9306. Take heed of his face. That this signifies holy fear, is evident from the signification of “taking heed of the face,” when said of the Lord, who is here meant by “the angel,” as being to be afraid lest He be angry on account of evils, or lest He be provoked on account of transgressions; as follows. To fear these things is holy fear (concerning which see above, n. 2826, 3718, 3719, 5459, 5534, 7280, 7788, 8816, 8925). It is said “take heed of his face,” because by the “face” is signified the interior things that belong to the life, thus those of the thought and affection, and especially those of the faith and the love. The reason is that the face has been formed according to the image of man’s interior things, in order that those which are of the internal man may appear in the external man; thus that those which are of the spiritual world may appear before the sight in the natural world, and so affect the neighbor. That the face exhibits in a visible form, or as it were in a mirror, the things which the man thinks and loves, is known. (That such are the faces of the sincere, and especially of angels, see n. 1999, 2434, 3527, 3573, 4066, 4326, 4796-4799, 5102, 5695, 6604, 8248-8250.)

Wherefore in the original tongue “the face” is a general term employed to describe the affections which exist and appear in a man, such as gratitude, favor, benevolence, help, kindness; and also as unmercifulness, anger, revenge; consequently in that tongue “the face,” taken with what it is joined to, means “near to,” “with,” “before,” “for the sake of,” and also “against;” thus whatever is in oneself, from oneself, for oneself, and against oneself; for as before said, the face is the man himself, or that which is in the man and shows itself.

[2] From all this it can be known what is signified by the “face of Jehovah,” or by the “face of the angel,” by whom is here signified the Lord as to His Divine Human; namely, the Divine good of the Divine love, and the Divine truth from this Divine good; for these are in Jehovah or the Lord, and they are from Him; nay, they are Himself (n. 222, 223, 5585). From this it is evident what is signified by the “faces of Jehovah” in the benediction:

Jehovah make His faces to shine upon thee, and be merciful unto thee; Jehovah lift up His faces unto thee, and give thee peace (Numbers 6:25-26).

God be merciful unto us, and bless us, and cause His faces to shine upon us (Psalms 67:1).

In like manner in Psalms 80:3, 7, (Psalms 80:7)19; 119:135; Daniel 19:17 and elsewhere.

[3] Hence it is that the Lord as to the Divine Human is called “the angel of the faces of Jehovah” in Isaiah:

I will make mention of the mercies of Jehovah. He will recompense them according to His mercies, and according to the multitude of His mercies; and He became their Savior; and the angel of His faces saved them, because of His love, and because of His pity (Isaiah 63:7-9).

That the Lord as to the Divine Human is called “the angel of the faces of Jehovah” is because the Divine Human is the Divine Itself in face, that is, in form, as the Lord also teaches in John:

If ye had known Me, ye had known My Father also; and from henceforth ye have known Him, and have seen Him. Philip said, Show us the Father. Jesus said unto him, Am I so long time with you, and hast thou not known Me, Philip? He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father. I am in the Father, and the Father in Me. Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me (John 14:7-11).

[4] By “the face of Jehovah” or the Lord is also signified anger, vengeance, punishment, and evil, for the reason that from the common idea that all things are from God the simple believe that evil also is from Him, especially the evil of punishment; and therefore in accordance with this common idea, and also according to the appearance, anger, vengeance, punishment, and evil are attributed to Jehovah or the Lord; when yet these are not from the Lord, but from man (on which subject see n. 1861, 2447, 5798, 6071, 6832, 6991, 6997, 7533, 7632, 7877, 7926, 8197, 8227, 8228, 8282, 8483, 8632, 8875, 9128). Such is the signification here of “take heed of his face, provoke him not, for he will not endure your transgression.” And also in Leviticus:

Whosoever shall eat any blood, I will set My faces against the soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from the midst of his people (Leviticus 17:10).

I have set my faces against the city for evil, and not for good (Jeremiah 21:10).

The face of Jehovah is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth (Psalms 34:16).

3527. And I am a smooth man. That this signifies the quality of natural truth relatively, is evident from the representation of Jacob who is here speaking, as being the natural as to truth (see n. 3305); and from the signification of a “smooth man,” as being its quality, concerning which something shall now be said. Before it can be known what these things signify, it must be known what is meant by “hairy,” and what by “smooth.” The interiors in man present themselves in a kind of image in his exteriors, especially in his face and its expression; at the present day his inmosts are not seen there, but his interiors are in some measure seen there, unless from infancy he has learned to dissemble, for in this case he assumes to himself as it were another lower mind, and consequently induces on himself another countenance; for it is the lower mind that appears in the face. More than others, hypocrites have acquired this from actual life, thus from habit; and this the more in proportion as they are deceitful. With those who are not hypocrites, rational good appears in the face from a certain fire of life; and rational truth from the light of this fire. Man knows these things from a certain connate knowledge, without study; for it is the life of his spirit as to good and as to truth which thus manifests itself; and because man is a spirit clothed with a body, he has such knowledge from the perception of his spirit, thus from himself; and this is the reason why a man is sometimes affected with the countenance of another; although this is not from the countenance, but from the mind which thus shines forth. But the natural appears in the face in a more obscure fire of life, and a more obscure light of life; and the corporeal hardly appears at all except in the warmth and fairness of the complexion, and in the change of their states according to the affections.

[2] Because the interiors thus manifest themselves in especial in the face, as in an image, the most ancient people who were celestial men and utterly ignorant of dissimulation, much more of hypocrisy and deceit, were able to see the minds of one another conspicuous in the face as in a form; and therefore by the “face” were signified the things of the will and of the understanding; that is, interior rational things as to good and truth (n. 358, 1999, 2434); and in fact interior things as to good by the blood and its redness; and interior things as to truths by the resultant form and its fairness; but interior natural things by the outgrowths thence, such as the hairs and the scales of the skin, namely, the things from the natural as to good by the hairs, and the things from the natural as to truth by the scales. Consequently they who were in natural good were called “hairy men,” but they who were in natural truth, “smooth men.” From these considerations it may be seen what is signified in the internal sense by the words, “Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man,” namely, the quality relatively to one another of natural good and natural truth. From all this it is evident what Esau represents, namely, the good of the natural, for he was called “Esau” from being hairy (Genesis 25:25), and “Edom” from being ruddy (Genesis 25:30). Mount Seir, where he dwelt, has the same meaning, namely, what is hairy; and because it had this meaning there was a mountain by which they went up to Seir that was called the bare or smooth mountain (Josh. 11:17; 12:7); which was also representative of truth ascending to good.

[3] That “hairy” is predicated of good, and thence of truth, and also in the opposite sense of evil, and thence of falsity, was shown above (n. 3301); but that “smooth” is predicated of truth, and in the opposite sense of falsity, is evident also from the following passages in the Word.

In Isaiah:

Ye that inflame yourselves with gods under every green tree; in the smooth things of the valley is thy portion (Isaiah 57:5-6

where “inflaming” is predicated of evil; and the “smooth things of the valley,” of falsity. Again:

The workman strengthens the smelter, him that smoothes with the hammer along with the beating on the anvil, ¹ saying to the joint, It is good (Isaiah 41:7); where the “workman strengthening the smelter” is predicated of evil; and “smoothing with the hammer,” of falsity.

In David:

They make thy mouth smooth as butter; when his heart approacheth his words are softer than oil (Psalms 55:21); where a “smooth or flattering mouth” is predicated of falsity; and the “heart and its soft things,” of evil. Again:

Their throat is an open sepulcher, they speak smooth things with their tongue (Psalms 5:9);

“the throat an open sepulcher” is predicated of evil; “the tongue speaking smooth things,” of falsity.

In Luke:

Every valley shall be filled up; and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places level ways (Luke 3:5); where “valley” denotes what is lowly (n. 1723, 3417); “mountain and hill,” what is lifted up (n. 1691); “the crooked become straight,” the evil of ignorance turned into good, for “length” and what belongs thereto are predicated of good (n. 1613); the “rough places made level ways,” the falsities of ignorance turned into truths. (That “way” is predicated of truth, see n. 627, 2333.)

Bilješke: