5246. 'And they hurried him out of the pit' means a hasty casting aside of such things as, belonging to a state of temptation, were a hindrance, and a consequent change that was made. This is clear from the meaning of 'the pit' as a state in which vastation and also temptation take place, dealt with in 4728, 4744, 5038; and from the meaning of 'hurrying him out of it' as a hasty casting aside of such things as belong to this - to a state of temptation. For as 'the pit' describes a state of temptation, 'hurrying someone out of it' describes the removal of such things as belong to that state, consequently the casting aside of them, as is evident from what follows next - he cast aside what belonged to the pit, that is, he clipped [his hair and beard] and changed his clothes.

[2] In comparison with the state that follows it, a state in which temptation takes place is like conditions in a pit or prison - squalid and unclean. For when a person undergoes temptation unclean spirits are near him and round about him. They activate the evils and falsities residing with him; and they also confine him to these, increasing them to the point where he reaches despair. So it is that the person dwells at such times amid uncleanness and squalor; and when a visual presentation of that state is made in the next life (for there they can present visually the nature of any spiritual state) it is seen as a cloud issuing from filthy places. And one also smells the stench emanating from the same source. A sphere such as this is what surrounds someone undergoing temptation and also someone undergoing vastation, that is, one who is in the pit on the lower earth, dealt with in 4728.

[3] But when the state involving temptation comes to an end the cloud is dispersed and the air is made clear. The reason this happens is that temptations are the means by which the evils and falsities residing with a person are exposed and removed, the cloud presenting itself while they are being exposed, the clear air when they are being removed. The change that takes place in that state is also meant by Joseph clipping [his hair and beard] and changing his clothes.

[4] One may also compare the state in which temptation takes place to a person's condition when he falls among robbers. When he gets away his hair is dishevelled, his face is rough, and his clothes are torn. If he yields in temptation he remains in that state; but if he overcomes in temptation his condition is happy and peaceful once he has attended to his face, combed his hair, and changed his clothes. What is more, there are hellish spirits and genii who, behaving at such times like robbers, surround and attack him, and so subject him to temptations. From all this it is now evident that 'they hurried him out of the pit' means a hasty casting aside of such things as, belonging to a state of temptation, were a hindrance, and a consequent change that was made.

5037. The reason why 'being committed to the prison-house' and 'being kept bound there' mean being subjected to temptations involving false-speaking against good is that the expression 'the prison house' is used for the entire place just beneath and round about the soles of the feet where those undergoing vastation are kept. Those undergoing vastation there are people who, in spite of their false assumptions and of their evil life arising from falsity, have nevertheless had good intentions. Such people cannot be received into heaven until they have divested themselves of their false assumptions and also of a living delight in them which sprang from these assumptions. People in that place are subjected to temptations, for the false assumptions and the living delights springing from these cannot be ousted except by means of temptations. The place where those people are, or rather the state which they are passing through, is meant in general by 'the prison-house' and those actual places by 'pits'. Regarding vastations in the next life, see 698, 699, 1106-1113, 2699, 2701, 2704. Those undergoing vastations are called 'the bound'; not that they are literally bound in any way but that they lack freedom so far as their previous thoughts and resulting affections are concerned.

[2] Such is the condition of those meant in the Word by 'the bound' and by 'those who are in prison', as is evident from other places in the Word:

In Isaiah,

I will give You to be a covenant of the people, a light of the nations, to open the blind eyes, to bring the bound out of prison, out of the dungeon-house those who sit in darkness. Isaiah 42:6-7.

This refers to the Lord and His Coming. Here 'opening the blind eyes and bringing the bound out of prison, and out of the dungeon-house those who sit in darkness' stands for those who have no knowledge of goodness and truth but who nevertheless have the desire to know and be taught about these. But in this instance a different word is used in the original language to describe a prison.

[3] In the same prophet,

All the young men are hidden in prison houses; they have become a prey, and none delivers and none says, Bring out. Isaiah 42:22.

'The young men' in the internal sense are the truths of faith, which are said 'to be hidden in prison-houses and to become a prey' when they are not acknowledged any longer. In the same prophet,

It will be on that day, that Jehovah will visit the host of the height on high, and the kings of the ground on the ground, and the bound will be gathered together over the pit, and they will be shut in ¹ the dungeon; after a multitude of days they will be visited. Isaiah 24:21-22.

'The bound over the pit' stands for those undergoing experiences of vastation, that is, temptation.

[4] In the same prophet,

What will you do on the day of visitation and vastation? It will come from afar. To whom will you flee for help? [Anyone] who has not bowed himself down will fall beneath the bound and beneath the slain. Isaiah 10:3-4.

'Beneath the bound' stands for the hell which lies below the places of vastation.' The slain' stands for those who through the false assumptions adopted by them have destroyed the truths of faith to a smaller extent than those pierced [by the sword] have done, dealt with in 4503.

[5] In Zechariah,

He will speak peace to the nations, and His dominion will be from sea to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth. Also as for You, through the blood of Your covenant I will let out the bound ones from the pit in which there is no water. Return to the stronghold, O bound ones of hope. Zechariah 9:10-12.

'Letting out the bound ones from the pit' stands for those who are undergoing vastation and temptation; for the places where such undergo vastation are called 'pits', see 4728, 4744. In David,

Jehovah hears the needy and does not despise His bound ones. Psalms 69:33.

In the same author,

Let the groaning of him who is bound come before You. Psalms 79:11.

In the same author,

Jehovah looked from the heavens towards the earth to hear the groaning of him who was bound, to open to the sons of death. Psalms 102:19-20.

'Those who are bound' stands for those who are undergoing vastation and temptations. In Isaiah,

In a time of good pleasure I have answered You, and in a day of salvation I have helped ² You; I have also guarded You, and I have given You for a covenant of the people to restore the land, to apportion the inheritances that have been laid waste, to say to those that are bound, Go out; and to those who are in darkness, Reveal yourselves. They will feed ³ along the roads, and on all slopes will their pasture ⁴ be. And they will neither hunger nor thirst. Isaiah 49:8-10.

[6] In the same prophet,

The Spirit of the Lord Jehovih is upon Me, Jehovah has anointed Me; to bring good tidings to the poor He has sent Me, and to bind up the broken in heart; to preach liberty to captives, and to those who are bound, to him who is blind; to proclaim the year of Jehovah's good pleasure.

In David,

Jehovah who executes judgement for the oppressed, who gives bread to the hungry; Jehovah who sets the bound free; Jehovah who opens the blind [eyes]; Jehovah who lifts up the bowed down; Jehovah who loves the righteous; Jehovah who guards strangers, upholds the orphan and the widow. Psalms 146:7-9.

'The bound' stands for those who are undergoing vastation and temptations because of falsities.

From all these places it is also evident who are meant in Matthew by those who are bound or 'in prison' and likewise who are meant by 'the hungry, the thirsty, and strangers',

Then the King will say to those at His right hand, I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in, naked and you clothed Me around, I was sick and you visited Me, I was in prison and you came to Me. Matthew 25:34-36

Regarding these verses, see the preliminary section of the present chapter, 4954-4958.

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