10461. And he cast the tables out of his hand, and broke them beneath the mountain. That this signifies the external sense of the Word changed and different on account of that nation, is evident from the signification of the "tables" upon which the law was written as being the external sense of the Word, or the sense of its letter (see above, n. 10453); from the signification of "casting them out of the hand and breaking them," as being to destroy the genuine external sense, thus also to change and make it different (that the external sense of the Word was changed and made different on account of the Israelitish nation, see above, n. 10453); and from the signification of "Mount Sinai," as being heaven from which is Divine truth (n. 9420). It is said "beneath the mountain," because the external sense of the Word is beneath heaven, whereas the internal sense is in heaven.
