550. [verse 9] 'And the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old called the Devil and Satan' signifies those who are understood by 'the dragon', turned away from the Lord to themselves and from heaven to the world, and consequently as a result of bodily activity become sensual, who cannot but be in the evils of their own lusts and the consequent untruths, and by separation from the Lord and heaven become devils and satans. Who are understood by 'the dragon' may be seen (n. 537). These, because they make God three and the Lord two, and because they register the precepts of the Decalogue among the works by means of which there is no salvation, are called the 'serpent of old, the Devil and Satan'; and by a 'serpent' is signified a man sensual as a result of bodily activity (n. 424) who has turned away from the Lord to himself and from heaven to the world; and by 'the Devil' those are signified who are in the evils of lusts, and by 'Satan' those who consequently are in untruths (n. 97, 153 end, 856, 857*). Such also was the 'serpent' that led Eve and Adam astray, as is plain from the description of him and his being cursed (Gen. iii 1-5, 14, 15). Here the 'dragon' is termed 'Devil and Satans' as one, but it is so said because all in hell are devils and satans, and in consequence hell as a whole is so called. * There is no n. 857 in the Original Edition, but references to it are found in n. 550, 858 and 870. In view of the statement at the end of n. 856 it is possible that a paragraph treating in greater detail of the signification of both 'the Devil' and 'Satan' was omitted by the printer.