10283. Upon the flesh of man shall it not be poured. That this signifies that which is not communicative to what is man’s own, is evident from the signification of “the flesh of man,” as being that which is his own (of which below); and from the signification of “pouring,” as being to communicate; for the like is signified by “pouring” as by “touching,” but “pouring” is said of liquids, as of oil, wine, and water, and “pouring forth” of things Divine, celestial, and spiritual; while “touching” is said of things dry and bodily (that “to touch” denotes to communicate, see n. 10130). Hence it follows that by the oil of anointing not being poured on the flesh of man is signified that the Divine good of the Lord’s Divine love is not communicative to that which is man’s own, because that which is man’s own is nothing but evil, and the Lord’s Divine good cannot be communicated to what is evil. (That what is man’s own is nothing but evil, see n. 210, 215, 731, 874-876, 987, 1023, 1024, 1047, 5660, 5786, 8480)

[2] Man has that which is his own in both the will and the understanding; the former is evil, and the latter is the falsity thence derived; that is to say, the former is signified by “the flesh of man,” and the latter by the “blood” of this flesh. That this is so is evident from the following passages, in Matthew:

Jesus said, Blessed art thou, Simon, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father who is in the heavens (Matthew 16:17).

That “flesh” here, and also “blood,” denote that which is man’s own, is very evident.

[3] In John:

As many as received Him, to them gave He power to be the sons of God, who were born, not of bloods, nor of the will of the flesh, but of God (John 1:12-13).

By “bloods” are here signified the falsities which come forth from that which is man’s own in his understanding; and by “the will of the flesh” are signified the evils which come forth from that which is his own in his will. (That “bloods” denote falsity from evil, thus what is man’s own in the understanding derived from what is his own in the will, see n. 4735, 9127)

[4] In Isaiah:

I will feed thine oppressors with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood as with new wine (Isaiah 49:26); where to “feed them with their own flesh, and make them drunken with their own blood,” denotes to fill them with evil and the falsity of evil, thus with that which is their own; for both evil and falsity are from this.

[5] In Jeremiah:

Cursed is the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm (Jeremiah 17:5).

“To trust in man, and make flesh his arm,” denotes to trust in himself and in what is his own.

[6] In Isaiah:

The people is become like food for the fire; if one shall cut down on the right hand, he shall be hungry; and if he shall eat on the left hand, they shall not be satisfied; they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm: Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh (Isaiah 9:19-20).

By “food for the fire” is signified the appropriation of evils, or the cupidities of the love of self and the world; by “being hungry and not being satisfied” is signified not to receive the good and truth of faith; by “the flesh of the arm” is signified what is man’s own of both kinds; by “Manasseh,” the evil of the will; by “Ephraim,” the falsity of the understanding; and by “eating,” to make one’s own. (That “fires” denote the evils or cupidities of the love of self and the world, see n. 5071, 5215, 6314, 6832, 7324, 7575, 9141; and that “to be hungry and not satisfied” denotes not to receive the good and truth of faith, is because by “hunger and thirst” is signified the desolation of good and truth, n. 5360, 5376, 6110, 7102, 8568; that the “right hand” denotes the good from which is truth, and the “left hand” the truth through which is good, see n. 10061.) Hence “to be hungry if he cut down on the right hand, and not to be satisfied if he ate on the left hand,” signifies that however much they are instructed concerning good and truth, they will nevertheless not receive them.

[7] “Manasseh” denotes the good of the will (see n. 5348, 5351, 5353, 6222, 6234, 6238, 6267); and “Ephraim” denotes the truth of the understanding (n. 3969, 5354, 6222, 6234, 6238, 6267); hence in the opposite sense “Manasseh” denotes the evil of the will, and “Ephraim” the falsity of the understanding, for almost all things in the Word have also an opposite sense. “To eat” denotes to appropriate (n. 3168, 3513, 3596, 4745); hence it is plain what is meant by “eating the flesh of his own arm,” namely, appropriating to themselves evil and falsity from what is their own. It is said “the flesh of the arm” because by the “arm,” as by the “hand,” is signified that which belongs to man, and in which he trusts (see at the places cited in n. 10019).

[8] In Zechariah:

I said, I will not feed you; he that dieth let him die; let those who remain eat everyone the flesh of another (Zech. 11:9).

“Not to feed” denotes not to instruct and reform; “to die” denotes to perish as to spiritual life; “to eat the flesh of another” denotes to appropriate to themselves the evils which are from that which is another’s.

[9] In Ezekiel:

Jerusalem, thou hast committed whoredom with the sons of Egypt thy neighbors, great in flesh (Ezekiel 16:26).

“Jerusalem” denotes the perverted church; “to commit whoredom with the sons of Egypt great in flesh” denotes to falsify the truths of the church by means of memory-knowledges which are from the natural man alone, thus by means of sensuous memory-knowledges. (That “Jerusalem” denotes the church, see n. 402, 2117, 3654, here the perverted church; that “to commit whoredom” denotes to falsify truths, n. 2466, 2729, 8904; that “sons” denote truths and also falsities, n. 1147, 3373, 4257, 9807; that “Egypt” denotes memory-knowledge in both senses, see the places cited in n. 9340; and that it denotes the natural, n. 9391.) Hence those are called “great in flesh” who from the things of sense reason and draw conclusions about the truths of the church. They who do this, seize on falsities instead of truths, for to reason and draw conclusions from the things of sense is to do so from the fallacies of the bodily senses; wherefore it is sensuous men who are meant by “great in flesh,” because they think from that which is their own in the body.

[10] In Isaiah:

Egypt is a man, and not God; and his horses are flesh, and not spirit (Isaiah 31:3).

Here also “Egypt” denotes memory-knowledge; his “horses” denote the understanding thence derived; this is called “flesh not spirit,” when they draw conclusions from what is their own, and not from the Divine (that “horses” denote the understanding, see n. 2761, 2762, 3217, 5321, 6534; and that the “horses of Egypt” denote memory-knowledges in conformity with a perverted understanding, n. 6125, 8146, 8148).

[11] That by “flesh” is signified that which is man’s own, or what is the same, the evil of his will, is evident from Moses where the subject treated of is the desire of the Israelitish people to eat flesh, of which it is thus written:

The rabble that was in the midst of the people lusted a lust, and said, Who shall feed us with flesh? Jehovah said, Tomorrow ye shall eat flesh; ye shall not eat it one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, but even for a month of days. And there went forth a wind from Jehovah, and carried off the quails from the sea, and let them fall over the camp, as it were two ells upon the faces of the earth. The people rose up all the day and all the night, and all the next day, and gathered and spread them round about the camp. While the flesh was yet between their teeth, before it was swallowed, the anger of Jehovah burned against the people, and Jehovah smote the people with a very great plague; whence he called the name of that place, The graves of lust (Numbers 11:4, 18-20, 31 11:31-33).

[12] That “flesh” signified what belonged to that nation, can be seen from the details in this passage; for had it not been so, what evil could there have been in desiring flesh, especially as flesh had previously been promised them (Exodus 16:12)? But as it signified that which was their own, thus the evil of the will, in which that nation was more than other nations, therefore it is said when they desired flesh, that they “lusted a lust;” and therefore they were smitten with a great plague, and the name of the place where they were buried was called “the graves of lusts [concupiscentiarum].” Whether you say evil of the will, or concupiscence, it is the same, for the evil of the will is concupiscence, because man’s own desires nothing but its own, and not anything of the neighbor, or anything of God, except for the sake of itself.

Because that nation was of this character, it is said that “they should eat flesh, not one day, nor two, nor five, nor ten, nor twenty, but even for a month of days,” by which is signified that that nation would be such forever; for “a month of days” means forever, and therefore it is said that “the flesh being yet between the teeth, before it was swallowed, they were smitten with a great plague;” for by “teeth” is signified the bodily (or corporeal) own, which is the lowest of man (n. 4424, 5565-5568, 9062). (That that nation was of such a character, see the places cited in n. 9380; and also in the song of Moses in Deuteronomy, 32:20-28, 32-34.)

[13] In the Word, “spirit” is opposed to “flesh,” because by “spirit” is signified life from the Lord, and by “flesh” life from man, as in John:

It is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I speak unto you are spirit and are life (John 6:63).

From this it is evident that “spirit” denotes life from the Lord, which is the life of love and faith to Him from Him; and that “flesh” denotes life from man, thus what is his own; hence it is said, “the flesh profiteth nothing.” In like manner in John:

That which is born of the flesh is flesh; but that which is born of the spirit is spirit (John 3:6).

God remembered that they were flesh, a wind [spirit] that goeth away, and cometh not again (Psalms 78:39).

[14] As by “flesh,” when said of man, is signified that which is his own, which is the evil of the love of self and the world, it is plain what is signified by “flesh” when said of the Lord, namely, that which is His own, which is the Divine good of the Divine love. This is signified by the “flesh” of the Lord in John:

The bread that I will give is My flesh. Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you; he that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life; for My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed (John 6:51, 53-55).

(That by the Lord’s “flesh” is signified the Divine good of His Divine love, and by His “blood” the Divine truth proceeding from this Divine good, thus the like as by the bread and the wine in the Holy Supper, and that these are His own in His Divine Human, see n. 1001, 3813, (3813) 4735, 4976, 6978, 7317, 7326, 7850, 9127, 9393, 10026, 10033, 10152; and that the sacrifices represented the goods which are from the Lord, and that on this account their “flesh” signified goods, see n. 10040, 10079). Moreover, in the Word throughout mention is made of “all flesh,” and by it is meant every man (as Genesis 6:12-13, 17, 19; Isaiah 40:5-6; 49:26 66:16, 23-24; Jeremiah 25:31; 32:27; 45:5; Ezekiel 20:48; 21:4-5).

2177. That the “meal of fine flour” denotes the spiritual and the celestial which were then with the Lord, and that “cakes” denote the same when both are conjoined, is very evident from the sacrifices of the Representative Church, and from the meat-offering then made use of, which consisted of fine flour mingled with oil and made into cakes. The chief part of representative worship consisted in burnt-offerings and sacrifices. What these represented has already been stated, where bread is treated of (n. 2165), namely, the celestial things of the Lord’s kingdom in the heavens and of the Lord’s kingdom on the earth (that is, in the church), and also those of the Lord’s kingdom or church with each person; and in general all the things of love and charity, because these are celestial. All these offerings and sacrifices were at that time called “bread,” and to them was adjoined the meat-offering also, which, as already said, consisted of fine flour mingled with oil, to which frankincense was likewise added, as well as a libation of wine.

[2] What these represented is also evident, namely, similar things as the sacrifices, but in a less degree, thus the things which are of the spiritual church, and likewise those of the external church. Everyone can see that such things would never have been commanded unless they had represented Divine things, and also that each one represents something special and peculiar, for unless they had represented Divine things, they would not have differed from similar things in use among the Gentiles, among whom also there were sacrifices—meat-offerings, libations, frankincense, perpetual fires, and many other things, derived to them from the Ancient Church, and especially from the Hebrew Church. But as internal things (that is, the Divine things that were represented) were separated from these Gentile rites, they were merely idolatrous, as also they became with the Jews, who for this reason fell into all kinds of idolatry. From what has been said everyone can see that there were heavenly arcana in every rite, especially in the sacrifices and all their particulars.

[3] As regards the meat-offering, the nature of it and how it was to be prepared into cakes, is described in a whole chapter in Moses (Leviticus 2; also in Numbers 15, and elsewhere). The law of the meat-offering is described in Leviticus in these words:

Fire shall be kept burning upon the altar continually, it shall not go out. And this is the law of the meat-offering: the sons of Aaron shall bring it before Jehovah to the faces of the altar; and he shall take therefrom his handful of the fine flour of the meat-offering, and of the oil thereof, and all the frankincense which is upon the meat-offering, and shall burn it upon the altar, an odor of rest, for a memorial unto Jehovah; and the residue thereof Aaron and his sons shall eat; unleavened shall they be eaten in a holy place; in the court of the tent of meeting shall they eat it. It shall not be baked leavened; I have given it as their portion of My offerings made by fire; it is a holy of holies (Leviticus 6:13-17).

[4] The fire which must be kept burning upon the altar continually, represented the love, that is, the mercy of the Lord, perpetual and eternal. That in the Word “fire” signifies love, see n. 934; hence “offerings made by fire for an odor of rest” signify the Lord’s pleasure in the things which are of love and charity. (That “odor” denotes what is well-pleasing, that is, what is grateful, see n. 925, 1519.) Their “taking a handful” represented that they should love with all the strength, or with all the soul; for the hand, or the palm of the hand, signifies power (as shown n. 878), from which “handful” also signifies power. The fine flour, with the oil and the frankincense, represented all things of charity-the fine flour the spiritual, and the oil the celestial of charity, the frankincense what was in this manner grateful. (That fine flour represents what is spiritual, is evident from what has just been said, and from what follows; that oil represents what is celestial, or the good of charity, may be seen above, n. 886; and also that frankincense, from its odor, represents what is grateful and acceptable, n. 925.)

[5] Its being “unleavened,” or not fermented, signifies that it should be sincere, and thus from a sincere heart, and free from uncleanness. That Aaron and his sons should eat the residue, represented man’s reciprocality and his appropriation, thus conjunction through love and charity; on which account it was commanded that they should eat it in a holy place. Hence it is called a “holy of holies.” These were the things that were represented by the meat-offering; and the representatives themselves were so perceived in heaven; and when the man of the church so apprehended them, he was then in an idea similar to the perception of the angels, thus he was in the Lord’s kingdom itself in the heavens although he was on earth.

[6] The meat-offering is further treated of, as regards what it ought to be in connection with each kind of sacrifice, and how it should be baked into cakes, also what kind should be offered by those who were being cleansed, and what on other occasions; to mention and explain all of which would be too tedious; but concerning all these matters see Exodus 29:39-41; Leviticus 5:11-13; 6:14-23; 10:12-13; 23:10-13, 23:16-17; Numbers 5:15, etc.; 6:15-17, 19-20, 7:1-89, in several places; 28:5, 7, 9, 12-13, 20-21, 28-29; 29:3-4, 9-10, 14-15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30, 33, 37.

[7] Fine flour made into cakes in general represented the same as bread, namely, the celestial of love, and meal the spiritual of it, as is evident from the passages cited above. The “breads” [or loaves] that were called the “bread of faces,” or the “show bread” [panis propositionis], were made of fine flour, which was prepared in cakes and placed upon the table, for a perpetual representation of the love, that is, the mercy, of the Lord toward the universal human race, and the reciprocality of man. Concerning these loaves we read as follows in Moses:

Thou shalt take fine flour and shalt bake it into twelve cakes; of two tenths shall one cake be; and thou shalt set them in two rows, six in a row, upon the clean table, before Jehovah; and thou shalt put pure frankincense upon each row, and it shall be to the breads for a memorial, an offering made by fire unto Jehovah. On every Sabbath day he shall set it in order before Jehovah continually, from the sons of Israel in a covenant of eternity. And it shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place, for it is a holy of holies unto him, of the offerings made by fire unto Jehovah by a statute of eternity (Leviticus 24:5-9).

Every particular in this description and all the smallest details represented the holy of love and of charity, the “fine flour” the same as the “meal of fine flour,” namely, the celestial and its spiritual, and the “cake” the two conjoined.

[8] Hence it is evident what is the holiness of the Word to those who are in heavenly ideas, nay, what holiness there was in this very representative rite, on account of which it is called a holiness of holinesses; and on the contrary, how void of holiness it is to those who suppose that there is nothing heavenly in these things, and who abide solely in the externals; as do they who perceive the meal here merely as meal, the fine flour as fine flour, and the cake as a cake, and who suppose these things to have been stated without each particular involving something of the Divine. These do in like manner as do those who think the bread and wine of the Holy Supper to be nothing but a certain rite, containing nothing holy within; whereas there is such holiness that human minds are by that Supper conjoined with heavenly minds, when from internal affection they are thinking that the bread and wine signify the Lord’s love and the reciprocality of man, and are thus in holiness from interior thought and feeling.

[9] The like was involved in that the sons of Israel on their coming into the land of Canaan were to offer a cake of the first of their dough, as a heave-offering unto Jehovah (Numbers 15:20). That such things are signified is also evident in the Prophets, from which we may at present adduce only this from Ezekiel:

Thou wast decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was fine linen and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, honey, and oil, and thou wast become beautiful very exceedingly, and thou wast prospered unto a kingdom (Ezekiel 16:13); where the subject treated of is Jerusalem, by which is signified the church, that was so decked in its earliest time-that is, the Ancient Church-and which is described by the garments and other ornaments; as also its affections of truth and good by the fine flour, honey, and oil. Everyone can see that all these things have a very different meaning in the internal sense from that in the sense of the letter. And so have these words which Abraham said to Sarah: “Make ready quickly three measures of the meal of fine flour, knead, and make cakes.” (That “three” signifies holy things has been shown before, n. 720, 901)