6963. 'And behold, his hand was leprous, like snow' means the profanation of truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'hand' as power, as above in 6947, and as truth since spiritual power consists in truth, 6948, 6960; and from the meaning of 'leprosy' as profanation, in particular the profanation of truth, dealt with below. In the historical part of the Word a great deal is said about leprosy - about the various manifestations of it in the skin, about determining the nature of it from those manifestations, and about whether a leper should be shut away, leave the community, or be set at liberty; and about leprosy in garments, vessels, and actual houses. So much is said about leprosy not on account of leprosy as a disease but because it was a sign of the profanation of truth, thus on account of its spiritual meaning and because the Jews and Israelites more than any others were capable of rendering truth profane.

[2] For if those people had known the inner contents of the Word and the actual truths which the religious observances of the Church among them represented, and if they had believed those truths and yet led the lives they were predisposed to lead - namely lives ruled by self-love and love of the world, involving acts of hatred and vengeance on one another, and involving cruelty to gentiles - they could not have avoided profaning the truths they had once believed. For believing truths and leading a life that goes against them is profaning them. It was for this reason too that they were withheld as far as was possible from any recognition of internal truth, 3398, 3489, withheld from it so completely that they did not even know that they would be alive after death. Nor did they believe that the Messiah was coming to save their souls for evermore, only that He would exalt that nation above all throughout the world. And because that nation was like this, and is also like it today, they are still withheld from faith, even though they live amid Christianity. This then is the reason why the nature of leprosy has been described so extensively.

[3] The meaning of 'leprosy' as the profanation of truth is evident from the regulations regarding leprosy in Moses, Leviticus 13:1-end. That description contains in the internal sense the whole nature of the profanation of truth - what profanation is like if recent, what it is like if long-established, what it is like if it exists inwardly in a person, what it is like if it also exists outwardly, what it is like if it can be cured, what it is like if it cannot, what means can be used, and a number of other details. No one can ever come to know about any of this without the help of the internal sense of the Word. But since profane things are what 'leprosy' describes, a detailed explanation of the contents of that description must not be given; heaven has a feeling of horror at the very mention of what is profane.

[4] So let just the following be quoted from those regulations,

If leprosy has broken out severely in the skin and the leprosy has covered the entire skin of [him who has] the plague, from his head to his heels, wherever the priest looks, ¹ and the priest sees that, behold, the leprosy has covered the person's entire flesh, then he shall pronounce [him] clean [who has] the plague. It has all turned white; he is clean. But on the day living flesh appears on him he shall be unclean. Leviticus 17:12-14.

Unless one knew from the internal sense how it could be that one who is leprous all over from his head to his heels was clean it would seem to be an absurdity. But one who is leprous from head to heels means a person who has a knowledge of internal truths but does not acknowledge them, that is, has no belief in them. Profanation does not exist with him inwardly, only outwardly, and is being removed. Therefore he is clean. But if he knows the truths of faith and believes them, and yet leads a life that goes against them, profanation does exist with him inwardly, as it also does with someone who has had a belief in them but subsequently denies them. This explains why it says, 'on the day living flesh appears in him he shall be unclean'; 'living flesh' is used to mean acknowledgement and faith. See also the paragraphs referred to above in 6959.

脚注:

6960. 'Put your hand into your bosom' means making truth their own. This is clear from the meaning of 'hand' as power, dealt with above in 6947; and from the meaning of 'bosom' as love, for the parts of the chest correspond to love since the chest holds within it the heart, which corresponds to celestial love, and the lungs, which correspond to spiritual love, 3635, 3883-3896, 4112, 4113, 4133. And as 'the bosom' therefore corresponds to love it also means that which is one's own, because what constitutes a person's love is that which is his own. For this reason 'putting a hand into one's bosom' here means making something one's own. The fact that making truth one's own is what is meant is evident from the things that follow in the narrative and also from the consideration that truth is what spiritual power consists in, 6948.

[2] The fact that 'the bosom' means that which is a person's true self, and so that which is his own, and from this means making something one's own and joining to oneself through love, is clear from the following places: In Micah,

Do not trust in a companion, put no confidence in a leader; from her who is lying in your bosom guard the doors of your mouth. Micah 7:5.

'Her lying in the bosom' stands for one who has been joined to another through love. So it is also that a wife is called the wife of her husband's bosom, Deuteronomy 28:54; 2 Samuel 12:8, and a husband is called the husband of his wife's bosom, Deuteronomy 28:56; and this is because one belongs to the other. In David,

My prayer falls back onto my bosom. Psalms 35:13.

This stands for its return to himself. In the same author,

Remember, O Lord, the reproach of Your servants - [how] I bear in my bosom all the great peoples. Psalms 89:50.

This stands for what is present with himself, as that which is his own. In Isaiah,

He pastures His flock like a shepherd, He gathers the lambs into His arm, and He carries them in His bosom. Isaiah 40:11.

Here the meaning is similar.

[3] In Luke,

Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be given into your bosom. Luke 6:38.

'Being given into the bosom' stands for imparting them as their own. In the same gospel,

After that it happened that Lazarus died and was taken away by the angels into Abraham's bosom. Luke 16:22.

'Being taken away into Abraham's bosom' stands for being taken to the Lord - whom 'Abraham' is used to mean - by virtue of being joined to Him through love.

[4] In John,

There was reclining on Jesus' bosom one of the disciples, whom Jesus loved. Falling towards Jesus' breast he said to Him, Lord, who is it? John 13:23, 25.

'Reclining on the bosom' plainly stands for being loved and being joined through love. In the same gospel,

Nobody has ever seen God; the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, He has made Him known. John 1:18.

'In the bosom of the Father' stands for being one.

[5] 'The bosom' stands for that which is a person's true self, and for making something one's own but not through love, in the following places: In Isaiah,

I will repay, I will repay into their bosom your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together. I will measure the value of their work first into their bosom. Isaiah 65:6-7.

In Jeremiah,

Jehovah shows mercy to thousands and He repays the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their sons after them. Jeremiah 31:18.

In David,

Repay our neighbours sevenfold into their bosom, their reproach to which they have subjected You, O Lord. Psalms 79:12.

'Repaying into their bosom' stands for imparting to their true selves.