6400.“咬伤马蹄”表从最低级的属世层那里所获得的谬念。这从“咬伤”和“马蹄”的含义清楚可知：“咬伤”是指粘附，并由此造成伤害；“马蹄”是指从最低级的属世层那里所获得的谬念；因为“马蹄”是指属世层的最低级和肉体部分（参看259，4938-4952节），而“马”是指心智的理解力部分（2761，2762，3217，5321，6125节）。“马”在此之所以表示谬念，是因为它表示最低级的属世层或感官层的理解力。处于真理，尚未处于良善的人就会陷入从最低级的属世层那里所获得谬念；这一点可从以下事实看出来：真理不在任何光中，除非良善与它同在，或在它里面。因为良善就像发光的火焰；当这良善遇到某个真理时，它不仅光照它，还把它带向自己，进入它所发出的光中。因此，处于真理，尚未处于良善的人处在幽冥和黑暗之中；因为真理凭自己根本没有光，这些人从良善所获得的光如同渐渐消退的光那样微弱。因此，当这些人思想和推理真理，并通过真理思想和推理良善时，他们就像那些在黑暗中看见幻影，并以为它们是真实身体的人；或像在幽暗中看见墙上的条纹，并在想象中把它们作成某个人或某种动物形状的人。然而，当日光来临时，只见它们纯粹是没有任何形状的条纹。此处所论述的与这些人同在的真理也是这样，因为他们把那些不是真理的东西看成真理，这些东西更像是幻影，或墙上的条纹。此外，教会中的所有异端邪说都是从那些处于圣言的某个真理，但未处于良善的人那里产生的；因为在他们看来，异端信仰完全就是真理；教会中的虚假也是如此。那些散布异端邪说的人并未处于良善，这一点可从以下事实看出来：他们将仁之良善远远抛在信之真理的后面，因此在很大程度上杜撰出完全不符合仁之良善的观念。
既然说到那些处于真理，尚未处于良善的人利用从最低级的属世层那里所获得的谬念来推理真理和良善，那么有必要说一说何为谬念。以人死后的生命为例。陷入从最低级的属世层那里所获得的谬念之人，如那些处于真理，尚未处于良善的人，不相信除了人的身体外，他里面还有什么东西是活的；也不相信当人死亡时，他还会复活，除非他找回自己的身体。如果这些人被告知，内层人就是那在身体里面拥有生命的，当肉体死亡时，这内层人就被主复活；并且这内层人拥有诸如灵人或天使所拥有的那样一个身体；他和世人一样能看见、听见、说话，与他人交往，觉得自己完全是一个人，他们根本就不明白。从最低级的属世层那里所获得的谬念使得他们以为这种事不可能是真的，主要因为他们没有自己的肉眼看见它们。
此外，当这种人思想灵或灵魂时，他们对它没有任何概念，只以为它就像自然界中肉眼看不见的东西。所以，他们将它或视为一口气，或视为空气、以太，或视为火焰；有些人则认为它是一种纯粹的思维能力，几乎没有任何生命力，直到它再次与肉体结合。这些人之所以这样想，是因为对他们来说，一切内层事物都处在幽冥和黑暗之中，只有外在事物处于光明。这表明他们何等容易陷入错误；因为如果他们只思想肉体，以及它如何再度聚合；只思想世界的毁灭，并且这种毁灭人们已徒然等候了许多个世纪了；只思想动物，以及动物所拥有的生命无异于人的生命的事实，或只思想没有哪个死人再度显现，向世人表明他们的生命状态，那么当思想这些和其它这类事时，他们很容易远离复活的信仰，在信仰的其它事上也一样。他们远离这种信仰的原因是，他们并未处于良善，并未通过良善在光中看见。这就是他们的状态，故经上还说“使骑马的向后坠落。耶和华啊，我等候你的救恩”，意思是说，若非主帮助他们，他们就会偏离真理。
Potts(1905-1910) 6400
6400. Biting the horse's heels. That this signifies fallacies from lowest nature, is evident from the signification of "biting," as being to adhere, and thereby do harm to; and from the signification of a "horse's heel," as being fallacies from lowest nature; for the "heel" denotes the lowest natural and corporeal (see n. 259, 4938-4952), and a "horse," the intellectual (n. 2761, 2762, 3217, 5321, 6125); here a "horse" denotes fallacies, because it denotes the intellectual of the lowest natural or sensuous. That they who are in truth and not yet in good are in fallacies from lowest nature, may be seen from the fact that truth is not in any light unless good is with it, or in it; for good is like a flame which emits light from itself; and when good meets with any truth, it not only illuminates it, but also brings it to itself into its own light. They therefore who are in truth and not yet in good, are in shade and darkness; because truth has no light from itself, and the light which they have from good is faint, like a light which is going out; and therefore when these persons think and reason about truth, and from truth about good, they are like those who see phantasms in the dark, and believe them to be real bodies; or who see marks on a wall in a shady place, and in fancy make of them the image of some man or animal; and yet when the light comes, they are seen to be mere marks without any form; and it is the same with truths with those here treated of, for they see as truths those things which are not truths, and which are rather to be likened to phantasms, and to marks on a wall. Moreover all the heresies in the church have arisen from those who have been in some truth from the Word, but not in good; to them heresy has appeared exactly like truth; and in like manner the falsities in the church. That they who have promulgated these have not been in good, may be seen from the fact that they have rejected the good of charity far behind the truth of faith, and have in part devised such things as do not at all agree with the good of charity. [2] It is said that they who are in truth and not yet in good reason about good and truth from fallacies from lowest nature, and therefore it is necessary to say what fallacies are. Take for example the life after death. They who are in fallacies from lowest nature, as are those who are in truth and not yet in good, do not believe that there is anything alive in man except his body, nor that when man dies he can rise again unless he again receives his body. If they are told that there is an interior man who lives in the body, and who is raised up by the Lord when the body dies, and that the man when raised has a body such as spirits or angels have, and that he sees, hears, speaks, is in company with others, and appears to himself exactly like a man, just as does a man in this world, they cannot apprehend it. Fallacies from lowest nature make them believe such things to be impossible, chiefly because they do not see them with the eyes of their body. [3] Moreover when such persons think about the spirit or soul, they have no idea whatever about it except such as they have of the invisible things in nature, whence they make it either a mere breath, or aerial, or ethereal, or like a flame; some a mere thinking power which has scarcely any vitality until it is again joined to the body. The reason why they think in this way is that to them all interior things are in shade and darkness, and only outward things are in light, which shows how easily they may fall into error; for if they think only of how the body is to be put together again; of the destruction of the world, and that this has been vainly awaited for so many ages; of brute animals having a life not unlike the life of man; and that none of the dead appear and make known the state of their life-when they think these and other such things, they easily recede from belief in the resurrection; and so in many other cases. The reason is that they are not in good, and through good in light. Such being their state, it is also said, "and his rider shall fall backward; I wait for Thy salvation, O Jehovah." By this is signified that hence comes a receding unless the Lord brings aid.
Elliott(1983-1999) 6400
6400. 'Biting the horse's heels' means false notions received from the lowest natural level. This is clear from the meaning of 'biting' as clinging to and thereby causing harm, and from the meaning of 'the horse's heels' as false notions received from the lowest natural level; for 'the heel' is the lowest and bodily part of the natural, 259, 4938-4952. While 'horse' is the understanding part of the mind, 2761, 2762, 3217, 5321, 6125. 'Horse' here means false notions because the lowest natural level of the understanding, which is that of the senses, is meant. People who are guided by truth but not as yet by good are subject to false notions received from that lowest natural level. This may be recognized from the consideration that truth is not in any light unless good resides with it or exists within it. For good is like a flame radiating light, and when that good meets some truth it not only throws light on it but also draws it into that radiating light, towards itself. People therefore who are guided by truth but not as yet by good are in a kind of gloom and darkness, because truth possesses no light at all of its own, and the light which those people receive from good is as feeble as light which fades away. When such people therefore think and engage in reasoning about truth, and from truth about good, they are like those who see apparitions in the darkness and believe them to be real bodies. Or they are like people who in the gloom see streaks on a wall and whose imagination leads them to make some shape out of them, either of a human being or of some other living creature. But when daylight comes it is seen that they are merely streaks without any such shape. It is much the same with the truths residing with them; for they see as truths what are not truths, which ought rather to be likened to apparitions or streaks on the wall. What is more, people of this kind - those who have been guided by some truth from the Word but not by any good - have been the source of all the heresies that have arisen within the Church; for heretical belief has been seen by them to be altogether the truth. So too with falsities within the Church. Those who have disseminated them have not been guided by good, as may be recognized from the consideration that they cast the good of charity far behind the truth of faith and as a consequence have for the most part invented ideas which are in no way compatible with the good of charity.
[2] Since it is said that those who are guided by truth but not as yet by good use false notions received from the lowest natural level to reason about truth and about good, let something also be said about what false notions are. Take for example a person's life after death. People subject to false notions received from lowest nature, such as those who are guided by truth but not as yet by good, do not believe that any part of a person except his body has life, or that a person can possibly rise again when he dies unless he gets back his body. If these people are told that the interior man is the one who has life within the body and who is raised up by the Lord when the body dies, and that this interior man has a body like those that spirits or angels have, and that like a person in the world he can see, hear, talk, mix with others, and seem to himself to be altogether a person, they cannot grasp any of it. False notions received from the lowest natural level cause them to believe that such things cannot be true.
[3] The chief reason why they do not believe them to be true is that they cannot see those things with their physical eyes. When such people think about the spirit or soul, the only idea they can have of it is that it is like things the eye cannot see in the natural world. Consequently they consider it to be either something breath-like, or else something air-like, ether-like, or flame-like, or - according to some - something purely thought-like, which possesses scarcely any vitality until it is joined again to the body. These people think the way they do because to them everything of an interior nature is gloom and darkness and only those of an external nature are in light. This shows how easily such people can fall into error; for if they limit their thought to the body and how it will be reassembled, to the destruction of the world and the fact that it has been awaited in vain for so many centuries, to animals and the fact that they have life not unlike man's life, or to the fact that no dead persons reappear and declare their state of life, they easily recede - when they think of these and other such things - from belief in resurrection, as they do from many other matters of belief. The reason they recede from that belief is that they are not guided by good and do not through good see in the light. Such being their condition it also says, 'And its rider will fall backwards; I wait for Your salvation, O Jehovah', meaning a receding from [the truth] unless the Lord comes to their aid.
Latin(1748-1756) 6400
6400. `Mordens calcaneos equi': quod significet fallacias ex infima natura, constat ex significatione `mordere' quod sit adhaerere et sic damnum inferre; ex significatione `calcaneorum equi' quod sint fallaciae ex infima natura; `calcaneus' enim est infimum naturale et corporeum, n. 259, 4938-4952, et `equus' est intellectuale, n. 2762, 3217, 5321, 6125; hic `equus' sunt fallaciae quia est intellectuale infimi naturalis seu sensualis; quod illi qui in vero sunt et nondum in bono, in fallaciis sint ex infima natura, constare potest ex eo quod verum non sit in aliqua luce nisi apud illud {1}aut in illo sit bonum; bonum enim est instar flammae quae lucem a se emittit, et ubi tunc bonum aliquod verum offendit, hoc non modo illuminat sed id etiam in suam lucem ad se introducit; qui {2}itaque in vero sunt et nondum in bono, in umbroso sunt et tenebroso, {3}quia verum nihil lucis a se habet, et lux quae illis ex bono, est languida sicut lux quae evanescit; quare illi cum cogitant et ratiocinantur de vero et ex vero de bono, sunt similes illis qui in tenebris phantasmata vident, et credunt corpora realia esse; aut qui in umbra vident in pariete stricturas, et per phantasiam faciunt ex illis aliquam imaginem, sive hominis, sive animalis; et tamen cum oritur lux, apparet quod solum stricturae nullius imaginis {4}sint, similiter se habet cum veris apud illos; vident enim sicut vera, illa quae non sunt vera, quae potius assimilanda sunt phantasmatis ac stricturis in pariete; ex talibus etiam, qui {5} in aliquo vero fuerunt ex Verbo sed non in bono, omnes haereses intra Ecclesiam exstiterunt, nam haereticum {1}apparuit illis' prorsus ut verum, similiter falsa intra Ecclesiam; qui illa promulgarunt, quod non in bono fuerint, constare potest ex eo quod bonum charitatis rejecerint longe post {6}verum fidei, et {7}inde talia quoad partem finxerint, quae cum bono charitatis nullatenus concordant. Dicitur quod illi qui in vero et nondum in bono sunt, de vero et de bono ratiocinentur a fallaciis ex infima natura, ideo dicendum quid fallaciae; sit pro exemplo vita hominis post mortem: qui in fallaciis sunt ex infima natura, sicut sunt illi qui in vero et nondum in bono, non credunt quod aliud apud hominem vivat quam corpus ejus, et cum homo moritur, nisi is iterum recipiat corpus suum, quod neutiquam resurgere possit; si dicitur illis quod interior homo sit qui vivit in corpore, et qui resuscitatur a Domino cum corpus moritur, et quod ille homo habeat corpus quale habent spiritus aut angeli, et quod ille sicut homo in mundo videat, audiat, loquatur, cum aliis in consortio sit, ac appareat sibi prorsus ut homo, {8}haec non possunt capere; fallaciae {9} ex infima natura faciunt ut credant non dari posse talia; maxime ob causam quia oculis sui corporis {10}non vident illa; [3] tales etiam {11}cum cogitant de spiritu {12} seu {13} anima, {14} de illa prorsus nullam (t)possunt habere ideam, nisi qualem de inconspicuis in natura, {15}unde faciant illam vel sicut respiratorium, {16}vel sicut aereum, {17}vel sicut aethereum, {18} sicut flammeum, {19}quidam sicut cogitativum purum, cui vix aliquid vitale {20}, priusquam iterum conjungitur corpori; haec cogitant quia omnia interiora illis umbrae et tenebrae sunt {21}et externa solum in luce; inde patet quam facile tales possunt labi in errorem; {22} nam si modo cogitant de corpore, quomodo iterum coalescet, de interitu mundi, quod intra tot saecula frustra exspectatus, de animalibus brutis quod vitam habeant non absimilem vitae hominis, quod non mortui aliqui appareant, et annuntient statum vitae suae, cum haec et talia cogitant, facile recedunt a fide de resurrectione, ita in pluribus aliis; causa est quia non in bono sunt, et per bonum in luce; quia talis est status eorum, etiam dicitur `Et cadet eques ejus retrorsum; salutem Tuam exspecto Jehovah', per quae significatur quod inde recessio nisi Dominus opem ferat. @1 et$ @2 autem$ @3 nam$ @4 fuerint$ @5 i nempe$ @6 fidem$ @7 quoad$ @8 hoc$ @9 i enim$ @10 before oculis$ @11 si$ @12 i suo$ @13 i de$ @14 i tunc$ @15 faciunt enim$ @16 quoddam, aut$ @17 aut$ @18 aut$ @19 aut$ @20 i sit$ @21 at externa lucida quia apparent coram sensibus corporis$ @22 i et quoque recedere a fide$