561. And their power was to hurt men five months.- That this signifies that they would induce stupor as to the understanding of truth, and the perception of good, so lone, as they are in that state, is evident from the signification of hurting, as denoting to cause injury to anything, in the present case, to stupify, of which hereafter; from the signification of men as denoting, those who understand truth and perceive good, and in the abstract, the understanding of truth and perception of good, because from these a man is a man, see above (n. 546); and from the signification of five months, as denoting so long as they are in that state, see also above (n. 548). The reason why to hurt here signifies to stupify, is, that their tails, as stated above, were like unto scorpions, and by scorpions is signified the persuasive [influence] infatuating and suffocating, consequently also inducing a stupor, for, as said above, that persuasive [influence] is, with spirits, of such a nature that it benumbs the Rational and Intellectual, consequently it induces a stupor.