5135.“我实在是被偷窃拐来的”表邪恶使属天事物变得疏远。这从“约瑟”的代表和“偷窃”的含义清楚可知：指着自己说这些话的“约瑟”是指属世层里面的属天层（5086，5087，5106节），因而是指那里的属天事物；“被拐”是指由邪恶所造成的疏远。因为“去偷窃”表示疏远，“偷窃”本身表示造成疏远的邪恶，以及索要属世层里面的属天事物的邪恶。“偷窃”表示发生在这类邪恶占据之地的邪恶所造成的疏远；因为它逐出一切良善与真理，以邪恶与虚假充满这个地方。“偷窃”还表示索要属于他人的东西；因为它将那地方的一切良善与真理都据为己有，将其变成自己的，将它们附于邪恶与虚假。为叫人知道“偷窃”在灵义是什么意思，有必要说一说邪恶与虚假在进入并占据一个地方时，以及索要那里的一切良善与真理时是何情形。
从婴儿期到童年，有时甚至直到成年初期，人都在吸收从父母和教师那里所获得的良善与真理，因为在这些年里，他学习这些良善与真理，并简单地相信它们，他的纯真状态使这一切得以实现。其纯真状态将这些良善与真理嵌入他的记忆；然而，仅仅把它们安置在它的边缘或第一道门槛处；因为婴儿期和童年的纯真并非影响理性层的内在纯真，而是仅仅影响外层属世层的外在纯真（参看2306，3183，3494，4563，4797节）。然而，当此人长大，开始靠自己思考，而不像以前那样靠父母和教师思考时，他就回想，可以说反复咀嚼他以前所学习并相信的东西，然后要么赞同它们，要么质疑它们，要么拒绝接受它们。若他赞同它们，这表明他处于良善；若他拒绝接受它们，这表明他陷入邪恶；但若他质疑它们，这表明他随后要么转入肯定心态，要么转入否定心态。
人在尚为小孩子的幼年时代所学习并相信，但后来要么赞同，要么质疑，要么拒绝接受的真理尤其是这些：有一位神，祂是一；祂创造万物；祂赏赐行善的人，惩罚作恶的人；死后仍有生命，那时，坏人下地狱，好人上天堂，因而地狱和天堂是存在的，死后的生命是永恒的；以及要每天祷告，并且祷告时要谦卑；要守安息日为圣；要孝敬父母；不可奸淫；不可杀人；不可偷盗；以及其它众多类似真理。人从童年早期就学习并吸收这类真理；如果当开始靠自己思考，并过自己的生活时，他赞同它们，给它们进一步添加上更内在的那类真理，并照之生活，那么他一切都会好起来。但是，若他开始违背它们，最终拒绝接受它们，那么无论他表面上为了法律和社会的要求如何照之生活，仍旧陷入邪恶。
这种邪恶就是“偷窃”所表示的，因为它像小偷一样篡夺良善之前所占的居所。对许多人来说，它像小偷一样夺走之前在那里的良善与真理，并利用它们来支持或确认邪恶与虚假。对于这些人，主尽可能地将童年早期所吸收的良善与真理从那居所移走，把它们撤回到内层，为将来的功用而将它们储存在内层属世层里面。在圣言中，“余剩或余留”就表示被储存在内层属世层里面的这些良善与真理（参看468，530，560，561，660，661，1050，1738，1906，2284节）。但是，邪恶若窃取了那里的良善与真理，并利用它们来支持或确认邪恶与虚假，尤其利用欺骗如此行，就会摧毁这些余剩或余留；因为在这种情况下，它将邪恶与良善，虚假与真理混在了一起，以致这一个无法与那一个分开，于是这个人就完了。
“偷窃”就表示上述这类事物，这一事实仅从这个词用来论及构成人的属灵生活的事物就能看出来。因为属灵生活中除了良善与真理的认知外，并没有其它财富；除了从良善及其真理那里所获得的生活幸福外，并没有其它财产和继承物。如前所述，窃取这些东西就是属灵意义上的“偷窃”，故在圣言中，“偷窃”并非表示别的，如撒迦利亚书：
我又举目观看，见有一飞行的书卷。他对我说，这是向全地面发出的咒诅。从今以后，凡偷窃的，必按这书卷被清除；凡起假誓的，必按这书卷被清除。我必使这书卷出去，进入偷窃人的家和指我名起假誓人的家；必在他家里过夜，连房屋带木石都毁灭了。（撒迦利亚书5:1，3-4）
“偷窃人”和“偷窃人的家”表示夺走良善的余剩或余留的邪恶；“起假誓人”和“起假誓人的家”表示夺走真理的余剩或余留的虚假；“全地面”表示整个地狱；这就为何经上说：“咒诅连房屋带木石都毁灭了”：“房屋”表示属世心智，或就属世心智而言的人（3128，3538，4973，5023节）；“木”表示那里的良善（2784，2812，3720，4943节）；“石”表示真理（643，1298，3720节）。
亵渎并由此夺走良善与真理在灵义上由亚干所做的事来表示，即：他拿了“当灭的物”、“示拿的外袍”、“二百舍客勒银子”和“一条金子”，把它们藏在他帐棚当中的地里，于是被石头打死，所有的都被焚烧，如约书亚记所描述的：
耶和华吩咐约书亚说，以色列犯了罪，违背了我所吩咐他们的约，取了当灭的物，又偷窃，又行诡诈，又把那当灭的放在他们的器皿当中。（约书亚记7:10-11，21，25）
“当灭的物”表示虚假与邪恶，它们绝不能与任何圣物混在一起；“示拿的外袍”、“二百舍客勒银子”和“一条金子”在灵义上是指虚假的种类；“把它们藏在他帐棚当中的地里”表示与圣物混在一起，因为“帐棚”表示神圣之物（参看414，1102，1566，2145，2152，3312，4128，4391，4599节）。这就是以色列“又偷窃，又行诡诈，又把那当灭的放在他们的器皿当中”的含义；因为“器皿”表示神圣真理（参看3068，3079，3316，3318节）。
耶利米书：
我向以扫追讨的时候，必使灾殃临到他。收取葡萄的若来到你那里，岂不剩下些葡萄呢？盗贼若夜间而来，岂不毁坏直到够了呢？我要把以扫剥得净光，显出他的隐密处，他不能隐藏，他的种、弟兄、邻舍尽都灭绝，他也归于无有。（耶利米书49:8-10）
此处“以扫”表示与虚假联结的自我之爱的邪恶（3322节）。“盗贼夜间而来，毁坏直到够了”，以及“他的种、弟兄、邻舍尽都灭绝，他也归于无有”表示这种邪恶毁灭良善与真理的余剩或余留。“种”表示属于基于仁之信的真理（1025，1447，1610，1940，2848，3038，3310，3373节）；“弟兄”表示属于仁的良善（367，2360，2508，2524，3160，3303，3459，3815，4121，4191节）；“邻舍”表示属于他的相邻和相关的真理。
在俄巴底亚书，类似的话论及以扫：
盗贼若来到你那里，倾覆者若夜间来到（你何竟被剪除）。他们岂不偷窃，直到够了呢？收取葡萄的若来到你那里，岂不剩下些葡萄呢？（俄巴底亚书1:5）
“收取葡萄的”表示并非来自邪恶的虚假。这些虚假不会摧毁主储存在人的内层属世层中的良善与真理，也就是余剩或余留。但源于邪恶的虚假能摧毁它们，因为它们窃取真理与良善，通过对它们的错误使用而利用它们支持或确认邪恶与虚假。
约珥书：
有一民又大又强；他们如勇士奔跑，像战士爬上城墙；各按自己的路前进；他们蹦上城，蹿上墙，爬上房屋，进入窗户如同盗贼。（约珥书2:2，7，9）
“有一民又大又强”表示与真理争战的虚假（1259，1260节）；由于它们在摧毁真理中作战勇猛，故经上说它们“如勇士，像战士”；经上说它们所“蹦上”的“城”表示真理的教义（402，2268，2449，2712，2943，3216节）；“他们所爬上的房屋”表示它们所摧毁的良善（710，1708，2048，2233，3128，3652，3720，4982节）；“他们所进入的窗户”表示理智概念和源于这些概念的推理（655，658，3391节）；正因如此，这些虚假被比作“盗贼”，因为它们篡夺了之前真理与良善所占据的居所。
诗篇：
其实你恨恶管教，将我的言语丢在背后。你见了盗贼，就乐意与他同夥，又与行奸淫的人一同有分。你为邪恶开口，你舌编造诡诈。（诗篇50:17-19）
这论及恶人，因为“与盗贼同夥”表示他利用虚假使真理疏远自己。
启示录：
又不悔改他们那些凶杀、邪术、奸淫、偷窃的事。（启示录9:21）
“凶杀”表示摧毁良善的邪恶；“邪术”表示由此而来的摧毁真理的虚假；“奸淫”表示被扭曲的真理；“偷窃”表示由此被疏远的良善。
约翰福音：
我实实在在地告诉你们：人进羊圈，不从门进去，倒从别处爬进去，那人就是贼，就是强盗。从门进去的，才是羊的牧人。我就是门，凡从我进来的，必然得救，并且出入得草吃。盗贼来，无非要偷窃、杀害、毁坏。（约翰福音10:1-2，9-10）
此处“贼”也表示邀功的邪恶，因为凡从主那里夺走祂的东西，并为自己索取它的人就被称为“贼”。由于这种邪恶关闭道路，以至于阻止良善与真理从主那里流入，故经上说“要杀害、毁坏”。十诫的这条诫命所表相同，即：不可偷盗（申命记5:19；参看
Potts(1905-1910) 5135
5135. For in being carried off by theft I was carried away. That this signifies that celestial things were alienated by evil, is evident from the representation of Joseph, who says these things of himself, as being the celestial in the natural (n. 5086, 5087, 5106), consequently the celestial things therein; and from the signification of "being carried off by theft," as being to be alienated by evil; for "to steal" is to alienate, and "theft" is the evil which alienates, and also the evil which claims the celestial things that are in the natural. "Theft" signifies alienation in respect to the abode of which it takes possession, and from which it casts out goods and truths, and which it fills with evils and falsities; "theft" also signifies the claiming of what belongs to others when it attributes to itself and makes its own the goods and truths which are in that abode, and also when it applies them to evils and falsities. That it may be known what "theft" is in the spiritual sense, it is necessary to state how the case is with evils and falsities when they enter and take possession of the abode, and also when they claim the goods and truths which are there.
[2] From infancy until childhood, and sometimes till early manhood, by instruction from his parents and teachers a man is imbued with goods and truths; for he then learns them with avidity, and believes them in simplicity. The state of innocence favors them and adapts them to the memory, but places them only at the first threshold; for the innocence of infancy and childhood is not internal innocence which affects the rational, but is external innocence which affects only the exterior natural (see n. 2306, 3183, 3494, 4563, 4797). But when the man grows older and begins to think from himself, and not as before from parents and teachers, he then takes up again and as it were ruminates the things which he had before learned and believed, and either confirms them, or doubts about them, or denies them. If he confirms them, it is a sign that he is in good; if he denies them, it is a sign that he is in evil; but if he doubts about them, it is a sign that in succeeding years he will accede either to the affirmative or to the negative.
[3] The things which man as a little child in its first age learns eagerly or believes, and which he afterward either confirms, or doubts about, or denies, are especially these: that there is a God, and that He is one; that He has created all things; that He rewards those who do well, and punishes those who do evil; that there is a life after death, in which the evil go to hell and the good to heaven, thus that there is a hell and a heaven, and that the life after death is eternal; also that he ought to pray daily, and this with humility; that the Sabbath day is to be kept holy; that parents are to be honored; and that no one must commit adultery, murder, or theft; with other like things. These things man imbibes and is imbued with from early childhood; but when he begins to think from himself and to lead himself, if he confirms such things in himself, and adds to them things which are still more interior, and lives according to them, then it is well with him; but if he begins to infringe these things, and at last to deny them, however much for the sake of civil laws and for the sake of society he may live in externals according to them, he is then in evil.
[4] This evil is what is signified by "theft," insofar as like a thief it takes possession of the abode in which good has been before, and insofar as with many it takes away the goods and truths which had been there before, and applies them to confirm evils and falsities. The Lord insofar as possible then removes from that abode the goods and truths of early childhood, and withdrawing them toward the interiors stores them up in the interior natural for use. These goods and truths stored up in the interior natural are signified in the Word by "remains" (see n. 468, 530, 560, 561, 660, 661, 1050, 1738, 1906, 2284). But if evil steals the goods and truths there, and applies them to confirm evils and falsities, especially if it does this from deceit, then it consumes these remains; for it then mingles evils with goods and falsities with truths till they cannot be separated, and then it is all over with the man.
[5] That such things are signified by "theft," may be seen from the mere application of "theft" to the things of spiritual life. In spiritual life there are no other riches than the knowledges of good and truth, and no other possessions and inheritances than the felicities of life arising from goods and their truths. As before said, to steal these things is "theft" in the spiritual sense; and therefore by "thefts," in the Word, nothing else is signified in the internal sense; as in Zechariah:
I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, when behold a flying roll. Then said he unto me, This is the curse that goeth forth upon the faces of the whole earth; for everyone that stealeth hence, like it is innocent; and everyone that sweareth, like it is innocent. I have cast it forth that it may enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth by My name for lying; and it shall pass the night in his house, and shall consume it and the wood thereof and the stones thereof (Zech. 5:1, 3-4);
the evil which takes away the remains of good is signified by "him that stealeth," and by the "house of the thief;" and the falsity which takes away the remains of truth is signified by "him that sweareth," and by the "house of him that sweareth for lying;" the "faces of the whole earth" denote the universal church; therefore it is said that "the curse shall consume the house and the wood thereof and the stones thereof." The "house" is the natural mind or man as to this mind (n. 3128, 3538, 4973, 5023); "wood" is the goods therein (n. 2784, 2812, 3720, 4943); and the "stones" are truths (n. 643, 1298, 3720).
[6] Profanation and hence the taking away of good and truth are signified in the spiritual sense by the deed of Achan, who took of the accursed things a mantle of Shinar, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold, and hid them in the earth in the midst of his tent, and who therefore was stoned, and all the things were burned; as is related in Joshua:
Jehovah said unto Joshua, Israel hath sinned, they have transgressed My covenant which I commanded them; and they have taken of the accursed thing, and have stolen, lied, and have put it among their vessels (Josh. 7:10-11, 21, 25);
by "accursed things" were meant falsities and evils, which were in no wise to be mixed up with holy things; the "mantle of Shinar, shekels of silver, and wedge of gold" are in the spiritual sense species of falsity; "hiding them under the earth in the midst of the tent" signified a commixture with holy things. (That a "tent" denotes what is holy may be seen above, n. 414, 1102, 1566, 2145, 2152, 3312, 4128, 4391, 4599.) These things were signified by Israel's "stealing, lying, and putting it among their vessels;" for "vessels" are holy truths (see n. 3068, 3079, 3316, 3318).
[7] In Jeremiah:
I will bring the issue of Esau upon him, the time that I shall visit him. If grape gatherers came to thee, would they not leave some grape gleanings? If thieves by night, would they not destroy a sufficiency? I will strip Esau, I will uncover his secret things, and he shall not be able to hide, his seed is devastated, and his brethren, and his neighbors, and he is not (Jer. 49:8-10);
where "Esau" denotes the evil of the love of self to which falsities are adjoined (n. 3322). That this evil consumes the remains of good and truth is signified by "thieves in the night destroying a sufficiency;" and by "his seed, his brethren, and his neighbors being devastated, and he is not." "Seed" denotes the truths which are of faith from charity (n. 1025, 1447, 1610, 1940, 2848, 3038, 3310, 3373); "brethren" denote the goods which are of charity (n. 367, 2360, 2508, 2524, 3160, 3303, 3459, 3815, 4121, 4191); "neighbors" denote the adjoined and related truths and goods which belong to him.
[8] Something similar is said of Esau in Obadiah:
If thieves come to thee, if overthrowers by night (how wilt thou be cut off!) will they not steal till they have enough? If grape gatherers come to thee, will they not leave some clusters? (Obad. 5);
"grape gatherers" denote falsities which are not from evil; by these falsities the goods and truths stored up by the Lord in man's interior natural (that is, remains) are not consumed, but by falsities derived from evils, which steal truths and goods and also by wrong applications employ them to confirm evils and falsities.
[9] In Joel:
A great people and mighty, they shall run like heroes; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march everyone in his ways; they shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run on the wall; they shall climb up into the houses; they shall enter in through the windows like a thief (Joel 2:2, 7, 9);
a "great people and mighty" denotes falsities fighting against truths (n. 1259, 1260); and because they fight mightily in destroying truths, they are said to be "like heroes and men of war;" the "city" through which they are said to "run to and fro" denotes the doctrinals of truth (n. 402, 2268, 2449, 2712, 2943, 3216); the "houses into which they shall climb" denote the goods which they destroy (n. 710, 1708, 2048, 2233, 3128, 3652, 3720, 4982); the "windows through which they shall enter in" denote things intellectual and the derivative reasonings (n. 655, 658, 3391); hence they are compared to a "thief," because they take possession of the abode previously occupied by truths and goods.
[10] In David:
As thou hatest discipline, and castest My words behind thee; if thou seest a thief thou runnest with him, and thy part is with adulterers. Thou openest thy mouth for evil, and with thy tongue thou weavest deceit (Ps. 50:17-19);
speaking of a wicked person, "to run with a thief" denotes to alienate truth from himself by means of falsity.
[11] In Revelation:
They repented not of their murders, nor of their enchantments, nor of their whoredoms, nor of their thefts (Rev. 9:21);
"murders" denote evils which destroy goods; "enchantments," falsities therefrom which destroy truths; "whoredoms," truths falsified; "thefts" goods thus alienated.
[12] In John:
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not through the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in through the door is the shepherd of the sheep. I am the door; through Me if anyone enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and shall find pasture. The thief cometh not but to steal, and to murder, and to destroy (John 10:1-2, 9-10);
here again a "thief" denotes the evil of merit; for he who takes away from the Lord what is His, and claims it for himself, is called a "thief." As this evil closes the way and prevents good and truth from the Lord from flowing in, it is said "to murder" and "to destroy." The same is signified by the commandment in the Decalogue:
Thou shalt not steal (Deut. 5:19; see n. 4174).
From all this it is evident what is signified by the laws enacted in the Jewish Church in regard to thefts (as in Exod. 21:16; 22:1-4; Deut. 24:7); for as all the laws in that church originated in the spiritual world, they correspond to the laws of order which are in heaven.
Elliott(1983-1999) 5135
5135. 'For I have indeed been taken away by theft' means that evil caused celestial things to become alienated. This is clear from the representation of 'Joseph', who says this about himself, as the celestial within the natural, dealt with in 5086, 5087, 5106, and consequently the celestial things there; and from the meaning of 'being taken away by theft' as undergoing alienation caused by evil. For 'to commit theft' means to alienate, while 'theft' itself means the evil which causes alienation, as well as meaning evil which lays claim to the things existing there in the natural. 'Theft' means an alienation caused by evil that happens in the place which such evil takes possession of; for it expels everything good and true and fills up that place with evils and falsities. 'Theft' also means its laying claim to what belongs to others; for it takes to itself everything good and true in that place and makes such its own as well as attaching it to evils and falsities. But to enable anyone to know what is meant by 'theft' in the spiritual sense, a statement must be made about what happens to evils and falsities when they enter in and take possession of a place, and also when they lay claim to everything good and true there.
[2] From infancy to childhood, and sometimes on into early youth, a person is absorbing forms of goodness and truth received from parents and teachers, for during those years he learns about those forms of goodness and truth and believes them with simplicity - his state of innocence enabling this to happen. It inserts those forms of goodness and truth into his memory; yet it lodges them only on the edge of it since the innocence of infancy and childhood is not an internal innocence which has an influence on the rational, only an external one which has an influence solely on the exterior natural, 2306, 3183, 3494, 4563, 4797. When however the person grows older, when he starts to think for himself and not, as previously, simply in the way his parents or teachers do, he brings back to mind and so to speak chews over what he has learned and believed before, and then he either endorses it, has doubts about it, or refuses to accept it. If he endorses it, this is an indication that he is governed by good, but if he refuses to accept it, that is an indication that he is governed by evil. If however he has doubts about what he has learned and believed before, it is an indication that he will move subsequently either into an affirmative attitude of mind or else into a negative one.
[3] The truths that a person learns and believes in his earliest years when he is a young child but which later on he either endorses, has doubts about, or refuses to accept, are in particular these: There is God, and He is one; He created everything; He rewards those who do what is good and punishes those who do things that are bad; there is life after death, when the bad go to hell and the good go to heaven, and so there is a hell and a heaven; the life after death lasts for ever; also, people ought to pray every day and to do so in a humble way; they ought to keep the sabbath day holy, honour their parents, and not commit adultery, kill, or steal; and many other truths like these. Such truths are learned and absorbed by a person from earliest childhood; but if, when he starts to think for himself and to lead his own life, he endorses them, adding to them further truths of a more interior kind, and leads a life in conformity with them, all is well with him. But if he starts to disobey them, refusing at length to accept them, then even though outwardly he leads a life in conformity with them, because the law and society expect him to do so, he is governed by evil.
[4] This evil is what is meant by 'theft', to the extent that thief-like it usurps the position held previously by good. With many people it is thief-like to the extent that it takes away the forms of goodness and truth previously there and uses them to lend support to evils and falsities. So far as is possible with these people the Lord removes the forms of goodness and truth absorbed in early childhood from where these are to a more internal position, where - within the interior natural - He stores them away for future use. These forms of goodness and truth that are stored away within the interior natural are meant in the Word by 'the remnant', dealt with in 468, 530, 560, 561, 660, 661, 1050, 1738, 1906, 2284. But if evil steals the forms of goodness and truth there and uses them to lend support to evils and falsities, especially if it does so by the use of deceit, it destroys those remnants; for in this case it mingles evil with good, and falsity with truth, to such an extent that one cannot be separated from the other; and then a person is done for.
[5] The fact that 'theft' means the kinds of things mentioned above may be seen from the mere use of that word to refer to what constitutes a person's spiritual life. For the only riches in that life are cognitions of good and truth, and the only possessions and inheritances are the different forms of happiness in life which are gained from forms of good and from truths deriving from these. The stealing of such things, as stated above, is what 'theft' relates to in the spiritual sense, and therefore by the thefts mentioned in the Word nothing else is meant in the internal sense, as in Zechariah,
I lifted up my eyes and saw, and behold, a flying scroll. Then he said to me, This curse is going out over the face of the whole land, for everyone committing theft from now on, according to it, will be innocent, and everyone swearing falsely, according to it, will be innocent. I have cast it forth, that it may enter the house of the thief, and the house of him swearing falsely by My name, and may pass the night in his house and consume it, both its timbers and its stones. Zech 5:1-4.
Evil which takes away remnants of good is meant by 'one committing theft' and by 'the house of the thief', and falsity which takes away remnants of truth by 'one swearing falsely' and by 'the house of him swearing falsely'. 'The face of the whole land' stands for the whole Church, which is why the statement is made that the curse will consume the house, both its timbers and its stones - 'house' meaning the natural mind or a person so far as that mind is concerned, 3128, 3538, 4973, 5023, 'timbers' the forms of good present there, 2784, 2812, 3720, 4943, and 'stones' the truths, 643, 1298, 3720.
[6] Profanation and a consequent removal of goodness and truth are meant in the spiritual sense by the action of Achan, who took some of 'the devoted things' - a mantle of Shinar, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold - and hid them in the earth in the middle of his tent, on account of which he was stoned and everything was burned, as described in Joshua,
Jehovah said to Joshua, Israel has sinned; they have transgressed My covenant which I commanded them, and have taken some of that which was devoted; they have committed theft, have lied, and have put it among their own vessels. Josh 7:11, 12, 25.
'The devoted things' meant falsities and evils, which were not on any account to be mixed with anything holy. 'A mantle of Shinar, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold' in the spiritual sense are specific types of falsity. 'Hiding them in the earth in the middle of the tent' meant a mingling with things that are holy - for 'a tent' means that which is holy, see 414, 1102, 1566, 2145, 2152, 3312, 4128, 4391, 4599. Such was the meaning of the declaration that they had committed theft, lied, and put [what was devoted] among their own vessels; for 'vessels' means holy truths, 3068, 3079, 3316, 3318.
[7] In Jeremiah,
I will bring the disastera of Esau upon him, the time I will visit him. If grape-gatherers come to you, will they not leave grape-gleanings? if thieves in the night, will they not destroy a sufficiency? I will strip Esau bare, I will uncover his secret places, and he will not be able to be concealed. His seed has been laid waste, and his brothers, and his neighbours; and he is no more. Jer 49:8-10.
'Esau' stands for the evil of self-love to which falsities have been allied, 3322. The destruction by this evil of the remnants of good and truth is meant by the statements that 'thieves in the night will destroy a sufficiency' and that 'his seed has been laid waste, also his brothers and his neighbours, and he is no more'. 'Seed' stands for truths which are those of faith grounded in charity, 1025, 1447, 1610, 1940, 2848, 3038, 3310, 3373; 'brothers' for forms of good which are those of charity, 367, 2360, 2508, 2524, 3160, 3303, 3459, 3815, 4121, 4191; 'neighbours' for the adjoining and related forms of truth and good which belong to it.
[8] A similar reference to Esau occurs in Obadiah,
If thieves come to you, if those who overturn in the night - how you will have been cut off! - will they not steal that which is enough for themselves? If grape-gatherers come to you, will they not leave some clusters? Obad. verse 5.
'Grape-gatherers' stands for falsities which are not a product of evil. These falsities do not destroy the forms of goodness and truth - that is, the remnants - stored away by the Lord in a person's interior natural. But falsities that are the product of evils do destroy them, for they steal forms of truth and good and also use them, through misapplication of them, to lend support to evils and falsities.
[9] In Joel,
A great and mighty people, like heroes they will run, like men of war they will scale the wall; and they will pass on, every one on his way. They will run about the city, they will run on the wall, they will climb into the houses, they will go in through the windows like a thief. Joel 2:7, 9.
'A great and mighty people' stands for falsities fighting against truths, 1259, 1260; and because they fight in a mighty way, by destroying truths, they are spoken of as 'heroes' and 'like men of war'. 'The city' through which they are said to run about stands for matters of doctrine regarding truth, 402, 2268, 2449, 2712, 2943, 3216; 'the houses which they will climb into' stands for the forms of good which they destroy, 710, 1708, 2048, 2233, 3128, 3652, 3720, 4982; 'the windows which they will go through' stands for intellectual concepts and for reasonings derived from these, 655, 658, 3391. This being so, those falsities are compared to a thief because they usurp the position held previously by truths and forms of good.
[10] In David,
Since you hate discipline and cast away My words behind you, if you see a thief you run with him, and your part is with adulterers. You open your mouth towards evil, and with your tongue you frame deceit. Ps 50:17-19.
This refers to someone wicked, 'running with a thief' standing for his use of falsity to alienate truth from himself.
[11] In Revelation,
They did not repent of their murders, or of their enchantments, or of their whoredoms, or of their thefts. Rev 9:21.
'Murders' stands for evils which destroy forms of good, 'enchantments' for falsities from these which destroy truths, 'whoredoms' for falsified truths, 'thefts' for forms of good that have consequently been alienated.
[12] In John,
Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the sheepfold but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. I am the door; if anyone enters through Me he will be saved, and will go in, and will go out, and will find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy. John 10:1, 2, 8-10.
'A thief' in this instance also stands for the evil of merit-seeking, for anyone who takes away from the Lord that which is His and claims it as his own is called 'a thief'. This evil closes the path so as to prevent the flow of good and truth from the Lord, for which reason it is referred to as 'killing and destroying'. Much the same is meant in the Ten Commandments, at Deut 5:19, by You shall not steal, 4174. From all this one may see what is meant in the spiritual sense by the laws laid down in the Jewish Church regarding thefts, such as those at Exod 21:16; 22:1-4; Deut 24:7; for all laws in that Church had their origin in the spiritual world, and they therefore correspond to the laws of order which exist in heaven.
Latin(1748-1756) 5135
5135. `Quia furto auferendo ablatus sum': quod significet quod caelestia abalienata sint per malum, constat a repraesentatione `Josephi' qui de se illa dicit, quod sit caeleste in naturali, de qua n. 5086, 5087, 5106, consequenter caelestia ibi; et ex significatione `furto auferri' quod sit abalienari per malum;`furari' enim est abalienare, et `furtum' est malum quod abalienat, et quoque `furtum' est malum quod vindicat sibi illa quae ibi;
furtum significat abalienationem respective ad sedem quam occupat e qua ejicit bona et vera et implet malis et falsis, et furtum significat vindicationem aliorum, cum bona et vera quae in sede illa, sibi attribuit et sua facit, et quoque quando applicat illa malis et falsis; ut sciatur, quid furtum in sensu spirituali, dicendum quomodo se habet cum malis et falsis cum intrant et occupant sedem, et quoque cum vindicant sibi bona et vera quae ibi:
[2] homo ab infantia usque ad pueritiam, et quandoque ad primam adolescentiam imbuit bona et vera per instructionem a parentibus et magistris, arripit enim tunc illa et simpliciter credit; status innocentiae promovet, et inaptat illa memoriae, sed locat in primo limine, nam innocentia infantilis et puerilis non est innocentia interna quae afficit rationale, sed est innocentia externa quae solum afficit naturale exterius, n. 2306, 3183, (x)3494, 4563, 4797; cum autem homo provehitur aetate, (c)et incipit cogitare non sicut prius a parentibus et magistris sed a semet, tunc resumit et quasi ruminat illa quae prius didicerat et crediderat, et illa vel confirmat, vel de illis dubitat, vel illa negat; si illa confirmat, indicium est quod in bono sit; si autem negat, indicium est quod in malo sit; si autem de illis dubitat, indicium est quod succedente aetate vel ad affirmativum vel ad negativum accedat; [3] quae homo ut infans prima aetate arripit vel {1} credit, et quae dein vel confirmat, vel de quibus dubitat, vel quae negat, sunt imprimis quod Deus sit, et is unus {2}, quod Ille creaverat omnia, quod Ille remuneret illos qui bene agunt et puniat illos qui mala faciunt, quod vita sit post mortem, et quod mali veniant in infernum et boni in caelum, ita quod infernum et caelum sint, quod vita post mortem sit aeterna tum quod quotidie orandum, et hoc humiliter, quod dies sabbati sancte habendi, parentes honorandi, non adulterandum, non occidendum, non furandum, et plura similia; hac haurit et imbui homo ab infantia, at cum incipit ex se cogitare et semet ducere, si talia apud se confirmat, et superaddit plura quae adhuc interior sunt, et vivit secundum illa, tunc bene cum illo est; ast si incipit infringere illa, et tandem negare, utcumque secundum illa propter leges civiles et propter societates in externis vivit, tunc in malo est; [4] hoc malum est quod significatur per `furtum', quatenus id sicut fur occupat sedem ubi prius fuit bonum, et apud plures quatenus id bona et vera quae prius ibi fuerant, aufert et applicat ad confirmanda mala et falsa; Dominus quantum possibile est, bona et vera infantiae tunc removet a sede illa et versus interiora retrahit, ac illa in interiore naturali reponit in usum;
haec bona et vera in interiore naturali reposita in Verbo significantur per reliquias {3}, de quibus n. 468, 530, 560, 561, 660, 661, 1050, 1738, 1906, 2284; at si malum furatur ibi bona et vera et applicat illa ad confirmanda mala et falsa, imprimis si ex dolo, tunc reliquias illas consumit, nam tunc commiscet mala bonis et falsa veris, usque adeo ut separari nequeant, et tunc actum est cum homine. [5] Quod per `furtum' talia significentur, constare potest ex sola applicatione furti ad illa quae vitae spiritualis sunt; in vita {4} spirituali non aliae opes sunt quam cognitiones boni et veri, nec aliae possessiones et hereditates quam felicitates vitae quae ex bonis et inde veris, illa furari, sicut supra dictum, est `furtum' in sensu spirituali; quapropter per furta in Verbo non aliud in sensu interno significatur, ut apud Zachariam,
Sustuli oculos meos et vidi, cum ecce volumen volans,... tum dixit ad me, Haec maledictio, exiens super facies totius terrae, nam omnis furans hinc, sicut illa innocens, et omnis pejerans sicut illa innocens: ejeci illam,... ut ingrediatur in domum furis, et in domum pejerantis per nomen Meum pro mendacio; et pernoctet in domo ejus, et consumat eam, et ligna ejus et lapides ejus, v 1-4;
malum quod aufert reliquias boni significatur per `furantem et per domum furis', et falsum quod aufert reliquias veri significatur per `pejerantem et domum pejerantis'; `facies totius terrae' pro universa Ecclesia; ideo dicitur {5} quod `maledictio illa consumet domum, et ligna ejus et lapides ejus', `domus' est mens naturalis seu homo quoad illam, n. 3128, 3538, 4973, 5023; `ligna' sunt bona ibi, n. 2784, (x)2812, 3720, 4943; et `lapides' sunt vera, n. 643, 1298, 3720. [6] Profanatio et inde ablatio boni et veri in spirituali sensu significatur per factum Achanis, quod sumpserit de devotis togam Shinearis, ducentos siclos argenti, et linguam auri, et abscondiderit illa sub {6} terra in medio tentorii sui;
quapropter ille lapidatus, et omnia combusta {7}, de quibus ita {8} apud Joshuam,
Jehovah ad Joshuam, Peccavit Israel, transgressi sunt foedus Meum quod praecepi illis, et sumpserunt de devotione, furati sunt, mentiti, et posuerunt inter vasa sua, vii 11, 21, 25;
per `devota' significabantur falsa et mala, quae nequaquam commiscenda essent sanctis; `toga Shinearis, sicli argenti et lingua auri' (o)in sensu spirituali sunt species falsi; `recondere illa sub terra in medio tentorii' significabat commixtionem cum sanctis; quod `tentorium' sit sanctum videatur n. 414, 1102, 1566, 2145, 2152, 3312, {9} 4128, 4391, 4599; haec significata sunt per quod `furati sint mentiti, et posuerint inter vasa sua', `vasa' enim sunt (o)sancta ver n. 3068, 3079, 3316, 3318: [7] apud Jeremiam,
{10}Exitum Esavi adducam super eum, tempus visitabo eum; si vindemiatores venerint tibi, nonne relinquent racemationes? si fures in nocte, corrumpentne sufficientiam? Ego denudat Esavum, revelabo occulta ejus, et abscondi non poterit; devastatum est semen ejus, et fratres ejus, et vicini ejus, et non ille, xlix 8-10;
`Esau' pro malo amoris sui cui falsa adjuncta, n. 3322; quod id malum consumat reliquias boni et veri, significatur per quod `fures in nocte corrumpant sufficientiam' et quod `devastatum sit semen ejus, fratre ejus, et vicini ejus, (o)et non ille'; `semen' pro veris quae sunt fide ex charitate, n. 1025, 1447, 1610, 1940, 2848, 3038, 3310, 3373, `fratre' pro bonis quae charitatis, n. 367, 2508, 2524, 2360, 3160, 3303, 3459, 3815, 4121, 4191, `vicini' pro adjunctis et affinibus veris et boni quae ejus. [8] Similiter de Esavo apud Obadiam,
Si fures venerint tibi, si eversores noctu, quomodo excisus eris; nonne furabuntur quod illis satis? si vindemiatores venerint tibi, nonne relinquent racemos? vers. 5;
`vindemiatores' pro falsis quae non ex malo, per illa falsa non consumuntur bona et vera [in] interiore naturali apud hominem a Domino reposita, hoc est, `reliquiae', sed per falsa ex malis, quae {11} furantur vera et bona, et (o)quoque ad confirmanda mala et falsa per applicatione sinistras adhibentur: apud Joelem,
Populus magnus [et] validus,... sicut heroes current, sicut viri belli, conscendent murum, ac quilibet in viis suis pergent;... in urbe discurrent, in muro current, in domos ascendent, per fenestras ingredientur sicut fur, ii 7, 9;
`populus magnus et validus' pro falsis pugnantibus contra vera, n. 1259 1260, et quia pugnant valide destruendo vera, dicuntur `heroes et sicut viri belli'; `urbs per quam dicuntur discurrere' pro doctrinalibus veri, n. 402, 2268, (x)2449, 2712, 2943, 3216; `domus in quas ascendent' pro bonis quae destruunt, n. 710, 1708, 2048, 2233, 3128, 3652, 3720, 4982; `fenestrae per quas ingredientur' pro intellectualibus et inde ratiociniis, n. 655, 658, 3391, inde comparantur `furi' quia occupant sedem ubi prius vera et bona: [10] apud Davidem,
Cum tu oderis disciplinam, et rejicis verba Mea post te, si videris furem curris cum eo, et cum adulteris pars tua; os tuum aperis {12} ad malum, et lingua tua nectis dolum, Ps. l 17-19;
ibi de impio, `currere cum fure' pro abalienare a se verum per falsum: [11] in Apocalypsi,
Non egerunt paenitentiam ex homicidiis suis, neque ex incantationibus suis, neque ex scortationibus suis, neque ex scortationibus suis, ix 21;
`homicidia' pro malis quae destruunt bona, `incantationes' pro falsis inde quae destruunt vera, `scortationes' pro falsificatis veris, `furta' pro abalienatis inde bonis: [12] apud Johannem,
Amen, amen, dico vobis, qui non est ingrediens per januam in caulam ovium, sed ascendit aliunde, is est fur et latro; qui vero ingreditur {13} per januam, pastor est ovium.... Ego sum ostium, per Me si quis introiverit, salvabitur, et ingredietur et egredietur, et pascuum inveniet; fur non velint nisi ut furetur, et mactet et perdat, x 1, 2, 8-10;
`fur' hic etiam pro malo meriti, nam qui aufert Domino quod {14} Ipsius est, et sibi vindicat, `fur' dicitur; hoc malum quia claudit viam, ne bonum et verum a Domino influat, dicitur `mactare et perdere': simile per non furaberis in decalogo, Deut. v 17 [A.V. 19], significatur, n. 4174. Ex his constare potest quod per leges de furtis in Ecclesia Judaica latis, in sensu spirituali significatur, ut Exod. xxi 16, xxi 37 [A.V. xxii 1]; xxii 1-3 [A.V. 2-4]; Deut. xxiv 7; omnes enim leges ibi e mundo spirituali quia traxerunt {15} originem, correspondent legibus ordinis quae in caelo.
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