10283. Upon the flesh of man shall it not be poured. That this signifies that which is not communicative to what is man’s own, is evident from the signification of “the flesh of man,” as being that which is his own (of which below); and from the signification of “pouring,” as being to communicate; for the like is signified by “pouring” as by “touching,” but “pouring” is said of liquids, as of oil, wine, and water, and “pouring forth” of things Divine, celestial, and spiritual; while “touching” is said of things dry and bodily (that “to touch” denotes to communicate, see n. 10130). Hence it follows that by the oil of anointing not being poured on the flesh of man is signified that the Divine good of the Lord’s Divine love is not communicative to that which is man’s own, because that which is man’s own is nothing but evil, and the Lord’s Divine good cannot be communicated to what is evil. (That what is man’s own is nothing but evil, see n. 210, 215, 731, 874-876, 987, 1023, 1024, 1047, 5660, 5786, 8480)

[2] Man has that which is his own in both the will and the understanding; the former is evil, and the latter is the falsity thence derived; that is to say, the former is signified by “the flesh of man,” and the latter by the “blood” of this flesh. That this is so is evident from the following passages, in Matthew:

Jesus said, Blessed art thou, Simon, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father who is in the heavens (Matthew 16:17).

That “flesh” here, and also “blood,” denote that which is man’s own, is very evident.

[3] In John:

As many as received Him, to them gave He power to be the sons of God, who were born, not of bloods, nor of the will of the flesh, but of God (John 1:12-13).

By “bloods” are here signified the falsities which come forth from that which is man’s own in his understanding; and by “the will of the flesh” are signified the evils which come forth from that which is his own in his will. (That “bloods” denote falsity from evil, thus what is man’s own in the understanding derived from what is his own in the will, see n. 4735, 9127)

[4] In Isaiah:

I will feed thine oppressors with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood as with new wine (Isaiah 49:26); where to “feed them with their own flesh, and make them drunken with their own blood,” denotes to fill them with evil and the falsity of evil, thus with that which is their own; for both evil and falsity are from this.

[5] In Jeremiah:

Cursed is the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm (Jeremiah 17:5).

“To trust in man, and make flesh his arm,” denotes to trust in himself and in what is his own.

[6] In Isaiah:

The people is become like food for the fire; if one shall cut down on the right hand, he shall be hungry; and if he shall eat on the left hand, they shall not be satisfied; they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm: Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh (Isaiah 9:19-20).

By “food for the fire” is signified the appropriation of evils, or the cupidities of the love of self and the world; by “being hungry and not being satisfied” is signified not to receive the good and truth of faith; by “the flesh of the arm” is signified what is man’s own of both kinds; by “Manasseh,” the evil of the will; by “Ephraim,” the falsity of the understanding; and by “eating,” to make one’s own. (That “fires” denote the evils or cupidities of the love of self and the world, see n. 5071, 5215, 6314, 6832, 7324, 7575, 9141; and that “to be hungry and not satisfied” denotes not to receive the good and truth of faith, is because by “hunger and thirst” is signified the desolation of good and truth, n. 5360, 5376, 6110, 7102, 8568; that the “right hand” denotes the good from which is truth, and the “left hand” the truth through which is good, see n. 10061.) Hence “to be hungry if he cut down on the right hand, and not to be satisfied if he ate on the left hand,” signifies that however much they are instructed concerning good and truth, they will nevertheless not receive them.

[7] “Manasseh” denotes the good of the will (see n. 5348, 5351, 5353, 6222, 6234, 6238, 6267); and “Ephraim” denotes the truth of the understanding (n. 3969, 5354, 6222, 6234, 6238, 6267); hence in the opposite sense “Manasseh” denotes the evil of the will, and “Ephraim” the falsity of the understanding, for almost all things in the Word have also an opposite sense. “To eat” denotes to appropriate (n. 3168, 3513, 3596, 4745); hence it is plain what is meant by “eating the flesh of his own arm,” namely, appropriating to themselves evil and falsity from what is their own. It is said “the flesh of the arm” because by the “arm,” as by the “hand,” is signified that which belongs to man, and in which he trusts (see at the places cited in n. 10019).

[8] In Zechariah:

I said, I will not feed you; he that dieth let him die; let those who remain eat everyone the flesh of another (Zech. 11:9).

“Not to feed” denotes not to instruct and reform; “to die” denotes to perish as to spiritual life; “to eat the flesh of another” denotes to appropriate to themselves the evils which are from that which is another’s.

[9] In Ezekiel:

Jerusalem, thou hast committed whoredom with the sons of Egypt thy neighbors, great in flesh (Ezekiel 16:26).

“Jerusalem” denotes the perverted church; “to commit whoredom with the sons of Egypt great in flesh” denotes to falsify the truths of the church by means of memory-knowledges which are from the natural man alone, thus by means of sensuous memory-knowledges. (That “Jerusalem” denotes the church, see n. 402, 2117, 3654, here the perverted church; that “to commit whoredom” denotes to falsify truths, n. 2466, 2729, 8904; that “sons” denote truths and also falsities, n. 1147, 3373, 4257, 9807; that “Egypt” denotes memory-knowledge in both senses, see the places cited in n. 9340; and that it denotes the natural, n. 9391.) Hence those are called “great in flesh” who from the things of sense reason and draw conclusions about the truths of the church. They who do this, seize on falsities instead of truths, for to reason and draw conclusions from the things of sense is to do so from the fallacies of the bodily senses; wherefore it is sensuous men who are meant by “great in flesh,” because they think from that which is their own in the body.

[10] In Isaiah:

Egypt is a man, and not God; and his horses are flesh, and not spirit (Isaiah 31:3).

Here also “Egypt” denotes memory-knowledge; his “horses” denote the understanding thence derived; this is called “flesh not spirit,” when they draw conclusions from what is their own, and not from the Divine (that “horses” denote the understanding, see n. 2761, 2762, 3217, 5321, 6534; and that the “horses of Egypt” denote memory-knowledges in conformity with a perverted understanding, n. 6125, 8146, 8148).

[11] That by “flesh” is signified that which is man’s own, or what is the same, the evil of his will, is evident from Moses where the subject treated of is the desire of the Israelitish people to eat flesh, of which it is thus written:

The rabble that was in the midst of the people lusted a lust, and said, Who shall feed us with flesh? Jehovah said, Tomorrow ye shall eat flesh; ye shall not eat it one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, but even for a month of days. And there went forth a wind from Jehovah, and carried off the quails from the sea, and let them fall over the camp, as it were two ells upon the faces of the earth. The people rose up all the day and all the night, and all the next day, and gathered and spread them round about the camp. While the flesh was yet between their teeth, before it was swallowed, the anger of Jehovah burned against the people, and Jehovah smote the people with a very great plague; whence he called the name of that place, The graves of lust (Numbers 11:4, 18-20, 31 11:31-33).

[12] That “flesh” signified what belonged to that nation, can be seen from the details in this passage; for had it not been so, what evil could there have been in desiring flesh, especially as flesh had previously been promised them (Exodus 16:12)? But as it signified that which was their own, thus the evil of the will, in which that nation was more than other nations, therefore it is said when they desired flesh, that they “lusted a lust;” and therefore they were smitten with a great plague, and the name of the place where they were buried was called “the graves of lusts [concupiscentiarum].” Whether you say evil of the will, or concupiscence, it is the same, for the evil of the will is concupiscence, because man’s own desires nothing but its own, and not anything of the neighbor, or anything of God, except for the sake of itself.

Because that nation was of this character, it is said that “they should eat flesh, not one day, nor two, nor five, nor ten, nor twenty, but even for a month of days,” by which is signified that that nation would be such forever; for “a month of days” means forever, and therefore it is said that “the flesh being yet between the teeth, before it was swallowed, they were smitten with a great plague;” for by “teeth” is signified the bodily (or corporeal) own, which is the lowest of man (n. 4424, 5565-5568, 9062). (That that nation was of such a character, see the places cited in n. 9380; and also in the song of Moses in Deuteronomy, 32:20-28, 32-34.)

[13] In the Word, “spirit” is opposed to “flesh,” because by “spirit” is signified life from the Lord, and by “flesh” life from man, as in John:

It is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I speak unto you are spirit and are life (John 6:63).

From this it is evident that “spirit” denotes life from the Lord, which is the life of love and faith to Him from Him; and that “flesh” denotes life from man, thus what is his own; hence it is said, “the flesh profiteth nothing.” In like manner in John:

That which is born of the flesh is flesh; but that which is born of the spirit is spirit (John 3:6).

God remembered that they were flesh, a wind [spirit] that goeth away, and cometh not again (Psalms 78:39).

[14] As by “flesh,” when said of man, is signified that which is his own, which is the evil of the love of self and the world, it is plain what is signified by “flesh” when said of the Lord, namely, that which is His own, which is the Divine good of the Divine love. This is signified by the “flesh” of the Lord in John:

The bread that I will give is My flesh. Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you; he that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life; for My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed (John 6:51, 53-55).

(That by the Lord’s “flesh” is signified the Divine good of His Divine love, and by His “blood” the Divine truth proceeding from this Divine good, thus the like as by the bread and the wine in the Holy Supper, and that these are His own in His Divine Human, see n. 1001, 3813, (3813) 4735, 4976, 6978, 7317, 7326, 7850, 9127, 9393, 10026, 10033, 10152; and that the sacrifices represented the goods which are from the Lord, and that on this account their “flesh” signified goods, see n. 10040, 10079). Moreover, in the Word throughout mention is made of “all flesh,” and by it is meant every man (as Genesis 6:12-13, 17, 19; Isaiah 40:5-6; 49:26 66:16, 23-24; Jeremiah 25:31; 32:27; 45:5; Ezekiel 20:48; 21:4-5).

5321. And he made him ride in the second chariot. That this signifies a significative that from Him comes all the doctrine of good and truth, is evident from the signification of a “chariot,” as being the doctrine of good and truth (of which presently); hence his “making him ride in a chariot” is a significative that this doctrine comes therefrom. These words refer to what was previously said by Pharaoh: “Thou shalt be over my house, and upon thy mouth shall all my people kiss; only in the throne will I be greater than thou” (verse 40). That the doctrine of good and truth coming from Him is signified, is because by Joseph is represented the Lord as to the Divine spiritual (see n. 3971, 4669), thus as to the Divine truth from the Lord’s Divine Human (n. 4723, 4727), from which Divine truth is the celestial of the spiritual. That everything of the doctrine of good and truth is from this source, is because the Lord is doctrine itself, for everything of doctrine proceeds from Him, and everything of doctrine treats of Him; for all doctrine treats of the good of love and of the truth of faith. These are from the Lord, and therefore the Lord is not only in them, but also is both. From this it is evident that the doctrine that treats of good and truth, treats of the Lord only; and that it proceeds from His Divine Human.

[2] From the Divine Itself nothing of doctrine can possibly proceed except through the Divine Human, that is, through the Word, which in the supreme sense is the Divine truth from the Lord’s Divine Human. Not even the angels in the inmost heaven can apprehend that which proceeds immediately from the Divine Itself, because it is infinite, and therefore transcends all apprehension, even that of angels. But that which proceeds from the Lord’s Divine Human they can apprehend, because it treats of God as a Divine Man, concerning whom some idea can be formed from the Human; and any idea whatever formed about the Human is accepted, provided it flows from the good of innocence, and is in the good of charity. This is what is meant by the Lord’s words in John:

No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath set Him forth (John 1:18).

In the same:

Ye have neither heard the Father’s voice at any time, nor seen His shape (John 5:37).

And in Matthew:

No one knoweth the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son willeth to reveal Him (Matthew 11:27).

[3] “Chariots” are very frequently mentioned in the Word, but hardly anyone knows that they signify doctrinal things of good and truth, and also the memory-knowledges belonging to doctrinal things. The reason is that when a “chariot” is mentioned nothing spiritual enters the idea, but only the natural historical, and it is the same with the horses in front of the chariot; and yet by “horses” in the Word are signified things of the understanding (see n. 2760-2762, 3217), and therefore by a “chariot” are signified doctrinal things and the memory-knowledges belonging thereto.

[4] That “chariots” denote the doctrinal things of the church, and also memory-knowledges, has been evident to me from the chariots so often seen in the other life. There is also a place to the right near the lower earth where chariots and horses appear, with stalls set in order, and where are seen walking and conversing men who in the world have been learned, and have regarded the life as the end of learning. Such things appear to them from the angels in the higher heavens; for when these are discoursing about things of the understanding, of doctrine, and of knowledge, such objects appear to the spirits there.

[5] That such things are signified by “chariots” and “horses” is very obvious from the fact that Elijah appeared to be carried into heaven by a chariot of fire and horses of fire, and that he and also Elisha were called “the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof,” as we read in the second book of Kings:

Behold a chariot of fire and horses of fire came between them; and Elijah went up in a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof (2 Kings 2:11-12);

and regarding Elisha in the same book:

When Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died, and Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept before his faces, and said, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof (2 Kings 13:14).

The reason why they were so called is that by both Elijah and Elisha was represented the Lord as to the Word (see pref ace t o chapter 18 of Genesis, and n. 2762, 5247e). The Word itself is chiefly the doctrine of good and truth, for from it is everything of doctrine. It was for the same reason that to the boy whose eyes Jehovah opened, the mountain appeared “full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha” (2 Kings 6:17).

[6] That a “chariot” signifies what is doctrinal, and a “horse” what is intellectual, is evident also from other passages in the Word, as in Ezekiel:

Ye shall be sated upon My table with horse and chariot, with mighty man and every man of war. So will I set My glory among the nations (Ezekiel 39:20; Revelation 19:18); where the coming of the Lord is treated of. That by “horse and chariot” here are not signified horse and chariot, is plain to everyone; for they were not to be sated upon the Lord’s table with these, but with such things as are signified by “horse and chariot,” which are the things of the understanding and of the doctrine of good and truth.

[7] Similar things are signified by “horses” and “chariots,” in the following passages.

In David:

The chariots of God are two myriads, thousands of peaceful ones; the Lord is in them; Sinai is in the sanctuary (Psalms 68:17).

Again:

Jehovah covereth Himself with light as with a garment, He stretcheth out the heavens like a curtain, He layeth the beams of His chambers in the waters, He maketh the clouds His chariots, He walketh upon the wings of the wind (Psalms 104:2-3).

In Isaiah:

The prophecy of the wilderness of the sea. Thus hath the Lord said unto me, Set a watchman to watch, he will declare; so he saw a chariot, a pair of horsemen, a chariot of an ass, a chariot of a camel, and he hearkened a hearkening, a great hearkening; for a lion cried upon the watchtower, Lord, I stand continually in the daytime, and upon my ward I am set all the nights; then in very deed lo a chariot of a man, a pair of horsemen; and he said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen (Isaiah 21:1, 6-9).

[8] In the same:

Then will they bring all your brethren in all nations an offering to Jehovah, upon horses, and upon chariot, and upon litters, and upon mules, and upon couriers, to the mountain of My holiness, Jerusalem (Isaiah 66:20).

Again:

Behold Jehovah will come in fire, and His chariots shall be like the whirlwind (Isaiah 66:15).

In Habakkuk:

Was Jehovah enraged with the rivers? Was Thine anger against the rivers? Was Thy wrath against the sea, that Thou didst ride upon Thy horses? Thy chariots are salvation (Hab. 3:8).

In Zechariah:

I lifted up mine eyes and saw, and behold four chariots coming out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass. In the first chariot were red horses; in the second chariot, black horses; in the third chariot, white horses; and in the fourth chariot, grizzled horses (Zech. 6:1-3).

[9] Also in Jeremiah:

There shall enter in by the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in the chariot and on horses, they and their princes, the man of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city shall be inhabited forever (Jeremiah 17:25; 22:4).

The “city that shall be inhabited forever” is not Jerusalem, but the Lord’s church signified by “Jerusalem” (n. 402, 2117, 3654); the “kings who shall enter in by the gates of that city” are not kings, but the truths of the church (n. 1672, 1728, 2015, 2069, 3009, 3670, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068); thus “princes” are not princes, but the primary things of truth (n. 1482, 2089, 5044); “they who sit upon the throne of David” are Divine truths that proceed from the the Lord, (n. 5313); “they who ride in chariot and on horses” are the derivative things of understanding and of doctrine. “Chariots” are frequently mentioned also in the histories of the Word; and because these histories are all representative, and the expressions signify things such as are in the Lord’s kingdom and in the church, “chariots” therein also have a similar signification.

[10] As most of the expressions in the Word have also an opposite sense, so have “chariots,” and in this sense they signify doctrinal things of evil and falsity, and also the memory-knowledges that confirm them, as in these passages:

Woe unto them that go down into Egypt for help, and depend upon horse, and trust upon chariot, because they are many, and upon horsemen because they are very strong; but they look not unto the holy one of Israel (Isaiah 31:1).

By the hand of thy servants hast thou blasphemed the Lord, and hast said, By the multitude of my chariot am I come to the height of the mountains, the sides of Lebanon; where I will cut off the loftiness of its cedars, the choice of its fir trees (Isaiah 37:24);

a prophetic reply to the haughty words of Rabshakeh, the king of Assyria’s general.

In Jeremiah:

Behold waters coming up from the north that shall become an overflowing stream and shall overflow the land and the fullness thereof, the city and them that dwell therein, and all the inhabitant of the land shall howl at the voice of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong horses, at the tumult of his chariot, at the rumbling of his wheels (Jeremiah 47:2-3).

[11] In Ezekiel:

By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall cover thee; thy walls shall shake by reason of the voice of the horseman and of the wheel and of the chariot, when he shall come into thy gates, beside the entrances of a city wherein is made a breach; by the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all thy streets (Ezekiel 26:10-11).

In Haggai:

I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations; I will also overthrow the chariot and those that ride in it, and the horses and their riders shall come down (Haggai 2:22).

In Zechariah:

I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, I will cut off the battle bow; and He shall speak peace unto the nations (Zech. 9:10).

In Jeremiah:

Egypt riseth up like a stream, and his waters toss themselves like the streams; for he said, I will go up, I will cover the earth, I will destroy the city and the inhabitants therein. Go up, ye horses; rage, ye chariots (Jeremiah 46:8-9).

[12] By the “horses and chariots” with which the Egyptians pursued the sons of Israel, and with which Pharaoh entered the sea Suph, where the wheels of the chariots were taken off, and by other things said of the horses and chariots, which make the larger part of that description (Exodus 14:6-7, 9, 17, 23, 25-26; 15:4, 19), are signified the things of understanding, of doctrine, and of false knowledge, together with the reasonings founded on them, that pervert and extinguish the truths of the church. The destruction and death of such things is there described.