240. But that naked signifies those who are without the understanding of truth because without the will of good, is evident also from those passages in the Word where the terms naked and nakedness are mentioned, which shall be adduced below. The reason why these terms have such a signification is that garments signify truths of the understanding. He who is without truths is also without good, for all spiritual good is procured by means of truths, and without them, or except by them, spiritual good cannot exist; spiritual good is charity. Naked and nakedness signify the deprivation of intelligence and love, thus of the understanding of good and of the will thereof; also for the reason that garments cover the body and the flesh, and by body and flesh is signified good, hence by garments are signified those things that cover good.

[2] There is the understanding of truth and the understanding of good; the understanding of truth is the understanding of those things that belong to faith, and the understanding of good is the understanding of those things that belong to love and charity. There is also the will of truth and the will of good; the will of truth pertains to those who, belong to the Lord's spiritual kingdom, but the will of good to those who belong to His celestial kingdom. The latter, because they are in love to the Lord and thence in mutual love, which with them is charity towards the neighbour, have truths inscribed on their hearts, and hence do them; and what proceeds from the heart is from the will of good; for the heart denotes the will of good; but those who are in love towards the neighbour, which love is charity, have not truths inscribed on their hearts, but on the memory, and thence on the intellectual mind, and that which thence proceeds from affection, is the will of truth. It is thus that the spiritual angels are distinguished from the celestial angels; the latter appear naked in heaven, but the former clothed.

The reason why the celestial angels appear naked is that they have no need of the memory in order to retain truths, nor of the understanding in order to comprehend them, because they have them inscribed on the heart, that is, on the love and will, and thence see them. And the reason why the spiritual angels appear clothed is that they have truths inscribed on the memory, and thence on the understanding, and truths thus inscribed correspond to garments, therefore they all appear clothed according to their intelligence. (That the angels are thus clothed, may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 177-182.) From these considerations it is evident that naked signifies in one sense those who are in celestial good, and in the other, those who are not in good because not in truths.

[3] But these things may be better seen from those passages, in the Word where naked and nakedness are mentioned, such as the following. In Isaiah:

Jehovah said to the prophet, "Put off the sackcloth from upon thy loins, and put off thy shoe from upon thy foot. And he did so. Then Jehovah said, Like, as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years; so shall the king of Assyria lead the captivity of Egypt, and the crowd of Cush that is to be carried off, the boys and the old men, naked and unshod, and their buttocks uncovered, the nakedness of Egypt" (20:2-4).

No one can see what is stored up in these words concerning the church and heaven, unless he knows their spiritual sense; for in every detail of the Word something pertaining to heaven and the church is contained, because the Word is spiritual: it shall therefore be explained. By the prophet is here meant the doctrine of the church; by putting off sackcloth from upon his loins, or by making the loins naked, is meant to reveal filthy loves. By the usual sackcloth of the prophet are here meant the covering garments, and by the loins are signified those loves. By putting off the shoe from upon his foot, or unshoeing the soles of the foot, is signified to reveal the filthy things of nature. By the king of Assyria leading the captivity of Egypt, and the crowd of Cush that is to be carried off, is meant that the perverted Rational would confirm evils and falsities by scientifics (scientifica) and fallacies. By boys and old men are meant by all things, both in general and in particular. By naked and barefoot is meant that they are deprived of all truth and of all good. By their buttocks uncovered are meant the evils of self-love; by the nakedness of Egypt the falsities therefrom. It is therefore clear what is here treated of concerning the church and heaven, namely, that the perverted Rational, which denies God, and attributes all things to nature, confirms itself by scientifics and by fallacies, until it is deprived of all understanding of truth and will of good. (That by prophet in the Word is meant doctrine, may be seen in Arcana Coelestia 2534, 7269; by the loins are signified the loves in each sense, n. 3021, 4280, 5059; by the feet are signified the natural things pertaining to man, and by the soles of the feet those which are in the ultimates, n. 2162, 3147, 3761, 3986, 4280, 4938-4952; by shoes are signified the same things as to the covering of them, n. 1748, 2162, 6844; by the king of Assyria is signified the Rational in both senses, n. 119, 1186; by Egypt is signified the Scientific (scientificum) of the natural man, also, in both senses, good and evil, n. 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462, 5700, 5702, 6015, 6651, 6679, 6683, 6692, 7296, 9340, 9391; by Cush are signified the fallacies of the senses, n. 1163, 1164, 1166.)

[4] In Ezekiel:

"When I passed by thee, and saw thee, I covered thy nakedness, and I washed thee and clothed thee. But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot. Thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare. Thou hast committed fornication with the sons of Egypt and with the sons of Asshur. Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication in the land unto Chaldea; wherefore thy nakedness is revealed by thy whoredoms; therefore they shall stone thee with stones, and shall cut thee in pieces with their swords. And they shall burn thine houses with fire" (16:6, and following verses).

Jerusalem is here treated of, by which is meant the church as to doctrine; and by these and many other expressions in the same chapter, the quality of the church in the beginning, and what it became when it declined from good and truth, is described. Its quality when established by the Lord, thus its quality in the beginning, is described by, "when I passed by thee, and saw thee, I covered thy nakedness, I washed thee and clothed thee." To cover nakedness signifies to remove the evils of the will and the falsities of the understanding; to wash signifies to purify from evils, and to clothe signifies to instruct in truths. But the quality of the church when it declined from good and from truth, is described in what follows. Thou didst trust in thy beauty, signifies intelligence from the proprium, and that the church was delighted with it. By committing whoredom is signified that thus it imbued falsities; by committing fornication with the sons of Egypt and with the sons of Asshur, are signified falsifications confirmed by scientifics and rational things therefrom. By multiplying fornication unto Chaldea, is signified even to the profanation of truth. Hence it is clear what is signified by wherefore thy nakedness is revealed by thy whoredoms; namely, that the church by falsities and falsifications would be deprived of all understanding of truth. By they shall stone thee with stones, is signified that the church would perish by falsities. By they shall cut thee in pieces with their swords, is signified that the church would perish altogether by the falsifications of truth. And by they shall burn thy houses with fire is signified that it would wholly perish by infernal loves: houses denote everything pertaining to man, and fire denotes infernal loves. From these considerations it is clear what pertaining to heaven and the church is contained in those words, and that this appears solely from the spiritual sense. (That washing signifies to purify from evils and falsities, may be seen in Arcana Coelestia 3147, 10237, 10240, 10243; that to clothe signifies to instruct in truths, n. 1073, 2576, 5248, 5319, 5954, 9212, 9216, 9952, 10536; that beauty signifies intelligence, n. 3080, 4985, 5199, in this case intelligence from the proprium. That to commit whoredom denotes to be imbued with falsities, see above, n. 141: that Egypt denotes the Scientific, and Asshur the Rational, may be seen just above. That Chaldea denotes the profanation of truth, Arcana Coelestia 1182, 1283, 1295, 1304, 1306, 1307, 1308, 1321, 1322, 1326: that to stone with stones signifies to perish by falsities, n. 5156, 7456, 8575, 8799: that sword signifies falsity fighting against truth and destroying it, n. 2799, 4499, 7102, hence to cut in pieces with swords denotes to perish altogether by falsifications of truth; that fire signifies infernal love, n. 1861, 5071, 6314, 6832, 7575, 10747; and that a house signifies the whole man, and the things pertaining to him, thus which pertain to his understanding and his will, n. 710, 2231, 2233, 2559, 3128, 3538, 4973, 5023, 6690, 7353, 7848, 7910, 7929, 9150; hence it is evident what is signified by they shall burn thy houses with fire.)

[5] In Hosea:

"Contend with your mother, that she may put away her whoredoms and her adulteries, lest peradventure I strip her naked and make her as a desert, as a land of dryness, and slay her with thirst; and her sons will I not pity, because they are the sons of whoredoms" (2:2-4).

The subject here treated of is also the church fallen into falsities and evils; the mother with whom they would contend signifies the church. Whoredoms and adulteries signify falsities and evils therefrom; to make her as a wilderness and set her as a land of dryness signifies the deprivation of good and of truth. To slay her with thirst signifies a total defect of truth; her sons signify all the falsities thereof, in general, therefore they are called sons of whoredoms. (That mother signifies the church, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 289, 2691, 2717, 3703, 4257, 5581, 8897; that desert signifies where there is no good because no truth, n. 2708, 4736, 7055; that a dry land signifies where there is no truth is, because water signifies the truth of faith, n. 2702, 3058, 5668, 8568, 10238; that to be slain with thirst, signifies to perish from defect of truth, n. 8568 at the end. That sons signify affections of truth, and truths in general, n. 2362, 3963, 6729, 6775, 6778, 9055; thus, in the opposite sense, affections of falsity and falsities in general. Hence it may be evident that by stripping her naked is signified, her being without good and truth.)

[6] In Lamentations:

"Jerusalem hath sinned a sin; therefore all that honoured her, despise her, because they have seen her nakedness" (1:8).

In Ezekiel:

Aholah, which is Samaria, committed whoredom with the Egyptians, and with the sons of Asshur; they uncovered her nakedness, her sons and her daughters have they taken, and at length they have slain her with the sword: "therefore will I give thee into the hand of those whom thou hast hated, that they may deal with thee from hatred, and take away all thy labour, and leave thee naked and bare, that the nakedness of thy whoredoms may be uncovered" (23:4, 8, 9, 10, 18, 28, 29).

The subject treated of in this chapter is Samaria, which is called Aholah, and Jerusalem, which is called Aholibah, the church being signified by both. By Samaria, where the sons of Israel were, is signified the church in which were no truths, but falsities, and by Jerusalem, the church where there were no goods, but evils. What is signified by committing whoredom with the Egyptians and with the sons of Asshur, and what by slaying her sons and daughters with the sword, was explained above; hence it is clear, that by leaving her naked and bare is signified to be without good and truth.

[7] In Isaiah:

"The Lord will make bald the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and Jehovah will make naked their buttocks" (3:17).

The daughters of Zion signify the celestial church and the things of that church, but, in this case, perverted. By the crown of the head, which shall be made bald, is signified intelligence of which it shall be deprived; and the buttocks, which shall be made naked, signify the love of evil and of falsity.

[8] In Nahum:

"Woe to the city of bloods, wholly in a lie, and full of rapine; because of the multitude of her whoredoms I will uncover thy skirts over thy faces, and will make nations see thy nakedness, and kingdoms thy lightness" (3:1, 4, 5).

The city of bloods signifies the doctrine of falsity which offers violence to the good of charity.

[9] In Habakkuk:

"Woe unto him that maketh his companion to drink, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakednesses. Drink thou also, that thy foreskin may be uncovered" (2:15, 16).

To make a companion drink, and make him drunken, signifies to impart falsities until he does not see truth: to look on their nakednesses, denotes to cause the falsities of the understanding and the evils of the will to appear. The foreskin which would be uncovered, denotes filthy loves. (That to drink denotes to be instructed in truths, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 3069, 3772, 4017, 4018, 8562, 9412; hence, in the opposite sense, it denotes to impart falsities; that to be made drunken denotes to become insane from falsities, thus not to see truths, n. 1072; that the foreskin signifies corporeal and terrestrial loves, n. 4462, 7045.) Hence it is evident what is signified by the fact that

Noah drank wine and was drunken, so that he lay naked in the midst of his tent, and that Ham laughed at the nakedness of his father, but that Shem and Japheth covered his nakedness, and turned away their faces that they might not see the nakedness of their father (Genesis 9:21-23).

(But these things may be seen explained in Arcana Coelestia where they are treated of.)

[10] In Lamentations:

"The cup also shall pass over unto thee, O daughter of Edom: thou shalt be drunken, and shalt be naked" (4:21).

Here, by being drunken and naked are signified the same things as above. (But who in particular are signified by Edom may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 3322, 8314.)

In Isaiah:

Daughter of Babel and Chaldea, "sit upon the earth. Take the millstones, and grind meal; uncover thy hair, uncover thy thigh, pass over the rivers. Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, and also thy shame shall be seen" (47:1-3).

By the daughter of Babylon and Chaldea are meant those who profane the goods and truths of the church. To grind meal signifies to falsify truths; to uncover the hair and the thigh signifies to be deprived of the understanding of truth, and the will of good; to pass over the rivers, and to uncover her nakedness have also a similar signification.

[11] Because nakedness signified the deprivation of the understanding of truth and of the will of good, it was therefore commanded that Aaron and his sons should not ascend by steps upon the altar, lest their nakedness should be uncovered thereon (Exodus 20:26). Also that

They should make for them breeches of linen to cover the flesh of their nakedness, and that they should be upon them when they entered the tent of the assembly, and when they came near to the altar, and that otherwise they should bear iniquity and die (Exodus 28:42, 43).

From these considerations it is clear what is signified by the words in the following verse of this chapter: "I counsel thee to buy of me white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear." And also in the following words of this book of the Apocalypse: "Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame" (16:15).

[12] Moreover, by the naked, in the Word, are also meant those who are not in truths and thence not in good, because they are ignorant of truths, but yet desire them. This is the case with those who are within the church where those who teach are in falsities; also those who are out of the church, and have not the Word, and hence neither know truths nor anything concerning the Lord. These are described in the following passages. In Isaiah:

"This is the fast that I have chosen, to break bread with the hungry, and when thou seest the naked that thou cover him" (58:6, 7).

In Ezekiel:

"Let him give his bread to the hungry, and cover the naked with a garment" (18:7).

And in Matthew:

"I was naked, and ye clothed me" (25:36, 38).

To cover with a garment, and to clothe, signify to instruct in truths. (That garments denote truths, may be seen above, n. 195. That naked also signifies the good of innocence, may be seen in Arcana Coelestia 165, 8375, 9960; and in the work, Heaven and Hell 179, 180, 280.)

3901. The reason why the final state of the Church is compared to eagles gathered together where there is a carcass or body is that 'eagles' means man's rational ideas. When used in reference to forms of good 'eagles' means true rational ideas, but when used in reference to forms of evil 'eagles' means false rational ideas, or reasonings. 'Birds' in general means a person's thoughts, and in both the genuine and the contrary senses, 40, 745, 776, 866, 991, 3219; and each species has some individual meaning, 'eagles' meaning rational ideas because they are high-flyers and sharp-sighted. This meaning may be seen from many places in the Word, from which let the following be brought forward to confirm it. First, places where true rational ideas are meant: in Moses,

Jehovah found His people [Jacob] in a wilderness land and in the emptiness, the howling, the lonely place He encompassed him, instructed him, and kept him as the pupil of His eye. As an eagle stirs up its nest, hovers over its young, spreads out its wings, takes one, carries it on its wings. Deuteronomy 32:10-11.

That which is described here and compared to the eagle is instruction in the truths and goods of faith. The actual process up to the point when a person becomes rational and spiritual is what this description and comparison contains. All comparisons in the Word are made by means of meaningful signs, in this case by 'the eagle', which means the rational.

[2] In the same author,

Jehovah said to Moses, You have seen the things which I did to the Egyptians, and I bore you on eagles' wings so that I might bring you to Myself. Exodus 19:3-4.

Here the meaning is similar. In Isaiah,

Those who await Jehovah will be renewed with strength; they will mount up with strong wings like eagles; they will run and not be weary, they will walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31.

'Being renewed with strength' stands for growth in the willing of good, 'mounting up with strong wings like eagles' for growth in the understanding of truth, and so growth of the rational. Here, as elsewhere, dual expressions are used to present the subject, the first of a pair involving good which belongs to the will, the second truth which belongs to the understanding. 'Running and not being weary' and 'walking and not fainting' are similar dual expressions.

[3] In Ezekiel,

Speak a parable about the house of Israel, and say, Thus said the Lord Jehovih, A great eagle with long pinions, full of feathers, in its embroidery, came on Lebanon and took a twig of the cedar. He carried it into a land of trade, he placed it in a city of perfumers. It sprouted and became a spreading vine. There was another great eagle with great wings and full of feathers, towards which, behold, this vine directed its roots, and sent out its branches towards it to water it from the beds of its young plants in a good field, by many waters. But it will be laid waste. He sent his ambassadors to Egypt that they might give him horses and many people. Ezekiel 17:2-9, 15.

The eagle mentioned first stands for the rational enlightened by the Divine, the eagle mentioned second for the rational originating in the proprium, subsequently perverted by means of reasonings based on sensory evidence and factual knowledge - 'Egypt' standing for factual knowledge, 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462, and 'horses' for understanding resulting from all this, 2761, 2762, 3217.

[4] In Daniel,

A vision of Daniel. Four beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another. The first was like a lion, but had eagle's wings. I watched it until its wings were torn away and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on its feet like a human being; and the heart of a human being was given to it. Daniel 7:3-4.

That which is described by 'a lion which had eagle's wings' is the first state of the Church, 'eagle's wings' in this case meaning rational ideas originating in the proprium. And when these had been removed, rational ideas and desires in the will which had a Divine origin were given to it. These are meant by the lifting up of the eagle from the ground and the standing of it on its feet like a human being, and the gift to it of the heart of a human being.

[5] In Ezekiel,

As for the likeness of the faces of the four living creatures or cherubs, each of the four had the face of a human being, and the face of a lion on the right side; and each of the four the face of an ox on the left side; and each of the four had the face of an eagle. Ezekiel 1:10.

Their wheels were called Galgal; and each one had four faces - the first face was the face of a cherub, the second face the face of a human being, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle. Ezekiel 10:13-14.

In John,

Around the throne were four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind. The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature was like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a human being, the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. Revelation 4:7.

Clearly, those living creatures that were seen mean Divine arcana, as consequently does the likeness of their faces. But exactly which arcana are meant cannot be known unless one knows what 'lion', 'calf', 'human being', and 'eagle' mean in the internal sense. It is evident that 'the face of an eagle' means vigilance and therefore providence, for the cherubs who were represented by the living creatures in Ezekiel mean the Lord's providence which guards against anyone entering the mysteries of faith from himself and his own rationality as the starting point, see 308. This also shows that when 'an eagle' is used in reference to a human being the rational is meant in the internal sense. It has this meaning because an eagle is a high-flyer and from its more exalted position has a wide view of things below.

[6] In Job,

Is it through your intelligence that the hawk flies up and spreads its wings towards the south? Is it at your command ¹ that the eagle lifts itself up and makes its nest up high? Job 39:26-27.

In this verse it is evident that 'the eagle' means reason which is an attribute of intelligence. This was what 'eagle' meant in the Ancient Church, for the Book of Job is a book of the Ancient Church, 3540 (end). In fact the writing of almost all the books of that period involved the use of meaningful signs, but with the passage of time meaningful signs have been so eclipsed that it is not even known that 'birds' in general means thoughts, even though these are referred to many times in the Word and in those places quite clearly is meant something different from birds.

[7] As regards 'the eagle' in the contrary sense meaning rational ideas that are not true, and so are false, this is evident from the following places: In Moses,

Jehovah will raise up above you a nation from far away, from the end of the earth, as an eagle flies, a nation whose language you do not understand, a hard-faced nation. Deuteronomy 28:49-50.

In Jeremiah,

Behold, he comes up [like] clouds, and his chariots like a whirlwind; his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for we have been laid waste! Jeremiah 4:13.

In the same prophet,

Your bragging has deceived you, and the pride of your heart, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, who hold the height of the hill; because, like the eagle, you have made your nest up high, I will cast you down from there. Behold, he mounts up and flies like an eagle, and spreads his wings over Bozrah; and the heart of the powerful men of Edom has become on that day like the heart of a woman in distress. Jeremiah 49:16, 22.

In the same prophet,

Our pursuers were swifter than eagles; they pursued us over the mountains, they laid in wait for us in the wilderness. Lamentations 4:19.

In Micah,

Make yourself bald, and shave your head for the children of your delight; extend your baldness like an eagle, for they have departed from you. Micah 1:16.

In Obadiah,

If you raise yourself up like the eagle, and if you place your nest among the stars, I will bring you down from there. Obad. verse 4.

In Habakkuk,

I am rousing the Chaldeans, a bitter and headlong nation, marching into the breadths of the earth, to inherit habitations that are not its own. Its horses are swifter than leopards. ² Its horsemen will come from afar. They will fly in like an eagle hastening to devour. Habakkuk 1:6, 8.

[8] In all these places 'eagles' means falsity that has been introduced through reasonings - the delusions of the senses and external appearances being the source of that falsity. 'The Chaldeans' referred to in the last of the Prophets quoted means people who outwardly are holy but inwardly are under the influence of falsity, see 1368, and these like Babel are those who lay waste the Church, 1367. 'The breadths of the earth' means truths (the vastation of which is meant by 'marching into the breadths of the earth') see 3433, 3434, and 'horses' their intellectual concepts, which are similar, 2761, 2762, 3217. What is meant by 'an eagle hastening to devour' is clear from all this, namely a hastening to make man desolate of truths, for the desolation of the Church is the subject in these verses. Comparisons are made with eagles, but as has been stated, comparisons in the Word are made by means of meaningful signs. From all this one may now see what is meant by the comparison with the eagles which will be gathered together where the carcass is.

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