10569. And wherein shall it even become known that I have found grace in Thine eyes, I and Thy people? is it not in Thy going with us? That this signifies reception above others if the Divine be manifested among them, is evident from the signification of “becoming known,” when said of the Divine among them, as being to be revealed; from the signification of “finding grace in the eyes of Jehovah,” as being to be received (s ee above, n. 10563), here, above others, because there follows, “and we shall be rendered preeminent, I and Thy people, above all the people that are upon the faces of the ground;” and from the signification of “going with us,” when said of Jehovah, as being the Divine leading, here into the land of Canaan (n. 10567). From this it is evident that by “wherein shall it ever become known that I have found grace in Thine eyes, I and Thy people? is it not in Thy going with us?” is signified reception above others if the Divine be manifested among them.

[2] It is said “in the eyes of Jehovah,” and thereby is signified the Divine presence of the Lord in the truths and goods of faith and of love with men on earth and with angels in the heavens. The reason why the presence of the Lord is in the truths and goods of faith and of love, is that these are from the Lord Himself; and when the Lord is present in these with men and with angels, He is then present in His own with them, and not in what is their own, for this is evil. From this also it is that by “eyes” in the Word, when said of men who receive the Divine things of the Lord, is signified faith and also a recipient understanding; for the understanding is the internal eye; and faith is truth which is seen and perceived. (That the “eyes,” when said in the Word of men, signify faith and also understanding, see n. 2701, 4403-4421, 4523-4534, 9051)

[3] It shall also be told whence comes this sight. There is a real light which illumines the understanding, and which is quite distinct from the light which illumines the sight of the body. The light which illumines the understanding is from heaven; but that which illumines the sight of the body is in the world. The light of heaven is from the Lord as a sun there, and is in its essence the Divine truth that proceeds from the Lord’s Divine good. From this it is evident whence it is that by the “eyes,” when said of Jehovah, is signified the Divine presence of the Lord; and by the “eyes,” when said of men who receive the Divine truth of the Lord, or His light, is signified faith and an enlightened understanding.

[4] That it is a real light which illumines minds, and effects understanding with men, is not known in the world, although men attribute sight and light to the understanding, and although in the Word the Lord is often called “the Light,” by which is meant that He is seen by faith and the light thereof. (That it is a real light which illumines minds, and that the Divine truth which proceeds from the Lord as a sun is this light, and that where it is received it gives the understanding of truth, may be seen in the places cited in n. 9548, 9684 also in n 9570-9571 . 9570, 9571, 9594.)

[5] From all this it can be seen what is signified in the Word by “the eyes of Jehovah,” as in Isaiah:

Incline Thine ear, O Jehovah, and hear; open Thine eyes, O Jehovah, and see (Isaiah 37:17).

I will set Mine eye upon them for good, and I will bring them back upon their own land, and I will build them (Jeremiah 24:6).

Behold the eye of Jehovah is upon them that fear Him (Psalms 33:18).

Jehovah is in the temple of His holiness, the throne of Jehovah is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids try, the sons of man (Psalms 11:4); and elsewhere.

9051. Eye for eye. That this signifies if they shall injure anything in the interior intellectual, is evident from the signification of “the eye,” as being the understanding, here the interior understanding, the life of which is the life of faith. Man has an exterior understanding, and an interior understanding. The exterior understanding is where the thought is that comes to perception; but the interior understanding is where the thought is that does not come to perception; nevertheless it does come to the perception of angels. This latter understanding is that which is enlightened by the Lord when man receives faith, for it is in the light of heaven, and in it is the spiritual life of man, which is not so manifest to him in the world, but is manifest in the other life, when the man becomes an angel among the angels in heaven. Meanwhile this life lies hidden within the thought of the exterior understanding, and produces therein a holy and reverent feeling for the Lord, for love and faith in Him, for the Word, and for all other things of the church. The reason why “the eye” denotes the understanding, is that the eye corresponds to the understanding, for the understanding sees by virtue of the light of heaven, but the eye by virtue of the light of the world. Those things which the former eye or understanding sees are spiritual, and the field of its view is the memory-knowledge in man’s memory. But the things which the external eye sees are earthly, and the field of its view is everything that appears in the world. That in the spiritual sense “the eye” denotes the understanding, and also faith, is because faith makes the life of the interior understanding (see n. 2701, 4403-4421, 4523-4534).

[2] He who does not know that the understanding is meant in the Word by “the eye,” cannot know what is signified by what the Lord spoke concerning the eye in the Evangelists, as by these words:

If thy right eye causeth thee to stumble, pluck it out; it is good for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into the Gehenna of fire (Mark 9:47; Matthew 5:29).

Everyone knows that the eye is not to be plucked out, though it cause one to stumble, and that no one enters into the kingdom of God with one eye; but by “the right eye” is signified falsity of faith concerning the Lord, and this is what is to be plucked out. Again:

The light of the body is the eye; if therefore thine eye be simple, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be darkened. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is the darkness (Matthew 6:22-23; Luke 11:34).

Neither in this passage is the eye meant by “eye,” but the understanding of the truth of faith. Hence the eye is called “the light of the body,” and it is said, “if the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is the darkness,” for in the spiritual sense “darkness” denotes falsities of faith (n. 1839, 1860, 4418, 4531, 7688, 7711).

[3] And again:

Why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but understandest not the beam that is in thine own eye? (Matthew 7:3-5).

“To behold a mote in the eye of a brother” denotes something erroneous in respect to the understanding of truth; and “the beam in one’s own eye” denotes the huge evil of falsity; for in the internal sense “wood” denotes good, and in the opposite sense evil (n. 643, 2784, 2812, 3720, 8354). Moreover in the other life good is represented by a beam; and therefore those who feign good in themselves seem to carry a beam, and thus go safely. Without this signification of “the eye,” and of “a beam,” what could be meant by “seeing a beam in the eye?” If it is not known that in the Word “the eye” denotes the understanding of truth, which is faith, neither can it be known what is involved in what the Lord did when He healed a blind man, that is, when “He spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle, and said unto him, Wash thee in the pool of Siloam” (John 9:6-7). As the Lord’s miracles, like all Divine miracles, involved those things which are of the Lord’s kingdom and church (n. 7337, 8364), so also does this.