714# “看哪，有一条大红龙”表示所有因自我之爱而纯属世和感官化，却又从圣言和由此而来的教义，或讲道中获得或多或少的知识，认为只通过脱离生活的知识或科学就会得救的人。这从“龙”和“大红”的含义清楚可知：“龙”是指一个纯属世而感官化，却又有本身属灵的事物的知识或科学，无论这知识或科学来自圣言、讲道，还是来自宗教的人(对此，我们很快就会谈到)；“大红”是指处于自我之爱及其邪恶；因为在圣言中，“大”论及良善，在反面意义上论及邪恶，正如“多”论及真理，在反面意义上论及虚假(参看AE 336, 337, 424节)，“红”论及两种意义上的爱，即属天之爱，也就是对主之爱，在反面意义上论及魔鬼之爱，也就是自我之爱(对此，也可参看AE 364节)。这表明，“大红龙”表示所有因自我之爱而纯属世和感官化，却又从圣言，或由此而来的教义，或讲道中获得或多或少的知识，认为只通过没有仁爱生活的知识就会得救的人。这些人之所以认为他们只通过没有仁爱生活的知识就会得救，是因为所有为身体和世界，不为神和天堂生活的人都变成纯属世和感官的；事实上，每个人都从内在照着他的生活而得以形成；为身体和世界生活就是过一种属世和感官的生活，为神和天堂生活就是过一种属灵生活。
每个人从父母生来就是感官的；通过在世上的生活越来越内在地变得属世，也就是说，照着道德和文明的生活，以及由此所获得的光而变得理性；后来，他通过来自圣言的真理，或取自圣言的教义，以及照着这些真理生活而变成一个属灵人。由此可见，一个知道圣言、教义或牧师的教导，却不照之生活的人，无论他显得多么学识渊博，仍不是属灵的，而是属世的，甚至是感官的，因为知识(或科学)和推理能力不会使人变得属灵，使人变得属灵的，是生活本身。其原因在于，知识和由此而来的推理能力是纯属世的，因而也能被恶人所享有，甚至被最坏的人所享有；但来自圣言的真理和和照之的生活却是那使人变得属灵的，因为生活就是出于对真理的爱而意愿并实行真理；这种生活不可能只来自属世人，而必须来自属灵人，来自属灵人进入属世人的流注。事实上，热爱真理，出于热爱意愿它们，并出于这种意愿实行它们来自天堂，也就是通过天堂来自主，在性质上是属天堂的，是神性；这一切不能直接流入属世心智，只能通过属灵心智间接流入，属灵心智能为了接受天堂的光和热，也就是为了接受神性真理和神性良善而被打开和形成。这些不能直接流入属世心智，因为属于对自我和世界的爱的人的遗传之恶就居于属世心智；因此，就本身而言，属世人只爱自我和世界，并出于爱去意愿，出于意愿去行这些恶，这些恶阻止了从天堂流入属世人的任何东西，以及在那里对它的接受。因此，主规定，这些邪恶可以通过打开并形成在属世心智之上的属灵心智，并通过从主经由属灵心智进入属世心智的天堂流注而被移除，从而为属灵之爱的真理和良善提供一个地方。
说这些话，是为了让人们知道，知道圣言和教会教义的事物并不使人变得属灵，使人变得属灵的，是照主在圣言中所吩咐的去生活；因此，尽管这些人从圣言知道许多东西，却仍是属世和感官的。在圣言中，这些人由“龙”来表示。他们之所以由“龙”来表示，是因为龙是一种不仅能在地上爬行，还能飞的蛇，它因此出现在天上；正是由于在天上的这种飞行和出现，龙才表示那些处于来自圣言的真理的知识(或科学)，却没有照之生活的人，“蛇”一般表示人的感官事物(参看AE 581节)，这就是为何在启12:9和20:2，“龙”被称为“古蛇”。
714b.由于本章其余的经文和后面都论述了龙，所以要说明它总体和具体地表示哪种人。总体上说，它表示那些或多或少属世，却又处于来自圣言的属灵事物的知识之人。但具体地，它表示那些通过教义和生活确认与仁分离之信的人。这些人构成龙的头。那些出于自我聪明从圣言为自己孵化出教条的人构成龙的身体，而那些不藉着教义研究圣言的人构成龙的外在部分。所有这些人也都歪曲和玷污了圣言，因为他们处于自我之爱，因而处于自我聪明的骄傲，由此变成纯属世的，甚至感官的；感官人由于谬误、感知的模糊和居于其中的身体邪恶而不能看见圣言的纯正真理；因为感官层粘附于身体，这些事物来自身体。
(1)首先，“龙”表示总体上那些或多或少属世，却又拥有来自圣言的属灵事物的知识之人，因为“蛇”表示总体上人的感官事物，因而表示感官人；因此，“龙”，也就是会飞的蛇，表示能飞向天堂的感官人，因为他能出于圣言，或取自圣言的教义说话和思考。事实上，圣言本身是属灵的，因为它本身是神性，因而在天堂中。但由于纯粹的来自圣言的属灵事物的知识并不使人变得属灵，使人变得属灵的，是照圣言中的事物生活，所以凡从圣言拥有知识，却没有照这知识生活的人都是属世的，甚至是感官的。
“龙”所表示的感官人是那些从天堂之光中看不见任何东西，只从世界之光中看到东西，并且当被自我之爱的火和由此而来的骄傲激发时，唯独从世界之光才能谈论神性事物，还能敏锐而轻易地推理它们的人；然而，他们仍旧不能看到这些事物是不是真理，将他们自童年时期起从老师或牧师那里、然后从教义所吸收、后来又通过未从内在来理解的某些圣言经文所确认的东西称为真理。他们因从天堂之光中什么也看不见，所以也看不见真理，而是看见虚假以取代真理，他们称这些虚假为真理；因为真理本身只能在天堂之光中被看见，而在世界之光中却看不见，除非这光被天堂之光光照。由于这就是他们的性质，所以他们只爱肉体和世俗的生活；由于这种生活的快乐和欲望在属世人中占有一席之地，所以这些人的内层是污秽的，挤满各种邪恶，这些邪恶封住了一切入口或道路，阻止天堂之光和热的流注进入；因此，他们内在是魔鬼和撒但，无论他们通过谈吐和模仿的举止显得多么属灵，多么像基督徒。这些人就是纯感官的，因为他们表面上能谈论圣言的圣物，而内心却什么都不信；那些自认为相信的人只有从某个老师，或自我聪明所获得的一种历史、因而说服性的信仰，这种信仰本身是虚假的；然而，他们仍持守这种信仰，因为它能充当获得名声、荣誉和利益的一种手段。“龙”就表示总体上的这些人。但龙具体地表示许多人，因为有些人与头有关，有些人与身体有关，有些人与外在部分有关。
(2)尤其与龙的头有关的人是那些在教义和生活上都确认唯信，也就是与仁分离之信的人。这些人与龙的头有关，因为他们大部分是博学之士，被视为有学问的；事实上，他们确认以下信仰：他们只思想教会的教导就会得救，他们称这些教导为信仰。不过，要说明他们的教义和生活是何性质。他们的教义是，父神派祂那自永恒所生的儿子降世，好叫祂可以成为人，可以成全律法的一切，担当所有人的罪孽，受十字架的苦难；这样，父神就得到和解、动了慈心；那些出于信心处于对这些事的信仰之人就会被接到天堂；这种信心与主一起会代求和拯救；因此，这种信被赐给与父神分离的人类，作为接受和救赎的一个媒介，因为亚当吃了知识(或科学)树后，人就不再处于凭自己行善的状态，他因具有神的形像，因而失去自己的自由意志；最后，上述这些事都是主的功德，人唯独凭主的功德才能得救。在教义方面的这些事物主要是那些处于唯信之人身上的信之事物。主若愿意，别处将解释并说明，没有人能凭属于理解力的任何属灵视觉感知、从而相信这些事中的任何一件事，只能从记忆知道、因而谈论它们，没有对它们的任何理解；因此，这种教义里面没有任何聪明智慧。
还要说明像这样的人在生活上是何品质。他们教导说，人通过唯信被神引导，甚至被引向行善的努力，行为上的良善本身对得救毫无贡献，但唯信可以，任何邪恶都不会定他的罪，因为他处于恩典，并且称义了。他们还设计出他们称之为唯信进程的一些步骤，甚至直到称义的最后阶段。第一步是在属于信仰的事物，尤其上述事物方面的信息；第二步是来自圣言或讲道的确认；第三步是心理调查，不管是不是这样；由于那时怀疑和随之而来的动摇，也就是试探流入，所以圣言对信仰运作的确认是必不可少的，人由此拥有信心，这就是胜利。他们补充说，必须注意，理解力不可以超越圣言对唯信称义的确认；如果它超越了这种确认，没有被保持在对信仰的服从中，那么这个人就屈服了。第四步，也是最后一步，是行善的努力；这是来自神的一种流注，这流注丝毫不来自人，是信的果子；因为他们说，一个人如此完全称义后，任何邪恶都不会定他的罪，任何良善也拯救不了他，但唯信能拯救他。由此清楚可知，这些人在生活上是什么样，即：他们为自己，而不是为神生活，为世界，而不是为天堂生活；因为这源于以下信仰：邪恶不会定罪，良善不会拯救。他们也不知道，没有仁爱生活的信仰不是信仰，人应当避开邪恶，貌似凭自己行善，然而又相信这是来自主，否则邪恶无法摆脱，良善无法被采用或归给。不过，别处会更详细地说明这个主题。
这就是那些形成龙头之人的教义和生活，他们大部分是学识渊博的显贵，很少来自普通民众；原因在于，领袖或前者视这些事为神学奥秘，普通人因世俗工作而无法理解它们。这些人属于龙的头，还因为他们败坏并歪曲圣言中教导爱、仁和生活的所有内容；事实上，就本身而言，圣言只是对主之爱和对邻之仁的教义，决不是与仁分离之信的教义。他们通过称圣言的一切要么为信，要么为一种他们不吃的果子而歪曲圣言，因为他们不思想生活或行为；因此，他们没有被这果子滋养。此外，他们只允许这些原则进入记忆，并从那里进入最接近记忆的思维，这是感官思维，其中没有任何属灵之物，这种思维不会调查一件事是不是真的。因此，他们注意不让任何东西进入属于理解力的内在视觉，因为他们不想知道关于他们的信所说的这一切违背被光照的理解力，如同它们违背了圣言的真正意义一样。这就是为何那些构成龙头的人没有纯正真理，因为从一种虚假原则，如唯信，只能流出在一个连续系列中的虚假；事实上，像唯信那样的东西是不可能存在的，无仁之信不是信，因为仁是信的灵魂；因此，谈论唯信就是谈论没有灵魂、因而没有生命的东西，这种东西本身是死的。
(3)那些出于自我聪明从圣言为自己孵化出教条的人构成龙身，这一点可从以下事实明显看出来：所有研究圣言，并处于自我之爱的人也处于自我聪明的骄傲；所有处于这种骄傲，同时在来自属世之光的聪明上很擅长的人都由此为自己孵化出教条；这是基督教界的一切异端和一切虚假的源头。必须解释一下来自人的自我的聪明是什么样，不是来自人的自我的聪明又是什么样。来自人的自我的聪明来自他自己，而不是来自人的自我的聪明来自主。所有处于自我之爱的人都有来自他们自我的聪明，因为自我之爱正是人的自我，那些为了名声、荣耀和尊敬而阅读圣言，并从中收集教条的人就处于自我之爱。他们因不能看见任何真理，只能看见虚假，所以在龙的身体中；因为他们从圣言中收集并孵化出诸如支持他们的爱和从这些爱中流出的邪恶的那些东西，像那些与他们的教条相反的事物，也就是来自良善的真理，他们要么看不见，要么扭曲；但所有处于对真理的属灵情感，也就是热爱真理，因为它是真理，并有利于永生和人灵魂的生命之人都从主拥有聪明。可以说，他们的聪明不是来自他们的自我，而是来自主，因为当他们阅读圣言时，就被提升到他们的自我之上，甚至被提升到天堂之光中，并被光照；在天堂之光中，真理从真理本身显现，因为天堂之光就是神性真理。但那些处于自我之爱，并由此处于自我聪明的骄傲之人不能从他们自己的自我中被提升出来，因为他们不断关注自我，并且在一切最小的事上都如此行。这就是为何他们将拯救的一切都置于对他们自己教条的信仰，也就是置于知道和思考，却不同时置于生活，因而也不同时置于意愿和实行。因此，这些人构成龙的身体。这身体的心是自我之爱，其呼吸的气息，或它的灵是自我聪明的骄傲；龙因这两者而被称为“大红”，在希腊原文中，“红”这个词源自火红，因而源自爱和骄傲。
(4)那些不藉着教义研究圣言，同时处于自我之爱的人构成龙身的外在。外在或外层从内层发出，并像各个部位上的皮肤、鳞片和突起那样包含、围住和容纳内层。这些人构成龙身的外在，是因为他们没有圣言的属灵事物的聪明，或说不理解这些事物；事实上，他们只知道字义上的圣言，而圣言的字义具有这种性质：除非教义照亮道路，否则它可能会导致各种错误和虚假。因此，那些不藉着教义研究圣言的人能随心所欲地确认异端，因对自我和世界的爱，以及由此产生的邪恶，还能欣然接受并捍卫它们。因为圣言的字义是神性真理的终端意义，因而是给属世和感官人的，适应它的理解，并且常常有利于它；因此，除非从教义的角度，如同从一盏明灯去解读和看待它，否则在属于天堂和教会的许多事上，它会把心智带入黑暗。然而，这些人却自以为比其他所有人都更有智慧，而事实上，他们根本没有智慧。
(5)所有构成龙的人都拜父神，视主为一个和他们自己一样的人，而不是神，即便视为神，也是将祂的神性置于祂的人身之上，而不是置于它里面。这一点将在下文得以说明，那里论述了龙与米迦勒的争战。
(6)由此可见，龙的“尾巴”表示那些构成龙头、龙身和龙的外在部分的人对圣言的歪曲和玷污；因为龙的尾巴，和一切动物的尾巴一样，都是脊柱的延续，也就是脑的延伸；因此，它照着可以说它所爱抚的头和身体的欲望、贪求和快乐而移动、弯曲和来回摆动。所有构成龙的人都歪曲并玷污圣言，因为他们由于自我之爱而属世和感官化，并由此处于自我聪明的骄傲，故经上说：“龙和他的尾巴拖拉着天上星辰的第三部分，把它们摔在地上。”“天上的星辰”表示来自圣言的真理和良善的知识，因而表示由此而来的来自良善的真理，“把它们摔在地上”表示扭曲、玷污、因而摧毁它们。
“他的尾巴”是指前面所描述的人构成龙，以及对圣言真理的玷污和摧毁，对此，我蒙允许在灵界见过两三次；因为出现在灵界的一切事物都代表属灵事物。当这些人出现在天堂之光中时，他们看上去就像长着一条长尾巴的龙；当许多这样的人出现时，这尾巴看似从南方穿过西方延伸到北方；这尾巴似乎还将天上的星辰拖下来，摔在地上。
714c.由于“龙”表示前面所描述的那些人，“他的尾巴”表示对圣言的歪曲和玷污，所以在圣言中，龙的“住处”和“床”表示只有虚假和邪恶的地方，如在以下经文中。以赛亚书：
干旱之地要变为水池，干渴之地要变为水泉；在龙(或蛇)的住处，就是它的巢穴，必有青草代替芦苇和灯心草。(以赛亚书35:7)
这些话论及主降临和祂在外邦人中间建立一个新教会；这些话的意思是，教会的真理和良善必在它们以前所不在的地方，甚至在有虚假和邪恶的地方；“干旱和干渴之地”和“龙的住处”，以及“芦苇和灯心草”表示以前虚假和邪恶所在的地方；而“水池”、“水泉”，以前龙所在的“巢穴”和“青草”表示那时他们将拥有的真理和良善。
耶利米书：
我必使耶路撒冷变为乱堆，为龙的住处；也必使犹大的城邑变为荒场，无人居住。(耶利米书9:11)
同一先知书：
看哪，有风声传来，有大骚动从北方之地而来，要使犹大城邑变为荒废，成为龙的住处。(耶利米书10:22)
“耶路撒冷”表示教义方面的教会，“犹大城邑”表示教义，也就是来自圣言的真理；“必使耶路撒冷变为乱堆”、“使犹大城邑变为荒废，成为龙的住处”表示对真理的歪曲和对良善的玷污，由此产生纯粹的虚假和邪恶，因为被歪曲的真理就是纯粹的虚假，被玷污的良善就是纯粹的邪恶；“风声和从北方之地而来的大骚动”表示与真理争战的虚假，与良善争战的邪恶；“北方之地”表示那些处于邪恶之虚假的人所在之地。
又：
夏琐必成为龙的住处，永远荒凉；没有一个人住在那里，人子也不在那里寄居。(耶利米书49:33)
“夏琐”表示属灵的财富，也就是来自圣言的真理和良善的知识；“夏琐必成为龙的住处，永远荒凉”表示它们的毁灭，甚至直到它们不复存在，虚假和邪恶取而代之；“没有一个人住在那里，人子也不在那里寄居”表示教会的真理将不再剩下，“人子”表示教会的真理。
以赛亚书：
她的宫殿要长出荆棘，她的堡垒要长蒺藜和刺草；叫她作龙的住处，猫头鹰女儿的苑囿。(以赛亚书34:13)
这些话论及以东和列族，列族表示那些处于虚假和邪恶的人；“荆棘，蒺藜和刺草”表示他们所处的虚假和邪恶；“宫殿和堡垒”表示捍卫它们的教条；而“龙的住处，猫头鹰女儿的苑囿”表示一切良善和真理的毁灭，“猫头鹰”表示那些视虚假为真理的人，“它们的女儿”表示歪曲真理的欲望。
同一先知书：
鸮鸟必在她宫中回应，龙必在殿内回应。(以赛亚书13:22)
这话论及巴比伦，巴比伦表示对良善和真理的玷污和亵渎；鸮鸟所在的“宫(殿)”和龙所在的“殿”表示圣言和教会的良善和真理，它们被玷污和亵渎了，“鸮鸟”表示被玷污和亵渎的真理，“龙”表示被玷污和亵渎的良善。
弥迦书：
为此我要悲痛哀号，剥光赤身而行；我要哀号如龙，悲鸣如猫头鹰的女儿。(弥迦书1:8)
这段经文论述了撒玛利亚的荒废，撒玛利亚表示教义方面的属灵教会，在此表示被荒废的教会；“剥光赤身而行”表示在真理和良善方面的毁灭；“悲痛哀号”表示为它哀恸，“哀号如龙”表示为被毁灭的良善哀恸，“悲鸣如猫头鹰的女儿”表示为被毁灭的真理哀恸。经上以一种代表性的意义说，哀号和悲鸣“如龙和猫头鹰女儿”，以及“剥光赤身而行”，“剥光”与龙所表相同，即表示缺乏良善，“赤身”与“猫头鹰的女儿”所表相同，即表示缺乏真理。
耶利米书：
巴比伦王尼布甲尼撒使我成为空虚的器皿，他像鲸鱼将我吞下，用我的美味充满他的肚腹，又将我赶出去。要让巴比伦成为乱堆，为龙的住处，令人惊骇、嗤笑，并且无人居住。(耶利米书51:34, 37)
此处“巴比伦”和“尼布甲尼撒”也表示对良善和真理的玷污和亵渎。“他使我成为空虚的器皿，他像鲸鱼将我吞下，用我的美味充满他的肚腹，又将我赶出去”表示对一切真理的驱散，由此对一切良善的毁灭，“鲸鱼或海怪”与“龙”具有相同的含义，在原文，这个词用于这两者。“巴比伦要成为乱堆，为龙的住处，令人惊骇、嗤笑，并且无人居住”表示因他们的玷污和亵渎而对一切真理和良善的毁灭，“无人居住”表示任何人里面都没有良善。
约伯记：
我黑暗行走，没有日头，我在会中站着呼求，我成为龙的弟兄，鸣角鸮女儿的同伴。(约伯记30:28, 29)
这些话论及他在试探中的状态，在这种状态下，人以为自己受到诅咒；因此，“我黑暗行走，没有日头”表示就像一个魔鬼，没有爱之良善；“在会中站着呼求”表示在真理当中，却又处于虚假；“成为龙的弟兄，鸣角鸮女儿的同伴”表示与那些处于邪恶、没有良善，处于虚假、没有真理的人合而为一，“龙”表示那些玷污良善，把它们扭曲成邪恶的人，“鸣角鸮的女儿”表示那些如此对待真理的人。
大卫诗篇：
我们的心没有退后，我们的步伐也没有偏离你的路，你在龙之地压伤我们，以死荫遮盖我们。(诗篇44:18, 19)
这段经文也论述了试探。“神在龙之地压伤他，以死荫遮盖他”表示这样就像感官人那样切断了从天堂而出的流注，所以他无法感知何为良善和真理，“龙之地”表示地狱中那些系龙们的人，也就是那些在自己里面摧毁一切良善的人所在之地；这些人所处的虚假被称为“死荫”。
又：
你必践踏狮子和虺蛇，践踏狮子和龙；因为他把他的爱放在我身上，我就要搭救他；因为他知道我的名，我要把他安置在高处。(诗篇91:13, 14)
“践踏狮子和虺蛇”表示摧毁荒废教会真理的内在和外在虚假；“践踏狮子和龙”表示摧毁荒废教会良善的内在和外在虚假；“我就要搭救他；因为他知道我的名，我要把他安置在高处”表示引导一个处于取自圣言的教义之人离开虚假，把他引向内在真理和良善，“搭救”表示引导离开虚假，“安置在高处”表示引向内在真理，“知道我的名”表示处于取自圣言的教义。
玛拉基书：
我恨恶以扫，使他的群山荒废，把他的产业交给旷野的龙。(玛拉基书1:3)
“以扫”表示那些在属世人方面处于良善的人，在此表示那些在属世人方面处于邪恶的人；因此，经上说：“我恨恶以扫。”“我使他的群山荒废”表示属世人的爱之良善将被摧毁；“我把他的产业交给旷野的龙”表示这良善的真理将被感官人的虚假摧毁。
以西结书：
埃及王法老，这卧在自己河中间的大龙(或鲸鱼)，看哪，我与你作对；你曾说，我的河是我自己的，是我自己造的。(以西结书29:3, 4; 32:2)
这段经文描述了属世和感官人的自我聪明的骄傲；“埃及王法老”表示属世和感官人；“龙(或鲸鱼)”表示在知识或科学，也就是虚假或因自我聪明的骄傲而被歪曲的事物方面的属世和感官人。不过，前面解释了这些话(可参看AE 513a节)。
摩西五经：
他们的葡萄树出自所多玛的葡萄树，来自蛾摩拉的田园；他们的葡萄是苦胆葡萄，全挂都是苦的。他们的酒是龙的毒液，是虺蛇残忍的苦胆。(申命记32:32, 33)
前面解释了这些话(可参看AE 519b节)。在那里，“他们的酒”被称为“龙的毒液，虺蛇残忍的苦胆”，表示在雅各的后代中间的教会真理是外在的，其中内在有地狱的邪恶和虚假；“龙和虺蛇”表示感官事物，也就是属世人的终端，充满可怕的邪恶和确认这些邪恶的虚假。原因在于，属世人没有通过属灵心智从主那里接受任何东西；因此，凡它所接受的，都来自地狱。
714d.“龙”表示诸如前面已经阐述的那些事，这一点可从本章接下来的内容更充分地看出来，即：他对即将生产、逃到旷野的妇人的敌意，以及他与米迦勒的争战；这一点从启16:13–15, 20:2, 7, 8, 10, 14进一步看出来，在那里，经上论到他说“他被捆绑一千年，后来被释放，出来要迷惑列族，就是聚集歌革和玛各去与圣徒争战”，后来又说“他被扔在火与硫磺的湖里”；由此可见，“龙”表示那些因不承认仁与爱之良善是用于救赎的媒介或手段而没有这良善，反而视该良善为他们出于说服而称之为信的一种知识(或科学)的人；当仁与爱之良善没有通过人的生活被植入时，邪恶就取而代之，哪里有邪恶，哪里就有虚假。
由于“蛇”表示感官事物，也就是属世人的终端，这些事物不是邪恶，只有在那些邪恶的人那里才是邪恶，还由于在希伯来语，表示龙的这个词与表示无毒之蛇的词是一样的，所以在圣言中，当“龙”是指这些蛇时，“龙”表示并非邪恶的感官事物，或就人而言，并不邪恶的感官人。在希伯来语，这个词是指龙和这种蛇，这一点可见于摩西五经：
当摩西被吩咐从荆棘中把他的杖丢在地上，它变作蛇时，他就捉住它的尾巴，它在他手里又变成一根杖。(出埃及记4:3, 4)
出埃及记：
摩西拿杖，把它丢在法老面前, 它就变作蛇(龙)，术士也用他们的杖照样行了；但摩西的杖，那时是一条蛇(龙)，吞了术士的杖，就是蛇(龙)。(出埃及记7:9–12)
在原文，前面经文中所翻译的蛇这个词和后面经文中所翻译的这个词是不同的；在前面的经文中，经上用的是在圣言的其它部分通常用于蛇的词，但在后面的经文中，这个词被译为“龙”；因此，也可以这样翻译，当摩西的杖被丢在法老面前时，它又变成龙。由此可知，“龙”与“蛇”一样，在好的意义上表示感官层，也就是属世人的终端，前提是它不邪恶或恶毒。
以赛亚书也提到这种较温和意义上的“龙”：
田野的野兽必尊重我，龙和猫头鹰的女儿也必如此，因我使旷野有水，使沙漠有河，好赐给我的百姓、我的选民喝。(以赛亚书43:20)
耶利米书：
田野的母鹿生下小鹿，就撇弃，因为无草；野驴站在山冈上，喘风或气好像龙；它们的眼目因无草而失明。(耶利米书14:5, 6)
在这些经文中，被译为“龙”的这个词与通常译为“蛇”的词是一样的，还译为海中的“鲸鱼”，这些具有相同的含义，即表示总体上人的属世层，也就是感官层；因此，最后这句经文可以译为：“它们喘风好像鲸鱼。”在以赛亚书(51:9)、耶利米书(51:34)、以西结书(29:3, 4)、大卫诗篇(74:13, 14)同样如此。此外，也有些纯感官人是善的。
714. And, behold, a great red dragon.- That this signifies all who from the love of self are merely natural and sensual, and still have more or less knowledge from the Word, from doctrine therefrom, or from preaching, and who think that they will be saved by knowledge (scientia) alone without life, is evident from the signification of the dragon, as denoting the merely natural and sensual man, who has nevertheless a knowledge (scientia) of things in themselves spiritual, whether from the Word, from preaching, or from religion (concerning which we shall speak presently); and from the signification of great and red, as denoting to be in the love of self, and in its evils. For "great," in the Word, is used of good, and, in the opposite sense, of evil, as "much" is used of truths, and, in the opposite sense, of falsities (as may be seen above, n. 336, 337, 424); and "red" is used of love in each sense, namely, of celestial love, which is love to the Lord, and, in the opposite sense, of devilish love, which is the love of self (concerning which also see above, n. 364). It is evident from these things that by "a great red dragon" are meant all those that are merely natural and sensual from the love of self, and still have more or less knowledge from the Word, either from doctrine therefrom, or from preaching, and who think they will be saved by knowledge alone without a life of charity. Such think they will be saved by knowledge alone without a life of charity, because all those who live for the body and the world, and not for God and heaven, become merely natural and sensual. For every one is formed interiorly according to his life; and to live for the body and the world is to live a natural and sensual life, and to live for God and heaven is to live a spiritual life.
[2] Every man is born sensual from his parents, and, by his life in the world, becomes more and more interiorly natural, that is to say, rational, according to moral and civil life, and the light (lumen) acquired therefrom; but he afterwards becomes a spiritual man by means of truths from the Word, or from doctrine from the Word, and by a life according to them. It is therefore evident that he who knows the things taught in the Word, or in doctrine or by a preacher, and does not live according to them, however learned and scholarly he may appear to be, is nevertheless not spiritual, but natural, in fact he is sensual, for knowledge (scientia) and ability to reason do not make man spiritual, but life itself. The reason of this is that knowledge and the consequent ability to reason are merely natural, and can therefore be enjoyed by the evil, indeed by the worst of men; but truths from the Word and a life according to them make man spiritual, for life means to will truths and to do them from a love for them, and this is not possible from the natural man alone, but from the spiritual, and from the influx of this into the natural. For to love truths, and from love to will them, and from such will to do them, is from heaven, that is, through heaven from the Lord, and in its nature is heavenly and divine; this cannot flow in immediately into the natural mind, but mediately through the spiritual mind, which can be opened and formed for the reception of heavenly light and heat, that is to say for the reception of Divine Truth and Divine Good. These cannot flow immediately into the natural mind, because in this mind man's hereditary evils reside, which belong to the love of self and of the world; therefore the natural man, viewed in itself, loves only itself and the world, and from love wills, and from will does those evils, and these prevent anything from flowing out of heaven into the natural man and its reception there. It is therefore provided by the Lord that these evils may be removed, and thus a place given for the truths and goods of spiritual love, namely by the opening and formation of the spiritual mind, which is above the natural mind, and by means of the influx of heaven from the Lord through that mind into the natural mind.
[3] These things have been said, in order that it may be understood that to know the things of the Word, and of the doctrine of the church, does not make man spiritual, but a life according to those things which the Lord has commanded in the Word; consequently, that although men may know many things from the Word, they may yet remain natural and sensual. These are therefore those who are signified, in the Word, by the dragon. Such are signified by the dragon, because the dragon is a kind of serpent, which not only creeps upon the ground, but also flies, and thence (inde) it appears in heaven; and it is because of this flying and this appearance that those who are in the knowledge (scientia) of truths from the Word, and not in a life according to them, are meant by the dragon. For serpents in general signify the sensual things of man, as may be seen above (n. 581), and for this reason also the dragon is called the old serpent in the ninth verse of this chapter and in the second verse of the twentieth chapter.
[4] Since the dragon is treated of in the rest of this chapter, and also afterwards, it shall be stated who in general and particular are signified by it. In general it signifies those who are more or less natural, and who are yet in a knowledge of spiritual things from the Word. But in particular it signifies those who have confirmed themselves by doctrine and life, in faith separated from charity. These form the head of the dragon. But those who from their own intelligence have hatched for themselves dogmas from the Word are the body of the dragon; while those who study the Word without doctrine form the external parts of the dragon. All these also falsify and adulterate the Word, since they are in the love of self, and thus in the pride of their own intelligence, from which they become merely natural, and even sensual; and the sensual man cannot see the genuine truths of the Word, because of fallacies, obscurity of perception, and the evils of the body residing therein; for the Sensual clings to the body, whence such things come.
[5] (i) In the first place, the dragon means in general those who are more or less natural, and yet possess a knowledge of spiritual things from the Word, because serpents in general signify the sensual things of man, and thus sensual men; therefore the dragon, which is a flying serpent, signifies the sensual man, who nevertheless flies towards heaven, in that he speaks and thinks from the Word, or from doctrine from the Word. For the Word itself is spiritual, because in itself it is Divine, and is therefore in heaven. But it is not mere knowledge of spiritual things from the Word that makes man spiritual, but a life according to those things that are in the Word; therefore all those who have knowledge from the Word, and are not in a life according to that knowledge, are natural, indeed, sensual.
[6] The sensual, who are meant by the dragon, are those who see nothing from the light of heaven, but only from the light of the world, and who from this light alone are able to speak concerning Divine things, and also to reason with acuteness and readiness, when excited by the fire of the love of self and pride therefrom; but still they cannot see whether these things are true or not, declaring that to be the truth which from childhood they have imbibed from a master or preacher, and afterwards from doctrine, and which they have since confirmed by some passages of the Word not interiorly understood. Because these see nothing from the light of heaven, they do not see truths, but falsities in place of them, and these they call truths; for truths themselves can be seen only in the light of heaven, and not in the light of the world, unless the latter light be illuminated by the former. Because such is their character, they love no other than a corporeal and worldly life; and as the pleasures and lusts (concupiscentiae) of that life have their seat in the natural man, therefore the interiors of such are filthy and crowded with evils of every kind, which close up every entrance against the influx of the light and heat of heaven; consequently they are interiorly devils and satans, however much they may seem to be spiritual and Christians from their talk and simulated gestures. Such persons are utterly sensual, for outwardly they can talk about the holy things of the church, while inwardly they believe nothing; and those who think they believe, have a merely historical, and thus persuasive faith acquired from some teacher or from their own intelligence, which in itself is false; this they nevertheless hold, because it serves as a means to acquire fame, honour, and gain. Such in general are the dragons. But there are many that are signified in particular by the dragon, for there are some that have reference to the head, some to the body, and some to the external parts.
[7] (ii.) Those who have reference specifically to the head of the dragon are those who have confirmed themselves both in doctrine and life, in faith alone which is faith separated from charity. These have reference to the head of the dragon, because they are for the most part men of erudition and are believed to be learned; for they have confirmed themselves in the belief that they will be saved, by merely thinking about the things which the church teaches; and this they call believing. But the nature of their doctrine and their life shall be stated. Their doctrine is, that God the Father sent His Son, born from eternity, into the world, that He might become a man, fulfil all things of the law, bear the iniquities of all, and suffer the cross. That thereby God the Father was reconciled and moved to compassion, and that those who from confidence were in faith concerning these things, would be received into heaven; and that confidence in that faith, together with the Lord, would intercede and save. Consequently, that such a faith is given to mankind, who are separated from God the Father, as a medium of reception and salvation, because after Adam had eaten of the tree of knowledge (scientia) man was no longer in a state to do good of himself, having, with the image of God, thus lost his free will. Lastly, that the things above mentioned are the Lord's merit, by which alone man can be saved. These, as to doctrine, are the primary things of faith with those who are in faith alone. That no one can possibly perceive and thus believe any of these things from spiritual insight, which belongs to the understanding, but can know, and thus talk about them only from the memory, without understanding them, thus that there is nothing of intelligence in that doctrine, shall be explained and illustrated elsewhere, the Lord being willing.
[8] But what is the character of such as to life, shall also be explained. They teach that man is led of God by faith alone, even to the effort to do good, and that good itself in act contributes nothing to salvation, but faith only, and that then nothing of evil condemns him, because he is in grace, and is justified. They have also devised steps, which they call progressions of faith alone even to the last stage of justification. The first is information in such things as pertain to faith, especially in those mentioned above; the second is confirmation from the Word, or from preaching; the third is mental examination, whether it be so or not; and because doubt and consequent wavering - which is temptation - then flow in, confirmation from the Word concerning the operation of faith is necessary, whence a man has confidence and this is victory. They add that care must be taken that the understanding does not go beyond confirmations from the Word concerning justification by faith alone; and if it proceeds further, and is not kept under obedience to faith, the man succumbs. The fourth and last step is the effort to do good; this is an influx from God, and nothing of it is from man, being the fruit of faith; for they say that when a man is thus fully justified, nothing of evil afterwards condemns him, and nothing of good saves him, but faith alone. From these things the character of such persons as to life is evident, namely, that they live for themselves and not for God, and for the world and not for heaven; for this follows from the belief that evils do not condemn and that goods do not save. Nor do they know that faith without the life of charity is not faith, and that man ought to shun evils and do goods as of himself, nevertheless believing that it is from the Lord, and that otherwise evils cannot be shaken off, or goods appropriated. But more will be said on this subject elsewhere.
[9] Such is the doctrine and life with those who form the head of the dragon, who for the most part are learned dignitaries, with but few from among the common people; the reason is, that the former consider those things as secrets of theology which cannot be comprehended by the common people on account of their secular employments. These belong to the head of the dragon, because they also pervert and falsify all those things of the Word that teach love, charity, and life; for the Word, regarded in itself, is simply the doctrine of love to the Lord and of charity towards the neighbour, and in no case the doctrine of faith separated from charity. They falsify all things of the Word by calling them either faith, or a kind of fruit which they do not eat, because they give no thought to life; they are consequently not nourished by that fruit. Moreover they allow those principles to enter only as far as the memory, and from there to come into the thought nearest to it; this thought is sensual, in which there is nothing spiritual, and it does not examine whether a thing is true. Therefore they take care that nothing shall enter the interior sight which is of the understanding, being unwilling to know that all those things which we have stated concerning their faith are contrary to an enlightened understanding, as they are contrary to the genuine sense of the Word. It is for this reason that those who form the head of the dragon have no genuine truth, for from a false principle, such as that of faith alone, nothing but falsities in a continual series can proceed. Nor can there be any such thing as faith alone, for faith without charity is not faith, since charity is the soul of faith; therefore to speak of faith alone is to speak of that which is without a soul, and thus without life, a thing in itself dead.
[10] (iii) That those who, from their own intelligence, have hatched for themselves dogmas from the Word form the body of the dragon, is evident from this, that all those who study the Word and are in the love of self are also in the pride of their own intelligence; and all who are in this pride, and at the same time excel in cleverness from natural light (lumen) hatch dogmas for themselves therefrom. This is the origin of all the heresies and all the falsities in the Christian world. What intelligence from man's proprium is, and what that intelligence is which is not from his proprium, must be explained. The intelligence which is from a man's proprium is from himself, but the intelligence which is not from his proprium is from the Lord. All who are in the love of self have their intelligence from their proprium, for the love of self is the very proprium of man, and those are in the love of self who read the Word and collect dogmas from it for the sake of fame, glory, and honours. And as they are unable to see any truths, but can see falsities only, therefore they are in the body of the dragon; for they collect and hatch such things from the Word as favour their loves and the evils flowing from them; and such things as are contrary to their dogmas, which are truths from good, they either do not see, or they pervert. But all those who are in the spiritual affection for truth, that is, who love truth because it is truth, and because it is serviceable to eternal life, and to the life of the souls of men, have their intelligence from the Lord. It is said that their intelligence is not from their proprium, but from the Lord, because when they read the Word they are raised above their proprium, and even into the light of heaven, and are enlightened; in this light truth is evident from the truth itself, because the light of heaven is Divine Truth. But those who are in the love of self, and consequently in the pride of their own intelligence, cannot be raised up out of their own proprium, for they continually look to themselves, and they do this in everything. This is the reason why such place the whole duty of salvation in belief in their own dogmas, that is, in knowing and thinking, and not at the same time in the life, thus not at the same time in willing and doing. These, therefore, form the body of the dragon. The heart of this body is the love of self, and the breath (anima) of respiration, or his spirit is pride in [his] own intelligence; from these two the dragon is called a great red dragon, and the term red, in the original Greek text, is derived from fire-red, thus from love and pride.
[11] (iv.) Those who study the Word without doctrine, and who at the same time are in the love of self, form the externals of the dragon's body. Exteriors proceed from interiors, and involve, inclose, and contain them, like the skins, scales, and prominences on every part. Such form the externals of the body of the dragon, because they have no understanding of the spiritual things of the Word; for they know the Word only in the sense of the letter, which is of such a nature, that unless doctrine lights the way, it may lead into errors and falsities of every kind. Consequently, those who study the Word without doctrine are able to confirm as many heresies as they choose, and to embrace and also defend them by the loves of self and of the world, and the evils arising therefrom. For the sense of the letter of the Word is the ultimate sense of Divine Truth, and is therefore for the natural and sensual man, accommodated to its apprehension, and often so as to favour it; unless, therefore, it is read and viewed from doctrine, as from a lamp, it carries the mind away into darkness respecting many things pertaining to heaven and the church. And yet such believe themselves to be wise above all others, when, in fact, they are not wise at all.
[12] (v.) All those who form the dragon worship God the Father, and regard the Lord as a man like themselves, and not as God; and if they do regard Him as God, they place His Divine above His Human, and not within it. This will be made clear in what follows, where the combat of the dragon with Michael is treated of.
[13] (vi.) From this it is now evident that the tail of the dragon means the falsification and adulteration of the Word by those who form its head, its body, and its external parts; for its tail, as is the case with the tail of every animal, is a continuation of the spine (spinoe), which is an extension from the brains, and is therefore moved, bent, and lashed to and fro, according to the appetites, lusts, and pleasures of the head and body, which it, as it were, caresses. And as all those who form the dragon falsify and adulterate the Word because they are natural and sensual from the love of self, and are consequently proud of their own intelligence, it is therefore said that the dragon with his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven and cast them unto the earth. The stars of heaven signify the knowledges of truth and good from the Word, consequently truths from good therefrom; and to cast them unto the earth signifies to pervert and adulterate, and thus destroy them.
[14] That those above described form the dragon, and that the adulteration and destruction of the truths of the Word are meant by its tail, I have been permitted to see two or three times in the spiritual world; for all the things that appear in that world are representatives of spiritual things. When such persons were seen in the light of heaven, they were seen as dragons with a long tail, and when many such were seen, the tail appeared to be extended, from the south, through the west, into the north; and that tail was seen also to draw down, as it were, stars from heaven and cast them unto the earth.
[15] Since those above described are meant by the dragon, and the falsification and adulteration of the Word by its tail, therefore the habitation and bed of dragons, in the Word, signify where there is nothing but mere falsity and evil, as in the following passages.
In Isaiah:
"The dry place shall become a pool, and the thirsty places springs of waters; in the habitation of dragons, its bed, grass instead of the reed and the rush" (35:7).
This is said of the Lord's coming, and the establishment of a new church by Him among the nations; and these words mean that the truths and goods of the church will be where they were not before, even where there were falsities and evils. Where falsities and evils were before is signified by the dry and thirsty place, and by the habitation of dragons, also by the reed and rush; but the truths and goods which they will then have are signified by the pool, the springs of waters, the bed where dragons were before, and by the grass.
[16] In Jeremiah:
"I will make Jerusalem heaps, a habitation of dragons; and the cities of Judah will I reduce to a waste, that there be no inhabitant" (9:11).
And in the same:
"The voice of a clamour, behold, a great tumult cometh from the land of the north, to reduce the cities of Judah to a waste, a habitation of dragons" (10:22).
Jerusalem means the church as to doctrine; and the cities of Judah mean doctrinals, which are truths from the Word; the falsification of truth, and adulteration of good, from which mere falsities and evils arise, are signified by making Jerusalem heaps, and by reducing the cities of Judah to a waste, a habitation of dragons; for truth falsified is mere falsity, and good adulterated is mere evil. The voice of a clamour and a great tumult from the land of the north, signifies falsities fighting against truths, and evils against goods; the land of the north means where those are who are in falsities of evil.
[17] In the same:
"Hazor shall become a habitation of dragons, a desolation even for an age; a man (vir) shall not dwell there, nor shall the son of man (homo) sojourn there" (Jeremiah 49:33).
Hazor signifies spiritual treasures, which are the knowledges of truth and good from the Word; the devastation of these even until they no longer exist, and falsities and evils take their place, is signified by "Hazor shall become a habitation of dragons, a desolation even for an age." That no truth of the church will remain is signified by "a man shall not dwell there, nor shall the son of man sojourn there," the son of man meaning the truth of the church.
[18] In Isaiah:
"The thorn shall come up in her palaces, the thistle and bramble in her fortresses, that it may be a habitation of dragons, a court for the daughters of the owl" (34:13).
This is said of Edom, and the nations, which mean those who are in falsities and evils; thorns, the thistle, and the bramble signify the falsities and evils in which they are; the dogmas defending them are signified by palaces and fortresses; while the devastation of all good and truth is signified by "a habitation of dragons," and "a court for the daughters of the owl," owls denoting those who see falsities as truths, and their daughters the lusts (concupiscentiae) of falsifying truths.
[19] In the same:
"The Ijim shall answer in her palaces, and dragons in the temples" (13:22).
This is said of Babel, which signifies the adulteration and profanation of good and truth; her palaces in which are the Ijim, and the temples where dragons are, signify the goods and truths of the Word and of the church, which are adulterated and profaned, the Ijim signifying adulterated and profaned truths, and dragons adulterated and profaned goods.
[20] In Micah:
"For this will I wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked, I will make a wailing like dragons, and a mourning like the daughters of the owl" (1:8).
This treats of the vastation of Samaria, which signifies the spiritual church as to doctrine, in the present case that church vastated. To go stripped and naked signifies devastation as to truth and good; lamentation over it is signified by wailing and howling, lamentation over devastated good by making a wailing like dragons, and lamentation over devastated truth by making a mourning like the daughters of the owl. The wailing and mourning are said in a representative sense to be like that of dragons and daughters of the owl, also his going stripped and naked, stripped having a signification similar to that of the dragon, namely, to be destitute of goods, and naked, similar to that of the daughters of the owl, that is, to be destitute of truths.
[21] In Jeremiah:
"Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babel, hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up as a sea-monster, he hath filled his belly with my delicacies, he hath driven me away. Let Babel be a heap, a habitation of dragons, a hissing and an astonishment, without inhabitant" (51:34, 37).
Here also Babel and Nebuchadnezzar signify the adulteration and profanation of good and truth. He hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a sea-monster, he hath filled his belly with my delicacies, he hath driven me away, signifies the dispersion of all truth, and the destruction of all good therefrom. Sea-monster, signifies the same as dragon, both being denoted by the same word, in the original tongue. The devastation of all truth and good because of their adulteration and profanation is signified by Babel being a heap, a habitation of dragons, a hissing and an astonishment, without inhabitant, without inhabitant signifying good with no one.
[22] In Job:
"I walked darkened without the sun, I stood in the congregation, I cried out, I am become a brother to dragons, and a companion to daughters of the screech-owl (ululoe)" (30:28, 29).
This is said of his state in temptations, in which man thinks himself condemned; therefore to walk darkened without the sun signifies to be like a devil, without the good of love; to stand in the congregation and cry out, signifies to be among truths and yet in falsities; to become a brother to dragons, and a companion to daughters of the screech-owl, signifies to be conjoined and to be one with those who are in evils without good and in falsities without truths, dragons denoting those who have adulterated goods and turned them into evils, and the daughters of the screech-owl those who do the same to truths.
[23] In David:
"Our heart is not turned back, neither hath our step declined from thy way, for thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death" (Psalm 44:18, 19).
This also treats of temptations. That being thus shut off from influx out of heaven, as the sensual man is, he could not perceive what was good and true, is signified by God sore breaking him in the place of dragons, and covering him with the shadow of death, the place of dragons meaning the place in hell where those are who are dragons, that is, those who have destroyed all good in themselves; the falsity in which these are is called the shadow of death.
[24] Again:
"Thou shalt tread upon the lion and the asp, the lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under foot; because he hath set his desire upon me, I will deliver him, I will exalt him, because he hath known my name" (Psalm 91:13, 14).
To destroy the interior and exterior falsities, which vastate the truths of the church, is signified by treading upon the lion and asp; and to destroy the interior and exterior falsities, which vastate the goods of the church, is signified by trampling under foot the lion and dragon. To lead away from falsities, and to lead to interior truths and goods him who is in doctrine from the Word, is signified by "I will deliver him, I will exalt him, because he hath known my name," to deliver meaning to lead away from falsities, to exalt, to lead to interior truths, and to know My name, to be in doctrine from the Word.
[25] In Malachi:
"Esau I hated, and I made his mountains a waste, and gave his heritage to the dragons of the wilderness" (1:3).
Esau means those who are in good as to the natural man, here those who are in evil as to the same; it is therefore said, "Esau I hated." That the goods of love of the natural man will be destroyed is signified by "I made his mountains a waste"; and that the truths of that good will be destroyed by the falsities of the sensual man is signified by I "gave his heritage to the dragons of the wilderness."
[26] Again in Ezekiel:
"Behold I am against thee, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, the great dragon (or sea-monster) that lieth in the midst of his rivers, that hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for my myself" (513:5).
[27] In Moses:
"Of the vine of Sodom and of the fields of Gomorrah; their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter, their wine is the venom of dragons, and the cruel gall of asps" (519:7), where it is shown that "their wine which is called the venom of dragons, and the cruel gall of asps," signifies that the truth of the church with the posterity of Jacob was external, in which interiorly there were infernal evils and falsities; dragons and asps signify sensual things which are the ultimates of the natural man, full of dreadful evils and of falsities confirming them. The reason of this is that the Natural then receives nothing from the Lord through the spiritual mind, consequently what it does receive is from hell.
[28] That the dragon signifies such things as have been stated above will be seen more fully from what follows in this chapter, namely, from his enmity against the woman about to bring forth, and fleeing into the wilderness; also from his combat with Michael; and still further in chaps. 16:13-15, and 20:2, 7, 8, 10, 14, where it is said concerning him that he was bound for a thousand years, that afterwards, being loosed, he went forth to seduce the nations, and to gather Gog and Magog together to war against the saints, but that afterwards he was cast into a lake of fire and brimstone. It is evident from all these things that the dragon means those who do not possess any good of charity and love, because they do not acknowledge it to be a means serviceable for salvation, but regard it only as a kind of knowledge (scientificum) which from persuasion they call faith; and when the good of charity and love is not implanted by a man's life, evil takes its place, and where evil is there is falsity.
[29] Because serpents signify sensual things which are the ultimates of the natural man, and these are not evil except with those who are evil, and as in the Hebrew the same word 1is used both for dragons and non-poisonous serpents, therefore dragons, when such serpents are meant by them, signify, in the Word, sensual things that are not evil, or, in regard to persons, sensual men who are not evil. That dragons and such serpents are expressed in Hebrew by the same word, is evident in Moses. When he was commanded out of the bush to cast his rod on the ground, and when it became a serpent (serpens) he took hold of it by the tail, and it became again a rod in his hand (Exodus 4:3, 4); and afterwards, Moses took the rod, and cast it down before Pharaoh, when it became a serpent (dragon = draco), and the magicians did the like with their rods; but the rod of Moses then a serpent (dragon) - swallowed up the rods [or] serpents (dragons) of the magicians (Exodus 7:9-12). In the original the word rendered serpent in the former passage and the word so translated in the latter are different; in the former passage serpent (serpens) is the rendering of the word commonly employed for serpent in other parts of the Word, but in the latter place dragon (draco) represents the same word. This might also be translated thus, "When the rod of Moses was cast before Pharaoh it was changed into a dragon." It follows from this that the dragon, equally as the serpent, signifies, in a good sense, the Sensual, which is the ultimate of the natural man when not evil or not malignant.
[30] In this milder sense dragons are also mentioned in Isaiah:
"The wild beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and the daughters of the owl, because I will give waters in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people" (43:20).
And in Jeremiah:
"The hind brought forth in the field, but forsook it because there was no grass; and the wild asses stood upon the hills, they sniffed up the wind like dragons, their eyes were consumed because there was no herbage" (14:6).
In these passages the word used for dragons is commonly used for serpents, and it is also applied to whales (ceti) in the sea, which also have the same signification, namely, the Natural of man in general, which is the Sensual, and therefore the last passage might be translated, "They sniffed up the wind like whales" (ceti). Similarly in Isaiah 51:9; in Jeremiah 51:34; in Ezekiel 29:3, 4; and in David, Psalm 74:13, 14. There are also merely sensual men that are good.
Footnotes:
1. [Hebrew]
714. And behold a great red dragon, signifies all who are merely natural and sensual from the love of self, and yet have more or less knowledge from the Word, from doctrine therefrom or from preaching, and think to be saved by knowledge alone apart from life. This is evident from the signification of "dragon," as being a man who is merely natural and sensual, and yet has a knowledge of things in themselves spiritual, whether from the Word or from preaching or from religion (of which presently); also from the signification of "great red," as meaning to be in the love of self and in its evils; for "great" is predicated in the Word of good, and in the contrary sense of evil, as "many" is predicated of truths, and in the contrary sense of falsities (See above, n. 336, 337, 424), and "red" is predicated of love in both senses, namely, of celestial love, which is love to the Lord, and in the contrary sense of diabolical love, which is the love of self (of which also above, n. 364). This shows that "a great red dragon" means all who are merely natural and sensual from the love of self, and yet have more or less knowledge from the Word or from doctrine therefrom or from preaching, and who think to be saved by knowledge alone without the life of charity. Such think to be saved by knowledge alone without the life of charity, because all who live for the body and the world, and not for God and heaven, become merely natural and sensual; for everyone is inwardly formed according to his life, and to live for the body and the world is to live a natural and sensual life, while to live for God and heaven is to live a spiritual life.
[2] Every man is born sensual from his parents; and by his life in the world becomes natural more and more interiorly, that is, rational, according to his moral and civil life and the lumen acquired therefrom; afterwards he becomes a spiritual man by means of truths from the Word or from doctrine from the Word, and by a life according to these truths. From this it can be seen that one who knows the things taught in the Word or in doctrine or by a preacher, and does not live according to them, however learned and erudite he may appear, is nevertheless not spiritual but natural, and even sensual, for knowledge [scientia] and the ability to reason do not make man spiritual, but the life itself.
This is so because knowledge and the faculty of reasoning are merely natural, and can therefore also be with evil men, even with the worst of men; but truths from the Word with a life according to them are what make man spiritual, for life is willing truths and doing them from a love of them; this is not possible to the natural man alone, but must come from the spiritual, and from its influx into the natural; for to love truths and from love to will them and from that will to do them is from heaven, that is, through heaven from the Lord, and is in its nature celestial and Divine; this cannot flow in immediately into the natural mind, but only mediately through the spiritual mind, which is capable of being opened and formed for the reception of heavenly light and heat, that is, for the reception of Divine truth and Divine good. These cannot flow immediately into the natural mind, for the reason that man's hereditary evils, which belong to the love of self and the world, have their seat in that mind; therefore the natural man, viewed in itself, loves nothing but self and the world, and from love wills, and from will does those evils, and these block the way to the influx of anything out of heaven into the natural man, and its reception there; therefore it has been provided by the Lord that these evils can be removed, and for a place to be given for the truths and goods of spiritual love, namely, by the opening and formation of the spiritual mind which is above the natural mind, and by the influx of heaven from the Lord through that mind into the natural mind.
[3] This has been said that it may be known that to know the things that are of the Word and of the doctrine of the church does not make man spiritual, but a life according to those things that the Lord has commanded in the Word; therefore although such know many things from the Word they yet remain natural and sensual. Such are signified in the Word by "the dragon." They therefore are signified by "the dragon" because the dragon is a kind of serpent that not only creeps on the ground but also flies, and thence it appears in heaven; and it is because of this flying and appearing in heaven that the dragon means those who are in a knowledge of the truths from the Word, and not in a life according to them, "serpents" in general signifying the sensual things of man (See above, n. Revelation 12:9, 20:2, is called "the old serpent."
[4] Since in the rest of this chapter and also afterwards "the dragon" is treated of, it shall be told what sort of persons, in general and in particular, it signifies. In general it signifies those who are more or less natural, and yet are in a knowledge of spiritual things from the Word. But in particular it signifies those who have confirmed themselves by doctrine and life in a faith separated from charity. These constitute the head of the dragon. But those who from self-intelligence hatch out for themselves dogmas from the Word constitute its body, while those who study the Word without doctrine constitute its external parts. All these also falsify and adulterate the Word, since they are in the love of self, and thence in the pride of self-intelligence, from which they become merely natural, yea, even sensual, and the sensual man is unable to see the genuine truths of the Word because of fallacies, obscurity of perception, and the evils of the body residing therein; for the sensual clings to the body, from which such things come.
[5] 1. In the first place, "the dragon" means in general those who are more or less natural, and yet are in a knowledge of spiritual things from the Word, because "serpents" signify in general the sensual things in man, and thence sensual men; therefore "the dragon," which is a flying serpent, signifies the sensual man who yet flies towards heaven in that he talks and thinks from the Word or from doctrine from the Word. For the Word itself is spiritual, because it is in itself Divine, and is therefore in heaven. But since the mere knowledge of spiritual things from the Word does not make man spiritual, but a life according to those things that are in the Word, therefore all of those who are in knowledge from the Word and are not in a life according to that knowledge are natural and even sensual.
[6] The sensual who are meant by "the dragon" are those who do not see anything from the light of heaven, but only from the light of the world, and who from that light alone, when excited by the fire of the love of self and pride therefrom are able to talk about Divine things, and to reason keenly and readily about them; but yet they are unable to see whether these things be truths or not, calling that truth which they have imbibed from childhood from a master or preacher, and then from doctrine, and which they have afterwards confirmed by some passages of the Word not interiorly understood. Because they see nothing from the light of heaven they do not see truths, but in place of them falsities, which they call truths; for truths themselves can be seen only in the light of heaven, and not in the light of the world unless that light is illuminated by the light of heaven. These being such love no other than a bodily and worldly life; and as the pleasures and lusts of that life have their seat in the natural man the interiors of such are filthy and crowded with evils of every kind, which close up every way for the influx of the light and heat of heaven; consequently they are inwardly devils and satans, however much they may appear to be spiritual and to be Christians by their talk and simulated gestures. Such are merely sensual, for while they are able to talk outwardly about the holy things of the church, inwardly they believe nothing; and those who think they believe have only a historical and thence a persuasive belief derived from some teacher or from self-intelligence, which in itself is false, but which they believe for the sake of fame, honor, or gain. Such are meant in general by "dragons." But there are many that are signified in particular by the dragon, for there are some that have reference to the head, some to the body, and some to the external parts.
[7] 2. Those that have reference in particular to the head of the dragon are those who have confirmed themselves both by doctrine and by life in faith alone, which is faith separated from charity. These refer to the head of the dragon because most of them are erudite and are believed to be learned; for they have confirmed themselves in the belief that they are saved by simply thinking what the church teaches, which they call believing. But what their doctrine is and what their life is shall be told. Their doctrine is, that God the Father sent His Son, born from eternity, into the world, that He might become man, might fulfill all things of the law, might bear the iniquities of all and suffer the cross; and that thereby God the Father was reconciled and moved to compassion; and that those who from confidence were in a faith respecting these things would be received into heaven; and that the confidence of that faith, together with the Lord, would intercede and save; consequently that such a faith is given to mankind, who are separated from God the Father, as a medium of reception and salvation, because when Adam had eaten of the tree of knowledge man was no longer in a state to do good of himself, for he had thus lost, with the image of God, his free will; lastly, that these things are the Lord's merit, by which alone man can be saved. These in respect to doctrine are the primary things of faith with those who are in faith alone. Elsewhere, the Lord willing, it shall be explained and illustrated that no one can, from any spiritual sight, which is of the understanding, perceive and thus believe anything of this; but such things can be known and talked about only from the memory, without any understanding, thus that in that doctrine there is nothing of intelligence.
[8] Of what quality such as these are in respect to life shall also be stated. They teach that man is led of God by faith alone, even to the endeavor to do good, and that good itself in act contributes nothing to salvation, but faith alone does this, and that then nothing of evil condemns him, because he is in grace and is justified. Moreover, they have thought out the steps, which they call the progressions of faith alone, even to the last step of justification; the first is information as to the things that pertain to faith, especially those above mentioned; the second is confirmation from the Word or from preaching; the third is mental investigation whether it be so or not; and as doubt and consequent wavering, which is temptation, then flow in, there must be confirmation from the Word respecting the operation of faith, from which comes confidence, which is victory. They add that heed must be taken that the understanding be not allowed to go further than to secure confirmations from the Word respecting justification by faith alone; if it goes beyond this and is not kept in obedience to faith the man is overcome. The fourth and last step is an endeavor to do good; and this is an influx from God and not at all from man, and is the fruit of faith; for they say that after a man has thus been fully justified nothing of evil condemns him and nothing of good saves him, but faith alone. From this it is clear what such are in respect to life, namely, that they live for themselves and not for God, and for the world and not for heaven; for this follows from the belief that evils do not condemn and that goods do not save. Nor do they know that faith without the life of charity is not faith, and that man ought to shun evils and do good as of himself, and yet to believe that it is from the Lord, and that otherwise evils cannot be shaken off, nor goods appropriated. But more will be said also about this elsewhere.
[9] Such is the doctrine and the life with those who form the head of the dragon, who for the most part are the erudite leaders, but few are from the common people; and for the reason that the leaders regard these things as secrets of theology that cannot be comprehended by the common people because of their secular employments. These belong to the head of the dragon for the reason also that they pervert and falsify all the things of the Word which teach love, charity, and life; for the Word, viewed in itself, is simply the doctrine of love to the Lord and of charity toward the neighbor, and nowhere the doctrine of faith separate from charity. Such falsify the Word by calling them either faith or such fruit as is not eaten, because they give no thought to doing, and thus they are not nourished by that fruit. Moreover, they admit these principles no further than into the memory, and therefrom into the thought nearest to it, which is sensual thought, in which there is nothing spiritual, and this thought does not inquire whether a thing is true; therefore they guard against the entrance of anything into the interior sight which is of the understanding, being unwilling to know that all these things respecting their faith said above are contrary to an enlightened understanding, as they are contrary to the genuine sense of the Word. This is why those who constitute the head of the dragon have no genuine truth, for from a false principle, such as faith alone, nothing can flow forth except falsities in a continual series; nor indeed can there be any such thing as faith alone, for faith apart from charity is not faith, since charity is the soul of faith, therefore to speak of faith alone is to speak of what is without a soul, thus without life, which in itself is dead.
[10] 3. That those constitute the body of the dragon who have hatched out for themselves from self-intelligence dogmas from the Word can be seen from this, that all of such who study the Word and are in the love of self are also in the pride of self-intelligence, and all who are in this pride and at the same time excel in cleverness from natural lumen, hatch out dogmas therefrom for themselves; this is the origin of all the heresies and all the falsities in the Christian world. It shall be told what the intelligence is that is from man's own [proprium], and what the intelligence is that is not from man's own. Intelligence from man's own is from self, but intelligence not from man's own is from the Lord. All who are in the love of self have intelligence from what is their own, for love of self is man's very own [ipsum proprium]; and those are in the love of self who read the Word and gather up dogmas from it for the sake of fame, glory, and honor; and as such are unable to see any truths, but can see falsities only, they are in the body of the dragon; for they gather up and hatch out such things from the Word as favor their loves and the evils that flow from them, and such things as are contrary to their dogmas, which are truths from good, they either do not see or they pervert; but all who are in the spiritual affection of truth, that is, who love truth because it is truth and because it is serviceable to eternal life and to the life of men's souls, have intelligence from the Lord. It is said that their intelligence is not from their own [proprium] but from the Lord, because when such read the Word they are elevated above what is their own and even into the light of heaven, and are enlightened; in that light truth appears from truth itself, because the light of heaven is Divine truth. But they who are in the love of self and in the pride of self-intelligence therefrom cannot be elevated out of their own, for they look to self continually, thus in every least thing they do. Thence it is that they place everything of salvation in faith in their own dogmas, thus in knowing and thinking, and not at the same time in life, that is, not in willing and doing. These, therefore, constitute the body of the dragon. The heart of this body is the love of self, and the breath of its respiration, or of its spirit, is the pride of self-intelligence; from these two the dragon is called "great red," and the term "red" [rufus] in the original Greek text is from fiery-red, thus from love and pride.
[11] 4. Those who study the Word without doctrine and are at the same time in the love of self, constitute the externals of the draconic body. Externals are what proceed from the interiors, and involve, inclose, and contain them, like the skins, the scales, and the prominences on every part. Such constitute the externals of the dragon's body because they are without the intelligence of the spiritual things of the Word; for they only know the Word in respect to the sense of its letter, which is such that, unless doctrine lights the way, it may lead into errors and falsities of every kind; consequently those who study the Word without doctrine are able to confirm as many heresies as they will, and also to embrace them, and also to protect them by the loves of self and of the world and the evils arising therefrom. For the sense of the letter of the Word is the ultimate sense of Divine truth, thus it is for the natural and sensual man, adapted to its apprehension, and often so as to favor it; consequently unless it is read and viewed from doctrine, as from a lamp, it carries the mind away into darkness respecting many things that pertain to heaven and the church. And yet such believe themselves to be wise above all others, when in fact they are not wise at all.
[12] 5. All those who constitute the dragon adore God the Father, and look upon the Lord as a man like themselves, and not as God, or if as God they place His Divine above His Human, and not within it. This will be illustrated in what follows, where the combat of the dragon with Michael is treated of.
[13] 6. From this it can now be seen that the "tail" of the dragon means the falsification and adulteration of the Word by those who constitute its head, its body, and its extremities; for its tail, like the tail of every animal, is a continuation of the spine, which is an extension from the brain, and thus it is moved, bent, and vibrated, according to the appetites, lusts, and pleasures of the head and body, which it caresses, as it were. And inasmuch as all those that constitute the dragon falsify and adulterate the Word, because they are natural and sensual from the love of self and thence are in the pride of self-intelligence, therefore it is said that "the dragon with his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven and cast them unto the earth;" "the stars of heaven" signify the knowledges of truth and good from the Word, thence the truths from good therefrom, and "to cast them unto the earth" signifies to pervert and adulterate and thus destroy them.
[14] That those above described constitute the dragon, and that the adulteration and destruction of the truths of the Word are meant by "his tail," it has been given me to see in the spiritual world two or three times, for in that world all things that are seen are representative of things spiritual. When such persons are seen in the light of heaven they are seen as dragons with a long tail; and when many such are seen the tail appears extended from the south through the west into the north, and that tail is also seen to draw down as it were the stars from heaven and cast them unto the earth.
[15] As those above described are meant by "the dragon" and the falsification and adulteration of the Word by his "tail," the "habitation" and "bed" of dragons in the Word signify where there is nothing but falsity and evil, as in the following passages. In Isaiah:
The dry place shall become a pool, and the thirsty place springs of waters; in the habitation of dragons, its den, there shall be grass instead of the reed and rush (Isaiah 35:7).
This is said of the Lord's coming and of the establishment of a New Church by Him with the Gentiles; and these words mean that the truths and goods of the church shall be where they were not before, even where there were falsities and evils; where falsities and evils were before is signified by "the dry and thirsty place," and by "the habitation of dragons," also by "the reed and rush;" but the truths and goods that they will then have are signified by the "pool," the "springs of waters," the "den" where dragons were before, and the "grass."
[16] In Jeremiah:
I will make Jerusalem heaps, the habitation of dragons; and the cities of Judah will I reduce to a waste that there may be no inhabitant (Jeremiah 9:11).
The voice of a clamor, behold, a great tumult cometh from the land of the north, to reduce the cities of Judah to a waste, a habitation of dragons (Jeremiah 10:22).
"Jerusalem" means the church in respect to doctrine, and "the cities of Judah" doctrinals, which are truths from the Word; the falsification of truth and the adulteration of good, from which come mere falsities and evils, are signified by "making Jerusalem heaps," and by "reducing the cities of Judah to a waste, a habitation of dragons," for truth falsified is mere falsity, and good adulterated is mere evil; "the voice of a clamor and a great tumult from the land of the north" signifies falsities fighting against truths, and evils against goods; "the land of the north" means where those are who are in falsities of evil.
[17] In the same:
Hazor shall become a habitation of dragons, a desolation even forever; a man shall not dwell there, nor shall the son of man abide there (Jeremiah 49:33).
"Hazor" signifies spiritual treasures, which are the knowledges of truth and good from the Word; their devastation even until they are no more, but falsities and evils in their place, is signified by "Hazor shall become a habitation of dragons, a desolation even forever;" that there will be no truth of the church remaining is signified by "a man shall not dwell there, nor shall the son of man abide in her," "son of man" meaning the truth of the church.
[18] In Isaiah:
The thorn shall come up in her palaces, the thistle and bramble in her fortresses; that she may be a habitation of dragons, a court for the daughters of the owl (Isaiah 34:13).
This is said of Edom and of the nations, which mean those who are in falsities and evils; "the thorns, the thistle, and the bramble," signify the falsities and evils in which these are; the dogmas by which they are defended are signified by "palaces and fortresses;" the devastation of all good and truth is signified by "a habitation of dragons, and a court for the daughters of the owl," "owls" meaning those who see falsities as truths, and "their daughters" the lusts of falsifying truths.
[19] In the same:
The ijim shall answer in her palaces, and dragons in the temples (Isaiah 13:22).
This is said of Babylon, which signifies the adulteration and profanation of good and truth; "her palaces" in which are the ijim, and the "temples" in which are dragons, signify the goods and truths of the Word and of the church, which are adulterated and profaned, "ijim" signifying adulterated and profaned truths, and "dragons" adulterated and profaned goods.
[20] In Micah:
For this I will lament and howl, I will go stripped and naked; I will make a lamentation like dragons, and a mourning like the daughters of the owl (Mic. Micah 1:8).
This treats of the vastation of Samaria, which signifies the spiritual church in respect to doctrine, here that church vastated; devastation in respect to truth and good is signified by "going stripped and naked;" lamentation over it is signified by "lamenting and howling," lamentation over devastated good by "making a lamentation like dragons," and lamentation over devastated truth by "making a mourning like the daughters of the owl." The lamentation and mourning are said to be like that of "dragons and the daughters of the owl" in a representative sense; also "his going stripped and naked," "stripped" signifying, the like as the dragon, to be destitute of goods, and "naked," the like as the daughters of the owl, to be destitute of truths.
[21] In Jeremiah:
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up as a whale, he hath filled his belly with my delicacies, he hath thrust me out. Let Babylon become a heap, a habitation of dragons, a hissing and an astonishment, without inhabitant (Jeremiah 51:34, 37). Here, too, "Babylon" and "Nebuchadnezzar" signify the adulteration and profanation of good and truth. The dispersion of all truth, and thence the destruction of all good, is signified by "he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up as a whale, he hath filled his belly with my delicacies, he hath thrust me out," "whale" having a similar signification as "dragon," the same word being used for both in the original tongue. The devastation of all truth and good by their adulteration and profanation is signified by "Babylon shall become a heap, a habitation of dragons, a hissing and an astonishment, without inhabitant," "without inhabitant" signifying no good in anyone.
[22] In Job:
I walked blackened without the sun, I stood in the assembly, I cried out, I am become a brother to dragons and a companion to the daughters of the screech owl (Job 30:28, 29).
This is said of his state in temptations, in which man thinks himself to be damned; therefore "to walk blackened without the sun" signifies to be like a devil, without the good of love; "to stand in the assembly and cry out" signifies to be among truths and yet in falsities; "to become a brother to dragons and a companion to the daughters of the screech owl" signifies to be conjoined with and to be one with those who are in evils without good and in falsities without truths, "dragons" meaning those who adulterate goods and pervert them into evils, and "the daughters of the screech owl" those who do the same to truths.
[23] In David:
Our heart is not turned away backward, neither hath our step declined from Thy way, though Thou hast crushed us in the place of dragons, and covered us over with the shadow of death (Psalms 44:18, 19).
This, too, treats of temptations. That being then shut off, like a sensual man, from influx out of heaven, he did not perceive what is good and what is true, is signified by "God hath crushed him in the place of dragons, and covered him over with the shadow of death," "the place of dragons" meaning where those who are dragons are in hell, that is, those who have destroyed every good in themselves; the falsity in which these are is called "the shadow of death."
[24] In the same:
Thou shalt tread upon the lion and the adder, the lion and the dragon shall he trample 1on; because he hath set his love upon Me I will rescue him, I will set him on high because he hath known My name (Psalms 91:13, 14).
To destroy the interior and exterior falsities that vastate the truths of the church is signified by "treading upon the lion and adder;" and to destroy the interior and exterior falsities that vastate the goods of the church is signified by "trampling on the lion and dragon;" to lead away from falsities and to lead to interior truths and goods one who is in doctrine from the Word is signified by "I will rescue him, I will set him on high, who 2hath known My name," "to rescue" meaning to lead away from falsities, "to set on high" to lead to interior truths, and "to know My name," to be in doctrine from the Word.
[25] In Malachi:
Esau I hated, and made his mountains a waste, and gave his heritage to the dragons of the wilderness (Malachi 1:3).
"Esau" means such as are in good in respect to the natural man, here such as are in evil in respect to the same, therefore it is said, "Esau I hated;" that the goods of love of the natural man will be destroyed is signified by "I made his mountains a waste;" and that the truths of that good will be destroyed by the falsities of the sensual man is signified by "I gave his heritage to the dragons of the wilderness."
[26] In Ezekiel:
Behold I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon (or whale) that lieth in the midst of his rivers, that hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made myself (513.
[27] In Moses:
Their vine is of the vine of Sodom and of the fields 3of Gomorrah; his grapes are grapes of gall, his 4clusters of bitternesses. Their wine is the poison of dragons and the cruel gall of asps (519. There, too, "their wine," which is called "the poison of dragons and the cruel gall of asps," signifies that the truth of the church with the posterity of Jacob was external, in which inwardly there were infernal evils and falsities; "dragons and asps" signify sensual things which are the ultimates of the natural man full of horrible evils and falsities confirming them, and for the reason that the natural then receives nothing through the spiritual mind from the Lord, consequently what it receives is from hell.
[28] That "the dragon" signifies such things as have been stated above can be seen more fully from what follows in this chapter, namely, from his enmity against the woman about to bring forth and fleeing into the wilderness; also from his combat with Michael; and still further in chapters Revelation 16:13-15, and Revelation 20:2, 7, 8, 10, 14, where it is said of him that "he was bound a thousand years, and afterwards being loosed he went forth to seduce the nations, and to gather Gog and Magog together to battle against the saints," and that afterwards "he was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone;" from all of which it can be seen that "the dragon" means those who possess no good of charity and love because they do not acknowledge it to be any medium serviceable to salvation, but make it a kind of knowledge [scientificum] which from persuasion they call faith; and when the good of charity and love is not implanted by the life of man there is evil in place of it, and where there is evil there is falsity.
[29] Because "serpents" signify sensual things, which are the ultimates of the natural man, and these are not evil except with those who are evil, and because the word in the Hebrew that means dragon [tannin] is the same as that which means serpents not venemous, so when such serpents are meant by "dragons" they signify in the Word sensual things not evil, or as applied to persons, sensual men who are not evil. That the same word in Hebrew means dragons and such serpents can be seen in Moses:
When he was commanded out of the bush to cast his rod to the earth, and when it was changed to a serpent, he took hold of its tail, and thereby it was changed again into a rod (Exodus 4:3, 4).
Moses took the rod and cast it down before Pharaoh, and it became a serpent [dragon], and the magicians did the like with their rods; but the rod of Moses, then a serpent [dragon], swallowed up the rods, the serpents [dragons], of the magicians (Exodus 7:9-12).
The word rendered serpent in the former passage and the one so rendered in the latter in the original language are different; in the former passage the word generally employed in other parts of the Word for serpent is used, but in the latter it is the same word as is translated "dragon;" thus it might also be rendered that when Moses' rod was cast before Pharaoh it was changed into a dragon. From this it follows that "dragon," the same as "serpent," signifies in a good sense the sensual which is the ultimate of the natural man when it is not evil or not wicked.
[30] It is in this milder sense that "dragons" are also mentioned in Isaiah:
The wild beast of the field shall honor Me, the dragons and the daughters of the owl, because I will give waters in the wilderness, rivers in the solitude, to give drink to My people, My chosen (Isaiah 43:20).
And in Jeremiah:
The hind brought forth in the field, but forsook it, because there was no grass; and the wild asses stood upon the hills, they pant for wind like dragons, their eyes were consumed because there was no herb (Jeremiah 14:5, 6).
In these passages the word translated "dragons" is the same word commonly translated "serpents," and is also translated "whales" in the sea, and these have a similar signification, namely, man's natural in general which is the sensual; so the last passage might be translated, "they breathed out the wind like whales." (Likewise in Isaiah 51:9; Jeremiah 51:34; in Ezekiel 29:3, 4; and in David, Psalms 74:13, 14.) Moreover, there are men merely sensual who are good.
Footnotes:
1. The Hebrew has "shalt thou trample," as in 632.
2. The Hebrew, as in text where first cited, has "because he."
3. The Latin has "waters" for "fields."
4. The Hebrew is "their," as found in 519; Arcana Coelestia 2240.
714. "Et ecce draco magnus rufus." - Quod significet omnes qui mere naturales et sensuales sunt ex amore sui, et usque sciunt plura aut pauciora ex Verbo, ex doctrina in de, aut ex praedicatione, ac putant per solam scientiam absque vita salvari, constat ex significatione "draconis", quod sit mere naturalis et sensualis homo, et tamen in scientia rerum in se spiritualium, sive haec sit ex Verbo, sive ex praedicatione, sive ex religione (de qua sequitur); et ex significatione "magni rufi", quod sit esse in amore sui et in ejus malis, "magnum" enim in Verbo dicitur de bono, et in opposito sensu de malo, sicut "multum" de Veris, et in opposito sensu de falsis (videatur supra, n. 336, 337, 424); et "rufus" dicitur de amore in utroque sensu, nempe de amore caelesti, qui est amor in Dominum, et in opposito sensu de amore diabolico, qui est amor sui (de qua re etiam videatur supra, n. 364); ex his constare potest quod per "draconem magnum rufum" intelligantur omnes qui mere naturales et sensuales sunt ex amore sui, et usque sciunt plura et pauciora ex Verbo, vel ex doctrina inde, vel ex praedicatione, et putant per solam scientiam absque vita charitatis salvari; quod iidem putent se per solam scientiam absque vita charitatis salvari, est quia omnes illi fiunt mere naturales et sensuales qui vivunt corpori et mundo, et non Deo et caelo; nam quisque secundum vitam suam interius formatur, et vivere corpori et mundo est vivere naturalis et sensualis, at vivere Deo et caelo est vivere spiritualis.
[2] Unusquisque homo a parentibus nascitur sensualis, ac per vitam in mundo fit naturalis interius et interius, hoc est, rationalis, secundum vitam moralem et civilem, et inde comparatum lumen; at postea fit ille homo spiritualis per vera ex Verbo aut ex doctrina ex Verbo, ac per vitam secundum illa: inde constare potest quod qui scit illa quae Verbum, aut quae doctrina, aut quae praedicator docet, et non vivit secundum illa, utcunque doctus et eruditus appareat, non usque sit spiritualis, sed naturalis, immo sensualis; nam scientia et facultas ratiocinandi non facit spiritualem hominem, sed ipsa vita. Causa quod ita sit, est quia scientia et inde facultas ratiocinandi est modo naturalis; quare etiam dabilis est apud malos, immo apud pessimos; at vera ex Verbo una cum vita secundum illa faciunt hominem spiritualem, nam vita est velle vera ac facere illa ex amore illorum; hoc non dabile est ex solo naturali homine, sed ex spirituali, et ex hujus influxu in naturalem; nam amare vera, et ex amore velle illa, et ex e, a voluntate facere illa, est ex caelo, hoc est, per caelum a Domino, et est in sua natura caeleste et Divinum; hoc non influere potest immediate in mentem naturalem, sed mediate per mentem spiritualem, quae aperiri et formari potest ad receptionem lucis et caloris caelestis, hoc est, ad receptionem Divini Veri ac Divini Boni. Causa quod haec non immediate influere possint in mentem naturalem, est quia in hac mente resident mala hereditaria hominis, quae sunt amoris sui et mundi; inde naturalis homo in se spectatus non amat nisi semet et mundum, et ex amore vult illa, et ex velle facit illa; et haec sunt quae obstant quin e caelo illuc aliquid influere possit et ibi recipi; quapropter provisum est a Domino ut haec possint removeri, et sic possit. dari locus pro veris et bonis amoris spiritualis, nempe per aperitionem et formationem mentis spiritualis, quae supra mentem naturalem est, ac per influxum inde caeli a Domino per illam in mentem naturalem.
[3] Haec dicta sunt ut sciatur quod scire illa quae Verbi sunt, ac quae doctrinae ecclesiae, non faciat hominem spiritualem, sed quod vita secundum illa quae Dominus in Verbo praecepit; proinde tametsi sciunt multa ex Verbo, quod usque naturales et sensuales maneant. Hi itaque sunt qui per "draconem" in Verbo significantur. Quod illi sint qui significantur per "draconem", est quia draco est genus serpentis, qui non modo repit humi, sed etiam volat, et inde apparet in caelo; ille volatus et haec apparentia est, ex quibus illi qui in scientia veritatum ex Verbo sunt, et non in vita secundum illas, intelligantur per "draconem": per "serpentes" enim in genere significantur sensualia hominis (videatur supra, n. 581); inde quoque est quod draco (in hujus capitis versu 9, et quoque cap. 20 vers. 2) dicatur "serpens antiquus."
[4] Quoniam in sequentibus hujus capitis, et quoque postea, agitur de "dracone", dicetur quinam in genere et in specie per illum significantur. In genere per illum significantur qui naturales sunt plus et minus, et usque in scientia rerum spiritualium ex Verbo sunt; in specie autem significantur qui se confirmaverunt in fide separata a charitate, doctrina et vita: hi caput ejus constituunt; qui autem ex propria intelligentia excluserunt sibi dogmata ex Verbo, hi corpus draconis faciunt; qui vero absque doctrina student Verbo, illi externa draconis formant. Hi omnes etiam falsificant et adulterant Verbum, quoniam in amore sui et inde in fastu propriae intelligentiae sunt, ex quo mere naturales, immo sensuales facti sunt; et sensualis homo non videre potest vera genuina Verbi, propter fallacias, propter obscurum perceptionis, et propter mala corporis ibi residentia; sensuale enim adhaeret corpori, unde talia sunt.
[5] (1) Quod primum, nempe quod per "draconem" in genere intelligantur qui naturales sunt magis et minus, et usque in scientia rerum spiritualium ex Verbo, est quia per "serpentes" in genere 1
significantur sensualia hominis, et inde sensuales homines; quare per "draconem", qui est serpens volans, significatur sensualis homo, qui usque versus caelum volat, per id quod loquatur et cogitet ex Verbo, aut ex doctrina e Verbo; ipsum Verbum enim est spirituale, quia est in se Divinum, et inde est in caelo: at quia sola scientia spiritualium ex Verbo non facit hominem spiritualem, sed vita secundum illa quae in Verbo sunt, inde omnes ex illis qui in scientia ex Verbo sunt, et non in vita secundum illam, naturales sunt, immo sensuales.
[6] Sensuales, qui per "draconem" intelliguntur, sunt illi qui nihil vident ex luce caeli, sed modo ex luce mundi, et qui ex hac sola luce possunt loqui de Divinis, et quoque acute et alacriter ratiocinari, excitante igne amoris sui ac inde fastu; sed usque non possunt videre num vera sint vel non vera, dicentes id verum esse quod ex pueritia hauserunt ex magistro aut praedicatore, et dein ex doctrina, ac postea confirmarunt ex aliquibus locis ex Verbo non interius intellectis. Hi quia nihil vident ex luce caeli, non vident vera, sed loco illorum falsa, quae vocant vera; nam ipsa vera non possunt videri nisi in luce caeli, et non in luce mundi, nisi haec illustrata sit ab illa. Illi, quia tales sunt, non aliam vitam amant quam corpoream et mundanam; et quia voluptates et concupiscentiae hujus vitae resident in naturali homine, inde interiora eorum sunt foeda, et omnis generis malis obstipata, quae claudunt omnem viam pro influxu lucis et caloris caeli; inde sunt interius diaboli et satanae, utcunque appareant ex loquelis ac simulatis gestibus sicut Spirituales et Christiani. Tales non sunt nisi quam sensuales; nam exterius loqui possunt de sanctis ecclesiae, et interius usque nihil credunt; et qui putant se credere, est historicum et inde persuasivum ex magistro aut ex propria intelligentia, in se falsum, quod creditur; cui tamen fides habetur quia inservit pro medio ad famam, honorem et lucrum. Tales in genere sunt dracones. Sunt autem plures in specie qui per "draconem" significantur; sunt enim qui referunt ejus caput, qui ejus corpus, et qui ejus externa.
[7] (2) Qui in specie referunt draconis caput sunt qui in sola fide, quae est fides separata a charitate, se confirmaverunt doctrina et vita; quod illi caput draconis referant, est quia plerique eorum sunt eruditi, et creduntur docti; confirmaverunt enim se quod per solum cogitare illa quae ecclesia docet, quod vocant credere, salventur: sed dicetur qualis est doctrina illorum, et qualis est vita illorum. Doctrina illorum est quod Deus Pater miserit Filium suum ab aeterno natum in mundum ut fieret homo, ut impleret omnia Legis, portaret omnium iniquitates, ac pateretur crucem; et quod per id Deus Pater reconciliaretur, et commoveretur misericordia, et quod reciperentur illi in caelum qui in fide de illis ex fiducia essent, et quod fiducia illius fidei una cum Domino intercederet et salvaret: proinde quod illa fides detur generi humano separato a Deo Patre, ut medium receptionis et salutis, quia homo postquam Adamus comederat ex arbore scientiae non amplius in statu faciendi bonum ex se esset, perdiderat enim inde cum imagine Dei liberum arbitrium; denique quod supradicta sint meritum Domini, per quod homo unice potest salvari. Haec sunt primaria fidei apud illos qui in fide sola sunt, quoad doctrinam. Quod nemo possit ex aliquo visu spirituali, qui est intellectus, quicquam ex illis percipere, et sic credere, sed modo talia ex memoria, absque intellectu, scire et inde loqui, sic ut illi doctrinae nihil intelligentiae insit, alibi, volente Domino, exponetur et illustrabitur.
[8] Quales autem iidem sunt quoad vitam, etiam dicetur. Docent quod homo per solam fidem ducatur a Deo usque ad conatum faciendi bonum, et quod ipsum bonum actu nihil faciat ad salutem, sed sola fides; et quod tunc nihil mali condemnet illum, quia est in gratia, ac justificatus. Excogitarunt etiam gradus, quos vocant progressiones solius fidei ad justificationis ultimum: primus est informatio in talibus quae fidei sunt, imprimis in illis quae supramemorata sunt: secundus est confirmatio ex Verbo, aut ex praedicatione: tertius est inquisitio mentalis, annon ita sit; et quia tunc influit dubitatio et inde vacillatio, quae est tentatio, quod confirmaturus sit se ex Verbo de fidei operatione, unde ei fit fiducia, quae est victoria; adjiciunt quod cavendum sit ne tunc intellectus ultra confirmationes ex Verbo de justificatione per solam fidem vadat; si ultra, et si intellectus non captivetur sub obedientia fidei, quod succumbat: quartus et ultimus gradus est conatus ad faciendum bonum, et quod is sit influxus a Deo, et nihil ab homine, et quod sit fructus fidei; dicentes quod, quando homo ita plene justificatus est, postea nihil mali condemnet illum, et nihil boni salvet, sed solum fides. Ex his constare potest quales illi sunt quoad vitam; quod nempe vivant sibi et non Deo, et mundo et non caelo; hoc enim sequitur ex fide quod mala non condemnent, et bona non salvent: nec sciunt quod fides absque vita charitatis non sit fides, et quod homo debeat mala fugere et bona facere sicut a se, et usque credere quod a Domino, et quod alioqui mala non queant discuti, nec bona appropriari: sed de his quoque alibi plura.
[9] Illa doctrina et haec vita est apud illos qui formant caput draconis, qui sunt quoad plurimam partem eruditi antistites, pauci autem ex vulgo: causa est quia illi reputant ea sicut abdita theologiae, quae a vulgo propter negotia non capi possunt. Quod illi sint dracones quoad caput, est quoque quia pervertunt et falsificant omnia Verbi, quae docent amorem, charitatem et vitam; nam Verbum in se spectatum est modo doctrina amoris in Dominum et charitatis erga proximum, ac nullibi doctrina fidei separatae: falsificant illa per id, quod illa vocent vel fidem, vel fructum talem, quem, quia nihil cogitant de facere, non comedunt; proinde illo fructu se non nutriunt: praeterea nec admittunt illa principia ultra quam in memoriam, et inde in cogitationem ei proximam, quae est cogitatio sensualis, in qua nihil spirituale, quae cogitatio non explorat num verum sit; quare cavent ne aliquid intret visum interiorem, qui est intellectus; non volentes scire quod omnia illa quae de fide illorum dicta sunt, contra intellectum illustratum sint, sicut sunt contra genuinum sensum Verbi. Inde quoque est quod illis qui caput draconis constituunt, non aliquod genuinum verum sit; non enim ex falso principio, quod est sola fides, profluere possunt nisi falsa in continua serie; est enim sola fides non dabiliS, nam fides absque charitate non est fides; anima enim fidei est charitas; quare dicere solam fidem, est dicere quod absque anima, ita absque vita est, quod in se est mortuum.
[10] (3) Quod illi qui ex propria intelligentia excluserunt sibi dogmata ex Verbo corpus draconis constituant, constare potest ex eo, quod omnes ex illis, qui student Verbo ac in amore sui sunt, etiam in fastu propriae intelligentiae sint; et omnes qui in hoc fastu sunt, et simul ingenio ex naturali lumine pollent, illi excludunt sibi dogmata inde; ex hac origine sunt omnes haereses, et omnes falsitates in orbe Christiano. Dicendum est quid intelligentia ex proprio, et quid intelligentia ex non proprio. Intelligentia ex proprio est ex semet, at intelligentia ex non proprio est a Domino. Intelligentia ex proprio est omnibus illis qui in amore sui sunt, nam amor sui est ipsum proprium hominis, et illi in amore sui sunt qui legunt Verbum et inde colligunt dogmata propter famam, gloriam et honores; et quia illi non aliqua vera possunt videre, sed modo falsa, ideo in draconis corpore sunt; colligunt enim et excludunt talia ex Verbo quae favent amoribus illorum, ac inde scaturientibus malis; ac illa quae dogmatibus illorum contrariantur, quae sunt vera ex bono, vel non vident, vel pervertunt. Intelligentia autem ex Domino est omnibus illis qui in affectione veri spirituali sunt; hoc est, qui amant verum quia est verum, et quia inservit vitae aeternae, ac vitae animarum hominum. Dicitur quod intelligentia eorum non sit ex proprio sed ex Domino, quia hi elevantur a suo proprio dum legunt Verbum, et hoc usque in lucem caeli, ac illustrantur; in hac luce apparet verum ex ipso vero, quia lux caeli est Divinum Verum. At qui in amore sui sunt, et inde in fastu propriae intelligentiae, non elevari ex suo proprio possunt; spectant enim se continue, ita in singulis quae faciunt: inde quoque est, quod hi in fide suorum dogmatum ponant omne salutis, ita in scire et cogitare, et non simul in vita, ita non simul in velle et facere; ex his itaque est corpus draconis. Cor hujus corporis est amor sui; et anima respirationis, seu spiritus ejus, est fastus propriae intelligentiae: ex his duobus draco dictus est "magnus rufus", ac "rufus" in textu originali Graeco dicitur ex flammeo, ita ex amore et fastu.
[11] (4) Quod illi qui absque doctrina student Verbo, et simul in amore sui sunt, externa corporis draconiaci faciant. Externa sunt quae ab interioribus procedunt, et haec involvunt, claudunt et continent, ut sunt cutes, squamae, prominentiae ab undequaque: quod illi externa corporis draconis faciant, est quia absque intelligentia spiritualium Verbi sunt; sciunt enim Verbum quoad sensum litterae ejus, qui talis est ut, si non doctrina praeluceat, ducat in errores et falsa omnis generis; consequenter quod illi qui absque doctrina student Verbo, quotcunque volunt haereses, queant confirmare, et quoque amplecti, et quoque patrocinari amoribus sui et mundi, et inde oriundis malis: nam sensus litterae Verbi est ultimus sensus Divini Veri, ita pro naturali et sensuali homine, ad ejus captum, et saepe in ejus favorem; quare nisi ille legatur et spectetur ex doctrina, ut ex lucema, fert mentes in tenebras de multis quae caeli et ecclesiae sunt: et usque illi se .credunt prae omnibus sapere, cum tamen nihil sapiunt.
[12] (5) Quod omnes illi qui draconem constituunt, adorent Deum Patrem, et Dominum videant sicut hominem sui similem, et non ut Deum, si ut Deum, quod spectent Divinum Ipsius supra Humanum Ipsius, et non intra illud, in sequentibus, ubi agitur de pugna draconis cum Michaele, illustrabitur.
[13] (6) Ex his nunc constare potest quod per "caudam draconis" intelligatur falsificatio et adulteratio Verbi, ex illis qui caput ejus, qui corpus ejus, et qui 2
extrema ejus constituunt; cauda enim, sicut caudae cujusvis animalis, est continuatio spinae, quae protenditur a cerebris; et sic movetur, flectitur et vibratur secundum capitis et corporis appetitus, concupiscentias et voluptates, quibus quasi adblanditur: et quoniam omnes illi qui draconem constituunt, quia naturales et sensuales sunt ex amore sui, et inde in fastu propriae intelligentiae, falsificant et adulterant Verbum, ideo dicitur quod "draco cauda sua traxerit tertiam partem stellarum caeli, et projecerit illas in terram": per "stellas caeli" significantur cognitiones veri et boni ex Verbo, inde vera ex bono inde; et per "projicere in terram" significatur pervertere ac adulterare illa, et sic destruere.
[14] Quod illi qui supra memorati sunt constituant draconem, et quod adulteratio et destructio veritatum Verbi intelligatur per "caudam" ejus, bis et ter datum est mihi videre in mundo spirituali; in hoc enim mundo omnia quae apparent sunt repraesentativa spiritualium. Quando tales visi sunt in luce caeli, visi sunt sicut dracones cum longa cauda; et quando plures tales, visa est cauda extensa a meridie per occidentem in septentrionem; et quoque visa est cauda illa e caelo detraxisse sicut stellas, et illas projecisse in terram.
[15] Quoniam supradicti per "draconem" intelliguntur, ac falsificatio et adulteratio Verbi per "caudam" ejus, inde per "habitaculum" et "cubile draconum" in Verbo significatur ubi mere falsum et malum est, ut in sequentibus locis:
- Apud Esaiam,
"Erit aridus locus in stagnum, et siticulosus in scaturigines aquarum; in habitaculo draconum cubile ejus, gramen pro calamo et junco" (35:7):
haec de adventu Domini, et de instauratione novae ecclesiae apud gentes ab Ipso; et per illa verba intelligitur quod vera et bona ecclesiae erunt ubi non prius, immo ubi falsa et mala; ubi falsa et mala prius, significatur per "locum aridum et siticulosum", et per "habitaculum draconum", tum per "calamum et juncum"; vera autem et bona quae illis erunt, significantur per "stagnum", per "scaturigines aquarum", per "cubile ubi prius dracones", tum per "gramen. "
[16] Apud Jeremiam,
"Dabo Hierosolymam in acervos, habitaculum draconum: et urbes Jehudae redigam in vastitatem, ut non sit habitator" (9 3
11]);
et apud eundem,
"Vox strepitus, ecce venit tumultus magnus e terra septentrionis, ad redigendum urbes Jehudae in vastitatem, habitaculum draconum" (10:22):
per "Hierosolymam" intelligitur ecclesia quoad doctrinam; et per "urbes Jehudae" doctrinalia, quae sunt vera ex Verbo; falsificatio veri et adulteratio boni, ex quibus mere falsa et mala, significantur per "dare Hierosolymam in acervos", ac per "redigere urbes Jehudae in vastitatem, habitaculum draconum"; nam falsificatum verum est mere falsum, ac adulteratum bonum est mere malum: "vox strepitus" et "tumultus magnus e terra septentrionis significat falsa pugnantia contra vera, et mala contra bona; "terra septentrionis" est ubi illi qui in falsis mali sunt.
[17] Apud eundem,
"Fiet Chazor in habitaculum draconum, desolationem usque in saeculum, non habitabit ibi vir, nec commorabitur ibi filius hominis" (49:33):
per "Chazorem" significantur thesauri spirituales, qui sunt cognitiones veri et boni e Verbo; devastatio earum usque ut non sint, sed loco earum falsa et mala, significatur per quod "Chazor erit in habitaculum draconum, desolationem usque in saeculum"; quod non aliquod verum ecclesiae residuum erit, significatur per quod "non habitabit ibi vir, nec commorabitur in ea filius hominis"; "filius hominis" est verum ecclesiae.
[18] Apud Esaiam,
"Ascendent palatia ejus spinis, carduus et sentis in munitionibus ejus, ut sit habitaculum draconum, atrium filiabus noctuae" (34:13):
haec de Edomo ac de gentibus, per quas intelliguntur illi qui in falsis et malis sunt; falsa et mala, in quibus sunt, significantur per "spinas", "carduum" et "sentin"; dogmata eos tutantia significantur per "palatia" et per "munitiones"; devastatio omnis boni et veri significatur per "domicilium draconum", et per "atrium filiarum noctuae"; "noctuae" sunt qui pro veris vident falsa, et "filiae" earum sunt concupiscentiae falsificandi vera.
[19] Apud eundem,
"Respondebunt ijim in palatiis ejus, et dracones in templis" (13:22):
haec de Babele, per quam significatur adulteratio et profanatio boni et veri; per "palatia" ejus in quibus ijim, et per "templa" in quibus dracones, significantur bona et vera Verbi et ecclesiae quae adulterata et profanata; per "ijim" adulterata et profanata vera, et per "dracones" adulterata et profanata bona.
[20] Apud Micham,
"Super hoc plangam et ejulabo, ibo spoliatus et nudus, faciam planctum sicut dracones, et luctum sicut filiae noctuae" (1:8 4
):
haec de vastatione Samariae, per quam significatur ecclesia spiritualis quoad doctrinam, hic illa vastata: devastatio quoad verum et bonum significatur per "ire spoliatus et nudus"; lamentatio Super id, significatur per "plangere et ejulare"; lamentatio super devastatum bonum, per "facere planctum sicut dracones", et super devastatum verum, per "facere luctum sicut filiae noctuae": dicuntur "dracones" et "filiae noctuae" repraesentative, quod similis illis esset quoad planctum et luctum; sicut etiam quod "iret spoliatus et nudus"; "spoliatus" significat quod absque bonis esset, simile quod "draco"; et "nudus" quod absque veris, simile quod "filia noctuae."
[21] Apud Jeremiam,
"Nebuchadnezar rex Babelis constituit me vas vacuum, deglutivit me sicut cetus, implevit ventrem ex deliciis meis, dispulit me: .... sit Babel acervus, habitaculum draconum, in sibilum et stuporem, nec habitator" (51:34, 37):
etiam hic per "Babelem" et per "Nebuchadnezarem" significatur adulteratio et profanatio boni et veri: dispersio omnis veri et destructio omnis boni inde, significatur per quod "constituit me vas vacuum, deglutivit me sicut cetus, implevit ventrem ex deliciis meis, dispulit me"; per "cetum" simile significatur quod per "draconem", etiam eadem vox utrique est in lingua originali: devastatio omnis veri et boni ex adulteratione et profanatione eorum, significatur per quod "Babel erit acervus, habitaculum draconum, in sibilum et stuporem, non habitator"; "non habitator" significat non bonum apud aliquem.
[22] Apud Hiobum,
"Ater ambulavi sine sole, steti in congregatione, clamavi, frater factus sum draconibus, et socius filiabus ululae" (30:28, 29):
hoc de statu ejus in tentationibus, in quibus homo putat se damnatum esse; quare "ater ambulare sine sole" significat sicut diabolus absque bono amoris; "stare in congregatione et clamare" significat inter vera et usque in falsis; "frater fieri draconibus, et socius filiabus ululae", significat in conjunctione esse et unus cum illis qui in malis absque bono sunt, et qui in falsis absque veris; "dracones" sunt qui adulteraverunt bona et perverterunt illa in mala, et "filiae ululae" sunt qui simul vera.
[23] Apud Davidem,
"Non recessit retro cor nostrum, et declinavit gressus noster a via tua, nam contrivisti nos in loco draconum, et obduxisti super nos umbram mortis" (Psalms 44:19, 20 [B.A. 18, 19]):
haec quoque de tentationibus: quod tunc seclusus ab influxu e caelo, sicut sensualis homo, non perceperit quid bonum et quid verum, significatur per quod "Deus contriverit eum in loco draconum, et obduxerit super eum umbram mortis"; "locus draconum" est ubi sunt illi qui dracones sunt in inferno, nempe qui omne bonum apud se destruxerunt; falsum, in quo iidem sunt, vocatur "umbra mortis."
[24] Apud eundem,
"Super leonem et aspidem calcabis, 5
conculcabis leonem et draconem; quia Me desiderat, eripiam eum, exaltabo eum, quia novit nomen meum" (Psalms 91:13, 14):
destruere falsa interiora et exteriora vastantia vera ecclesiae, significatur per "calcare leonem et aspidem"; ac destruere falsa interiora et exteriora vastantia bona ecclesiae, significatur per "conculcare leonem et draconem": abducere a falsis, et ducere ad interiora vera et bona illum qui in doctrina ex Verbo est, significatur per "eripere eum, exaltare eum, 6
quia novit nomen meum; "eripere" est abducere a falsis, "exaltare" est ducere ad interiora vera, et "nosse nomen meum" est in doctrina ex Verbo esse.
[25] Apud 7
Malachiam,
"Esavum odio habui, et posui montes ejus vastitatem, et hereditatem ejus draconibus deserti" (1:3):
per "Esavum" intelliguntur qui in bono sunt quoad naturalem hominem, hic qui in malo sunt quoad illum; quare dicitur "Esavum odio habui": quod destruentur bona amoris naturalis hominis, significatur per "Posui montes ejus in vastitatem"; quod destruentur vera illius boni per falsa sensualis hominis, significatur per "Posui hereditatem ejus draconibus deserti."
[26] Apud Ezechielem,
"Ecce contra te, Pharao, rex Aegypti, draco (vel cete) magne, qui cubat in medio fluviorum suorum; qui dixit, Meus fluvius meus, et ego feci me" (29:3, 4; 32:2):
describitur hic fastus propriae intelligentiae, qui est naturali et sensuali homini; "Pharao rex Aegypti" significat naturalem et sensualem hominem; "draco" seu "cetus" eundem quoad scientifica quae falsa seu falsificata sunt ex fastu propriae intelligentiae. (Sed haec supra, n. 513 [a] , explicata videantur.)
[27] Apud Mosen,
"De vite Sodomae vitis eorum, et de 8
agris Gomorrhae; uvae ejus uvae fellis, botri amaritudinum 9
illis; venenum draconum vinum eorum, et fel aspidum crudele" (Deuteronomius 32:32, 33):
de his videatur supra (n. 519 [b]), ubi explicata sunt; ibi etiam quod "vinum eorum", quod vocatur "venenum draconum", et "fel aspidum crudele", 10
significet quod verum ecclesiae apud posteros Jacobi esset externum, in quo interius mala et falsa infernalia: "dracones" et "aspides" significant sensualia, quae ultima naturalis hominis plena nefandis malis et ea confirmantibus falsis; causa est quia naturale nihil recipit per spiritualem mentem a Domino; quare quod recipit, est ex inferno.
[28] Quod per "draconem" talia quae supra memorata sunt, significentur, plenius constare potest ex sequentibus in hoc capite, nempe ex ejus inimicitia contra mulierem parituram et fugientem in desertum, tum ex pugna ejus cum Michaele; et porro in cap. 16:13-15, cap. 20:2, 7, 8, 10, 14, ubi dicitur de eo quod "vinctus sit mille annis, et postquam solutus exiverit ad seducendum gentes, et ad congregandum Gogum et Magogum in bellum contra sanctos", at quod "postea conjectus sit in stagnum ignis et sulphuris; ex quibus omnibus constare potest quod per "draconem" intelligantur illi qui non aliquod bonum charitatis et amoris possident, ex eo quod id non agnoverint ut aliquod medium inserviens saluti, sed aliquod scientificum quod ex persuasione vocant fidem: et cum bonum charitatis et amoris non ex vita hominis implantatum est, est malum loco ejus; et ubi malum ibi falsum.
[29] Quoniam per "serpentes" significantur sensualia, quae ultima naturalis hominis sunt, et illa non sunt mala nisi apud illos qui mali sunt, et quia dracones eadem voce in lingua Hebraea nominantur qua serpentes non venenati, inde est, quod per "dracones", cum per illos intelliguntur tales serpentes, in Verbo significentur sensualia non mala; seu applicate ad personas, homines sensuales non mali. Quod eadem voce in lingua Hebraea nominentur dracones qua tales serpentes, constare potest apud Mosen,
Cum ei mandatum est e rubo projicere baculum suum in terram, et quod cum versus est in serpentem, Moses prehenderet caudam ejus ex quo facto serpens reversus est in baculum (Exodus 4:3, 4);
et postea,
Quod Moses sumpserit baculum, et projecerit eum ante Pharaonem. quod factus sit in serpentem (draconem), et quod magi simile cum suis baculis fecerint; sed quod baculus Mosis, tunc serpens (draco), deglutiverit baculos serpentes (dracones) magorum (Exodus 7:9-12):
serpens in priori loco alia voce in lingua originali nominatur quam in posteriore; in priori loco nominatur serpens communi voce qua alibi in Verbo serpens, sed in posteriore loco voce qua nominatur draco; sic ut interpretari etiam liceat, quod baculus Mosis projectus coram Pharaone conversus sit in draconem: ex eo sequitur quod per "draconem" aeque ac per "serpentem" in bono sensu significetur sensuale, quod est ultimum naturalis hominis, non malum seu non malitiosum.
[30] In mitiori hoc sensu etiam nominantur "dracones" apud Esaiam,
"Honorabit Me fera agri, dracones et filiae noctuae, eo quod dederim in deserto aquas, fluvios in solitudine, ad potandum populum meum electum" (43:20);
et apud Jeremiam,
"Cerva in agro peperit, sed relinquendo quia non fuit gramen; et onagri steterunt super collibus, anhelarunt ventum sicut dracones, consumpti sunt oculi eorum, quod non herba" (14 [5,] 6, 6):
in his locis "dracones" eadem voce nominantur qua "serpentes" in genere, et quoque eadem voce nominantur "ceti" in mari, per quos etiam simile significatur, nempe naturale hominis in communi, quod est sensuale; quare in posteriori loco etiam interpretari licet, "Anhelarunt ventum sicut ceti." (Similiter apud Esaiam cap. 51:9; apud Jeremiam, cap. 51:34; apud Ezechielem, cap. 29:3, 4; et apud Davidem, 11
Ps. 74:13-14) Sunt etiam homines mere sensuales qui boni.
Footnotes:
1. The editors made a correction or note here.
2. The editors made a correction or note here.
3. The editors made a correction or note here.
4. The editors made a correction or note here.
5. The editors made a correction or note here.
6. The editors made a correction or note here.
7. The editors made a correction or note here.
8. The editors made a correction or note here.
9. The editors made a correction or note here.
10. The editors made a correction or note here.
11. The editors made a correction or note here.