1007. 'At the hand of man' means from his entire will, and 'at the hand of brother man' from his entire understanding. This is clear from the meaning of 'man' (homo), for the essential element and life of a person is his will - indeed the character of the will determines that of the person; and from the meaning of 'brother man' (vir), for where the understanding resides in man it is called 'brother man', as shown already in 367. Whether the understanding residing there is true, spurious, or false, it is still called 'brother man'. In fact the understanding is called 'a man' (vir), 158, 265, and 'the brother' of the will, 367. The reason why a defiled will and a defiled understanding are here called 'a man' (homo) and 'brother man' (vir) is that the subject here is profanation, the mere mention and consequent representation of which is not tolerated in heaven but instantly rejected with disgust. This is why such mild expressions are employed here. The sense of the words of the verse can be taken two different ways so to speak, so as to prevent those in heaven knowing that this verse contains such matters.

158. That 'man' (vir) means the internal man, or what amounts to the same, one who is intelligent and wise, is clear in Isaiah,

I look, and there is no man, and from these there is no counsellor. Isaiah 41:18.

['No man'] stands for no wise and intelligent person. In Jeremiah,

Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem and see if you find a man, if anyone is executing judgement and seeking truth. Jeremiah 5:1.

'Executing judgement' stands for being wise, and 'seeking truth' for having intelligence.