10050. 'And its legs' means purification of the more external things belonging to the natural man. This is clear from the meaning of 'washing the legs' as purification of the natural man (for the meaning of 'washing' as purifying, see immediately above in 10049); and from the meaning of 'the legs' as the more external things belonging to the natural man. The reason why these things are meant by 'the legs' is that one must at the same time understand the feet, since an animal's four legs are closely connected to its feet, and 'the feet' by virtue of their correspondence mean the natural or external level in a person, see 2162, 3147, 3761, 4938-4952.

[2] Much the same is meant by 'the legs' in Amos,

As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs or a piece of an ear, so will the children of Israel dwelling in Samaria be rescued, on the corner of a bed and on the end of a couch. Amos 3:12.

'The lion' here means those who lay the Church waste, 'legs' the external part of it, which is also the external part of the natural man, 'a piece of an ear' its discernment, and those 'dwelling in Samaria' those whose worship is external. 'The corner of a bed and the end of a couch' is the lowest part of the natural, which is external sensory awareness and its truth and good.

[3] In Daniel's description of Nebuchadnezzar's statue - its head made of pure gold, breast and arms of silver, belly and side of bronze, legs of iron, and feet partly of iron and partly of clay, Daniel 2:32-33 - what is meant by 'the legs' is the truth of faith in the external or natural man; and the same thing is also meant by 'iron', see 10030. The reason why the legs in the description are distinguished from the feet is that human legs are by nature different from animal legs.

6669. 'In clay and in bricks' means on account of the evils which they devised and the falsities which they fabricated. This is clear from the meaning of 'clay' as good, and in the contrary sense as evil, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'bricks' as falsities that people fabricate, dealt with in 1296. As regards the evils and falsities which those in hell devise and fabricate, see just above in 6666.

The fact that 'clay' means evil from which falsity is produced is evident from the following places in the Word: In Isaiah,

The wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest; its waters throw out mud and clay. Isaiah 57:20.

'Mud' stands for falsity from which evil is derived, and 'clay' for evil from which falsity is produced.

[2] In Jeremiah,

Your feet have sunk into the clay, [your close friends] have turned away backwards. Jeremiah 38:22.

'Feet sunk into the clay' stands for the natural sunken in evil. In Nahum,

Draw yourself water for the siege, strengthen your fortifications; go into the mud and tread the clay; renew the brick-kiln. There the fire will devour you, and the sword cut you off. Nahum 3:14-15.

'Treading the clay' stands for being prompted by evil to think what is false. In Habakkuk,

He will say, Woe to him who multiplies what is not his - how long? And to him who loads clay onto himself, Will there not rise up suddenly those who will bite you? Habakkuk 2:6-7.

'Loading clay onto himself' stands for taking up evil.

[3] In David,

Jehovah caused me to come up out of the pit of devastation, out of the muddy clay, and He set my feet upon a rock. Psalms 49:2.

In the same author,

I sank in deep clay, and there was no standing; I came into the depths of the waters, and a wave overwhelmed me. Snatch me out of the clay lest I sink, and out of the depths of the waters; and do not let the depth swallow me up. Psalms 69:2, 14-15.

'Clay' stands for evil from which falsity is produced. In Isaiah,

He will come against prelates as though against clay, as a potter treads mud. ¹ Isaiah 41:15.

[4] But in the following places 'clay' stands for good: In Isaiah,

Now, O Jehovah, You are our Father, we are the clay, and You are our potter; and we are all the work of Your hands. Isaiah 64:8.

'The clay' stands for the member of the Church who is being formed, thus for the good of faith by means of which that person is formed, that is, reformed.

[5] Similarly in Jeremiah,

Jehovah said to Jeremiah, Arise and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause you to hear My words. I went down therefore to the potter's house, and behold, he made a work on the table. But the vessel that he was making was marred, like clay in the potter's hand. And he returned and made it into another vessel, as was right in the eyes of the potter to make it. Then the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Like this potter can I not do to you, O house of Israel? Said Jehovah. Behold, like the clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel. Jeremiah 18:1-6.

'The house of Israel' stands for the Church that is to be formed. And it is because the good of charity and the truth of faith are used in the forming of it, and because such good and truth are meant by 'the clay' and 'the potter's vessel', that the prophet was commanded to go to the potter's house. This would not have happened if 'the clay' and 'the potter's vessel' had not had those meanings.

[6] There are other places too in which Jehovah or the Lord is called 'the potter' and the person who is being reformed 'the clay', namely Isaiah 29:15-16; 45:9; Job 10:9; 33:6. The incident in which the Lord made clay with His saliva and anointed the eyes of the man born blind and then commanded him to wash in the pool of Siloam, with the result that the blind man was made to see, John 9:6-7, 11, took place because it represented the reformation of man, who is born without any knowledge of truth. And that reformation is effected by means of the good of faith, meant by 'the clay'.

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