573.“脚像熊的脚”表因阅读圣言的字义却不理解而充满误解。“脚”表示属世层，也就是末层或终端，“豹”所表示的异端邪说靠它持续存在，仿佛行走，这就是圣言的字义；“熊”表示那些阅读圣言却不理解的人，他们由此而有了误码解。“熊”表示这些人，我从灵界所看到的熊，以及那里一些身穿熊皮的人清楚明白这一点；他们都读圣言，却不明白其中的任何教义真理，还确认其中的真理表象，由此而有了误解。灵界所出现的熊，有的是有害的，有的是无害的，有的发白；不过，它们是照着熊头来加以区分的；无害的熊头像牛或羊。在以下经文中，“熊”就具有这样的含义：
他已颠覆我的大道，像熊埋伏等着我，又像狮子在隐密处，他使我转离正路，使我荒凉。（耶利米哀歌3:9-11）
我遇见他们必像丢崽子的母熊，在那里我必像母狮吞吃他们，田地的野兽必撕裂他们。（何西阿书13:8）
牛犊与少壮狮子躺卧在一起，母牛与熊必将同食。（以赛亚书11:6，7）
从海中上来的第二个兽像熊，口齿内衔着三根肋骨。（但以理书7:5）
大卫揪着胡子所打死的狮子和熊（撒母耳记上17:34-37），以及撒母耳记下（17:8）中的熊也具有类似含义。
“狮子和熊”之所以在那些地方被提及，是因为“狮子”表示摧毁圣言真理的虚假，而“熊”表示误解，误解也会破坏圣言真理，只是程度没那么严重。所以在阿摩司书，经上说：
耶和华的日子是黑暗、不是光明的日子，好像人躲避狮子又遇见熊。（阿摩司书5:18，19）。
在列王纪，我们读到：
以利沙被童子戏笑，他们称以利沙为秃头；于是有两只母熊从林中出来撕裂了四十二个童子。（列王纪下2:23，24）
之所以发生这种事，是因为以利沙代表主的圣言（298节）；“秃头”因表示没有字义的圣言，故而什么都不是（47节）；数字“四十二”表示亵渎（583节）；“母熊”表示的确读了，却不理解的圣言字义。
573. Whose feet were like those of a bear. This symbolically means, full of misconceptions taken from the literal sense of the Word, read but not understood.
Feet symbolize the natural support which is the basis on which the heresy meant by the leopard rests and, so to speak, propels itself, and that support is the literal sense of the Word. A bear symbolizes people who read the Word but fail to understand it, so that they derive from it misconceptions.
That these are the people symbolized by bears became apparent to me from seeing bears in the spiritual world, and from seeing some people there wearing bearskins. They were all people who read the Word and did not see any doctrinal truth in it. They were also people who affirmed the appearances of truth there, resulting in misconceptions.
Some bears seen in the spiritual world are dangerous and some are not, and some also are white, but they are told apart by their heads. Bears that are not dangerous have heads like those of calves or sheep.
Bears symbolize people and things like this in the following passages:
A bear lying in wait for me has overturned my paths, a lion in hidden places has corrupted my ways... He has made me desolate. (Lamentations 3:9-11)
I will meet them like a bereaved bear..., and there I will devour them like a savage lion. The wild beast of the field shall rend them. (Hosea 13:8)
...there shall lie down... the calf and the young lion... The heifer and the bear shall graze. (Isaiah 11:6-7)
(The second beast that came up from the sea was) like a bear... and had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. (Daniel 7:5)
The lion and bear that David smote, catching the lion by its beard (1 Samuel 17:34-37), have a similar symbolic meaning. So, too, in 2 Samuel 17:8.
[2] A lion and a bear are mentioned in these places because a lion symbolizes falsity destroying the Word's truths, and a bear symbolizes misconceptions that destroy them also, but not to the same degree. Thus we are told in Amos:
...the day of Jehovah...(a day of) darkness, and not light. It is as if one who flees from a lion comes upon a bear. (Amos 5:18-19)
In the second book of Kings we read that Elisha was mocked by some boys and called a baldhead, and that forty-two boys were therefore torn apart by two female bears from the woods (2 Kings 2:23-24). This occurred because Elisha represented the Lord in respect to the Word (no. 298), because baldness symbolized the Word without its literal sense, thus having no reality (no. 47), because the number forty-two symbolized blasphemy (no. 583), and because female bears symbolized the literal sense of the Word read indeed, but not understood.
573. 'And his feet as [the feet] of a bear' signifies full of fallacies derived from the sense of the letter of the Word read but not understood. By 'feet' is signified the natural that is the ultimate, upon which the heresy that is understood by the 'leopard' continues to exist and as it were walks, and this is the sense of the letter of the Word. And by 'a bear' are signified those who read the Word and do not understand it, whence they have fallacies. That these are signified by 'bears' was plain to me by reason of the bears seen in the spiritual world, and of some there clothed with bear skins, all of whom were those who have read the Word and not seen any doctrinal truth there, who also have confirmed the appearances of truth there, whence [they have] fallacies. Both harmful and harmless bears appear there, and white ones also, but they are distinguished by means of the heads, those that are harmless being like the heads of calves or sheep. Much the same things are signified by 'bears' in the following passages:
A bear lying in wait for Me has overturned My paths, a lion in hidden places has turned aside My ways, he has made Me desolate, Lamentations 3:8-11.
I will meet them as a bereaved bear, and there will I devour them like a huge lion, the wild beast of the field shall tear them, Hosea 13:7-8.
The calf and the young lion shall lie down, and the heifer and the bear shall feed. Isaiah 11:6-7.
A second beast coming up out of the sea like to a bear, and three ribs in its mouths between the teeth. Daniel 7:5.
A like thing is signified by:
The lion and the bear, which David smote, grasping its beard, 1 Samuel 17:34-37; likewise, 2 Samuel 17:8.
[2] The 'lion' and 'bear' are mentioned in those places because by a 'lion' is signified untruth destroying the truths of the Word, and by a 'bear' fallacies are signified, which also destroy but not to such an extent, and it is therefore said in Amos:
The day of Jehovah, a day of darkness and not light, is as if one who is fleeing from a lion comes upon a bear, Amos 5:18-19.
We read in the second book of the Kings:
That Elisha was mocked by boys, and said to be bald, and that therefore 42 boys were torn to pieces by two bears out of the forest, 2 Kings 2:23-24.
This took place because Elisha was representing the Lord as to the Word (298); and because the 'baldness' signified the Word without the sense of the letter, thus not anything (47), and the number 'forty-two' blasphemy (583); and 'the bears' were signifying the sense of the letter of the Word read indeed but not understood.
573. And his feet like a bear's, signifies full of fallacies from the sense of the letter of the Word read but not understood. By "feet" is signified the natural, which is the ultimate, upon which that heresy, meant by "the leopard," subsists, and as it were walks, and this is the sense of the letter of the Word, and by "a bear" are signified those who read the Word and do not understand it, whence they have fallacies. That these are signified by "bears" was clear to me from the bears seen in the spiritual world, and from some there who were clothed in bear skins, who had all read the Word, but had not seen any doctrinal truth therein; also who had confirmed the appearances of truth therein, whence they had fallacies. In that world there appear bears that are hurtful, and bears that are harmless, and some that are white; but they are distinguished by their heads; those which are harmless have heads like calves or sheep. "Bears" have such a signification in the following passages:
He hath overturned my highways, as a bear lying in wait for me, as a lion in secret places, he hath turned aside my ways, he hath made me desolate, (Lamentations 3:9-11).
I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved, and there will I devour them like an immense lion, the wild beast of the field shall tear them, (Hosea 13:7-8).
The calf and the young lion shall lie down together, and the cow and the bear shall feed, (Isaiah 11:6-7 The second beast coming up out of the sea was like a bear, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth, (Daniel 7:5).
The lion and the bear, which David took by the beard and smote, (1 Samuel 17:34-37)
has a like signification and likewise 2 Samuel 17:8.
[2] "The lion and the bear" are mentioned in those places, because by "a lion" is signified falsity destroying the truths of the Word, and by "a bear" are signified fallacies, which also destroy, but not in so great a degree; therefore it is said in Amos:
The day of Jehovah is a day of darkness and not of light, as if one fleeth from a lion, and he falls upon a bear, (Amos 5:18-19).
We read in the second book of Kings, that:
Elisha was mocked by boys, and they called him bald-head; and therefore forty-two boys were torn by the two bears out of the forest, (2 Kings 2:23-24).
This took place because Elisha represented the Lord as to the Word, (298); and because "baldness" signifies the Word without the sense of the letter, thus not anything, (47); and the number forty-two, blasphemy, (583); and "bears" signify the sense of the letter of the Word, read indeed, but not understood.
573. "Et pedes ejus sicut ursi," significat plenam fallaciis ex Sensu literae Verbi lecto sed non intellecto. - Per "pedes" significatur naturale quod est ultimum, super quo haeresis illa, quae per "pardum" intelligitur, subsistit et quasi ambulat, et hoc est Sensus literae Verbi; et per "ursum" significantur illi qui Verbum legunt et non intelligunt, unde illis fallaciae sunt. Quod hi per "ursos" significentur, patuit mihi ex ursis visis in mundo spirituali, et ex quibusdam ibi indutis pelle ursina, qui omnes fuerunt qui legerunt Verbum et non aliquod verum doctrinale ibi viderunt, tum etiam qui confirmaverunt apparentias veri ibi, unde fallaciae: apparent ibi ursi noxii, et ursi non noxii, et quoque albi, sed distinguuntur per capita; quae non noxiis sunt, assimilantur capitibus vitulorum aut ovium. Per "ursos," tales aut talia significantur in sequentibus locis:
"Semitas Meas evertit, Ursus insidians Mihi, leo in latibulis, vias Meas pervertit, posuit Me desolatum," (Threni 3:9-11); 1
"Occurram illis 2sicut Ursus orbatus, et consumam ibi sicut immanis leo, fera agri discindet illos," (Hoschea 13:7-8); 3
"Cubabit vitulus et leo juvenis, ac juvenca et Ursus pascent, (Esaias 11:6-7). 4
Bestia altera ascendens ex mari "similis Urso, et tres costae in ore inter dentes ejus," (Daniel 7:5).
Per Leonem et Ursum, quos percussit David, apprehendens barbam ejus, (1 Samuelis 17:34-37),
simile significatur; pariter 2 Samuelis 17:8. Quod in illis locis dicatur "leo et ursus," est quia per "leonem" significatur falsum destruens vera Verbi, et per "ursum" significantur fallaciae, quae etiam destruunt, sed non tantum; quare dicitur apud Amos,
Dies Jehovae, dies tenebrarum et non lucis, est sicut qui fugit Leonem incidit in Ursum," (5:18-19).
Legitur in libro 2 Regum, quod Elisaeus illusus sit a pueris, et dictus Calvus, et quod ideo quadraginta duo pueri discerpti sint a duabus Ursis e sylva, (2:23-24);
hoc factum est, quia Elisaeus repraesentabat Dominum quoad Verbum (298); et quia "calvities" significabat Verbum absque Sensu literae, ita non aliquid (47); ac numerus "quadraginta duo" blasphemiam (583); et "ursae" significabant Sensum literae Verbi quidem lectum sed non intellectum.
Footnotes:
1. 9-11 pro "8 ad 11"
2. illis pro "illi"
3. xiii. pro "iii."
4. 6, 7 pro "5, 6"