8 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. -Isaiah 11:8 King James Version (KJV)
Apocalypse Explained, by Emanuel Swedenborg, [1757-9], tr. by John Whitehead [1911], at sacred-texts.com
...[9] In Isaiah: The suckling shall play on the hole of the adder, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the basilisk's den (Isa. 11:8). Neither can this be understood unless, from the things that appear in the spiritual world, it is known what is meant by "the hole of the adder" and by "the basilisk's den." It was said above that the entrances to the hells appear like holes in the rocks and like gaps opening into caves, such as wild beasts in the forests have; those who dwell in these, when they are looked at in the light of heaven appear like monsters of various kinds and like wild beasts. Those who are in the hells where those dwell who act craftily against innocence appear like adders, and those who act craftily against the good of love appear like basilisks; and as "suckling" or "sucking infant" signifies the good of innocence it is said "the suckling shall play on the hole of the adder;" and as "a weaned child," or an infant that has stopped sucking, signifies the good of love, it, is said, "and the weaned child shall put his hand on the basilisk's den," and this signifies that those who are in the good of innocence and in the good of love to the Lord have no fear whatever of evils and falsities which are from hell, because they are protected by the Lord. (That "infants," in the Word, and also "sucklings," signify the good of innocence, see Arcana Coelestia, n. 430, 3183; and what "adders" and other poisonous serpents signify, n. 9013.)
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