667. And great fear fell upon them that saw them.- That this signifies a state of anxiety with those who did not receive and acknowledge, is evident from the signification of great fear, as denoting a state of anxiety - for fear, in the Word, signifies various changes of the state of the interiors of man, in the present case therefore, a state of anxiety; and from the signification of upon them that saw them, as denoting, with those that could not sustain the presence of the witnesses, and who therefore slew them and cast them out, and who then had grief and anxiety of heart when they saw them alive, consequently it denotes with those who did not receive and acknowledge the good of love and truth of doctrine. Here is described the state of those who are opposed to the goods of love and truths of doctrine, when there is an end of the old and beginning of a new church; these then come into anxiety from the presence of those who receive love and faith to the Lord, of whom the new church is formed. This, however, takes place in the spiritual, but not in the natural world, for in the spiritual world there is a communication of affections; and spiritual affection, which belongs to love and faith to the Lord, and which is now commencing with some, smites the evil with this anxiety. This therefore is the meaning of great fear fell upon them that saw them.