10044. Upon the head of the ram. That this signifies with the whole, is evident from the signification of “the head,” as being the whole man, thus the whole (see n. 10011). That “the head” denotes the whole is because it is the highest, and therein is the inmost of man; and from what is highest proceed all things which are beneath; as also from what is inmost proceed all things which are without, for such is the source in both these cases. The inmost with man is his will and understanding; these in their beginnings are in the head, and what thence proceed are acts, which are effects of the interior things in the body; and therefore when will and understanding are mentioned, the whole man is meant, for from these man is man. The acts of the body also have their all from the will; consequently a man is not regarded from the acts of the body, or works; but from the will in these. For this reason by “soul” in the Word is meant the whole man, and man is called a “soul,” as in Leviticus 4:27; 5:1, 4, 17; 6:2; 17:10, 15 and elsewhere.

[2] There are two things which signify the whole; namely, the highest, and the lowest. That the lowest or ultimate also signifies the whole, is because all the interior things, even from the first or highest, close in the ultimates, and are there together (n. 9828, 9836). Hence it is that the highest, through the ultimate, holds together in connection and in form all the interior things which are intermediate, so that they look to one end (n. 9828). That the ultimate also signifies the whole, is evident from many things in the Word, as that the whole man is called the “flesh” (Genesis 6:12; Numbers 16:22; 27:16; Isaiah 40:5; Zech. 2:13).

[3] As the ultimates also signify all things or the whole, therefore the hair and the beard, which are ultimate outgrowths of man, are taken for all or the whole; as also the feet and their toes; and the fingers of the hands. That the “hair” and “beard” are taken for all or the whole, is evident in Isaiah:

In that day shall the Lord shave with a razor by the king of Assyria the head, the hair of the feet, and also the beard (Isaiah 7:20);

“the king of Assyria” denotes reasoning such as is that of those who by means of it destroy things Divine (n. 1186); “to shave the head, the hair of the feet, and the beard” denotes to take away the ultimates, for when these are taken away the interior things flow asunder and perish. On this account also a priest was forbidden to shave his head (Leviticus 21:10); and also a Nazirite whose hair was called “the Naziriteship of God” (Numbers 6:1-27; n. 6437, 9407), and is also meant by “the crown of the head of the Nazirite of his brethren” (Genesis 49:25-26; Deuteronomy 33:16). Hence also it is said that “the hairs of the head are all numbered” (Matthew 10:30), by which is signified that all things and everything in man is so; also that “a hair of the head shall not perish” (Luke 21:18).

[4] That the feet also and their toes, and the fingers of the hands, signify all things and thus the whole, is evident in John:

Peter said, Lord, Thou shalt wash not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus said to him, He that is washed needeth not save to be washed as to his feet, and is wholly clean (John 13:9-10).

The “feet” denote the natural, which is the ultimate (n. 2162, 3147, 4938-4952, 9406). And in what follows in this chapter of Exodus:

Thou shalt put of the blood of the ram upon the lap of Aaron’s ear, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot (Exodus 29:20);

denoting upon each and all things signified by the “ear,” the “hand,” and the “foot.”

[5] As the highest and the lowest, or what is the same, the first and the last, alike signify all things and each, or the whole with the parts, therefore the omnipotence and omniscience of the Lord are described by His being “the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End, the Alpha and the Omega” (Revelation 1:8, 11; 21:6; 22:13; Isaiah 41:4).

[6] That all things are held together in connection, and stand together, from the First or Highest through the last or lowest, is thus described in Isaiah:

I am the First, and I am the Last. ¹ My hand hath laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand hath spanned the heaven; when I call them together, they stand together (Isaiah 48:12-13).

The “hand” and “right hand” of Jehovah, or of the Lord, denote omnipotence; “the earth of which He hath laid the foundation” denotes the ultimate or last; “the heaven which He hath stretched out” denotes that which is between the First and the Last; to “call them together that they may stand together” denotes to hold together all the interior things through the ultimate in connection and in form, so that they may look to one end. The one end to which they are to look is “He who is the First and the Last;” ¹ that He is the Lord, is evident in Isaiah:

Thus said Jehovah, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, I am the First and I am the Last ¹ (Isaiah 44:6);

“the King of Israel” denotes the Lord (John 18:37); and that the “Redeemer” is the Lord is manifest.

In Revelation:

These things saith the First and the Last, ¹ who was dead and hath lived again (Revelation 2:8).

[7] That the first holds together all things in connection through the ultimate, can be seen from the Word, and from man. The Word in ultimates is the sense of its letter, and the Word in its first is the Lord, and the Word in its interior things is its internal sense, which is perceived in the heavens, and causes those who are there to look to one end, which is the Lord (concerning this secret, see n. 9360, 9824).

[8] In regard to man: Man in ultimates is the church on earth; Man in the first is the Lord; man in the interior things is heaven, for before the Lord the church and heaven are as one man, from which heaven is called the Grand Man (treated of at the end of many chapters, see the places cited at the end of n. 10030). There is a continual connection, and an influx according to the connection, of all things from the Lord through the heavens to the church on earth. By the heavens are meant the angels who are there; by the church are meant men who are true men of the church; and by Man in the first is meant the Lord as to His Divine Human. That from the First through the last or ultimate all things are held together in connection, and stand together, is meant by the words of the Lord above quoted from Isaiah:

I am the First and I am the Last, My hand hath laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand hath spanned the heaven; when I call them together, they stand together (Isaiah 48:12-13).

(That by “the earth” in the Word is meant the church, has also been abundantly shown, see the places cited in n. 9325.)

[9] An idea of this subject can be had from the ultimate and the inmost with man. His ultimate is the skin, his inmost is the heart, his intermediates or interior things are the viscera. From the heart even to the skin through the viscera there is a continuous connection by means of the blood-vessels, for these proceed from the heart, and terminate in the skin. That the skin is the ultimate that holds together the interior things in connection is plain, for when the skin is taken away the interior things flow asunder. From all this it can be seen whence it is that as the highest or inmost signifies each and all things, so also does the lowest or ultimate.

[10] From all this also is laid open the secret why the Lord glorified His Human even as to its ultimates. The ultimates are called bones and flesh, and therefore the Lord said to His disciples, who supposed that they saw a spirit:

Behold My hands and My feet that it is I Myself; feel Me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have (Luke 24:37, 39).

That the Divine Itself was the First in Him, is known, for He was conceived of Jehovah, and that which is conceived of the father is the first of man; that the Lord glorified even the ultimates of His Human is plain from His words above, and also from the fact that He left nothing of His Human in the sepulchre. (That the interior things close and rest in the ultimates, and are there together, and that the ultimates hold together the interior things in connection, even in spiritual things, see n. 9216, 9828; that therefore strength and power are in ultimates, n. 9836; and that therefore holiness is in ultimates, n. 9824; and that in ultimates revelations are made and answers given, n. 9905.)

Footnotes:

3579. And God shall give thee of the dew of heaven. That this signifies from Divine truth, and that “of the fat things of the earth” signifies from Divine good, is evident from the signification of the “dew of heaven,” as being truth (of which in what follows); and from the signification of “fat things,” as being good (n. 353), both Divine in the supreme sense, in which they are predicated of the Lord. With the multiplication of truth and fructification of good the case is this: When the rational flows into the natural, it there presents its good in a general form; through this good it produces truths therein, almost as the life in man builds up fibers, and disposes them into forms according to uses. This good, through these truths disposed into heavenly order, produces further good; and through this good further truths, which are derivations. Such a natural idea may be had of the formation of truth from good, and further of good through truth, whereby again truth is formed; but a spiritual idea cannot be had except by those who are in the other life, for there ideas are formed from the light of heaven, in which is intelligence.

[2] That “dew” signifies truth is evident also from the Word elsewhere, as in Zechariah:

The seed of peace, the vine shall give her fruit and the earth shall give her produce, and the heavens shall give their dew (Zechariah 8:12);

speaking of a new church, where the “vine giving its fruit” denotes the spiritual of the church or the truth of faith, giving good; and the “earth giving its produce,” the celestial of the church or the good of charity, giving truth; these are the “dew which the heavens shall give.”

In Haggai:

Because of Mine house that lieth waste over you the heavens are closed from dew, and the earth is closed from her produce (Haggai 1:9-10); where the “dew of the heavens and the produce of the earth,” which were restrained, have a like signification.

[3] In David:

From the womb of the dawning, thou hast the dew of thy birth (Psalms 110:3); concerning the Lord; the “dew of birth” denoting the celestial of love.

In Moses:

Blessed of Jehovah be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep lying beneath (Deuteronomy 33:13); concerning Joseph; the “precious things of heaven” are spiritual things (n. 3166), which are signified by “dew;” the “deep lying beneath” signifies natural things. Again:

Israel dwelt securely, alone at the fountain of Jacob, in a land of corn and new wine, yea his heavens dropped down dew (Deuteronomy 33:28); where also the “dew which the heavens dropped” denotes the spiritual things which are of truth.

[4] In the genuine sense “dew” is the truth of good which is from a state of innocence and peace; for by “morning” or “day-dawn,” when the dew descends, are signified these states (see n. 2333, 2405, 2540, 2780); hence also the manna which was from heaven was with the dew that descended in the morning, as may be seen from Moses:

In the morning the dew was laid round about the camp; and when the laying of the dew withdrew, behold on the faces of the wilderness a small round thing, small as the hoar frost on the ground (Exodus 16:13-14). When the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it (Numbers 11:9).

As the manna was heavenly bread, in the supreme sense it signified the Lord as to the Divine good; hence with men the celestial of love, for this is from the Divine of the the Lord, (n. 276

680, 1798, 2165, 2177, 3464, 3478); the “dew” in which and with which the manna descended, in the supreme sense denotes the Divine truth; and in the relative sense, the spiritual truth with men; “morning” is the state of peace in which these goods are (n. 92, 93, 1726, 2780, 3170).

[5] Inasmuch as “dew” signifies the truth which is from good, or what is the same, the spiritual which is from the celestial, therefore also in the Word spiritual truth is compared to “dew;” for things which signify serve also for comparison with the same thing, as in Isaiah:

Thus hath Jehovah said unto me, I will be still, and I will behold in My dwelling-place; like serene heat upon light; like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest (Isaiah 18:4).

In Hosea:

O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? For your holiness is as a cloud of the dawn, and as the dew that falleth in the morning (Hosea 6:4; 13:3).

Again:

I will be as the dew unto Israel; he shall blossom as the lily, and shall fix his roots as Lebanon (Hosea 14:5).

In Micah:

The remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples as dew from Jehovah, as drops upon the herb (Micah 5:7).

In David:

Like the goodly oil upon the head that came down upon the border of Aaron’s garments; like the dew of Hermon that cometh down upon the mountains of Zion; for there Jehovah commanded the blessing of life forevermore (Psalms 133:2-3

And in Moses:

My doctrine shall drop as the rain, My word shall distil as the dew; as the small rain upon the grass; and as drops upon the herb (Deuteronomy 32:2); where “dew” denotes the multiplication of truth from good, and the fructification of good through truth; and as the dew is that which every morning renders the field and vineyard fruitful, good itself and truth are signified by “corn and new wine,” concerning which in what follows.