9538. 'Which are on its four feet' means in the natural sphere. This is clear from the meaning of 'four' as that which implies a joining together, dealt with in 1686, 8877; and from the meaning of 'feet' as the natural, dealt with in 2162, 3147, 3761, 3986, 4280, 4938-4952, 5327, 5328. The firmness resides in the natural sphere because everything spiritual reaches down to and rests on that which is called natural truth, and everything celestial down to and on that which is called natural good. So it is that the natural is their foundation and consequently firm support. Few as yet know of this; therefore something will in the Lord's Divine mercy be said from experience about it elsewhere.

8877. 'On the third and on the fourth [generations]' means in a long sequence, and joined together. This is clear from the meaning of 'three' as what is complete from start to finish, dealt with in 2788, 4495, 7715, thus a long sequence, so that 'the third [generation on sons' is falsities in a long sequence (for the meaning of 'sons' as falsities, see immediately above in 8876); and from the meaning of 'four', like two, as joined together, dealt with in 1686, 5194, 8423, so that 'the third and the fourth [generations of] sons' are falsities joined together in a long sequence. This explanation of 'the third and the fourth [generations of] sons' must inevitably seem to be nonsensical or foreign to the meaning of the Word; but it should be remembered that in the internal sense numbers do not mean numbers but real things, see 482, 487, 575, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1963, 1988, 2075, 2252, 3252, 4264, 4495, 4670, 5265, 6175.