7046. 'And caused it to touch his feet' means a demonstration of the actual nature of the natural then. This is clear from the meaning of 'causing to touch' as demonstrating, for a thing can be demonstrated by means of the sense of touch; and from the meaning of 'feet' as the natural, dealt with in 2162, 3147, 3761, 3986, 4280, 4938-4951. A demonstration of the actual nature of the natural means a demonstration of the inner character of that nation, which can be seen when the shell of their outward behaviour is removed. What is within a person in the world cannot be seen until his shell is removed. In the case of the evil their outward actions are altogether different from their inner will and thought. For a person can give an impression of being honourable; he can give an impression of being righteous, and also of being governed by Christian good, which is charity - so effectively that people think he is like that inwardly. He is also driven to do this by fear that he may suffer the loss of gain, reputation, and position, be subject to punishments under the law, or suffer loss of life. But when such fears have been removed and his inner self governs his actions, then like a madman he plunders another person's goods, and lusts for murder and blood, even of fellow citizens, as happens in civil wars. The fact that a person can be like this inwardly may be seen still more plainly in the wicked in the next life, since externals are removed from them and internals laid bare, regarding which see 7039. That removal reveals that very many who seemed to be like angels in the world are devils.

[2] This great discrepancy between what exists inwardly and what exists outwardly is a sign that a person is entirely perverted. With him who has honesty, righteousness, and goodness within him no such discrepancy exists; he speaks as he thinks, and thinks as he speaks. It is altogether different with those who have no honesty, righteousness, or goodness within them. With them there is a discrepancy between interiors and exteriors. That is what the Jewish nation was like, as described by the Lord in these words in Matthew,

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the exterior of the cup and the plate but the interiors are full of pillage and lack of restraint. Blind Pharisee! cleanse first the interior of the cup and the plate, in order that the exterior may be made clean also. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you make yourselves like white-washed sepulchres, which outwardly do indeed appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and of all uncleanness. So too do you outwardly appear righteous to men (homo) but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Matthew 13:25-28.

4280. In that lower sense the words 'he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh' mean where conjugial love is joined to natural good. This is clear from the meaning of 'the hollow of the thigh' as the place where conjugial love is linked to it, see above in 4277. The reason why the place where it is linked to natural good is meant is that it is the place where the thigh is joined to the feet. 'The feet' in the internal sense means natural good, see 2162, 3147, 3761, 3986.

[2] As regards 'the thigh' meaning conjugial love and 'the feet' natural good, that is one of those realities known in the past which have grown old and died. The Ancient Church, which existed in an age of representatives and meaningful signs, was extremely well acquainted with these meanings, such knowledge of them constituting their intelligence and wisdom. Indeed it constituted the intelligence and wisdom not only of those who belonged to the Church but also of those outside the Church, as becomes clear from the oldest books written by gentiles and from the stories in them which are nowadays called myths - for meaningful signs and representatives spread from the Ancient Church to those gentiles. With these also 'the thighs and loins' meant that which belonged to marriage, and 'the feet' things that were natural. The origin of this meaning of 'the thighs and the feet' lies in the correspondences of all the members, organs, and viscera of the human being with the Grand Man, which - that is to say, such correspondences - are being dealt with now at the ends of chapters. The correspondences with the thigh and the feet will be discussed again further on, where actual experience will be used to corroborate that their meaning is as indicated above.

[3] These things are bound to seem like enigmas at the present day because, as has been stated, that knowledge has grown very old indeed and died. Yet how far that knowledge excels other types of knowledge becomes clear from the consideration that the internal sense of the Word cannot possibly be known without that knowledge, as well as for the reason that the angels present with man perceive the Word according to that sense. It becomes clear also from the consideration that by means of that knowledge man is provided with communication with heaven. And what is unbelievable, the internal man himself does not think in any other way; for when the external man understands the Word according to the letter the internal man does so according to the internal sense, though while living in the body a person is not at all conscious of doing so. This becomes particularly clear from the fact that when anyone enters the next life and becomes an angel he has no need to learn the internal sense but knows it instinctively, so to speak.

[4] What conjugial love is which is meant by 'the thighs' and also by 'the loins', see 995, 1123, 2727-2759; and conjugial love is the basic love of all loves, 686, 3021. Consequently people who have genuine conjugial love in them also have celestial love, which is love to the Lord, and spiritual love, which is charity towards the neighbour. For this reason the expression 'conjugial love' is used to mean not only that love itself but also all celestial and spiritual love. These kinds of love are said to be joined to natural good when the internal man is joined to the external, that is, the spiritual man to the natural - that joining together of them being meant by 'the hollow of the thigh'. The fact that with Jacob and his descendants in general no such conjunction existed will be evident from what follows, for this is the subject dealt with here in the internal historical sense.