[2] It is said that "The nations shall tread under foot the holy city," because these words follow: "The court which is without the temple, cast out, because it is given to the nations." By the court is signified the external of the Word, of the church, and of worship, and the external of the Word is that which is perverted, and consequently adulterated and falsified by the nations, or by those who are in evils and falsities. For, as stated in the preceding article, the external of the Word, called the sense of its letter, is for children and the simple minded, and therefore is written according to appearances, thus for those who are sensual and natural; for children are first sensual, afterwards natural, and when they advance in age they become spiritual. But a man who does not become spiritual, as is the case with every one who lives in evil, cannot understand the Word spiritually, but merely naturally and sensually, and he who thus understands the Word perverts it, and explains it according to the falsities of his religion, and the evils of his life; this is the reason why it is said, they shall tread it under foot. Those who deny and despise the truths of heaven and of the church, also appear in the spiritual world to tread them under the soles of their feet, and this, as said just above, because the external Sensual of man corresponds to the soles of the feet, by means of which treading under foot is effected. It is said that the external Sensual of man does this, but this is the case only with the Sensual of those who are utterly sensual, and these are they who deny the truths of heaven and of the church, who also believe nothing but what they can see with their eyes and touch with their hands.

[3] These are they of whom it is said "to tread under foot"; and in the following places.

In Luke:

"They shall fall by the edge of the sword, and they shall be taken captive among all nations, and at length Jerusalem shall be trodden under foot of the nations, even till the times of the nations shall be fulfilled" (xxi. 24).

These things are similar to those explained in the Apocalypse, where it is said "the court is given to the nations, and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months." For by "they shall fall by the edge of the sword" is signified that they shall perish by falsities; by "they shall be taken captive among all nations" is signified that evils will make a prey of the goods and truths of the church. By Jerusalem being trodden under foot is signified the destruction of the church as to doctrine, for Jerusalem signifies the church as to doctrine; by its being trodden under foot by the nations is signified its total destruction by evils of life and falsities of doctrine; even till the times of the nations be fulfilled signifies until the evil is consummated. (Concerning this see above, n. 624:2.) This consummation is also signified by forty and two months. Those words, like these in the Apocalypse, were also spoken by the Lord concerning the time immediately preceding the Last Judgment.

[4] In Ezekiel:

"Is it a small thing to you? Ye eat up the good pasture, and ye tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures; ye drink the sediment of waters, ye disturb the rest with your feet; and so my flock feed upon what ye have trodden with your feet, and drink that which is disturbed by your feet" (xxxiv. 18, 19).

The good pasture signifies every thing that spiritually nourishes, especially the Word, and the cognitions of truth and good thence, To eat it up, and to tread down the rest with the feet, signifies to destroy it so that it may not appear, also to destroy it that it may not exist, and this is done by reasonings from the corporeal-Sensual, and from the natural man separated from the spiritual. This then is what is meant by treading under foot. The sediment of the waters signifies truths defiled by falsities, for waters denote truths, and to drink thereof signifies to learn and to receive; to disturb the rest of the waters by the feet signifies to confound by reasonings from the natural man truths not defiled by falsities, feet denoting natural things with man. The signification of my flock drinking what is trodden down and disturbed with the feet is therefore evident.

[5] In Daniel:

The he-goat "threw" the ram "to the ground, and trod upon him, nor was there any one to take the ram out of his hand; afterwards one horn grew from a little one to the host of the heavens, and cast down of the host and of the stars to the earth, and trod upon them" (viii. 7, 9, 10).

The he-goat there signifies faith separated from charity, and by the ram faith united to charity, thus charity. The signification of the goats and sheep in Matthew (xxv. 31-46) is similar. The one horn which from a little one increased immensely signifies justification by faith alone; by the host of the heavens are signified all the truths and goods of heaven and of the church, and by the stars are signified the knowledges of good and truth. Therefore by treading under foot the ram and also the host of the heavens, is signified altogether to destroy charity, and with it all the truths and goods of heaven and the church, and this by means of the corporeal-Sensual. For those who are in faith separated from charity, that is, who believe that they shall be saved by faith alone, whatever their life may be, become corporeal-Sensual, and are consequently immersed in falsities in regard to all things of the Word and of the church. For their perception of the Word is only according to the ultimate sense of its letter, nor do they see any thing of it interiorly; in fact, if they utter truths from the Word, still they have a false perception of them. This therefore is the signification of the he- goat casting down to the earth of the host of the heavens and of the stars, and treading them under foot. That charity towards the neighbour, that is, the good of life, is in like manner destroyed by them, is meant by the goat throwing the ram to the ground, and treading upon him. For those who are in faith separated from charity, and meant by the he-goat, make faith the essential and charity the non-essential, therefore they live for the body and the world, and are solicitous about themselves only, and not at all for their neighbour, and those who do this, cast charity down to the around, and tread it under foot, charity being meant by the ram.

[6] In Luke:

"Some" seed "fell upon the way, which was trodden underfoot, or the fowls of heaven devoured it" (viii. 5).

The seed signifies Divine Truth, or the truth of the Word; by falling upon the way and being trodden under foot is signified to be received only by the corporeal-Sensual, and not interiorly. For that which is received in the spirit and heart is meant by the seed which fell into the good ground. The fowls of heaven which devoured the seed signify falsities, for all evils and therefore all falsities reside in the corporeal-Sensual, unless therefore man becomes spiritual, and thinks from that, he simply thinks falsities from evil. Concerning the nature and quality of the corporeal-Sensual, and of sensual men, see the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem (n. 50); also above in this work (n. 342, 543, 550, 552, 554, 556, 559, 563, 569, 570, 580).

[7] Again in Isaiah:

"I will make known to you what I will do to my vineyard; in removing the hedge thereof, that it may be eaten up, and in breaking through the wall thereof, that it may be trodden under foot" (v. 5).

The vineyard there signifies the church of the Lord, which is called the spiritual church. By removing the hedge, and breaking through the wall, is signified to falsify and thus to destroy the truths that defend the church, the wall and the hedge about the vineyard denoting the same as the wall and the bulwarks around Jerusalem. By eating up and treading under foot the vineyard, is signified to vastate the church, so that no good and truth can spring up therein, and thus to destroy it.

[8] In Jeremiah:

"Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my field under foot, they have made my field of desire a wilderness of solitude" (xii. 10).

Here also the church of the Lord is signified by vineyard and similarly by field. To destroy, to tread under foot, and to make a wilderness of solitude, signifies so to destroy as to leave nothing of the good and truth of the church.

In Isaiah:

"Our enemies have trodden thy sanctuary under foot" (lxiii 18).

Enemies signify evils of life. By treading the sanctuary under foot is signified to destroy the truths of doctrine from the Word, and this also by means of the corporeal-Sensual, for all those who are in evils of life are corporeal-sensual.

[9] So in David:

"The enemy pursueth my soul, and overtaketh and treadeth down my life to the earth, and maketh my glory to dwell in the dust" (Psalm vii. 5).

Enemy here also signifies evil, in general the devil, that is, hell, whence evil comes. By treading down life to the earth and making glory to dwell in the dust, is signified to destroy, by means of the corporeal-Sensual, all the truths of heaven and of the church, for these make spiritual life, and are also signified by glory. "Dust" is also used in reference to the corporeal-Sensual, which also is meant by walking upon the belly and eating dust, as is frequently said of the serpent.

[10] Similar things are signified by treading under foot in these passages.

In Isaiah:

"I will make" the hypocritical nation "to be trodden under foot as the mire of the streets" (x. 6).

In Micah:

"The enemy of Jehovah" shall be for a treading under foot, as the mud of the streets" (vii. 10).

In Zechariah:

"They shall be as mighty men treading under foot the mire of the streets in the war, they shall fight because Jehovah is with them, and they shall make them ashamed that ride upon horses" (x. 5).

In Malachi:

"Then ye shall tread the impious under foot, and they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet, in the day when I shall do this"(iv. 3).

In Isaiah:

"The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under foot" (xxviii 3);

"I have trodden the people under foot in my anger, and made them drunk in my wrath, and I have made their victory to descend to the earth" (lxiii. 6).

In David:

"By thee will we drive away our enemies, in thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us" (Psalm xliv. 6);

again:

God "shall tread down our enemies" (Psalm lx. 12, cviii. 13).

In these passages treading under foot also signifies to destroy, which is done by those who are corporeal-sensual, for those who are of such a character tread under foot all things of heaven and of the church, for they are in lowest things, and their thoughts cannot be elevated upwards by the Lord, because they themselves depress them to the earth, and there they lick the dust; such are all those that deny the Divine. For all the evils which man has from birth reside in his natural and corporeal-Sensual, unless therefore he suffer himself to be raised out of them by the Lord - and this takes place through divine media, which are the truths and goods of faith and of love, or through truths and goods of doctrine and of life - he remains in his evils implanted in the natural and corporeal-Sensual, and then he treads under foot the celestial and spiritual things that pertain to heaven and the church.

[11] Treading upon the lion, the asp, serpents, and scorpions, means not only to destroy the evils and falsities signified by these, but also not to be harmed by them. This is meant in David:

"Thou shalt tread upon the lion and asp, the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under foot" (Psalm xci. 13);

so in Luke:

"Behold I give you power to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the enemy, so that nothing shall by any means hurt you" (x. 19).

The reason why it is so expressed in the Word is, that those who are in the hells sometimes appear before the eyes of good spirits and angels in the forms of various beasts and serpents, according to the species of the evil and thence of the falsity, in which they are; it is their thoughts proceeding from the intention of their wills that present those appearances. The exhalations from their evils and falsities continually rise up through the lands that are over those hells, or by which those hells are covered; to walk therefore upon those places is dangerous for those who are only natural, and still more for those who are corporeal-sensual, for the exhalation arising therefrom and the contagion infect those who walk there. But those whom the Lord leads may walk with safety upon that land without being infected or infested, because the interiors of their minds, or of their thoughts and affections, are raised by the Lord above their corporeal-Sensual, which corresponds to the soles of their feet. From these things it is evident what is meant, in the proper sense (in sensu proprio), by treading upon the lion, the asp, serpents, and scorpions without being hurt by them, and also why it is so said in the Word. The signification of a lion and of serpents and scorpions has been stated and shown elsewhere.