918. Saying, Send thy sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripened, signifies that the collection and the separation of the good from the evil must take place, since there are no longer any truths of faith because there is no spiritual good, which is charity. This is evident from the signification of "sending the sharp sickle and gathering," as being to collect the good and to separate them from the evil (See above, n. 911). "To gather" has here the same signification as "to reap" above, but "to gather" has reference to clusters and grapes, and "to reap" has reference to the harvest; and both signify to devastate and make an end of the church, which is signified both by "harvest" and "vineyard;" and when the church is devastated, and thus brought to an end, the good are collected and separated from the evil. What is further signified by "gathering" will be seen in what follows. The above is evident also from the signification of "clusters," as being the goods of faith and their truths (of which presently). Also from the signification of "for her grapes are fully ripened," as being, because there are no longer any goods of charity, thus because the church is at its end. From all this it can be seen that "send thy sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripened," signifies that the collection and the separation of the good from the evil must take place, since there are no longer any goods or truths of faith because there is no spiritual good, which is charity. There are no truths of faith when there is no good of charity, because truth is not given without good, since truth derives its essence or its life from good; from which it follows that there are no truths and no faith in truths when there is no good or charity.

[2] What charity is, which is the same as spiritual good, shall be told briefly. Charity or spiritual good is to do good because it is true; thus it is to do truth, and to do truth is to do what the Lord has commanded in His Word. This shows that charity is spiritual good. And when a man does what is good because it is true, that is, does what is true, charity becomes moral good; and this is similar in external form to the good that every man who is a moral and civil man does at the present day, but with this difference, that genuine moral good is good from the spiritual good from which it proceeds. For spiritual good is from the Lord, but moral good is from man, consequently unless the good that man does is from the Lord, that is, through man from the Lord, it is not good, the end for the sake of which it is done determines its quality. Moral good separated from spiritual good has regard to man, his honor, gain, and pleasure, as the end for which it is done; while moral good from spiritual good has regard to the Lord, heaven, and eternal life, as its end. This has been said to make known why there is no truth of faith where there is no good of charity; consequently where these two are not, the church is laid waste, which is the subject treated of here and in what now follows in Revelation. (That there is no faith where there is no charity can be seen in the small work on The Last Judgment 33-39.)

[3] That "clusters" and "grapes" signify the good of charity can be seen from the passages in the Word where they are mentioned, as in the following. In Jeremiah:

In consuming I will consume them; there shall be no grapes on the vine, neither figs on the fig-tree, and the leaf shall fade; and I will give them to those who pass over them (Jeremiah 8:13).

"No grapes on the vine" signifies that there is no spiritual good with man; "no figs on the fig-tree" signifies that there is no natural good with him, "vine" and "fig-tree" signifying man as to the church, thus the church with him. But this can be seen explained above n. 403.

[4] In Isaiah:

My beloved had a vineyard in the horn of a son of oil, which he fenced, and gathered out the stones, and planted it with a noble vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also hewed out a wine-press in it; and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes (Isaiah 5:1, 2, 4).

The "vineyard" that the beloved had signifies the spiritual church which was instituted with the sons of Israel; "in the horn of a son of oil" signifies that it had truths from the good of charity; "which he fenced, and gathered out the stones," signifies that it was protected from falsities and evils; "he planted it with a noble vine" signifies that it had genuine truths; "he built a tower in the midst of it" signifies the interior things that receive influx, and through which there is communication with heaven; "he also hewed out a wine-press in it" signifies bringing forth truth from good; "and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes," signifies a hope of the fructification of truths from the good of charity, but in vain, because there was iniquity in the place of good.

[5] In Micah:

Woe is me, I am become as the gatherings of the summer, as the gleanings of the vintage; there is no cluster to eat; my soul desireth the first ripe fruit. The holy one has perished from the earth, and the upright one among men; all lie in wait for bloods (Micah 7:1, 2).

Grief because of the vastation of good and of truth therefrom in the church is meant and described by "Woe is me, I am become as the gatherings of the summer, as the gleanings of the vintage." That there is no longer any spiritual good or natural good from which the Lord is worshiped is signified by "there is no cluster to eat; my soul desireth the first ripe fruit;" that there is no longer any spiritual or natural truth is signified by "the holy one has perished, and the upright one among men;" that the truths and goods of the Word and thus of the church are destroyed by falsities and evils is signified by "all lie in wait for bloods."

[6] In Hosea:

I found Israel like grapes in the desert; I saw your fathers like the first ripe fruit on a fig-tree in its beginning (Hosea 9:10).

This is said of the Ancient Church, and its establishment. That church is here meant by "Israel;" its first state by "in the desert," and "in the beginning;" and the spiritual good with them by "grapes;" and the good springing from it in the natural man by "the first ripe fruit on the fig-tree."

[7] That the men of the Ancient Church, and not the sons of Jacob, are here meant by "Israel in the desert," and by "their fathers in the beginning," is evident in Moses:

Their vine was of the vine of Sodom and of the fields of Gomorrah; their grapes were grapes of gall, their clusters were of bitternesses (Deuteronomy 32:32).

Here the sons of Jacob, such as they were in the desert, are described. That their religion was infernal, because they worshiped the gods and idols of the nations, is signified by "their vine was of the vine of Sodom and of the fields of Gomorrah." That instead of the goods of charity they had hatred, and falsities breaking forth therefrom instead of truths, is signified by "their grapes were grapes of gall, their clusters were of bitternesses."

[8] In Moses:

He bindeth his foal to the vine, and the son of his she-ass unto the choice vine; he washeth his garment in wine, and his covering in the blood of grapes (Genesis 49:11).

This is in the last address of the father Israel to his sons; this was said to Judah, by whom is meant in the highest sense the Lord as to the celestial church and as to the Word; and the "blood of grapes" signifies the Divine truth from His Divine good, and in the relative sense the good of charity. (But this and the other things here said may be seen explained in Arcana Coelestia 6375-6379.) "The blood of grapes," like "wine," signifies also truth from spiritual good (Deuteronomy 32:14).

[9] The "grapes" signify the good of charity because a "vineyard" signifies the spiritual church, and "vine" the man of that church; and therefore "clusters" or "bunches," and "grapes," which are its fruits, signify the goods which make that church, which are called spiritual goods and also goods of charity. And as all truth is from good, as all wine is from grapes, so "wine" signifies in the Word truth from good. (On this signification of "wine" see above, n. 220, 376) But "clusters" or "bunches" signify strictly the variations of the state of spiritual good, or of the good of charity, because in them many grapes are connected together in order. What is meant by variations of the state of good will be told elsewhere.

[10] As "the land of Canaan" represented and thus signified the church, and the church is a church from spiritual good, for this is the mark of the church, therefore:

The explorers of that land brought back a cluster of grapes of a remarkable size, carried on a pole by two (Numbers 13:23, 24).

This was a representative sign of the church that was signified by "the land of Canaan." The church is a church from the good of charity because that good regarded in itself is the good of life arising from love to the Lord; consequently it is an effect of that love. The good of charity means justice, sincerity, and uprightness in every work and in every function from a love of justice, sincerity, and uprightness, which love is solely from the Lord.

[11] As it has not heretofore been known what was represented by the "Nazirite," and what was signified by his abstaining from grapes and from wine, and making the hair of his head to grow, it may be disclosed here. Of his abstinence from grapes and from wine it is said:

He shall abstain from wine and strong drink, he shall drink no vinegar of wine or vinegar of strong drink, yea, he shall not drink any maceration of grapes, nor eat fresh grapes or dried; all the days of his Naziriteship he shall eat nothing that is made of the grape of the vine, from the kernels even to the skin (Numbers 6:3, 4).

This was the law for the Nazirite before he had fulfilled the days of his Naziriteship, because he then represented the Lord as to His first state. The Lord's first state, like that of every man, was a sensual state. For every man is first sensual, afterwards he becomes natural and rational, then spiritual, and finally, if the third degree is opened with him, he becomes celestial, like an angel of the third heaven. The sensual of man is signified by "the hair of the head" (See above, n. 66, 555). And as the sensual is the most external part of man's life, and in that all power resides, therefore the Nazirites had so great strength. That all power resides in the most external or ultimate things, consequently in the ultimate sense of the Word, which is the sense of the letter, and that this is what "hair" corresponds to and signifies, may be seen above (n. 346, 417, 567, 666, 726). Such power the Lord had when He was a boy, and by it He conquered and subjugated the most direful hells, where all are sensual. This state of the Lord was represented by "the days of fulfillment" with the Nazirites, and when these were fulfilled the Lord entered from the sensual and natural into the spiritual and celestial Divine. Now as that state, with its good and truth, is signified by "grapes" and "wine," it was not lawful for the Nazirite to eat grapes or to drink wine until he had fulfilled those days. That it was lawful for him afterwards is evident from the twentieth verse of that chapter, where it is said, "And after that the Nazirite may drink wine."

[12] At the end of the days of fulfillment:

He should shave his head, and put the hair of his head on the fire that was under the sacrifice of peace-offerings (Numbers 6:18).

This represented the sensual that was then new from the celestial Divine, for new hair grew afterwards upon the Nazirite. This also represented that the Lord from ultimate Divine truth, which is the sense of the letter, entered into interior Divine truth, which is the Word in the internal sense, even to its highest. For when the Lord was in the world He was the Word, because He was the Divine truth, and that more interiorly by degrees as He grew up, even to its highest, which is purely Divine and wholly above the perceptions of the angels. It is to be known that while the Lord was in the world, from infancy even to the last day there, He progressed successively to union with the Divine Itself that was in Him from conception. (On this successive progression see the Arcana Coelestia 1864, 2033, 2632, 3141, 4585, 7014, 10076.) This makes clear what was represented by the Nazirite not being allowed to eat anything from the grape, or to drink any kind of wine, until the days of his Naziriteship were fulfilled.

9960. 'To cover their naked flesh' means to prevent inner desires of that love from appearing when they are foul and hellish. This is clear from the meaning of 'covering' as preventing them from appearing; and from the meaning of the genital organs and loins, which 'naked flesh' is used to mean here, as inner desires of conjugial love. For when 'undergarment' means things composing the external level of that love, 9959, 'flesh' which they cover means those on its internal levels. Conjugial love is meant by 'the loins', see 3021, 4280, 4575, also by 'the genital organs', 4462, 5050-5062, and the good of love by 'flesh', 3813, 7850, 9127; but since most things in the Word can also have a contrary meaning, so can the loins, genital organs, and flesh. In that contrary sense they mean evil, foul, and hellish desires of that love, 3813, 5059. The fact that here they mean evil, foul, and hellish desires is evident from the consideration that the words 'to cover their naked flesh' are used, 'naked flesh' here being that which is the opposite of the good of conjugial love, namely delight that is adulterous and for that reason hellish, which will be spoken of below.

[2] As regards 'nakedness', it derives its meaning from the parts of the body that appear naked, just as garments derive theirs from the parts of the body they clothe, 9827. 'Nakedness' has one meaning therefore when it applies to the head, which is baldness; another meaning when it applies to the whole body; and yet another when it applies to the loins and genital organs. When nakedness applies to the head, which is baldness, it means the deprivation of an intelligent understanding of truth and of a wise discernment of good; when it applies to the whole body it means the deprivation of truths that belong to faith; but when it applies to the loins and genital organs it means the deprivation of the good of love.

[3] 1. When nakedness applies to the head, which is baldness, it means the deprivation of an intelligent understanding of truth and of a wise discernment of good This is clear in Isaiah,

On that day the Lord by means of the king of Asshur will shave the head and the hair of the feet, and will consume the beard. Isaiah 7:20.

'Shaving the head' stands for depriving of the internal truths of the Church, 'shaving the hair of the feet and consuming the beard' for depriving of its external truths, and 'by means of the king of Asshur' for by means of reasonings based on falsities. It is evident to anyone that no head, hairs of the feet, or beard was going to be shaved by means of the king of Asshur, and that those words must have some other meaning. 'The head' means more internal things that belong to wisdom and intelligence, see 6292, 6436, 9166, 9656; 'the king of Asshur' means reasoning, 119, 1186; 'hair' means the external truth of the Church, 3301, 5247, 5569-5573; 'the feet' too means external or natural things, 2162, 3147, 3986, 4280, 4938-4952, 9406; and 'the beard' means items of knowledge on sensory levels, that is, truths on last and lowest levels, as is clear from places in the Word mentioning 'the beard'.

[4] In the same prophet,

On all heads there is baldness; every beard is shaved off. Isaiah 15:2.

Here the meaning is similar. In Jeremiah,

Baldness will come upon Gaza. How long will you cut yourself? Jeremiah 47:5.

In Ezekiel,

On all faces there will be shame, and on all heads baldness. They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will become an abomination. Ezekiel 7:18-19.

'On all heads baldness' stands for the deprivation of an intelligent understanding of truth and of a wise discernment of good. Since this is meant it also says 'they will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will become an abomination'; for 'silver' means truth that belongs to intelligence, and 'gold' good that belongs to wisdom, 1551, 5658, 6914, 6917, 8932. The fact that baldness on all heads should not be understood literally, that they would not literally throw silver into the streets, and that gold would not literally become an abomination, is self-evident.

[5] In Moses,

Moses said to Aaron, and to Eleazar and Ithamar his sons, You shall not shave your heads and you shall not rip apart the seams of your garments, lest you die and He is angry with the whole congregation. Leviticus 10:6.

And in Ezekiel,

The priests, the Levites, shall not shave their head and shall not let their hair grow long. Ezekiel 44:20.

Since Aaron and his sons represented the Lord in respect of Divine Good and in respect of Divine Truth, 9806, 9807, and since 'a shaved head' and 'garments ripped apart at the seams' meant the deprivation of that Good and Truth, they were forbidden to shave their heads or so rip apart their garments. It also says 'lest you die and He is angry with the whole congregation', meaning that as a consequence what was representative of the Lord in respect of Divine Good and in respect of Divine Truth, and so what was representative of the Church, would be destroyed.

[6] Since mourning represented spiritual mourning, which is mourning because of the deprivation of the Church's truth and good, those in mourning made themselves bald, as in Jeremiah,

They will not lament for them, nor will they make themselves bald ¹ because of them. Jeremiah 16:6.

In Amos,

I will turn your feasts into mourning, and cause baldness to come up over every head; and I will make it as the mourning for an only-begotten son. Amos 8:10.

And in Micah,

Make yourself bald, ² and shave your head for the sons of your delight; extend your baldness like an eagle, for they have departed from you. Micah 1:16.

'The sons of delight' are God's truths, and their 'departure' is the deprivation of them, 'sons' meaning truths, see 9807.

[7] 2. When nakedness applies to the whole body it means the deprivation of the truths of faith

This is clear in John,

To the angel of the Church of the Laodiceans write, Because you say, I am rich and in need of nothing - when you do not know that you are wretched and miserable, and needy, and blind, and naked - I counsel you to buy from Me gold purified in fire, and white garments that you may put on, that the shame of your nakedness may not be manifested. Revelation 3:14, 17-18.

'The angel of the Church' is God's truth there. 'Saying it is rich' means that it is in possession of cognitions or knowledge of truth and good. 'Wretched, needy, blind, and naked' means being nevertheless devoid of truths implanted in life, thus being devoid of good. 'Buying gold purified in fire' means acquiring good to itself, 'white garments' authentic truths of faith springing from good. From this it is evident what 'that the shame of nakedness may not be manifested' means.

[8] In the same book,

Behold, I am coming like a thief; blessed is he who is awake and keeps his garments, so that he may not walk naked and they see his shame. Revelation 16:15.

Here the meaning is similar. In the same book,

They will hate the prostitute, and make her devastated and naked. Revelation 17:16.

'The prostitute' stands for those who falsify God's truths. 'Making her naked' plainly stands for depriving of those truths; for the words 'devastated' and 'naked' are used, and 'devastating' means depriving of truths.

[9] Nakedness also means having no knowledge of truth and putting on clothes being taught it, in Isaiah,

When you see the naked and cover him, your light will break forth like the dawn. Isaiah 58:7-8.

And in Matthew,

The King will say to those who are on the right, I was naked and you clothed Me. And He said to those on the left, I was naked and you did not clothe Me. Matthew 25:36, 38, 43-44.

'Naked' here stands for those who have no truths and still desire truths, also those who acknowledge that no good or truth at all exists within them, see 4956, 4958.

[10] 3. When nakedness applies to the loins and genital organs it means the deprivation of the good of love

This is clear in Isaiah,

O virgin daughter of Babel, take a mill and grind flour, uncover your hair, bare your feet, uncover your thigh, pass through the rivers. Let your nakedness be uncovered, also let your reproach be seen. Isaiah 47:1-3.

'Daughter of Babel' means the Church or semblance of the Church, where holiness resides outwardly but profanity inwardly. The profanity residing inwardly is such that people have themselves and the world in mind, thus domination and abundant riches as their end in view, holy things being regarded as means to that end. 'Taking a mill and grinding flour' means producing teachings out of such matters as will serve as means to the end, 7780. 'Uncovering the hair, baring the feet, and uncovering the thigh' means prostituting without any shame or fear things that are outwardly and inwardly holy, so that 'uncovering nakedness' means causing foul and hellish things, which are the ends, to appear.

[11] In Jeremiah,

Jerusalem sinned grievously; those who honoured her despise her, because they see her nakedness, her uncleanness in her skirts. Lamentations 1:8-9.

'Jerusalem' stands for the Church, in this instance for a Church that is steeped in falsities arising from evil. 'Seeing her nakedness' stands for beholding foul and hellish loves; 'uncleanness in her skirts' stands for such loves on most external levels, 'skirts' or 'hem' meaning most external levels, see 9917. In Nahum,

I will uncover your skirts upon your face, ³ and I will show the nations your nakedness and the kingdoms your shame. Nahum 3:5.

'Uncovering skirts' stands for taking away outward things in order that more internal ones may appear. 'Nakedness' which will be shown to the nations and 'shame' to the kingdoms mean hellish kinds of love, which are self-love and love of the world, which defile the more internal things.

[12] In Ezekiel,

You reached full beauty, your breasts were formed and your hair had grown; [but] you were naked and bare. With all your abominations and your acts of whoredom you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, and were downtrodden in your blood. Your nakedness has been uncovered through your whoredoms with your lovers. Ezekiel 16:7, 22, 36.

In the same prophet,

I will give you into the hand [of those] whom you hate, that they may deal with you out of hatred; and let them leave you naked and bare, and let the nakedness of your whoredoms be uncovered. Ezekiel 23:28-29.

In Hosea,

Contend with your mother, that she may remove her whoredoms from her sight, ⁴ and her adulteries from between her breasts, lest perhaps I strip her naked, and present her as on the day she was born, and make her like a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst. I will return and take back My grain, My new wine, My wool, and My flax, which [I gave her] to cover her nakedness; and I will uncover her foulness in the eyes of her lovers. Hosea 2:2-3, 9-10.

[13] The words in the preceding as well as in this present quotation refer to Jerusalem, which is also called 'mother'; and by it the Church is meant. Its perversity is described by 'the whoredoms', 'the adulteries', and 'the uncovering of nakedness', which are nothing other than the foul and hellish kinds of love - that is, self-love and love of the world, when they are ends in view - from which all evils and derivative falsities gush out. Falsifications of truth therefore and adulterations of good are described in the Word by acts of whoredom and adultery, and are also actually called whoredoms and adulteries there, see 8904. And from this it is evident what 'nakedness' and 'uncovering of nakedness' are used to mean. Since reference is being made to the Church's truths when falsified and to its forms of good when adulterated, the verses quoted declare 'I will make her like a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst'. 'A wilderness' is that which is devoid of forms of good, 'a dry land' that which is devoid of truths, and 'thirst' the deprivation of all matters of faith.

[14] It also declares that [the Lord] would take back His grain, His new wine, His wool, and His flax, with which He had covered her nakedness, because 'grain' means the spiritual Church's more internal good, 'new wine' its more internal truth, 'wool' its more external good, and 'flax' its more external truth. All who read these things with a power of reason that is to some degree enlightened, who believe that no expression used in the Word is meaningless, and that the Word is altogether holy in every part because it is Divine, can see that flax, wool, new wine, and grain are not meant literally.

[15] In Jeremiah,

O daughter of Edom, to you also the cup will pass, you will be made drunk and naked. Lamentations 4:21.

In Habakkuk,

Woe to him who gives drink to his companion, ⁵ making him drunk, and looking on their nakedness! You will be sated with shame rather than glory. Drink, you also - that your foreskin may be revealed. Habakkuk 2:15-16.

And in Ezekiel,

They have shed blood in you; they have uncovered their father's nakedness in you. Ezekiel 22:9-10.

What these statements mean no one can know unless he knows what the meaning is of 'the cup', 'drinking', 'being made drunk', 'being made naked', 'looking on their nakedness, and uncovering them', and also 'foreskin'. All these, it is self-evident, should be understood spiritually. 'Drinking' understood spiritually is receiving instruction in truths, or in the contrary sense in falsities, that is, absorbing them, 3069, 3168, 3772, 8562, 9412; and from this it is clear what 'the cup' that is drunk from means, 5120. 'Being made drunk' means becoming insane as a result, and 'being made naked' becoming completely destitute of them. 'Uncovering nakedness' means uncovering the evils of self-love and love of the world, which are hellish evils. 'Uncovering their father's nakedness' means uncovering those evils when they have a hereditary origin and are present in the will. 'Revealing the foreskin' means defiling them, 'the foreskin' meaning the defilement of heavenly forms of good by those two kinds of love, see 2056, 3412, 4462, 7045. 'Circumcision' therefore means purification from them, 2039, 2632.

[16] All this makes clear what the meaning is of Noah's drunkenness and the consequent uncovering of his nakedness, described as follows in Genesis,

Noah drank of the wine, and was drunk, and was uncovered in the middle of his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father's nakedness and pointed it out to his two brothers. And Shem and Japheth took a garment and both of them put it on a shoulder, and went backwards and covered their father's nakedness; and their faces were backwards, and they did not see their father's nakedness. Genesis 9:21-23.

This describes members of the Ancient Church, whom Noah represents. 'The wine' which he drank and which made him drunk is the falsity which that Church was at the start imbued with. His lying as a result 'uncovered in the middle of the tent' means evils owing to the lack of truth in worship. 'The garment' with which Shem and Japheth covered his nakedness is the truth of faith, by means of which those evils were covered and corrected. An implanting of the truth and good of faith in the understanding part of the mind is described by their putting a garment on a shoulder, going backwards, and turning their faces away backwards; for this is exactly how it is with the truths and forms of the good of faith present with a member of the spiritual Church. 'Shem and Japheth' means those belonging to the spiritual Church, who received the truths of faith within good, which is charity; but 'Canaan' means those who did not receive the truths of faith in good or charity.

[17] Noah represents members of the Ancient Church at the start, who were such as has been described, see 736, 773, 788, 1126.

Shem is those belonging to the internal spiritual Church, and Japheth those belonging to the external, 1062, 1127, 1140, 1141, 1150.

Canaan represented those whose faith was separated from charity, or what amounts to the same thing, whose worship was external separated from anything internal, so that in particular he represented the Jewish nation, 1093, 1140, 1141, 1167.

With members of the spiritual Church the truth and good of faith are implanted in the understanding part of the mind, 9596.

'The wine' that made Noah drunk means falsity, 6377.

'The tent' in which he lay uncovered means the holiness of worship, 2145, 2152, 3312, 4128, 4391.

'The garment' with which they covered their father's nakedness means the truth of faith, 5954, 9212, 9216.

His actual nakedness means the evil occupying the will part of his mind. That evil is covered by means of the truths of faith, and when it is being covered truths look away backwards.

The presence of such arcana, embodied in these details of the story, is evident from the internal sense. And the fact that these arcana are arcana which have to do with the Church may be seen from the consideration that Shem and Japheth simply because they covered their father's nakedness were blessed, and all their descendants too, and that Canaan was cursed and all his descendants simply because their father had pointed it out to his brothers.

[18] Because the interiors of the Jewish and Israelite nation were foul, for they were steeped in self-love and love of the world more than all the other nations, and since conjugial love is meant by 'the genital organs and loins' and this love is fundamental to and so embraces all celestial and spiritual forms of love, precautions had to be taken to prevent the nakedness of those parts of Aaron's or his sons' bodies from being in any way visible when they were engaged in holy worship. This is the reason for its being said that linen undergarments should be made for them to cover their naked flesh, from the loins even to the thighs; and in another place for the declaration that they were not to go up by steps to the altar, in order that their nakedness should not be revealed on it, Exodus 20:26.

The interiors of the Jewish and Israelite nation were foul, and when they were engaged in worship those interiors were closed off, see the places referred to in 9320 (end), 9380.

Conjugial love is meant by 'the genital organs and loins', 3021, 4280, 4462, 4575, 5050-5062.

Conjugial love is fundamental to all celestial and spiritual forms of love, and therefore these forms of love are understood as well by it, 686, 2739, 3021, 4280, 5054.

From all this it is now clear what 'nakedness' means, in particular nakedness of the bodily parts devoted to procreation, when people's interiors are foul.

[19] But when the interiors are chaste 'nakedness' means innocence. It does so because conjugial love is meant, and innocence is the indispensable element of truly conjugial love.

Truly conjugial love belongs to innocence, see 2736.

Therefore 'nakedness' in that sense means innocence, 165, 8375.

For the same reason angels of the inmost heaven, who are called celestial angels, appear naked, 165, 2306, 2736.

Since the Most Ancient Church, described in the opening chapters of Genesis and meant in the internal sense by Man or Adam and his wife, was a celestial Church, it says in Genesis 2:25 that both were naked, and they were not ashamed. But when that Church fell, which came about through eating from the tree of knowledge, by which reasoning about Divine matters that was based on factual knowledge was meant, it says that they knew that they were naked, and sewed fig leaves together for themselves and made themselves girdles, thus that they covered their nakedness. It also says that when Jehovah called to him the man said that he was afraid because he was naked, and further on that Jehovah God made for them tunics of skin and clothed them, Genesis 3:6-11, 21.

[20] By 'fig leaves' from which they made themselves girdles, and also by 'tunics of skin' truths and forms of good belonging to the external man should be understood. The reason why their state after the fall is so described is that from being internal people they became external. Their internal is meant by 'paradise', for paradise is the intelligence and wisdom of the internal man, and the closing of their internal by being cast out of paradise.

'Leaf' means natural truth, which is factual knowledge, see 885. 'Fig' means natural good or the external man's good, 217, 4231, 5113. 'Tunic of skin' too means the external man's truth and good, 294-296. 'Skin' means what is external, 3540.