915. Le premier fondement, jaspe ; le second, saphir ; le troisième, chalcédoine ; le quatrième, émeraude ; (Vers. 21:20.) le cinquième, sardonyx ; le sixième, sardoine ; le septième, chrysolithe ; le huitième, béril ; le neuvième, topaze ; le dixième, chrysoprase ; le onzième, hyacinthe ; le douzième, améthyste, signifie toutes les choses de cette doctrine d'après le sens de la lettre de la Parole, dans leur ordre, chez ceux qui s'adressent immédiatement au Seigneur, et vivent selon les préceptes du Décalogue en fuyant les maux comme péchés ; car eux, et non les autres, sont dans la doctrine de l'amour envers Dieu et de l'amour à l'égard du prochain, qui sont les deux fondements de la religion. Que par les douze fondements de la muraille soient signifiées toutes les choses de la doctrine de la Nouvelle Jérusalem d'après le sens de la lettre de la Parole, on le voit ci-dessus, Nos. 902, 914 ; que par les pierres précieuses en général soient signifiés tous les vrais de la doctrine d'après la Parole, qui transparaissent par le sens spirituel, on le voit ci-dessus, Nos. 231, 540, 726, 911, 914 ; ici par chaque pierre est spécialement signifié quelque vrai, qui transparaît ainsi ; que la Parole, dans le sens de la lettre, quant à ses doctrinaux, corresponde aux pierres précieuses de tout genre, on le voit dans la doctrine de la nouvelle Jérusalem sur l'écriture sainte, Nos. 43-46. Il y a en général deux couleurs qui brillent dans les pierres précieuses, la couleur Rouge et la couleur Blanche ; les autres couleurs, comme le vert, le jaune, l'azur, et plusieurs autres, sont composées de celles-là au moyen du noir, et par la couleur rouge il est signifié le bien de l'amour, et par la couleur blanche le vrai de la sagesse ; si la couleur rouge signifie le bien de l'amour, c'est parce qu'elle tire son origine du feu du soleil, et que le feu du Soleil du Monde spirituel est dans son essence le Divin Amour du Seigneur, ainsi le bien de l'amour ; et si la couleur blanche signifie le vrai de la sagesse c'est parce qu'elle tire son origine de la lumière qui procède du feu de ce soleil, et que cette lumière procédante est dans son essence la Divine Sagesse, ainsi le vrai de la sagesse ; et le noir tire son origine de leur ombre, qui est l'ignorance ; mais expliquer en particulier quelle chose du bien et quelle chose du vrai signifie chaque pierre, cela serait trop long ; toutefois, pour savoir quelle chose du bien ou du vrai chaque pierre signifie dans cet ordre, il faut se reporter aux Explications ci-dessus données, Chapitre 7, depuis le Vers. 5 jusqu'au Vers. 8, Nos. 349-361, où il s'agit des douze Tribus d'Israël ; car ici, par chaque pierre, il est signifié la même chose que là par chaque Tribu nommée, puisque par les douze Tribus qui y sont désignées il est pareillement signifié tous les biens et tous les vrais de l'Église et de sa doctrine dans leur ordre ; c'est pourquoi il est aussi dit dans ce Chapitre, Vers. 14, que sur ces douze fondements étaient écrits les noms des douze Apôtres de l'Agneau ; par les douze Apôtres sont signifiées toutes les choses de la doctrine concernant le Seigneur, et concernant la vie selon ses préceptes, No. 903. Par ces douze pierres, il est aussi signifié les mêmes choses que par les douze pierres précieuses dans le Pectoral d'Aharon, qui était appelé Urim et Thuimim, — Exode 28:15-21 — choses qui ont été expliquées en particulier dans les ARCANES CÉLESTES, Nos. 9856, 9882, avec cette différence, que sur celles-ci il y avait les noms des douze Tribus d'Israël ; et sur celles-là les noms des douze Apôtres de l'Agneau. Il est dit aussi dans Ésaïe que les Fondements sont des pierres précieuses :

— « 0 affligée! voici, Moi, je disposerai avec L'antimoine TES PIERRES, TES FONDEMENTS JE POSERAI EN SAPHIRS, et tes portes en PIERRES DE RUBIS ; tous tes fils seront enseignés de Jéhovah. » — Ésaïe 54:11-13

— par affligée, il est entendu l'Église qui devait être instaurée par le Seigneur chez les nations.

Dans le Même :

— « Ainsi a dit le Seigneur Jéhovah : Moi, je vais fonder en Sion UNE PIERRE, PIERRE A L'ÉPREUVE, Angle de prix, de Fondation fondée ; je poserai le jugement pour règle, et ta justice pour aplomb. » — Ésaïe 28:16-17.

— Comme tout Vrai de la doctrine d'après la Parole est fondé sur la reconnaissance du Seigneur, c'est pour cela que le Seigneur est appelé LA PIERRE D'ISRAËL, — Genèse 49:24.

— et aussi LA PIERRE D'ANGLE que ceux qui bâtissaient ont rejetée, — Matthieu 21:42 ; Marc 12:10-11 ; Luc 20:17, ;

— que la Pierre d'Angle soit une pierre des fondements, on le voit d'après Jérémie 51:26.

— Le Seigneur aussi dans la Parole est, en beaucoup d'endroits, appelé la Pierre ; c'est pourquoi il se désigne Lui-Même par la Pierre, lorsqu'il dit :

— « Sur cette PIERRE je bâtirai mon Église. » — Matthieu 16:18-19 :

— et aussi quand il dit :

— « Quiconque entend mes paroles, et les fait, est pareil à un homme prudent qui bâtit une maison, et pose LE FONDEMENT SUR LA PIERRE. » — Luc 6:47-48 ; Matthieu 7:24-25 ;

— par la Pierre est signifié le Seigneur quant au Divin Vrai de la Parole. Que toutes les choses de l'Église et de sa doctrine se réfèrent à ces deux-ci : S'adresser immédiatement au Seigneur, et vivre selon les préceptes du Décalogue en fuyant les maux comme péchés ; et qu'ainsi toutes les choses de la doctrine se réfèrent à l'amour envers Dieu et à l'amour à l'égard du prochain, on le verra dans la DOCTRINE DE LA NOUVELLE JÉRUSALEM SUR LA CHARITÉ, où ces choses seront exposées dans leur ordre.

152. That hath His eyes as a flame of fire, signifies Divine Providence from His Divine love, also Divine wisdom and intelligence communicated to those who are in love towards Him and from that in faith in Him. That "eyes as a flame of fire," means in reference to the Lord, His Divine Providence from His Divine love, see above (n. 68). This means also Divine wisdom and intelligence communicated to those who are in love towards the Lord, and from that in faith in Him, because "eyes" in the Word signify in reference to man the understanding of truth, and the understanding of truth is intelligence and wisdom; consequently "eyes" signify, in reference to the Lord, Divine wisdom and intelligence proceeding from Him; and what proceeds from Him is communicated to angels and to men who are in love towards Him and from that in faith in Him. All the wisdom and intelligence that angels and men have is the Lord's with them and not their own; and this is also well known in the church; for it is known that all good, which is of love, and all truth, which is of faith, are from God, and nothing thereof from man; and truths interiorly seen and acknowledged constitute intelligence, and these together with goods interiorly perceived and thence seen constitute wisdom. From this then it is that "having His eyes as a flame of fire" also signifies the Lord's Divine wisdom and intelligence communicated to those who are in the goods of love, and from that in faith in Him.

[2] "Eyes" signify the understanding, because all the sight of the eyes with men and angels is from the understanding. That all the sight of the eyes is from the understanding must sound absurd to those who are ignorant of the interior causes of things, out of which effects are presented in the body; those ignorant of these causes believe no otherwise than that the eye sees of itself, that the ear hears of itself, that the tongue tastes of itself, and that the body feels of itself; when yet it is the interior life of man, the life of his spirit, which is the life of his understanding and will, or of his thought and affection that, through the organs of the body, has sensation of the things that are in the world, and thus perceives them naturally. The whole body, with all its sensories, is merely an instrument of its soul, or of its spirit; which is also the reason that when man's spirit is separated from the body the body has no sensation whatever, but the spirit afterwards continues to have sensation as before. (That man's spirit sees, hears, and feels, after it is released from the body equally as before while in the body, see in the work on Heaven and Hell 461-469; and on The Correspondence of the Understanding with the Sight of the Eye, see Arcana Coelestia 4403-4421, 4523-4534.) With beasts, moreover, their interior life, which is also called their soul, has sensation equally through the external organs of their body, but with a difference, in that the sensation of the beast is not rational like man's, thus is not formed from an understanding and will such as man has (See in the work on Heaven and Hell 108, and The Last Judgment 25).

[3] From this, then, it is, that by "eye" in the Word is signified the understanding of truth, or intelligence and wisdom, as may be seen from the following passages. In Isaiah:

Say to this people, hear ye in hearing, but understand not; and see ye in seeing, and know not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and smear their eyes, lest they see with their eyes (Isaiah 6:9-10; John 12:40).

"To smear the eyes, lest they see with their eyes," is to darken the understanding, that they may not understand.

[4] In the same:

Jehovah hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes; the prophets and your heads, the seers hath He covered (Isaiah 29:10);

where "He hath closed the eyes; the prophets and the heads, and the seers hath He covered," is the understanding of truth. "Prophets" are those that teach truths, who are also called "heads," because the head signifies intelligence, and are also called "seers" from the revelation of Divine truth with them.

[5] In the same:

The eyes of them that see shall not be closed, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken (Isaiah 32:3).

"The eyes of them that see" means of those that understand truths. In the same:

Who shutteth his eyes from seeing evil. Thine eyes shall behold the king in his beauty (Isaiah 33:15, 17).

"To shut the eyes from seeing evil" is not to admit evil into the thought; "their eyes shall behold the king in his beauty" is that they are to understand truth in its light with pleasantness; for by "king" here is not meant a king but truth (See above, n. 31).

[6] In Jeremiah:

Hear now this, O foolish people, who have no heart; who have eyes and see not; who have ears and hear not (Jeremiah 5:21; Ezekiel 12:2).

In Lamentations:

The crown of our head hath fallen; for this our heart hath become faint; and for this our eyes have been darkened (Lamentations 5:16, 17).

"The crown of the head" is wisdom (See above n. 126; the "faint heart" means that the will of good is no more (that "heart" is the will and love, see in the work on Heaven and Hell 95). "Eyes" are the understanding of truth, and they are said to be darkened when truth is no longer understood.

[7] In Zechariah:

The punishment of the shepherd forsaking the flock, a sword upon his right eye; and his right eye in growing dim shall be dimmed (Zechariah 11:17).

"The sword upon the right eye," and "the right eye in growing dim shall be dimmed," means that all truth in the understanding is to perish through falsity (that "sword" is the destruction of truth by falsity, see above, n. 131.

[8] In the same:

The plague wherewith Jehovah will strike all the peoples that shall war against Jerusalem; their eyes shall consume away in their sockets (Zechariah 14:12).

"The peoples that shall war against Jerusalem" are those that fight against the church; "Jerusalem" is the church; that "their eyes shall consume away" means that intelligence is to perish because they fight by falsities against truths.

[9] In Zechariah:

I will smite every horse with astonishment, and every horse of the peoples with blindness (Zechariah 12:4).

Here the vastation of the church is treated of; by "horse" is signified the intellectual, therefore the understanding is meant when it is said that the horse should be smitten with astonishment and with blindness. (That "horse" signifies the intellectual, see the small treatise on The White Horse 1-5.)

[10] In David:

Hear me, O Jehovah, my God; lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep [the sleep of] death (Psalms 13:4).

"Lighten the eyes" means the understanding.

In Moses:

Thou shalt not take a gift, for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise (Deuteronomy 16:19).

"To blind the eyes of the wise" is that they may not see or understand the truth.

[11] In Matthew:

The lamp of the body is the eye: if the eye be single the whole body is light; if the eye be evil the whole body is darkened. If therefore the light be darkness, how great is the darkness (Matthew 6:22, 23; Luke 11:34).

By "eye" here is not meant the eye, but the understanding; by "the eye single" the understanding of truth; by "the eye evil" the understanding of falsity; "darkness" is falsities; "the whole body" is the whole spirit, which is wholly such as the will is and the understanding therefrom; but if it has the understanding of truth from the will of good it is an angel of light; but if it has an understanding of falsity it is a spirit of darkness. By these words the reformation of man through the understanding of truth is described. From this it is clear that he who knows what "eye" signifies can know the arcanum of these words. That man is reformed by means of truths in the understanding, see above (n. 112, 126).

[12] In Matthew:

If thy right eye causeth thee to stumble, pluck it out, and cast it from thee; for it is better for thee to enter life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire (Matthew 5:29; 18:9; Mark 9:47).

Here also, by "eye" is not meant the eye, but the understanding thinking; by "the right eye causing to stumble" the understanding thinking evil; "plucking it out and casting it away" is not admitting such evil, but rejecting it; "having one eye" is the understanding thinking not evil, but truth only, for the understanding can think the truth; if it thinks evil it is from the will of evil. It is said "the right eye," because "the right eye" signifies the understanding of good, and the "left eye" the understanding of truth (See Arcana Coelestia 4410, 6923).

[13] In Isaiah:

In that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of thick darkness and out of darkness (Isaiah 29:18).

In the same:

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf (Isaiah 35:5).

In the same:

I will give thee for a light of the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to lead him that is bound out of the dungeon, and them that sit in darkness out of the house of prison (Isaiah 42:6, 7).

In the same:

Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears (Isaiah 43:8).

"To open the eyes of the blind" is to instruct those who as yet are ignorant of truths, but nevertheless have a longing for them, that is, the Gentiles. The like is signified by:

The Lord's healing the blind (Matthew 9:27-29; 20:29-34 to the end; 21:14; Mark 8:23, 25; Luke 18:35-43; John 9:1-21);

for all the Lord's miracles involved such things as pertain to the church and heaven, therefore they were Divine (See Arcana Coelestia 7337, 8364, 9301).

[14] Because the "eye" signified the understanding it was among the statutes pertaining to the sons of Israel:

That no one of the seed of Aaron who was blind or had a blemish in the eye should come nigh to offer sacrifice, or enter within the veil (Leviticus 21:17-23).

That what was blind should not be offered for a sacrifice (Leviticus 22:22; Malachi 1:8);

so also among the curses was:

A fever that should consume the eyes (Leviticus 26:16).

From all this it can now be known what is signified by "the eyes of the Son of God that were as a flame of fire," namely, Divine wisdom and intelligence communicated to those who are in love towards the Lord and thence in faith in Him.

[15] That His Divine Providence is also signified is evident from what was shown above n. 68. To this may be added what is said of the cherubim in Ezekiel, and of the four animals about the throne in Revelation, which also signify the Divine Providence of the Lord, and in particular, a guard that the Lord be not approached except through good. In Ezekiel:

I saw, and behold four wheels near the cherubim; their whole flesh, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels were full of eyes round about (Ezekiel 10:9, 12).

In Revelation:

About the throne were four living creatures full of eyes before and behind; each one had wings full of eyes about and within (Revelation 4:6, 8).

These four "living creatures" also were cherubim, for the description of them is almost like that of the cherubim in Ezekiel. So many "eyes" are ascribed to them because the Lord's Divine Providence, which is signified by "cherubim," is His government of all things in the heavens and on the earth by Divine wisdom; for the Lord by Divine Providence sees all things, disposes all things, and looks out for all things. (That by "cherubim" is signified the Lord's Divine Providence, and in particular, a guard that the Lord be not approached except through good, see n. 9277, 9509, 9673)