Spiritual Meaning of

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That to kill denotes to take away spiritual life, is clear from many passages in the Word, as in Jeremiah:--

the day of killing denotes the time of the vastation of the church, when there is no longer any faith, because no charity; the land which shall mourn denotes the church; the herb of every field denotes every true memory-knowledge of the church; the beasts and the bird will be consumed denotes that goods and truths will be so. That the land is the church, see (AC 566, 662, 1067, 1262, 1413, 1607, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 2928, 3355, 4335, 4447, 5577); that herb is true memory. knowledge is evident from the passages in the Word where herb is mentioned; that field is that which is of the church (AC 2971, 3310, 3766); that beasts are affections of good, thus goods, (AC 45, 46, 142, 143, 246, 714, 715, 719, 1823, 2179, 2180, 3218, 3519, 5198); and birds affections of truth, (AC 5149). Hence it can be seen what is the meaning of the above words, and also that there is a spiritual sense in every detail. Everyone can see that without an interior sense it could not be understood what is meant by a day of killing, by the earth mourning, by every herb of the field withering for the wickedness of those who dwell therein, and by the beasts and the bird being consumed.

[3] In Zechariah:--

where the sheep of killing plainly denotes those whose faith the possessors destroy. In Ezekiel:--

here also to kill plainly denotes to destroy spiritual life, that is, faith and charity. In Isaiah:--

where the killed denote those who are in hell, thus who are in evils and falsities.

[4] Again:--

the killed denote those who are deprived of spiritual life; thou hast killed thy people denotes that he has destroyed the truths and goods of faith. In John:--

to kill denotes to destroy the life of faith, and therefore it is said, I am come that they may have life. In Mark:--

speaking of the last times of the church, when there is no longer any charity, and therefore not any faith; brother, children, and parents, in the internal sense, are the goods and truths of the church, and to kill is to destroy them.

[5] As by one killed was signified one deprived of spiritual life, and by field the church, therefore it was a statute in the representative church, that If anyone touched on the surface of a field anyone pierced with a sword, or killed, he should be unclean seven days (Num. 19:16); that one pierced with a sword is truth extinguished by falsity, (AC 4503), for sword denotes falsity which extinguishes truth, (AC 2799, 4499, 6353). In like manner this was a statute: If anyone was found killed in the land of inheritance, upon a field, and it should not be known who had killed him, the elders and judges were to measure between the cities round about, and having thus found the nearest city, they were to take a calf and were to behead it by a running stream; besides other particulars (Deut. 21:1-10)

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