280. And the third animal had a face like a man, signifies the appearance in ultimates of the Divine guard and providence in respect to wisdom. This is evident from the signification of "the face of a man," as being the affection of truth, "face" signifying affection, and "man" the recipient of Divine truth; and because man's rational is from this, "man" signifies wisdom; for man was created that he might be rational and wise; by this he is distinguished from the brute animals; for this reason "man" in the Word signifies wisdom. "Man" signifies both the affection of truth and wisdom, because the affection of truth and wisdom act as one; for he who is in the spiritual affection of truth, that is, who is affected by truth, or who loves truth because it is truth, is conjoined to the Lord, since the Lord is in His own truths, and is His truth with man; from this man has wisdom, and from this it is that man is a man. Some suppose that man is a man by reason of his face and body, and that by these he is distinguished from beasts, but they are in an error; man is a man by reason of his wisdom, consequently so far as anyone is wise so far is he a man. Those, therefore, who are wise, appear in heaven and in the light of heaven as men, with a brightness and beauty according to their wisdom; while those who are not wise-which is true of those who are in no spiritual affection, but merely in natural affection, in which man is when he loves truth not because it is truth but because he thence receives glory, honor, and gain-these in the light of heaven appear not as men but as monsters in various forms (See in the work on Heaven and Hell 70, 72, 73-77, 80; and what wisdom is, and what non-wisdom is, n. 346-356).

[2] That "man" in the Word signifies the affection of truth and wisdom therefrom, is evident from the following passages. In Isaiah:

Lord, how long? He said, until cities be devastated that they may be without inhabitant, and the houses that there may be no man in them, and the ground be devastated to a waste. Jehovah shall remove man, and forsaken places shall be multiplied in the midst of the land (Isaiah 6:11-12).

These things were not said of the devastation of the earth, that there should no longer be cities and houses therein, or that in these there should be no inhabitant or man, but they were said of the devastation of good and truth in the church; "cities" signifying the truths of doctrine; "inhabitant" the good of doctrine; "houses" the interiors of man which are of his mind; and "man" the spiritual affection of truth and wisdom therefrom. This is signified by "the houses shall be devastated, that there may be no man in them." The "land" that shall be devastated to a waste signifies the church. From this it is clear what is signified by "removing man," and by "multiplying the forsaken places in the midst of the land;" "a forsaken place" signifying where there is no good because there is no truth.

[3] In the same:

I will make a man [virum hominem] more rare than pure gold; and [the son of] man6 than the gold of Ophir (Isaiah 13:12).

A [son of] "man" [virum hominem] signifies intelligence, and "man" [hominem] wisdom, and that these were about to be at an end is signified by their being "made rare." Intelligence is distinguished from wisdom by this, that intelligence is the understanding of truth such as the spiritual man has, and wisdom is the understanding of truth such as the celestial man has, whose understanding is from the will of good. From this it is clear what is here signified by [son of] "man" [virum hominem], and what by "man" [hominem].

[4] In the same:

The inhabitants of the earth shall be burnt up, and few men shall be left (Isaiah 24:6).

The "inhabitants of the earth" signify the goods of the church, and these are said "to be burnt up" when the loves of self and of the world begin to rule; that the spiritual affection of truth and wisdom therefrom will then be at an end is signified by "few men will be left."

[5] In the same:

The highways have been laid waste; he that passeth through the way hath ceased; he hath made void the covenant, he hath rejected the cities, he regardeth not man (Isaiah 33:8).

This treats of the devastation of the church; "the highways that are laid waste" and "he that passeth through the way who hath ceased" signify that the goods and truths which lead to heaven are no more; "he hath made void the covenant" signifies no conjunction then with the Lord; "he hath rejected the cities" signifies that they spurn doctrine; "he regardeth not man" signifies that he makes no account of wisdom.

[6] In Jeremiah:

I saw the earth, when lo, it was void and empty; and towards the heavens, and their light was not. I saw, when lo there was no man, and all the fowl of the heavens were fled away (Jeremiah 4:23, 25).

This evidently does not mean the earth, that it was void and empty, nor the heavens that there was no light thence nor that there was not a man on the earth, nor that all the fowl of heaven were fled; what is really meant can be seen only from the spiritual sense of the Word. In that sense "earth" signifies the church; that it was "void and empty" signifies that there is no good and truth in the church; the "heavens," where there is no light, signify the interiors of man's mind which are the receptacles of the light of heaven; (the "light" that is not there is Divine truth and wisdom therefrom); therefore it is said, "I saw and lo there was no man"; the "fowl of heaven which were fled away" signify the rational and the intellectual.

[7] In the same:

Behold the days come, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and with the seed of beast (Jeremiah 31:27).

"The house of Israel and the house of Judah" signify the church in respect to truth and in respect to good; "the seed of man and the seed of beast" signify the spiritual affection of truth and the natural affection of truth; for where "man and beast" are mentioned in the Word the spiritual and the natural or the internal and the external, are signified (See Arcana Coelestia 7424, 7523, 7872).

[8] In Zephaniah:

I will take away man and beast; I will take away the fowl of the heavens and the fishes of the sea; I will cut off man from the surfaces of the earth (Zephaniah 1:3).

"To take away man and beast" means to take away the spiritual affection of truth and the natural affection of truth; "to take away the fowl of the heavens and the fishes of the sea" means to take away spiritual truths and natural truths; and "to cut off man from the surfaces of the earth" means to cut off the affection of truth and wisdom.

[9] In Ezekiel:

Ye My flock, the flock of My pasture, ye are man; I am your God (Ezekiel 34:31).

The "flock of the pasture" signifies spiritual good and truth; the "pasture" is the reception of these from the Lord; it is therefore said, "ye are man, I am your God," "man" standing for the spiritual affection of truth and wisdom.

[10] In the same:

Behold, I am with you, and I will look unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown; then I will multiply man upon you, the whole house of Israel; and the cities shall be inhabited, and the waste places shall be builded. I will cause man to walk upon you, My people Israel. Thus the Lord Jehovah hath said, Because ye say, Thou hast been a devourer of man and a bereaver of thy peoples, therefore thou shalt devour man no more, and thy sword shall not bereave any more; the desolate cities shall be full of the flock of man (Ezekiel 36:9-14, 38).

The restoration of the church is here treated of; "Israel" signifies the spiritual church, or the church that is in spiritual good, which is the good of charity; this church is here called "man" from the spiritual affection of truth that makes the church; therefore it is said, "I will multiply man upon you, the whole house of Israel, and I will cause man to walk upon you, My people Israel." "The flock of man," of which "the desolate cities shall be full," signifies spiritual truths of which the doctrines of the church shall be full; "the sword which shall not bereave any more" signifies that falsity shalt no longer destroy truth.

[11] In the same:

Thy mother is a lioness, she lay down among lions; one of her whelps rose up, it learned to tear the prey, it devoured men (Ezekiel 19:2, 3, 6).

"Mother" means the church, here the church perverted; the falsity of evil destroying truth is signified by "the lioness lying down among lions;" "her whelp which learned to tear the prey and devoured men" signifies the primary falsity of their doctrine, which destroyed truths and consumed every affection of them. These things were said of the princes of Israel, by whom primary truths are signified, but here, in a contrary sense, primary falsities.

[12] In Jeremiah:

Hazor shall become an abode of dragons, a waste even forever; a man [vir] shall not dwell there, nor a son of man [hominis] sojourn in her (Jeremiah 49:33).

The church that is in falsities and in no truths is here treated of; "Hazor" signifies the knowledges of truth; the knowledges of falsity are signified by "an abode of dragons;" that there is there no truth and no doctrine of truth is signified by "a man [vir] shall not dwell there, nor the son of man [hominis] sojourn in her," "man" meaning truth, and "the son of man" a doctrine of truth.

[13] In Revelation:

He measured the wall of the holy Jerusalem, a hundred and forty-four cubits, the measure of a man, which is that of an angel (Revelation 21:17).

That this signifies, that "the wall of the holy Jerusalem was a hundred and forty-four cubits, and that this was the measure of a man, which is that of an angel," no one can understand unless he knows what is signified by "the holy Jerusalem," by its "wall," by the number "one hundred and forty-four," likewise by "man," and by "angel." "The holy Jerusalem" signifies the church in respect to doctrine; "wall" signifies truth protecting; the number "one hundred and forty-four" signifies all truths from good in the complex; "man" signifies the reception of these from affection, and "angel" signifies the same; it is therefore said, "the measure of a man, which is that of an angel;" "measure" signifying quality. From this it is clear how these words are to be spiritually understood. (These things may be seen more clearly explained in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 1 .)

[14] Because "man" signifies the spiritual affection of truth and wisdom therefrom, "man" also signifies the church, because the church with man is a church from the spiritual affection of truth and wisdom therefrom. This makes clear what is meant by "Man" in the first chapters of Genesis, namely, the church that was the first of this earth and the most ancient; this is what is meant by "Adam," or "Man." The establishment of this church is described in the first chapter by the creation of heaven and earth; its intelligence and wisdom by paradise; and its fall by the eating of the tree of knowledge.

[15] But in the highest sense, by "man" is meant the Lord Himself, since from Him are heaven and the church, and the spiritual affection of truth and wisdom with each one of those who constitute heaven and the church; therefore in the highest sense the Lord alone is man; and men in both worlds, spiritual and natural, are men so far as they receive from the Lord truth and good, thus so far as they love truth and live according to it. And from this also it is that the whole angelic heaven appears as one man, and also each society there; and moreover, that the angels appear in a perfect human form. (See further on this in the work on Heaven and Hell 59-67, 68-72, 73-77, 87-102)

[16] It was on this account that the four cherubim, which signify the guard and providence of the Lord that the higher heavens be not approached except through the good of love, were seen as men, although they each had four faces; and that the Lord was seen above them as a Man. That the four cherubim were seen as men is evident in Ezekiel:

This was the appearance of the four animals; they had the likeness of a man, but each one had four faces (Ezekiel 1:5-6).

Likewise the two cherubim upon the mercy-seat were in face like men. That the Lord was seen above the four cherubim as a man is also stated in the same prophet:

Above the expanse which was over the head of the cherubim was as it were the appearance of a sapphire stone, the likeness of a throne, and upon the likeness of the throne a likeness as the appearance of a man upon it above (Ezekiel 1:26).

2781. 'And saddled [his] ass' means the natural man which He prepared. This is clear from the meaning of 'an ass', dealt with below. In man there are things of the will and there are those of the understanding; with the former go those things which spring from good, with the latter those which spring from truth. There are various kinds of animals, by which things of the will springing from good are meant, such as lambs, sheep, goats, she-goats, young bulls, and oxen, see 1823, 2179, 2180; and there are also those by which are meant things of the understanding springing from truth, namely horses, mules, wild asses, camels, and asses, in addition to birds. 'A horse' means the understanding part of the mind, as has been shown above in 2761, 2762; 'a wild ass' means rational truth separated from good, see 1949; and 'a camel' means factual knowledge in general, and 'an ass' factual knowledge in particular, see 1486.

[2] There are two elements which constitute the natural degree of man's mind, or what amounts to the same, the natural man - natural good and natural truth. Natural good is the delight that flows forth from charity and faith, natural truth is knowledge of these. That natural truth is what is meant by 'an ass', and rational truth by 'a mule', becomes clear from the following places:In Isaiah,

A prophecy of the beasts of the south. In the land of distress and repression are the lion and the tiger, and from them come the viper and the flying fiery-serpent. They will bear their riches on the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures on the humps of camels - on a people [who] will not be any use [to them]; for the Egyptians will help in vain and to no advantage. Isaiah 30:6-7.

The expression 'the beasts of the south' is used of those who possess cognitions of good and truth but who make them matters of knowledge, not of life. In reference to those beasts it is said that those people 'bear their riches on the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures on the humps of camels', for the reason that 'young asses' means facts in particular, and 'camels' facts in general. 'The Egyptians', of whom it is said that they will help in vain and to no advantage, means knowledge, see 1164, 1165, 1186. It is evident to anyone that this prophecy has an internal sense and that without this it is understood by nobody, for without the internal sense no one can know what 'the prophecy of the beasts of the south' is, or what 'the lion and the tiger', or what 'the viper and the flying fiery-serpent', or what is meant by the words that 'those beasts were to bear their riches on the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures on the humps of camels', or why the assertion immediately follows that 'the Egyptians will help in vain and to no advantage'. 'Ass' is used with a like meaning in Israel's prophecy concerning Issachar, in Moses,

Issachar is a bony ass lying down between burdens. Genesis 49:14.

[3] In Zechariah,

This will be the plague with which Jehovah will smite all the peoples that wage war against Jerusalem. It will be a plague of the horse, the mule, the camel, and the ass, and every beast. Zechariah 14:12, 15.

'The horse, the mule, the camel, and the ass' means things of the understanding residing in man which will suffer from the plague. This is clear from every single detail before and after those verses, for the subject there is the plagues which are to precede the Last Judgement or. Close of the Age and to which John makes much reference in Revelation, as do the rest of the Prophets in various places. Those who are going to wage war at that time against Jerusalem, that is, against the Lord's spiritual Church and its truths, are meant by those animals. It will be the things of the understanding that will suffer from such plagues

[4] In Isaiah,

Blessed are you who sow beside all waters, who send forth the foot of the ox and the ass. Isaiah 32:20.

'Sowing beside all waters' stands for those who allow themselves to be taught spiritual things - 'waters' meaning spiritual things and so things that constitute an understanding of truth, see 680, 739, 2702. 'Who send forth the foot of the ox and the ass' stands for natural things that are to be of service, 'ox' meaning the natural as regards good, 2180, 2566, 'ass' the natural as regards truth.

[5] In Moses,

Binding his young ass to the vine and the foal ¹ of his she-ass to the choice vine. He washes his vesture in wine and his cloak in the blood of grapes. Genesis 49:11.

This is the prophecy of Jacob, by then Israel, concerning the Lord. 'The vine' and 'the choice vine' stand for the spiritual Church, external and internal, 1069. 'Young ass' stands for natural truth, 'the foal of a she-ass' for rational truth. The reason 'the foal of a she-ass' means rational truth is that 'a she ass' means the affection for natural truth, 1486, while her foal means rational truth, see 1895, 1896, 1902, 1910.

[6] In former times a judge used to ride on a she-ass and his sons on young asses, the reason being that judges represented the goods of the Church and their sons truths derived from those goods. A king however used to ride on a she-mule and his sons on mules, the reason being that kings and their sons represented the truths of the Church, see 1672, 1728, 2015, 2069. The fact that a judge rode on a she-ass is clear in the Book of Judges,

My heart goes out to the law-givers of Israel offering themselves willingly among the people. Bless Jehovah, you who ride on white she-asses, you who sit on Middin. ² Judges 5:9-10.

The fact that judges' sons rode on young asses,

Jair the judge over Israel had thirty sons who rode on thirty young asses. Judges 10:3-4.

And elsewhere in the same book,

Abdon the judge of Israel had forty sons and thirty grandsons who rode on seventy young asses. Judges 12:14.

David said to them, Take with you the servants of your lord and cause Solomon my son to ride on the she-mule which is mine. And they caused Solomon to ride on King David's she-mule. And Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anointed him king in Gihon. 1 Kings 1:33, 38, 44-45.

The fact that the king's sons rode on mules,

All King David's sons arose, and they rode each on his mule and fled because of Absalom. 2 Samuel 13:29.

[7] From all this it is evident that riding on a she-ass indicated the judge, and riding on a she-mule the king; riding on a young ass indicated the judge's sons, and doing so on a mule the king's sons. They indicated these personages because, as has been stated, 'a she-ass' represented and meant the affection for natural good and truth, 'a she-mule' the affection for rational truth, 'an ass or young ass' natural truth itself, and 'a mule' as well as 'the foal of a she-ass' rational truth. This shows what is meant by the prophetical words that refer to the Lord, in Zechariah,

Exult, O daughter of Zion! Rejoice, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King will come to you. He is just and having salvation, humble and riding on an ass, and on a young ass, the foal of she-asses. His dominion will be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. Zechariah 9:9-10.

The fact that the Lord wished to ride on these when He was about to enter Jerusalem is well known from the Gospels. The event is referred to in Matthew as follows,

Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a she-ass tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to Me. This took place to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet saying, Tell the daughter of Zion, Behold, your King is coming to you, meek seated on a she-ass, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden. And they brought the she-ass and the colt and laid their garments on them and set Him on them. Matthew 21:2, 4-5, 7.

[8] 'Riding on an ass' served to indicate that the natural was subordinate, and 'riding on a colt, the foal of a she-ass' that the rational was so; for 'the foal of a she-ass' is similar in meaning to 'a mule', as has been shown above, where Genesis 49:11 is referred to. ³ From this - the spiritual meaning of these animals - and because it was the right of the supreme judge and of the king to ride on them, and at the same time so that He might fulfil the representatives of the Church, the Lord was pleased to ride in this way. His doing so is described in John as follows,

The next day a great crowd who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees, and went to meet Him, and cried, Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel! Jesus found a young ass and sat on it, as it is written, Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, sitting on a she-ass's colt! These things however His disciples had not understood at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written of Him, and that they had done these things for Him. John 12:12-16; Mark 11:1-12; Luke 19:28-41.

[9] From an this it may now be clear that every single thing in the Church of that period was representative of the Lord, and consequently of the celestial and spiritual things that are in His kingdom; even the she-ass and the colt of the she-ass were so, which represented the natural man as regards good and truth. The reason for the representation was that the natural man ought to serve the rational, and the rational to serve the spiritual; but the spiritual ought to serve the celestial, and the celestial to serve the Lord. This is the order in which one is subordinated to another.

[10] Because 'an ox and an ass' meant the natural man as regards good and truth many laws were therefore laid down in which oxen and asses are mentioned. At first glance these laws do not seem to be worthy of mention in the Divine Word, but when they are interpreted as to their internal sense, that which is spiritual and of great importance is seen within these laws, such as the following laws in Moses,

If anyone opens a pit, or if anyone digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or an ass falls into it, the owner of the pit shall recompense its owner with silver, and the dead animal shall be his. Exodus 21:33-34.

If you meet your enemy's ox or his ass going astray you shall certainly lead it back to him. If you see the ass of one who hates you lying under its burden, and you are disinclined to remove it, you shall certainly help to remove it from it. Exodus 23:4-5; Deuteronomy 22:1, 3.

You shall not see your brother's ass or ox falling down in the road and hide yourself from them; you shall certainly help to lift them. Deuteronomy 22:4.

You shall not plough with an ox and an ass together. You shall not wear mingled material made of wool and linen together. Deuteronomy 22:10-11.

Six days you shall do your works, and on the seventh day you shall rest, in order that your ox and your ass may rest, and the son of your woman servant, and the settler. Exodus 23:12.

Here 'ox and ass' in the spiritual sense means nothing other than natural good and truth.

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