devoured them; and frogs which destroyed them. He gave also their increase unto the grasshopper, and their labour unto the locust" (Psalm 78:45, 46).

And again:

"He spake, and the locust came, and the grasshopper, and that without number, which devoured all the herb in the land, and devoured the fruit of their ground" (Psalm 105:34, 35).

But here by locust is signified the falsity pertaining to the sensual man, and by the grasshopper (bruchus) the evil of the same, or the falsity and evil which are in and from the sensual man. This evil is signified by the grasshopper, and this falsity by the locust because the grasshopper also is a locust, which is evident from this fact, that those things were said by David concerning the locusts in Egypt, and yet in Moses the locust only is mentioned, and not the grasshopper.

[9] Similar things are signified by the locust and the grasshopper in Joel:

"That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the grasshopper eaten. Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine (mustum); for it is cut off from your mouth" (1:4, 5).

So again, in the same prophet:

"And the floors shall be full of pure wheat, and the presses shall overflow with new wine (mustum) and oil. And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the grasshopper, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you" (2:24, 25).

That these injurious creatures signify falsities and evils vastating or consuming the truths and goods of the man of the church, is evident, since it is said, that "all drinkers of wine (vinum) should howl for the new wine (mustum) which is cut off from your mouth," and by wine and new wine is signified the truth of the church; and also since it is said that their floors should be full of wheat, and their presses should overflow with new wine and oil, for by the floor is signified the doctrine of the church, by the wheat and the oil are signified its goods, and by the new wine (mustum), its truths.

[10] So in Nahum:

"The fire shall devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off, it shall devour thee as the grasshopper; multiply thyself as the grasshopper; multiply thyself as the locust. Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of the heavens; the grasshopper spread itself abroad, and fled away. Thy crowned are as the locust, and thy captains as the locust of locusts which sit in the fences in the day of cold, the sun ariseth, they flee away, and their place is not known where they are" (3:15, 17).

These things are said concerning the "city of bloods," which signifies doctrine fashioned from falsified truths, thus from falsities. The destruction of those who are in a faith and life according to that doctrine, is signified by the fire shall devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off. The fire which shall devour, signifies evil destroying good, and the sword, falsity destroying the truth; and since the evil and falsity from the sensual man are meant, it is therefore said, "The grasshopper shall devour thee; multiply thyself as the grasshopper; multiply thyself as the locust. Thou has multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven." This multiplication is said to be like that of the grasshopper and the locust, because the Word is very extensively falsified by those who are sensual, thus by the sensual man, for the sensual man is signified by the grasshopper and locust, as was stated above.

The reason why the sensual man falsifies the Word more than others, is, that the ultimate sense of the Word, which is the sense of the letter, is for the natural and sensual man, but the interior sense, for the spiritual man. It is for this reason that a man when he is not a spiritual, but a natural and sensual man, and is in evil, and thence in falsities, does not see the goods and truths which are in the Word, but applies its ultimate sense to confirm his falsities and evils. Merchants signify those who falsify, communicate, and sell. Thy crowned are as the locusts, and thy captains as the locust of locusts, signifies that the primary and chief things of doctrine, which is the "city of bloods," are falsities of evil, and that also those falsities of evil proceed from them. Which sit in the fences in the day of cold, signifies in the truths of the Word, which do not appear as truths, because they are falsified, and are from evil, fences denoting truths that are not apparent, because falsified, and the day of cold denoting the state of the love of evil. The sun ariseth, they flee away, and their place is not known where they are, signifies that they consume all truth and good, so that none remains. The expression "multiplying as the locust" has a similar signification in Jeremiah (46:20, 22, 23), also in the book of Judges (6:5; 7:12).

[11] Falsity in the extremes, or the densest falsity, is also signified by the locust in Moses:

"Thou shalt carry much seed into the field, but shall gather little in; for the locust shall consume it" (Deuteronomy 28:38).

This was one of the curses if they did not observe and do the commandments of Jehovah. By the seed of the field is meant the Word, and by the locust, the dense falsity from the sensual man, which consumes and destroys. The same is signified by "locust" in Amos (7:1, 2); Isaiah (33:3, 4); and in David, (Psalm 109:22, 23).

[12] Since the Sensual of man is the ultimate and lowest of the life of man's thought and affection, as stated above, and as that which is lowest is small, when viewed from those things that are in a higher and more exalted place, it is therefore compared to locusts, as in Isaiah:

Jehovah "who sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as locusts" (40:22).

These words signify that men, as to intelligence, are in the lowest things, and the Lord in the highest.

[13] Similarly, men, viewed by those who regard themselves as superior to others, are compared to locusts, in Moses:

The explorers of the land of Canaan said: "We saw the Nephilim; the sons of Anak, which come of the Nephilim; and we were in our own sight as locusts, and so we were in their eyes" (Num. 13:33).

That Nephilim and the Anakim in the Word signify those who are fully convinced of their own superiority and wisdom above others, and, in the abstract sense, dire persuasions, may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia 311, 567, 581, 1268, 1270, 1271, 1673, 3686, 7686). That they were seen, and also appeared to themselves, as locusts, is agreeable to appearances in the spiritual world, for there, when those who are persuaded of their own superiority look at others, they see them as little and vile, and these also then appear such to themselves.

[14] Since the locust signifies the Sensual, which is the ultimate of the life of man's thought, or the ultimate in which the understanding closes, and upon which it rests, therefore this ultimate is, as it were, the basis and foundation upon which stand the interior or higher things, pertaining to the understanding and will of man; similarly the interior and higher things, called in the Word spiritual and celestial. And since everything must have a foundation in order to endure and subsist, therefore the sense of the letter of the Word, which is the ultimate [sense] and the basis, is natural and sensual, and is also meant, in a good sense, by the locust, consequently also its truth and good; for this reason John the Baptist ate locusts, and the sons of Israel were allowed to eat them. It is said of John the Baptist that he had raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins, and ate locusts and wild honey (Matthew 3:4; Mark 1:6). John the Baptist was thus clothed because, like Elias, he represented the Word; and by raiment of camel's hair, by a leathern girdle, and by eating locusts and wild honey, he represented its ultimate sense, which, as was said is natural-sensual, because it is for the natural-sensual man. Raiment signifies truth which clothes good; camel's hair signifies the ultimate of the natural man, which is sensual; locusts and wild honey also signify the ultimate in regard to appropriation, or the Sensual; the locust signifies the Sensual as to truth; wild honey, the Sensual as to good; and eating, the appropriation thereof.

It is to be observed, that in ancient times, when churches were representative churches, all who were in ministries were clothed according to their representations, and also ate in agreement with the same.

[15] That the children of Israel were allowed to eat the locust, is evident from these words in Moses:

"Every winged creeping thing that goes upon four feet, shall be an abomination. But what goeth upon four, which hath legs above its feet, to leap withal upon the earth, ye may eat," among which the locust also is named (Leviticus 11:20, 21, 22).

They were allowed to eat locusts because locusts have legs above their feet to leap with, for legs signify natural good conjoined to spiritual good, and feet, natural truth from that good; and all truth which is from good ought to be appropriated and conjoined to man, but not the truth which is not from good, for this truth is conjoined with some evil; wherefore it is said that the winged creeping thing going upon four which hath no legs above its feet was an abomination. It is said also to leap upon the earth, because leaping, when stated of birds, signifies to live, equally as walking when used in reference to the animals of the earth; and spiritual life is from truths from good, which are signified by leaping with the feet above which are legs; but spiritual death is from truths conjoined to evil, which is signified by going upon four feet above which are no legs, wherefore to eat such things, is said to be an abomination.

[16] Because a horse signifies the Intellectual, and a locust the Sensual which is the ultimate of the Intellectual, and the intellect lives whilst it is in its ultimate, therefore the ancients spoke of horses leaping and jumping like the locust.

Thus in Job:

"Dost thou give the horse strength? dost thou clothe his neck with shaking? Dost thou make him to leap as the locust? the glory of his nostril is terror" (39:19, 20).

The quality of the understanding is here described by a horse, as being robust, moving and curving its neck, and walking by leaps; and because the ultimate of the understanding is the Sensual, which is signified by the locust, and the life of the understanding in this ultimate is signified by jumping and walking by leaps, therefore it is said that the horse leaps like the locust. The most ancient books, amongst which is the book of Job, were written by pure correspondences; for the knowledge (scientia) of correspondences was then the knowledge of knowledges (scientia scientiarum), and those who could write books abounding in the more significant correspondences, were esteemed above others. The book of Job is of this kind. But the spiritual sense from the correspondences brought together therein does not treat of the holy things of heaven and the church, like the spiritual sense in the prophets, therefore that book is not amongst the books of the Word; nevertheless passages are quoted from it on account of the correspondences in which it abounds.