667. And great fear fell upon them that beheld them, signifies a state of anxiety with those who did not receive and acknowledge. This is evident from the signification of "great fear," as being a state of anxiety, for "fear" signifies in the Word various changes of state of man's interiors, so here, a state of anxiety; also from the signification of "upon them that beheld them," as being in those who could not endure the presence of the witnesses, and who therefore killed them and cast them out, and who therefore had grief of mind and anxiety of heart when they saw them alive, consequently it means with those that have not received and acknowledged the good of love and the truth of doctrine. This describes the state of those who are opposed to the goods of love and the truths of doctrine, at the end of the old and the beginning of the New Church; such then come into anxiety from the presence of those who receive love to the Lord and faith in Him, of whom the New Church is constituted; but this takes place in the spiritual world, not in the natural world; for in the spiritual world there is a communication of affections; and spiritual affection, which belongs to love to the Lord and faith in Him, and which then has a beginning with some, smites the evil with such anxiety. This, therefore, is what is meant by "great fear fell upon them that beheld them."