6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you. -Matthew 7:6 King James Version (KJV)
Apocalypse Explained, by Emanuel Swedenborg, [1757-9], tr. by John Whitehead [1911], at sacred-texts.com
...[2] ...As the heavens are divided into two kingdoms, namely, into a celestial kingdom and a spiritual kingdom, so are the hells divided into two dominions opposite to those kingdoms. The dominion opposite to the celestial kingdom is called devilish, and the dominion opposite to the spiritual kingdom is called infernal. These dominions are distinguished in the Word by the names Devil and Satan. There are two dominions in the hells, because the heavens and the hells are opposite to each other... [3] ...the Divine goods and the Divine truths that the angels in the heavens receive from the Lord, the spirits in the hells turn into evils and falsities. All angels, spirits, and men are kept by the Lord in equilibrium between good and evil, and thus between truth and falsity, in order that they may be in freedom; and thus may be led from evil to good and from falsity to truth easily and as if by themselves, although in fact they are led by the Lord. For the same reason they are led in freedom from good to evil, and from truth to falsity, and this, too, as if by themselves, although the leading is from hell.
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And pearls, signifies their appearance in externals to be in the cognitions [the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses] of good and truth, and yet in internals they are in the knowledge of evil and falsity. This is evident from the signification of "pearls," as being the cognitions of good and truth...; therefore in the contrary sense "pearls" signify the knowledges of evil and falsity, which are the source of their craft and cunning... [3] That "pearls" signify the knowledges of good and truth can be seen from the following passages. In Matthew: The kingdom of the heavens is like unto a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one precious pearl, going away sold all that he had and bought it (Matt. 13:45-46). "The kingdom of the heavens" means both heaven and the church; the "merchant" means those who acquire for themselves the goods and truths through which heaven and the church come; "pearls" signify the knowledges of good and truth, for these are the truths of the natural man; "the one precious pearl" means the knowledge respecting the Lord and His Divine; "going away he sold all that he had and bought it" signifies to reject what is one's own [proprium] in order to receive life from the Lord. [4] In the same: Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast your pearls before the swine, lest they trample on them with their feet, and turn and rend you (Matt. 7:6). "Dogs" signify lusts and appetites; "swine" signify filthy loves, such as are those in the hells of adulterers. Because such are in the infernal marriage, which is the marriage of falsity and evil, they utterly reject goods and truths and the knowledges of these, and moreover treat them with scorn and scoffing; therefore it is said, "Cast not your pearls before the swine, lest they trample on them with their feet, and turn and rend you," "to trample with the feet" being to wholly reject as filth, and "to turn and rend" being to treat with scorn and scoffing. [5] "Pearls" also signify the knowledges of good and truth in the following passages in Revelation: The merchants of the earth shall weep and wail over Babylon, for no one buyeth their merchandise any more, merchandise of gold and silver, and of precious stone and pearl (Rev. 18:11-12). Again: The twelve gates of the wall of the New Jerusalem were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was one pearl (Rev. 21:21). As "the gates to the New Jerusalem" signify such things of doctrine from the Word as introduce man into the church, and these are the knowledges of truth and good from the Word, so the gates were seen to be "of pearls."
And pearls, signifies their appearance in externals to be in the cognitions [the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses] of good and truth, and yet in internals they are in the knowledge of evil and falsity. This is evident from the signification of "pearls," as being the cognitions of good and truth...; therefore in the contrary sense "pearls" signify the knowledges of evil and falsity, which are the source of their craft and cunning... [3] That "pearls" signify the knowledges of good and truth can be seen from the following passages. In Matthew: The kingdom of the heavens is like unto a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one precious pearl, going away sold all that he had and bought it (Matt. 13:45-46). "The kingdom of the heavens" means both heaven and the church; the "merchant" means those who acquire for themselves the goods and truths through which heaven and the church come; "pearls" signify the knowledges of good and truth, for these are the truths of the natural man; "the one precious pearl" means the knowledge respecting the Lord and His Divine; "going away he sold all that he had and bought it" signifies to reject what is one's own [proprium] in order to receive life from the Lord. [4] In the same: Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast your pearls before the swine, lest they trample on them with their feet, and turn and rend you (Matt. 7:6). "Dogs" signify lusts and appetites; "swine" signify filthy loves, such as are those in the hells of adulterers. Because such are in the infernal marriage, which is the marriage of falsity and evil, they utterly reject goods and truths and the knowledges of these, and moreover treat them with scorn and scoffing; therefore it is said, "Cast not your pearls before the swine, lest they trample on them with their feet, and turn and rend you," "to trample with the feet" being to wholly reject as filth, and "to turn and rend" being to treat with scorn and scoffing. [5] "Pearls" also signify the knowledges of good and truth in the following passages in Revelation: The merchants of the earth shall weep and wail over Babylon, for no one buyeth their merchandise any more, merchandise of gold and silver, and of precious stone and pearl (Rev. 18:11-12). Again: The twelve gates of the wall of the New Jerusalem were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was one pearl (Rev. 21:21). As "the gates to the New Jerusalem" signify such things of doctrine from the Word as introduce man into the church, and these are the knowledges of truth and good from the Word, so the gates were seen to be "of pearls."
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