4380. 'Let my lord now pass over before his servant' means a more general presence. This is clear from the meaning here, where the joining of good to truths is the subject, of 'passing over before anyone' as a more general presence. For with regeneration which is achieved by means of the joining of good to truths the situation is that good is that which acts and truth that which allows itself to be acted upon. Whenever good has brought itself in touch with truths and linked itself to them a little, truth is seen to react. Yet it is not the truth itself that reacts but the good combined with it or else attached to it, doing so by means of that truth. Such an attachment is what is meant by a more general presence. The phrase joining good to truths is used, but what is meant is the person in whom goodness and truth are present, for goodness and truth are meaningless attributes if they have no subject - that is, man - to which they can be applied. In heaven people do employ abstract terms such as these in their thought and speech, for the reason that they do not attribute good or truth to themselves but to the Lord, and also for the reason that goodness and truth from the Lord fill heaven in its entirety. The ancients too were accustomed to employ such terms in their speech.

5328. 'Or his foot' means all power in the natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'foot' as the natural, dealt with in 2162, 3147, 3761, 3986, 4280, 4931-4952. Here power within the natural is meant because 'lifting up the foot', like 'lifting up the hand', means power, though 'lifting up the hand' means power in the spiritual, whereas 'lifting up the foot' means power in the natural; for the parts within the body that are above the feet correspond to spiritual things. This is especially evident from the Grand Man or the three heavens.

[2] Whenever the whole of heaven is displayed visually as one human being, the inmost or third heaven presents itself as the head, the middle or second heaven presents itself as the body, and the lowest or first as the feet. The reason the inmost or third heaven presents itself as the head is that it is celestial; the reason the middle or second heaven presents itself as the body is that it is spiritual; and the reason the lowest or first presents itself as the feet is that it is natural. By 'the neck' therefore, since this is an intermediate part, is meant the inflow and communication of celestial things with spiritual ones; and by 'the knees', since these are likewise intermediate, is meant the inflow and communication of spiritual things with natural ones. From this it is evident that 'lifting up the hand' means power within the spiritual, while 'lifting up the foot' means power within the natural, and therefore that the power meant by 'the hand' has regard to the spiritual, namely to truth grounded in good, 3091, 3567, 4932. By the spiritual is meant that within the natural which belongs to the light of heaven, and by the natural that within the natural which belongs to the light of the world; for everything belonging to the light of heaven is called spiritual, and everything belonging to the light of the world is called natural.