10241. 'Their hands and their feet' means the person's interiors and exteriors. This is clear from the meaning of 'hands' as a person's interiors, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'feet' as a person's exteriors, thus his natural things since these are exterior; for natural things, thus those belonging to the exterior man, are meant by 'feet', see 2162, 3761, 3986, 4280, 4938-4952, 9406. But the reason why interior things are meant by 'hands' is that the higher parts of the body extend into the hands and come to an end in them, so that whatever exists with a person, also the power he possesses, is meant by 'hands', see the places referred to in 10019. But when both hands and feet are spoken of, whatever exists in the internal man and also in the external man, or spiritual things and natural things, is meant. This explains why 'lifting up the hand' means power in the spiritual, while 'lifting up the foot' means power in the natural, 5327, 5328. Furthermore the extremities of a person mean everything within him, 10044, and the hands and feet are extremities. From all this it becomes clear why it was that Aaron and his sons had to wash their hands and feet whenever they went into the tent of meeting or approached the altar to minister.

3179. 'And they said, Let us call the girl and ask her personally' means consent solely of the affection for truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'the girl' as an affection that has innocence within it, dealt with in 3067, 3110, in this case the affection for truth because Rebekah is meant, who is 'the girl' before she gives her consent, but 'Rebekah' once she has given it, as in what follows immediately after ('Rebekah' being the affection for truth, see 3077); and from the meaning of 'asking her personally' as perceiving whether it does consent. Thus it is consent solely of the affection for truth that is meant here. For the situation is this: Truth itself which is to be introduced into good acknowledges its own good because good acknowledges its own truth - and from this comes consent. It is however a consent inspired into truth by good, see above in 3161. With man it is in no way apparent that truth for its part consents when introduced and joined to good, that is, when a person is being regenerated, or that good for its part knows its own truth, and introduces and joins it to itself. Yet this is exactly what happens; for a person is totally unaware of the things that take place while he is being regenerated. If he were to know merely one of the thousands of things that occur he would be dumbfounded. There are countless, indeed an endless number of hidden ways by which a person is at that time being led by the Lord, only some of which shine from the internal sense of the Word.

[2] The Ancient Church formed for itself an idea of these things from marriages. That is to say, they formed that idea from a virgin's state before betrothal; from her state after she had been betrothed; from her state when she was to be given away in marriage, and after that when she had been given away, and finally when she bore children to her husband. ¹ The fruits of truth produced from good, or of faith from charity, they called children; and so on. Such was the wisdom of the Ancient Church. Their books were written in this style too, and the custom of writing in this fashion spread from them to the gentiles themselves. For by means of those things that exist in the world they wished to give expression to things in heaven; indeed from natural things they wished to see spiritual. But today that wisdom is entirely lost.

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