9076. If expiation be laid on him. That this signifies that he may be free from damnation, is evident from the signification of "expiation," as being that he may be free from damnation. For expiations were laid upon those who did evil not of set purpose, or with deceit; and they were various, and were in such case called "redemptions of the soul," for by them the life was redeemed. But these external things signified internal things; namely, "expiation" signified liberation from damnation, consequently "redemption" signified amendment of spiritual life through actual repentance. As "expiation" signified liberation from damnation, it consequently also signified the pardon of sins, and the consequent cleansing.
