Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 8942

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8942. 'For if you move your chisel over it' means if a product of the proprium or self This is clear from the meaning of 'chisel' as counterfeit truth, thus a product of the self For a chisel is a piece of iron used to carve and shape figures out of stones, and therefore the human self is meant here since this shapes things which are to compose religion, to make them look like the truth. Instead of the word 'chisel' some places elsewhere have '[a piece of] iron', while others elsewhere have 'axe', as in Deut 27:5; Josh 8:30, 31; 1 Kings 6:7; Isa. 44:10-12; Hosea 13:2; Jer. 10:3, 4; and these tools mean such things as are implements of self-intelligence used for fabrication


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