10035. 'And the flesh of the young bull' means the evil of the earlier loves which are present there. This is clear from the meaning of 'the flesh' as the good of love and in the contrary sense as the evil of [self] love, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'the young bull' as the external or natural, dealt with before. In the good sense 'a young bull' or 'a calf' means a person's external or natural level in respect of the good of innocence and charity, but in the contrary sense that level in respect of the evil which is the opposite of the good of innocence and charity; for most things that occur in the Word have a contrary meaning as well. The reason why 'the flesh of the young bull' here means the evil of the earlier loves which are present in the external or natural man is that 'flesh' means the will side of the human mind, thus that which is a person's own or is his proprium; for what composes the will is his own. And since 'flesh' means the will or proprium it also means the good of love or else the evil of [self] love. For the human being has two powers of mind, called the understanding and the will; to the understanding belong truths or falsities but to the will belong forms of good or of evil. Thus to the understanding belong the things which a person believes, and to the will belong those which he loves; for the things that a person loves are felt to be forms of good and those that a person believes are felt to be truths. Falsities furthermore constitute the beliefs, and evils the love, of those steeped in falsities and evils.

[2] All this shows what to understand by the proprium, the will side of it, meant by 'flesh' in both senses. Furthermore it should be remembered that all the will side of the human proprium is evil, because by himself the human being does not love anything other than self and the world, or if he does love his neighbour it is for a selfish reason. Therefore a person has to be regenerated, and through regeneration must receive a new will. But the will received through regeneration is not the person's own; it is the Lord's as it resides with him. When this will is what 'flesh' refers to it means the good of love, but when the will which is a person's own is what 'flesh' refers to it means the evil of [self] love. But see what has been shown previously regarding flesh and regarding the proprium:

'Flesh' means the Lord's Proprium, which is Divine Good, and consequently all the good of love present with a person who has been regenerated, 3813, 7850, 9127; and in the contrary sense it means the will side of the human proprium, which consists in the evil of [self] love, 999, 3813, 8409.

The Lord's Proprium is Divine Good, and consequently the good of love to Him and towards the neighbour, because the Lord's Proprium is what gives the life of heaven to a person when he is being regenerated, 1023, 1044, 1937, 1947, 3812, 5660, 5786, 8480.

The human proprium is nothing but evil, 210, 215, 694, 874-876, 987, 1047, 3812, 4328, 5660, 5786, 8480, 8497.

The fact that the evil of [self] love is meant by 'the flesh' of the young bull here is clear from what comes next in the present verse, namely words stating that the flesh, skin, and dung should be burned with fire outside the camp, because it was a sin [offering]. But as regards what was represented by the flesh of the sacrifice that was to be eaten in a holy place by the priest and by the people, see below in 10040.

1073. 'He was uncovered in the middle of his tent' means resulting perversities. This is clear from the meaning of being 'uncovered' or naked. For someone is called uncovered and naked from drunkenness caused by wine when no truths of faith reside with him, and more so when perversities reside there. Truths of faith themselves are compared to garments that clothe charity or the goods that stem from charity, for charity is the body itself, and truths therefore the garments. Or what is equally the case, charity is the soul itself, while truths of faith are like the body that is the clothing for the soul. What is more, in the Word the truths of faith are called 'garments' and 'a covering'; hence the statement in verse 23 below that 'Shem and Japheth took a garment and covered their father's nakedness'. The relationship of spiritual things to celestial is like that of the body that clothes the soul, or like garments clothing the body, and indeed in heaven spiritual things are represented by garments. Here, because it is said that 'he lay uncovered', it means that he divested himself of the truths of faith through desiring to probe into them by means of sensory evidence and reasonings based on this. Similar concepts are meant in the Word by 'lying naked as a result of being drunk from wine', as in Jeremiah,

Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, dweller in the land of Uz. Over you also the cup will pass, you will become drunk and strip yourself naked. Lamentations 4:11.

And in Habakkuk,

Woe to him who makes his neighbour drink, and by also making them drunk to look upon their nakedness. Habakkuk 2:15.