280. And the third animal had a face like a man. That this signifies the appearance in ultimates of the Divine guardianship and providence as to wisdom, is evident from the signification of the face of a man, as denoting the affection of truth, the face signifying affection, and man signifying one who receives Divine truth; and because his Rational is therefrom, by man is signified wisdom; for man was created that he might be rational and wise, by which he is distinguished from the brute animals; this is why man in the Word signifies wisdom. The reason why man signifies the affection of truth and at the same time wisdom is that the affection of truth, and wisdom, act as one. For he who is in the spiritual affection of truth, that is, who is affected with truth, or who loves truth because it is truth, is conjoined to the Lord, because the Lord is present in His own truths, and is His own truth with man; hence a man has wisdom, and hence he is a man. Some suppose that a man is a man from his face and his body, and that by these he is distinguished from the beasts; but they are in error; a man is a man from wisdom, therefore so far as any one is wise, so far is he a man. This is why those who are wise appear in heaven and in the light of heaven as men, graceful and beautiful according to their wisdom; whereas those who are not wise (and such are those who have no spiritual affection, but merely natural affection, in which a man is when he does not love truth for its own sake but for the sake of glory, honour and gain), these, in the light of heaven, do not appear as men, but as monsters in various forms (as may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 70, 72, 73-77, 80; and what wisdom is, and what non-wisdom, may be seen in the same, n. 346-365).

[2] That by man in the Word is signified the affection of truth, and thence wisdom, is evident from the following passages, as in Isaiah:

"O Lord, how long? He said, Until the cities shall be laid waste so that they shall be without an inhabitant, and the houses so that a man shall not be in them, and the land be utterly desolate; Jehovah shall remove man, and deserts shall be multiplied in the midst of the land" (6:11, 12).

These things are not said of the laying waste of the land, that there should be no more any cities or houses therein, and that these should be without inhabitant, and without man; but they are said of the laying waste of good and truth in the church. By cities are there signified the truths of doctrine; by inhabitant is signified the good of doctrine; by houses are signified the interior things of man's mind; and by man the spiritual affection of truth and thence wisdom. This is signified by the houses being laid waste that there be no man in them; by the land which shall be utterly desolate, is signified the church; hence it is evident what is signified by removing man, and by multiplying deserts in the midst of the land; a desert signifies where there is no good because no truth.

[3] In the same:

"I will make a man (vir homo) more rare than pure gold; and a man (homo) than the gold of Ophir" (13:12).

By a man (vir homo) is signified intelligence, and by a man (homo) wisdom; and that these were about to cease is signified by its being said that they shall be made rare. Intelligence is distinguished from wisdom by this, that intelligence is the understanding of truth such as the spiritual man has, and wisdom is the understanding of truth such as the celestial man has; the understanding of the latter being from the will of good. It is therefore evident what is signified by man (vir homo), and what by man (homo), in the above passage.

[4] Again:

"The inhabitants of the earth are burned up, and few men are left" (24:6).

By the inhabitants of the earth, are signified the goods of the church, and these are said to be burned up when the loves of self and of the world begin to reign; and that in such case the spiritual affection of truth, and of wisdom thence derived, would cease is signified by few men being left.

[5] Again:

"The highways lie waste; he that traverses the way hath ceased; he hath rendered the covenant vain, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth not man" (33:8).

The devastation of the church is also here spoken of; the highways which lie waste, and he that traverses the way, who has ceased, signify that the goods and truths which lead to heaven were no more; the covenant being rendered vain, signifies that, there was no conjunction with the Lord; he hath despised the cities signifies that they spurn doctrine; he regardeth not man, signifies that they make no account of wisdom.

[6] In Jeremiah:

"I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was empty and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled" (4:23, 25).

That the earth as being empty and void is not here meant, nor the heavens as having no light, nor that there was no man upon the earth, nor that all the birds of heaven were fled, is evident; but the true import of these things can be evident only from the spiritual sense of the Word. In that sense, by the earth is signified the church; being empty and void signifies its being destitute of good and truth; by the heavens, where there is no light, are signified the interiors of man's mind, which are the receptacles of the light of heaven; the light which is not there denotes the Divine truth and wisdom therefrom: therefore it is said, "I beheld, and, lo, there was no man;" by the birds of heaven which were fled are signified the Rational and Intellectual.

[7] In the same:

"Behold the days come, saith Jehovah, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast" (31:27).

By the house of Israel and the house of Judah is signified the church as to truth and good; by the seed of man and the seed of beast are signified the spiritual affection of truth and the natural affection of the same. For when man and beast are mentioned in the Word they signify what is spiritual and what is natural, or what is internal and what is external (as may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 7424, 7523, 7872).

[8] In Zephaniah:

"I will consume man and beast, I will consume the bird of the heavens and the fish of the sea; I will cut off man from the surfaces of the earth" (1:3).

To consume man and beast, denotes the spiritual affection of truth and the natural affection of the same; to consume the bird of the heavens and the fish of the sea denotes spiritual truths and natural truths; and to cut off man from the surfaces of the earth denotes the affection of truth and wisdom.

[9] In Ezekiel:

"Ye, my flock, the flock of my pasture; ye are man, I am your God" (34:31).

The flock of the pasture signifies spiritual good and truth; the pasture denotes the reception thereof from the Lord; hence it is said, "ye are man, I am your God," man denoting the spiritual affection of truth, and wisdom.

[10] In the same:

"Behold, I am with you, and I will have respect unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown; then I will multiply man upon you, all the house of Israel, even the whole of it; and the cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be builded; I will cause man to walk upon you, even my people Israel. Thus saith the Lord Jehovih, Inasmuch as ye say, Thou art consuming man and hast bereaved thy peoples, therefore thou shalt not consume man any more," and thy sword shall not bereave any more, "the devastated cities shall be full of the flock of man" (36:9-14, 38).

The subject here treated of is the restoration of the church. By Israel is signified the spiritual church, or the church that is in spiritual good, which is the good of charity; this church is here called man from the spiritual affection of truth, which constitutes the church; wherefore it is said:

"I will multiply man upon you, all the house of Israel. I will cause man to walk upon you, even my people Israel."

By the waste cities being filled with the flock of man is signified that the doctrines of the church shall be full of spiritual truths; by the sword which shall not bereave any more is signified that falsity shall no more destroy truth.

[11] In the same prophet:

"Thy mother is a lioness; she lay down among lions, one of her whelps rose up, which learned to catch the prey, it devoured men" (19:2, 3, 6).

Mother denotes the church, in this case the church perverted; the falsity of evil destroying truth is signified by the lioness lying down among lions; by her whelp which learned to catch the prey, and which devoured men, is signified the primary falsity of their doctrine, which destroyed truths and consumed every affection thereof. These things are said concerning the princes of Israel, by whom are signified primary truths, but here, in an opposite sense, primary falsities.

[12] In Jeremiah:

"Hazor shall become a dwelling for dragons, a desolation even for an age; there shall not dwell there a man (vir), nor a son of man (homo) abide in her" (49:33).

Here the subject is the church which is in falsities, and in no truths. Hazor signifies the knowledges (cognitiones) of truth; and the knowledges (cognitiones) of falsity are signified by a dwelling for dragons; that there is consequently no truth, or doctrine of truth is signified by there shall not dwell there a man, nor a son of man abide in her; man denotes truth, and the son of man the doctrine of truth.

[13] Again, in the Apocalypse:

"He measured the wall" of the Holy Jerusalem, "an hundred and forty and four cubits, the measure of a man, that is, of an angel" (21:17).

No one can understand what is signified by the wall of the holy Jerusalem being an hundred and forty and four cubits, and by this being the measure of a man, that is, of an angel, unless he knows the signification of the holy Jerusalem, of its wall, of the number 144, also of a man, and of an angel. The holy Jerusalem signifies the church as to doctrine; wall signifies truth defending; the number 144, signifies all truths from good in the aggregate; man signifies the reception of these from affection, and an angel signifies the same; it is therefore said to be the measure of a man, that is, of an angel, measure signifying quality. From these considerations it is evident how these words are to be spiritually understood. (These things may be seen more clearly explained in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, n.1.)

[14] Because by man is signified the spiritual affection of truth, and thence wisdom, therefore by man is also signified the church, because the church with man is a church from the spiritual affection of truth and of wisdom therefrom.

From this it is evident that man in the first chapter of Genesis, signifies the church which was the first and the most ancient on this earth; this is meant by Adam, or man (homo). The establishment of that church is described in the first chapter by the creation of the heaven and the earth, its intelligence and wisdom, are signified by paradise, and its fall is described by man's eating of the tree of knowledge.

[15] But by man in the highest sense, is meant the Lord Himself, because from Him are heaven and the church, and also the spiritual affection of truth and wisdom with every one of those who constitute heaven and the church. This is why, in the highest sense, the Lord alone is man, and that others, in both the natural and the spiritual worlds, are so far man as they receive from Him truth and good, thus so far as they love the truth and live according to it. Hence also it is that the whole angelic heaven appears as one man, and also each society there; and hence also it is that the angels appear in a perfect human form (concerning these things more may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 59-67, 68-72, 73-77, 87-102).

[16] It is for this reason that the four cherubim, by which are signified the guardianship and providence of the Lord lest the higher heavens should be approached except by the good of love, were seen as men, although they had each four faces; and also that the Lord was seen above them as a man. That the four cherubim were seen as men, is evident in Ezekiel:

"This was the aspect" of the four animals, "they had the likeness of a man, but four faces to each" (1:5, 6).

Similarly the two cherubim over the mercy seat were, as to the face, like men. Again, that the Lord was seen above the cherubim as a man, is expressly affirmed by the same prophet:

"Above the expanse which was over the head" of the cherubim, "as it were the appearance of a sapphire stone, the likeness of a throne, and upon the likeness of a throne, a likeness as it were the appearance of a man upon it above" (1:26).

3540. 'And she put the skins of the kids of the she-goats' means the external truths clothing homeborn good. This is clear from the meaning of 'skins' as external things, dealt with below, and from the meaning of 'the kids of the she-goats', coming as they did from the flock bred within the homestead, as the truths which clothe homeborn good, dealt with in 3518, 3519, where it is also evident what homeborn good is and what truths from that source are. Any good whatever has its own truths, and any truths whatever have their own good. And they must be joined together - good to truths - if anything at all is to exist. The reason why 'skins' means external things is that the skin is the outer covering of an animal to which its exterior parts extend, even as the skin or the cuticles is such with a human being. The latter receives its spiritual meaning from what is representative in the next life, where there are people who belong to the province of the skin. These will in the Lord's Divine mercy be described at the ends of chapters below where the Grand Man will be presented as a separate subject. They are people in whom none but external good and the truths which go with this are present. This is why the skin, human or animal, means things that are external. The same is also evident from the Word, as in Jeremiah,

On account of the greatness of your iniquity your skirts have been uncovered, your heels have suffered violence. Can the Ethiopian change his skin and the leopard its spots? Also are you able to do good, having been taught to do evil? Jeremiah 13:22-23.

Here 'skirts' means external truths, 'heels' the lowest goods - 'the heel' and 'shoes' being the lowest natural things, see 259, 1748. And because those truths and goods, as it is said, spring from evil, they are compared to an 'Ethiopian', who was black, and his 'skin', and also to 'a leopard and its spots'.

[2] In Moses,

If you take your neighbour's clothing as a pledge you shall restore it to him before the sun goes down; for this is his only covering; it is his clothing for his skin, in which he will lie down. Exodus 22:26-27.

Inasmuch as all the laws contained in the Word, including civil and judicial ones, have a correspondence with laws in heaven concerning what is good and true, and from this correspondence came to be laid down, so it was with the law just quoted. For why else would it have ever been laid down that they were to restore clothing that had been pledged before the sun went down, and why else is it said that 'it is his clothing for his skin, in which he lies down'? The correspondence is evident from the internal sense, which is that people were not to cheat their neighbour of external truths, which are the matters of doctrine by which they conduct their lives, and also religious observances - 'clothing' meaning such truths, see 297, 1073, 2576, and 'the sun' the good of love or of life that ensues from those truths, 1529, 1530, 2441, 2495. The prevention of that good from perishing is meant by the statement about the restoration of the pledge before the sun went down. And since the things laid down in those laws are the external coverings of interior things, or the outermost aspects of these, the words 'his clothing for his skin in which he lies down' are used.

[3] Because 'skins' meant external things it was commanded that there should be for the tent a covering made of red ram skins and over that a covering of badger skins, Exodus 26:14. For the tent was representative of the three heavens, and so of the celestial and spiritual things of the Lord's kingdom. The curtains enveloping it represented natural things, which are external, 3478; and these are the ram skins and the badger skins. And since external things are those which cover internal, or natural things are those which cover spiritual and celestial, in the way that the body does the soul, that command was therefore given. It was for a like reason commanded that when the camp was on the move Aaron and his sons were to cover the ark of the testimony with the veil and were to place a badger-skin covering over it. And over the table and what was on it they were to spread a twice-dyed scarlet cloth and then cover that with a badger-skin covering. They were likewise required to place the lampstand and all its vessels under a covering made of badger skin - also all the vessels for ministering they were to place under a violet cloth, and then cover them with a badger-skin covering, Numbers 4:5-6, 8, 10-12. Anyone who thinks about the Word in a devout way may see that Divine things were represented by all these objects, such as the ark, the table, the lampstand, and the vessels for ministering, also the coverings of twice-dyed scarlet and of violet, as well as the coverings of badger skin, and that these objects represented Divine things contained within external ones.

[4] Because the prophets represented those who teach, and therefore represented teaching from the Word concerning what is good and true, 2534; and because Elijah represented the Word itself, 2762, as also did John, who for that reason is called the Elijah who is to come, Matthew 17:10-13; and in order that these might represent the nature of the Word in its external form, that is, in the letter,

Elijah wore a skin girdle around his loins. 2 Kings 1:8. And John had a garment of camel hair and a skin girdle around his waist. Matthew 3:4.

Because animal 'skin' and human 'skin' means external things, which in relation to spiritual and celestial are natural things, and because it was customary in the Ancient Church to speak and to write by means of meaningful signs, reference is also made to both types of skin, and with the same meaning, in Job, a book of the Ancient Church. This becomes clear from a number of places in that book, including the following,

I know my Redeemer; He is alive; and at the last He will rise above the dust; and afterwards these things will be encompassed by my skin, and out of my flesh shall I see God. Job 19:25-26.

'Encompassed by skin' stands for the natural as it exists with someone after he has died, dealt with in 3539. 'Out of one's flesh seeing God' is doing so from a proprium made alive. For the proprium is meant by 'flesh', see 148, 149, 780; and the Book of Job is a book of the Ancient Church, a fact which is evident, as has been stated, from its style which draws on representatives and meaningful signs. It is not however one of the books called the Law and the Prophets, the reason being that it has no internal sense in which the one subject is the Lord and His kingdom. For it is this alone that determines whether any book is a Book of the true Word.