10030. That covereth the intestines. That this signifies which pertains to ultimate or lowest things, is evident from the signification of “the intestines,” as being ultimate or lowest things. “The intestines” denote ultimate or lowest things because they are the ultimate and lowest of man’s interior viscera, not only in respect to situation, but also in respect to use. In respect to situation they are below the stomach, to which they are appended; and in respect to use, they receive last the things digested in man. Above them, as is known, are the stomach, liver, pancreas, and spleen; and still further above are the heart and lungs; and above all is the head. It is also known that the superior organs cast their filth and refuse into the intestines, and thereby remove it, partly by means of the stomach, partly by means of the ducts from the liver, called the hepatic ducts, and also the cystic or biliary, partly by means of the ducts from the pancreas, which with the rest have their outlets into the intestine called the duodenum; from which it is now evident why ultimate or lowest things are signified by “the intestines.” (That by the viscera in man are signified such things as are of the spiritual world, can be seen from what has been abundantly shown at the end of many chapters, where the correspondence of the Grand Man, which is heaven, with all things in man, has been treated of. What in particular corresponds to the intestines, see in n. 5392; and that the hells correspond to the feces and excrements thence ejected, n. 5393-5396)

[2] As in what now follows mention is made of some parts of the body, as the caul, liver, and kidneys, also the legs, breast, shoulders, and head; and as the ordering of them in the sacrifices is treated of, it shall first be shown that by man’s members in general are signified such things as are in the Grand Man, that is, in heaven; here only those by which the statue of Nebuchadnezzar is described in Daniel:

Its head was of pure gold, its breast and arms of silver, its belly and sides of brass, its legs of iron, and its feet part of iron and part of clay (Daniel 2:32-33);

one who does not know that the Word of the Lord is spiritual, believes that this was said of the kingdoms of the earth; but in the Word the kingdoms of the earth are not treated of, but the kingdom of God, thus heaven and the church. These are described by such things as are on earth and in the kingdoms of earth, because worldly and earthly things correspond to such as are in heaven; for all nature and the whole world is a theater representative of the Lord’s kingdom (see the places cited in n. 9280), and earthly and worldly things are what man first apprehends.

[3] From this it can be seen that by the statue seen by Nebuchadnezzar in a dream are not signified earthly, but heavenly things; but what is specifically signified by the head, breast, belly, and sides, and by the legs and feet, can be known from their correspondence, thus from the internal sense of the Word. From correspondence it is known that by the “head” is signified the first state of the church; by the “breast and arms” the second, by the “belly and side” the third, by the “legs” the fourth, and by the “feet” the last. As the first state of the church was a state of good of love to the Lord, it is said that “the head was of gold;” and as the second state was a state of truth from this good, it is said that “the breast and arms were of silver;” and as the third state was the good of love and its truth in the external or natural man, it is said that “the belly and sides were of brass;” and as the fourth state was the truth of faith, it is said that “the legs were of iron;” and as the last state was truth, which is called of faith, without good, it is said that “the feet were part of iron and part of clay.” And as such a state of the church was the last, it is said that “out of the rock was cut a stone, which brake in pieces and scattered all things, so that the wind carried them away, and no place was found for them” (Daniel 2:34-35). By this is signified that the good of love to the Lord, the good of charity toward the neighbor, and the good of faith, had completely disappeared, insomuch that it was not known what they are; but only something about the truths of faith without good, or with good which is not good, thus which does not cohere with the truths of faith.

[4] This good is external good without internal, such as is the good of merit, good for the sake of self and for the sake of the world; thus for the sake of profit, honor, and reputation; for the sake of friendship on account of these, or for the sake of favor; and also merely on account of the fear of the law; and not for the sake of the good of charity, which is the good of one’s fellow-citizen, the good of human society, the good of our country, and the good of the church.

[5] Such goods as are mentioned above are signified by “clay,” or “mire,” and the truth with which this good does not cohere is “iron.” Therefore it is said:

The iron, which thou sawest mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of man, but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron doth not mingle with clay (Daniel 2:43);

“the seed of man” denotes the truth of faith from man’s own, thus truth falsified and adulterated by application to evils from regard to self and the world. From all this it is evident that by the members of man, from his head down to the sole of the foot, are signified such things as belong to the church.

[6] (That in general the “head” signifies celestial good, which is the good of love to the Lord; the “breast,” spiritual good, which is the good of charity toward the neighbor; and the “feet,” natural good, which is the good and truth of faith, see n. 9913, 9914; also that similar things are signified by “gold,” “silver,” “brass,” and “iron,” n. 5658; what is specifically signified by the “head,” see n. 4938, 4939, 5328, 9913, 9914; what by “gold,” n. 113, 1551, 1552, 5658, 9510, 9881; what by the “breast,” n. 4938, 4939, 5328, 6436, 9913, 9914; what by “silver,” n. 1551, 5658, 6914, 6917. From this it is evident what is signified by the “belly” and the “sides,” which are below the breast; but what is signified by “brass,” see n. 425, 1551; what by the “feet,” n. 2162, 3147, 3761, 4938-4952; what by “iron,” n. 425, 426; and what by “clay,” or “mire,” n. 1300, 6669)

[7] From all this it can now be known that by the members and viscera of man are signified such things as correspond to those in the Grand Man, or in heaven, all of which bear relation to the good of love and the truth of faith; and the things that correspond to these correspond also to the same things in the church, for the Lord’s heaven on earth is the church. That there is a correspondence of man and of all things pertaining to man with the Grand Man, which is heaven, see what has been shown from experience itself at the end of many chapters, at these places, n. 3624-3649, 3741-3751, 3883-3896, 4039-4051, 4218-4228, 4318-4331, 4403-4421, 4527-4533, 4622-4633, 4652-4660, 4791-4805, 4931-4953, 5050-5061, 5171-5189, 5377-5396, 5552-5573, 5711-5727, 5846-5866, 5976-5993, 6053-6058, 6189-6215, 6307-6326, 6466-6495. Also what correspondence is, n. 2987-3003, 3213-3227, 3337-3352, 3472-3485)

5658. Our silver in its weight. That this signifies truths according to each one’s state, is evident from the signification of “silver,” as being truth (see n. 1551, 2954); and from the signification of “weight,” as being the state of a thing as to good (n. 3104); thus “truths according to each one’s state” is according to the good they are capable of receiving. Weights and measures are mentioned in many passages of the Word; yet in the internal sense they do not signify weights and measures; but weights signify the states of a thing as to good, and measures the states of a thing as to truth. So also do heaviness and extension; heaviness in the natural world corresponds to good in the spiritual world, and extension to truth. The reason is that in heaven, which is the source of correspondences, there is no heaviness and no extension, because there is no space. Things indeed appear heavy and extended among spirits; but these are appearances arising from states of good and truth in a higher heaven.

[2] That “silver” signifies truth was very well known in ancient times. Hence the ancients distinguished the several ages of the world from the first to the last into the golden, the silver, the copper, and the iron ages, to which they added an age of clay. They called those times the golden ages when there was innocence and wholeness, and when everyone did what was good from good, and what was just from justice. They called those times the silver ages when there was no longer innocence, but still a kind of wholeness that consisted not in doing good from good, but in doing truth from truth; and they gave the name of copper and iron to the ages which are yet lower.

[3] That they so designated these periods was not from comparison, but from correspondence; for the ancients knew that silver corresponds to truth, and gold to good, and this by communication with spirits and angels. For when good is spoken about in a higher heaven, there is an appearance of gold below among those who are beneath them in the first or lowest heaven; and when truth is spoken of, there is an appearance of silver; sometimes so that not only the walls of the rooms where they dwell sparkle with gold and silver, but also the very atmosphere. Tables of gold also, golden lampstands, and many other things, appear with the angels of the first or ultimate heaven who are in good from good; while to those who are in truth from truth, such objects appear of silver. Yet who at the present day knows that it was from their correspondence that the ancients called these the gold and silver ages? Indeed who at this day knows anything about correspondence? And he who does not know this, and still more he who makes pleasure and wisdom consist in disputing whether it is or is not so, cannot know the least of the countless things that belong to correspondence.