546. Put those men only who have not the seal of God in their foreheads.- That this signifies that [they should hurt] only the understanding of truth and the perception of good, with those who are not in truths from good from the Lord, is evident from the signification of man, as denoting the affection of truth and thence intelligence and wisdom: see above (n. 280); but in the present case the understanding of truth and the perception of good, of which we shall speak presently; and from the signification of having the seal of God in their foreheads, as denoting to be in truths from good from the Lord: see above (n. 427). [2] By man is signified the understanding of truth and the perception of good, because it is by means of these that a man is a man; when therefore man is mentioned in the Word, it means in the spiritual sense that, by means of which a man is a man, for this is his Spiritual. Man has two faculties in which all his life consists, understanding and will. As is the quality therefore of the understanding and will, such is the man; if he has the understanding of truth and the will of good, he is truly man, for truth and good are from the Lord, and it is from the Lord alone that man is man; as may appear from what is said, and shown in the work concerning Heaven and Hell (n. 59-102); but if he has not the understanding of truth and the will of good, but in the place of truth, falsity, and in the place of good, evil, then indeed he is called man, but still he is not man, except from this fact only, that he has the power to understand truth, and perceive good. Of this power we shall speak in the following article.
From these considerations it is clear that men, in the Word, mean such things as constitute men, and, in the present case, the understanding of truth and the perception of good.
[3] That that understanding of truth and the perception of good are here meant by men, is evident from this fact, that it is said of the locusts, that they should hurt men, but not the grass of the earth, the green thing, and the trees; and by the locust is signified the ultimate of the life of man, which is called the Sensual. This, when it is in the persuasion of falsity, and reads or hears the Word, still does not hurt or injure any thing of the Word in the sense of the letter, this sense being for the natural- sensual man, which he therefore believes, although he applies it to confirm his falsities; but it hurts and injures the understanding of truth and the perception of good. For the sensual man cannot elevate his thought above the sense of the letter of the Word, and if he attempts to elevate it, he either falls into falsity, or his persuasive faith concerning the Word perishes. From these things, the meaning of these words that the locusts should not hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, neither any tree, but only those men who had not the seal of God in their foreheads, is evident.
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