10037. 'And its dung' means all other unclean things. This is clear from the meaning of 'dung' as that which is unclean. 'Dung' means that which is unclean, and therefore means evil and falsity since these in the spiritual sense are the unclean things, because all food that has no use or has served its purpose passes away into dung, and food in the spiritual sense is the truth and good of faith and love, 4792, 5147, 5293, 5340, 5342, 5576, 5915, 8562, 9003. Therefore also dung and excrement correspond to evils that exist in hell, which in the Word is also called a latrine. Regarding this correspondence, see 954, 2755, 4948, 5394, 5395, 7161.
[2] Consequently such things in the Word mean those which are hellish, as may be recognized from the following places: In Isaiah,
He who remains in Zion, and he who is left in Jerusalem, will be called holy, everyone who has been written for life in Jerusalem, when the Lord will have washed the excrement of the daughters of Zion and washed away the blooda of Jerusalem. Isa 4:3,4.
'Zion' and 'Jerusalem' mean the Church, 'Zion' the Church among those who are governed by the good of love, and 'Jerusalem' the Church among those who are guided by truths springing from that good. 'Washing the excrement of the daughters of Zion' means purifying from evils those in the Church who are governed by the good of love, while 'washing the blood of Jerusalem' means purifying from falsities of evil those there who are guided by truths.
[3] In Jeremiah,
They will bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of its princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and they will spread them out before the sun and the moon, and all the host of heaven, which they have loved and which they have served. They will not be gathered nor buried; they will be as dung on the face of the earth. Jer 8:1,2.
These words describe the condition of those who rendered the Church's forms of good and its truths unholy. Their condition at that time was represented by the bringing of the bones out of their tombs. 'The bones of the kings' and 'of the princes' brought out of their tombs mean truths rendered unholy; 'the bones of the priests' and 'of the prophets' mean forms of good rendered unholy. 'Being spread out before the sun and the moon, and all the host of heaven' means being removed from all goodness and truth; 'not being gathered and buried' means not being raised up to life; and 'being dung on the face of the earth' means being nothing but that which is hellish. In the same prophet,
They will die by the deaths of grievous illnesses, so that they are not mourned nor buried; they will become dung on the face of the earth. Jer 16:4; 25:33.
'Becoming dung on the face of the earth' has the same meaning as the words used in the previous quotation.
[4] In Lamentations,
Those who ate delicacies are desolateb in the streets; those brought up in purple have embraced dunghills. Lam 4:5.
'Those who ate delicacies' means those who have the Word and consequently have cognitions or knowledge of truth; 'those brought up in purple' means those with cognitions of good; and 'embracing dunghills' means learning and choosing falsities instead of those things. In Malachi,
If you will not hear, and if you will not take it to heart, I will send a curse on you, and spread dung on your faces, the dung of your feasts. Mal 2:2,3.
'Spreading dung on their faces' means defiling the more internal things of life with the falsities of evil; '[spreading] the dung of feasts' means defiling the holy things of worship.
[5] In Ezekiel,
The prophet was commanded, Make a barley cake with human dung, for thus will the children of Israel eat their bread unclean. But he said, Ah Lord Jehovih! my soul has not been polluted; abominable flesh has not come into my mouth. Then He answered, I give you excrement of the ox instead of dung of the human being, that you may make your bread with it. For I will cause them to be in want of bread and water, and they will be dismayed with one anotherc, and waste away on account of their iniquity. Ezek 4:9-17.
These things represented the character of goodness and truth in the Church of the Jewish nation. 'A barley cake with dung of the human being' means the Church's interior good defiled with the evils of self-love; 'a cake with excrement of the ox' means the Church's external good defiled with the evils of that love.
[6] Since those things are meant by 'cake' it says that they would be in want of bread and water and would be dismayed. 'Bread and water' means goodness and truth; 'being in want of them' and 'being dismayed' means being deprived of [them]. Since such things were meant by dung and excrement it is evident what the following words in Moses mean,
There shall be a space outside the camp, where you may go out, and you shall have a spaded with which you shall cover your excrement. For Jehovah God will be walking in the midst of your camp, so that your camp may be holy, and so that He may see no indecent thing among you and turn away from youe. Deut 23:12-14.
This command was given because uncleanness was represented by dung. For the camp where the children of Israel were living represented heaven and the Church, in which the Lord is present through faith and love. The place outside the camp therefore represented a place where heaven and the Church did not exist, thus where the Lord was not present through faith and love. This is why it says, 'Jehovah will be walking in the midst of the camp, so that the camp may be holy, and so that He may see no indecent thing and turn away'. 'Indecent thing' means uncleanness that results from evils and falsities. The fact that 'the camp' there meant heaven and the Church, in which the Lord is present, will be seen in what comes next.
This page is part of 
© 2000-2001 The Academy of the New Church