2162. 'Wash your feet' means that they were to take on something natural so that during the state He was then passing through His perception might be improved. This becomes clear from the meaning of 'feet' as natural things, and also in a like manner from the train of thought. That arcana lie concealed here becomes clear to a certain extent from the fact that Abraham besought the three men to take a little water and wash their feet, and to relax under a tree, even though he knew that it was the Lord or Jehovah; also from the fact that if it was not so such details would not have been mentioned.

[2] That 'feet' means natural things becomes clear from the representatives in the next life, and consequently from representatives derived from these that existed among the most ancient people and so occur in the Word. Celestial and spiritual things are represented by 'the head' and the parts of the head; by 'the breast' and the parts of the breast are represented rational concepts and aspects of these; by 'the feet and the parts of the feet are represented natural things and the different kinds of these. Consequently 'the sole' and 'the heel' of the foot mean the lowest natural things, regarding which see 259, while 'a shoe' means the lowest things of all, which are filthy, regarding which see 1748.

[3] Similar things are meant by the representations in the dreams and visions in the Prophets, such as the statue seen by Nebuchadnezzar, the head of which was fine gold, the breast and arms were silver, the belly and thighs were bronze, the legs were iron, and the feet were partly iron and partly clay, Daniel 2:32-33. In this case 'the head' means celestial things, which are inmost and are 'gold', as shown in 113, 1551, 1552; 'the breast and arms' spiritual or rational things, which are 'silver', as shown in 1551; but 'the feet' means lower things, which are natural, the truths of which are meant by 'iron' and the goods by 'clay' or mud. As regards 'iron' meaning truth, see 425, 426, and 'clay' good, 1300, both of which in the present case are natural. These things come in the same order in the Lord's kingdom in heaven, and in the Church which is the Lord's kingdom on earth, and also in every individual who is a kingdom of the Lord.

[4] It is similar with the vision which Daniel himself saw, of which the following is said,

I lifted up my eyes and saw, and behold, a man clothed in linen whose loins were girded with gold of Uphaz and whose body was like tarshish, ¹ and whose face was like the appearance of lightning, and whose eyes were like fiery torches, and whose arms and feet like the shine of burnished bronze. Daniel 10:5-6.

Specifically these words mean the interiors of the Word as to goods and truths. 'The arms and feet' are its interiors, which constitute the sense of the letter, for natural things occur there, since natural things are the source from which the exteriors of the Word are drawn. What further is meant by each of these parts, namely the loins, body, face, eyes, and many others in man, becomes clear from the representatives in the next life, which will in the Lord's Divine mercy be spoken of when the Grand Man - which is the Lord's heaven - and the representatives that originate in heaven but occur in the world of spirits are dealt with.

[5] That which one reads about Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders seeing the God of Israel, under whose feet there was so to speak a paved work of sapphire stone, like the substance of the sky for pureness, Exodus 24:9-10, means that they saw, represented in natural things, merely the external features of the Church, and also the literal sense of the Word, in which too, as has been stated, external things are represented by natural things. And these external things are 'the feet' under which there is so to speak 'a paved work of sapphire stone, like the substance of the sky itself'. It is clear that it was the Lord whom they saw, though only in those lower or natural things, since He is called 'the God of Israel', whom all things of the Church represented and whom all things of the Word in the internal sense meant. For the Lord is presented visually in accordance with the things that are meant at the time. When, for example, in John, He was seen as a Man on a white horse, the Word was in this case meant by Him, as is explicitly stated in Revelation 19:11, 13.

[6] The living creatures seen by Ezekiel, which were cherubs, are described as regards celestial and spiritual things by their faces and wings, and also many other things. But as regards natural things they are described as follows, by their feet, a straight foot, and the soles of their feet being like the sole of a calf's foot, and sparkling like the shine of burnished bronze, Ezekiel 1:7. The reason their feet, that is, natural things, are said to have sparkled like burnished bronze is that 'bronze' means natural good, dealt with in 425, 1551. It was similar when the Lord appeared to John as the Son of Man: His eyes were like a flame of fire and His feet were like burnished bronze, Revelation 1:14-15; 2:18.

[7] That 'feet' means natural things is further evident from the following places: In John, who saw,

A mighty angel coming down out of heaven, wrapped in a cloud, and a rainbow around his head, his face was like the sun and his feet like pillars of fire. In his hand he had a little book opened, and he set his right foot on the sea and his left on the land. Revelation 10:1-2.

This angel in a similar way means the Word. The nature of the Word in the internal sense is meant by 'the rainbow around his head' and by 'his face being like the sun'; but the external sense, or sense of the letter, is meant by his 'feet'. 'The sea' is natural truths, 'the land' natural goods, from which it is clear what is meant by his setting his right foot on the sea and his left on the land.

[8] Reference is made in various places in the Word to 'a footstool', but no one knows what is meant by this in the internal sense; as in Isaiah,

Jehovah said, The heavens are My throne and the earth My footstool. Where is this house which you are going to build for Me and where is this place of My rest? Isaiah 66:1.

'The heavens' means the celestial and spiritual things, and so the inmost things, both of the Lord's kingdom in heaven and of the Lord's kingdom on earth, which is the Church. Also meant by 'the heavens' are those same things as they exist with every individual who is a kingdom of the Lord or a Church. Thus 'the heavens' also means the celestial and spiritual things regarded in themselves which are matters of love and charity and of faith that springs from these, and so means all things that belong to internal worship and similarly all things that belong to the internal sense of the Word. These things are meant by 'the heavens' and are called 'the Lord's throne', but by 'the earth' are meant all lower things corresponding to those meant by 'the heavens'. By 'the earth' lower rational and natural things are meant, which from correspondence are likewise referred to as celestial and spiritual things, such as those that exist in the lower heavens and also in the Church, and those things which belong to external worship and also those present in the literal sense of the Word. In short, all things that stem from internal things and manifest themselves in external are, being natural things, called 'the earth' and 'the Lord's footstool'. What heaven and earth mean in the internal sense of the Word, see also 82, 1733. What the new heaven and new earth mean, see 2117, 2118 (end). And that man is a miniature heaven, see 911, 978, 1900.

[9] Similarly in Jeremiah,

In His anger the Lord covers the daughter of Zion with a cloud, He has cast down from heaven to earth the splendour of Israel, and has not remembered His footstool on the day of His anger. Lamentations 2:1.

Also in David,

Exalt Jehovah our God, and bow down at His footstool. Holy is He! Psalms 99:5.

Elsewhere in the same author,

We will enter His dwelling-places, we will bow down at His footstool. Psalms 132:7.

People in the representative Church - and thus the Jews - imagined that God's house and the temple were His footstool. They did not know that by the Lord's house and the temple was meant external representative worship. What the internal features of the Church were, meant by 'heaven' or God's throne, they had no knowledge at all.

[10] In the same author,

Jehovah said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand till I make your enemies a stool for your feet. Psalms 110:1; Matthew 22:44; Mark 12:36; Luke 20:42-43.

Here 'footstool' in a similar way means natural things - both sensory impressions and factual knowledge, and man's rational ideas formed from these - which are called 'enemies' when worship is perverted by them (which is done from the literal sense of the Word). As a result worship exists solely in things that are external, and no internal worship - or rather only internal worship that is defiled - exists, concerning which see 1094, 1175, 1182. When these have became perverted and defiled in this manner they are called 'enemies'; but because, regarded in themselves, they have reference to internal worship, when this is restored, they become - both the things that belong to external worship and those that belong to the sense of the letter of the Word - 'a footstool', as stated already.

[11] In Isaiah,

The glory of Lebanon will come to you, the fir, the pine, and the box tree together, to beautify the place of My sanctuary; and I will make the place of My feet glorious. Isaiah 60:13.

This refers to the Lord's kingdom and Church, the celestial-spiritual things of which are meant by 'the glory of Lebanon', that is, cedar trees, but the celestial-natural things of it by 'the fir, the pine, and the box', as also in other places in the Word. Thus it is the external aspects of worship that are referred to when it is said that 'I will make the place of My feet glorious'; and this cannot he made glorious by the fir, the pine, and the box, but by the things meant by these.

[12] That 'feet' means these things is also clear from the representatives in the Jewish Church, for example, by the requirement that Aaron and his sons were to wash their hands and feet before entering the tabernacle, Exodus 30:19-20; 40:31-32. No one is able to see that arcana were represented by this, for what is such washing of the hands and feet but some external act which does not do anything at all if the internal is not pure and clean? Nor can the internal be made pure and clean by such a washing. But because all the forms of ritual of that Church meant internal things that are celestial and spiritual, so it was with this form; that is to say, it meant the cleanliness of external worship, which is clean when internal worship is present within it. This explains why their lavers were made of bronze, and also the large laver which was called 'the bronze sea', together with the ten smaller ones made of bronze around Solomon's temple, 1 Kings 7:23, 38. They were made of bronze because 'bronze' represented good present in external worship, which is the same as natural good. Regarding this meaning of bronze, see 425, 1551.

[13] Similarly representative was the prohibition that no man among Aaron's descendants who had a broken foot or a broken hand should draw near to offer fire-offerings to Jehovah, Leviticus 21:19, 21. 'Broken feet and hands' represented those people whose external worship was perverted.

[14] That 'feet' means natural things is also evident from various other places in the Prophets, as in these prophetical utterances in Moses,

Blessed above sons be Asher; let him be acceptable among his brothers, and dipping his foot in oil. Your shoes will be iron and bronze. Deuteronomy 33:24-25.

These words will not be understood by anybody unless he knows what the meaning of oil, foot, iron, bronze, and shoe are in the internal sense. 'Foot' is the natural; 'shoe' the still lower natural, such as that which is connected with the senses and the body, see 1748; 'oil' is the celestial, 886; 'iron' natural truth, 425, 426; and 'bronze' natural good, 425, 1551. From these places it is evident what these words embody.

[15] In Nahum,

The way of Jehovah is in storm and tempest, and the clouds are the dust of His feet. Nahum 1:3.

Here 'the dust of the feet' means the natural and bodily things with man which give rise to clouds. The same is also meant by these words in David,

Jehovah bowed the heavens and came down, and thick darkness was under His feet. Psalms 18:9.

[16] When goods and truths of faith are perverted by natural light, as people call it, it is described in the Word as the feet and hoofs of a beast which trouble waters and trample on food, as in Ezekiel,

You have come forth into the rivers, and have troubled the waters with your feet and trampled their rivers. I will destroy all its beasts from over many waters, and the foot of man will not trouble them any longer, nor will the hoofs of beast. Ezekiel 32:2, 13.

This refers to Egypt, which meant forms of knowledge, as shown in 1164, 1165, 1462. Thus by 'feet and hoofs which trouble the rivers and water' are meant facts gained from sensory and from natural things, on the basis of which people reason about the arcana of faith and do not believe anything until they grasp it by this method. This amounts to not believing at all, for the more such people go on reasoning, the less believing they are; see what is said in 128-130, 215, 232, 233, 1072, 1385. From all these quotations it is now evident that 'feet' in the Word means natural things. But what further meaning 'feet' may have is evident from the context in which the expression occurs.

Poznámky pod čarou:

519. Verse 11. And the name of the star is called Wormwood, signifies truth mixed with the falsity of evil. This is evident from the signification of "name," as meaning what the state is, and what the thing is (See above, n. 148); from the signification of "star," here "a great star burning as a lamp," as being the truth of the Word falsified by self-love; and from the signification of "wormwood," as being truth mixed with the falsity of evil. This is signified by "wormwood" because of its bitterness, and bitterness springs from what is sweet mixed with the opposite unsweet; therefore "bitterness" like that of wormwood and gall means in the spiritual sense truth mixed with the falsity that is the opposite of truth, which is the falsity of evil; for savor and taste signify the affection of knowing and of becoming wise, therefore what is savory signifies the delightfulness and pleasantness of wisdom; and "delicacies," because they are savory, signify the truths of wisdom. (That this is from correspondence see Arcana Coelestia 3502, 3536, 3589, 4791-4805.) That "wormwood" and "gall" from their bitterness, signify truth mixed with the falsity of evil is evident also from what follows in this verse; for it is said that "many men died of the waters because they were made bitter," which signifies that through truths falsified all such perished in respect to spiritual life; for truths are what make the spiritual life, while falsities of evil extinguish it; and when truths are mixed with falsities of evil they are no longer true but falsified; and truths falsified are in themselves falsities.

[2] Such falsities were with the Jewish nation; but among the upright Gentiles they were falsities of another kind; these falsities are signified by the "vinegar," but the former by "the gall and wine mingled with myrrh," in the Gospels:

When they were come unto a place called Golgotha, they gave Jesus vinegar mingled with gall; but when He had tasted He would not drink. When He had been crucified, one of them running and taking a sponge and filling it with vinegar, and putting it on a reed gave Him to drink (Matthew 27:33-34, 48; Mark 15:23, 36).

After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now finished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled said, I thirst. And there had been placed a vessel full of vinegar; and they filled a sponge and placed it upon hyssop and put it to His mouth. And when He had received the vinegar He said, It is finished (John 20:28-30).

Each and every thing that is related in the Gospels respecting the Lord's passion, signifies in the spiritual sense, the state of the church at that time in relation to the Lord and the Word; for the Lord was the Word because He was Divine truth; and as the Jews had treated the Word, or Divine truth, so they treated the Lord (respecting which see above, n. 64, 195). Their giving to the Lord "vinegar mingled with gall," which was also called "wine mingled with myrrh," signified the quality of the Divine truth from the Word with the Jewish nation, namely, that it was mingled with the falsity of evil, and thus altogether falsified and adulterated, therefore He would not drink it. But that afterwards "they gave the Lord vinegar in a sponge and placed it upon hyssop" signified the kind of falsity there was among the upright Gentiles, which was falsity from ignorance of the truth, in which there was something good and useful; because this falsity is accepted by the Lord He drank this vinegar; the "hyssop" upon which they placed it signifies the purification of the falsity; that the Lord said "I thirst," signifies Divine spiritual thirst, which is for Divine truth and good in the church, by which the human race is saved. (Respecting the falsity of evil, what it was with the Jewish nation, and the falsity of ignorance in which there is good, what this was with the upright Gentiles, see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 21.)

[3] "Gall" and "vinegar" have a like signification in David:

They gave me gall for My food; and in my thirst they gave Me vinegar to drink. Let their table before them become a snare; and for retributions let there be a lure. Let their eyes be darkened that they see not; and make their loins continually to falter (Psalms 69:21-23).

Here "gall," "vinegar," and "thirst," have a similar signification as above, since this is said of the Lord; the "table that shall be to them for a snare," signifies going astray in respect to every truth of doctrine from the Word, for "table" has reference to all spiritual food, and spiritual food is everything of doctrine from the Word; the "eyes that will be darkened that they see not," signify the understanding of truth; the "loins that will be made to falter," signify the will of good, and its marriage with the understanding of truth; "loins" have the same signification in other parts of the Word.

[4] In Lamentations:

He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken with wormwood. Therefore I said, My victory hath perished, and my hope from Jehovah. Remember my misery and my lament, the wormwood and the hemlock (Lamentations 3:15, 18, 19).

This, too, is said of the Lord. That the Lord found nothing but falsities and falsified truths in the church that then existed among the Jews is signified by "He hath filled me with bitterness, and hath made me drunken with wormwood," "wormwood" meaning the falsity of evil mixed with truths, thus what is falsified; the Lord's combat with the hells, and His hopelessness of ever bringing back the Jewish nation to a reception and acknowledgment of truths is signified by "My victory hath perished, and my hope from Jehovah; remember my misery and my lament, the wormwood and the hemlock;" for the spirits who are in the falsities of evil and yet in truths from the sense of the letter of the Word make longer resistance before they are subjugated and cast down into hell, and for the reason that through truths they have communication with heaven, and this communication and consequent conjunction must be broken and removed before they are cast down; this involves despair as to victory, such as the Lord experienced upon the cross when He said "I thirst," and they gave Him vinegar.

[5] In Jeremiah:

Jehovah our God hath cut us off and hath given us waters of gall to drink (Jeremiah 8:14).

In the same:

Behold, I will feed them, this people, with wormwood, and make them to drink waters of gall; and I will scatter them among the nations; and I will send the sword after them until I shall have consumed them (Jeremiah 9:15, 16).

In the same:

Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink waters of gall; for from the prophets of Jerusalem hypocrisy hath gone forth into all the land (Jeremiah 23:15).

This, too, is said of the Jewish nation, which in a thousand ways perverted the Word, falsified its truth, and adulterated its good; "wormwood" signifies the evil of falsity, and "waters of gall" the falsity of evil, both mixed with the truths and goods of the Word. That from themselves and from their heart they were in evils and falsities from evils is signified by "Jehovah will feed them with wormwood, and make them to drink waters of gall;" for evil and falsity are attributed to Jehovah, that is, to the Lord, as in many passages elsewhere, and yet they are of man himself; the reasons for this have often been given above. "The hypocrisy that went forth from the prophets of Jerusalem" signifies such mingling of falsity and truth, for they spoke truths while they taught falsities; they spoke truths when they spoke from the Word, and they taught falsities when they taught from themselves and their doctrine; their destruction by the evils of falsity and by the falsities of evil is signified by "I will scatter them among the nations, and I will send the sword after them;" "to scatter among the nations" signifying to destroy by the evils of falsity, and "to send the sword after them" signifying to destroy by the falsities of evil. (That "nations" signify evils see above, n. 175, 331; and that "sword" signifies the combat of truth against falsity, and the combat of falsity against truth, and its destruction, see also above, n. 131, 367.)

[6] In Amos:

Behold, Jehovah will smite the great house with gaps and the little house with clefts. Shall horses run upon the rock? Shall one plow with oxen? For ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood (Amos 6:11, 12).

In the same:

They turn judgment into wormwood, and thrust down righteousness to the earth (Amos 5:7).

"Jehovah will smite the great house with gaps, and the little house with clefts," signifies much perversion and falsification of truth with the learned, and some with the unlearned, a "great house" signifying a learned man, and a "little house" an unlearned man; "gaps" signify truths destroyed by falsities, and "clefts" the same, but in a less degree; that the understanding of truth and the will of good are not possible where there is the falsity of evil, is signified by "Shall horses run upon the rock? Shall one plow with oxen?;" "horses running" meaning the understanding of truth, and "plowing with oxen" the will of good. That this is because truths were falsified and the goods of the Word were adulterated is signified by, "For ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood," "judgment" signifying the truth of the Word, and "the fruit of righteousness" its good.

[7] That the quality of the sons of Jacob, who were called Israelites and Jews, was such, is plainly declared by Moses in his song, in which they are described in these words:

Their vine is of the vine of Sodom and of the fields of Gomorrah; their grapes are grapes of gall, they have clusters of bitterness. Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel gall of asps (Deuteronomy 32:32, 33).

"Vine" signifies the church, and this is said to be "of the vine of Sodom and of the fields of Gomorrah" because "Sodom" signifies all evils springing from the love of self, and "Gomorrah" all the falsities of those evils; "grapes" signify the goods of the church, and "clusters" the truths of the church. That instead of the goods of the church they had the worst evils and falsities mingled with truths is signified by "their grapes are grapes of gall, they have clusters of bitterness;" "wine" signifies the truth and good of faith; that this with them was external, in which was evil from the interior, is signified by "their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel gall of asps." (That the sons of Jacob were such, although there was a church among them, may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 248.)

[8] That "gall" and "wormwood" signify evil and falsity mingled with good and truth, is further evident from these words in Moses:

Lest there be among you man or woman, or family or tribe, whose heart looketh back this day from with Jehovah our God, to go to serve the gods of the nations; lest there be among you a root bearing gall and wormwood (Deuteronomy 29:18).

Here, too, "gall" and "wormwood" signify the mingling of good and truth with evil and falsity, which is done when other gods are worshiped with the heart, and Jehovah only with the lips; then the external sounds like good and appears like truth, but the internal is evil and falsity; and when the interiors are evils and falsities, and the exteriors are goods and truths, there is a mingling of the two, and then the good becomes gall, and the truth becomes wormwood. It is similar when man in his heart hates the neighbor and denies the truths of the church, and yet outwardly avows charity towards the neighbor and professes the truths of the church; there is then in him "a root bearing gall and wormwood," for he lets in evils and falsities from the interior, and mixes them with the goods and truths that he displays in the externals.

[9] In Job:

Though evil shall have been sweet in his mouth, though he shall have hidden it under his tongue; though he shall have spared it and not forsaken it but shall keep it within his mouth, his bread in his bowels shall be changed, it shall be the gall of asps in the midst of him; he hath swallowed riches and he shall vomit them up again, God shall cast them out of his belly. He shall suck the poison of asps, the viper's tongue shall slay him (Job 20:12-16).

Thus is described the hypocrisy from which man speaks things holy and stimulates good affections, while inwardly he denies and blasphemes. What is within is described by "he hides evil under his tongue, and keeps it within his mouth." That consequently good is infected with evil and is cast out, is signified by "his bread in his bowels shall be changed, it shall be the gall of asps in the midst;" "bread" meaning the good of love, "in the bowels" is inwardly, and "the gall of asps" means good mingled with evil. That truth also is cast out by falsity is signified by "he hath swallowed riches and he shall vomit them up again, God shall cast them out of his belly;" this falsity is meant by "the poison of asps."

[10] It is to be known that good and evil, and the truth of good and the falsity of evil, are mingled when evil and falsity are in man's spirit while good and truth are in the deeds and speech of his body. But what is in the spirit of man, that is, what is interior, acts into that which belongs to the body or what is exterior; for it flows in and causes the exterior, which appears to be good and true, nevertheless to be bitter like gall and wormwood, although before men it seems to be sweet. And because the good and truth of their mouth and speech are such, therefore when man after death becomes a spirit the good is separated from the evil and the falsity from the truth, and good and truth are taken away, and thus the spirit becomes his own evil and falsity. But it must be known that this mingling of good and evil and of truth and falsity is not the profanation of good and truth; profanation occurs only with those who have first received truth and good in heart and faith, and afterwards in heart and faith deny them.