653. And blood went out of the winepress even unto the bridles of the horses, signifies violence done to the Word by direful falsifications of truth, and thence the understanding so closed that man is scarcely capable any longer of being taught, and thus led by Divine truths from the Lord. By "blood" is signified violence done to the Word (n. 327), and the Divine truth of the Word falsified and profaned (n. 379); for by "the blood out of the winepress" is meant the must and wine from the clusters that were trodden, and the must and wine have a similar signification (n. 316).
By "the bridles of the horses" are signified the truths of the Word, by which the understanding is led; for "a horse" signifies the understanding of the Word (n. 298); hence "a bridle" signifies truth by which the understanding is led. "Even unto the bridles of the horses" means even into the mouth, into which the bridle is inserted, and by the mouth the horse drinks and feeds; therefore it also signifies that such violence is done to the Word by dire falsifications, that man is scarcely capable of being taught any longer, and thus of being led by Divine truths from the Lord. By "a bridle" is also signified that by which the understanding is led (Isa. 30:27, 28; 37:29). And by "the blood of the grapes" is signified the Divine truth of the Word (Gen. 49:11; Deut. 32:14); but here in the opposite sense.