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:

9406. And under His feet. That this signifies the ultimate sense which is the sense of the letter itself, is evident from the signification of “feet,” as being natural things (see n. 2162, 3147, 3761, 3986, 4280, 4938-4952); thus the soles, which are under the feet, denote the ultimate things of nature. That “under the feet” here denotes the ultimate sense of the Word, which is the sense of the letter, is because it is said of the Divine truth or Word, which is from the Lord, and which is the Lord, as can be seen from what goes before; and the ultimate of truth Divine, or the Word, is such as is the sense of the letter, which is natural, because for the natural man. That the sense of the letter contains within it an internal sense, which is relatively spiritual and celestial, is evident from all that has been hitherto shown about the Word. But the more worldly and bodily a man is, the less he apprehends this, because he does not suffer himself to be raised into spiritual light, and thereby to see what is the nature of the Word; namely, that in the letter it is natural, and in the internal sense spiritual; for the nature of lower things, down to ultimate ones, can be seen from the spiritual world, or from the light of heaven; but not the reverse (n. 9401); thus it can be seen that such is the Word in the letter.

[2] As the Word in the letter is natural, and by “the feet” are signified natural things, therefore the ultimate of the Word, like the ultimate of the church, is called “the place of the feet” of Jehovah, and also His “footstool,” and likewise relatively a “cloud” and “darkness;” as in Isaiah:

They shall open thy gates continually, to bring unto thee the army of the nations, and their kings shall be brought. The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir-tree, the pine-tree, and the box together; to adorn the place of My sanctuary; and I will make the place of My feet honorable (Isaiah 60:11, 13).

The subject here treated of is the Lord, and His kingdom and church. By “the army of the nations” are meant those who are in the goods of faith; and by “kings,” those who are in the truths of faith. (That “nations” denote those who are in the goods of faith, see n. 1259, 1328, 1416, 1849, 4574, 6005; and that “kings” denote those who are in truths, n. 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068, 6148). “The glory of Lebanon,” or the cedar, denotes spiritual good and truth; “the fir-tree, the pine-tree, and the box,” denote the natural goods and truths that correspond; “the place of the sanctuary” denotes heaven and the church, and also the Word; “the place of the feet” denotes heaven, the church, and also the Word, in ultimates. The reason why the Word also is here signified, is that heaven is heaven from the Divine truth that proceeds from the Lord; in like manner the church; and the Divine truth which makes the church and heaven is the Word. Consequently also the inmost of the tent, where was the ark containing the law, is called “the sanctuary,” for the law is the Word (n. 6752).

[3] Again:

The heavens are My throne, and the earth is My footstool (Isaiah 66:1).

Exalt ye Jehovah our God, and adore ye toward His footstool; holy is He. Moses and Aaron among His priests. He spoke unto them in the pillar of cloud (Psalms 99:5-7).

“The footstool of Jehovah toward which they were to adore” denotes Divine truth in ultimates, thus the Word. That in the representative sense “Moses and Aaron” denote the Word, see n. 7089, 7382, 9373, 9374; and that a “cloud” denotes the Word in the letter, or Divine truth in ultimates, see the preface to Genesis 18 n. 4060, 4391, 5922, 6343, 6752, 8106, 8781; from which it is plain what is meant by “speaking in the pillar of cloud.”

[4] Again:

We heard of Him in Ephrathah; we found Him in the fields of the forest. We will enter into His tabernacles; we will bow down ourselves at His footstool (Psalms 132:6-7).

The subject here treated of is the Lord and the revelation of Himself in the Word; “to find Him in Ephrathah” denotes to do so in the spiritual celestial sense of the Word (n. 4585, 4594); “in the fields of the forest” denotes in the natural or literal sense of the Word (n. 3220, 9011); “the footstool” denotes the Divine truth that proceeds from the Lord, in ultimates.

[5] Again:

Jehovah bowed the heaven, and thick darkness was under His feet. He made darkness His hiding place, darkness of waters, clouds of the heavens. At the brightness before Him His clouds passed (Psalms 18:9, 11-12).

The subject here treated of is the coming and presence of the Lord in the Word; “thick darkness under His feet” denotes the sense of the letter of the Word; in like manner “darkness of waters and clouds of the heavens.” That nevertheless the Divine truth, such as it is in the heavens, is in this sense is signified by “making darkness His hiding place;” and that at the presence of the Lord the internal sense appears in its glory, such as it is in heaven, is signified by “His clouds passing at the brightness before Him.”

In Nahum:

The way of Jehovah is in the storm and tempest, and the clouds are the dust of His feet (Nah. 1:3); where also “the clouds” denote the Word in the sense of the letter, which also is “the storm and tempest in which is the way of Jehovah.”

[6] When truth Divine, such as it is in heaven, shines through with a man from the very sense of the letter, then this sense is described by “feet whose brightness is like that of burnished brass”; as also in Daniel:

I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and behold a man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with gold of Uphaz. His body also was like a beryl, and His face as the face of lightning, and His eyes as torches of fire, His arms and His feet like the shining of burnished brass, and the voice of His words like the voice of a crowd (Daniel 10:5-6); where by “a man clothed in linen” is meant in the supreme sense the Lord, and because the Lord is meant, the Divine truth that is from Him is also meant, for the Divine truth that is from the Lord is the Lord Himself in heaven and in the church; truth Divine, or the Lord in ultimates, is meant by “arms and feet like the shining of burnished brass;” and also by “the voice of his words like the voice of a crowd.” In like manner in Ezekiel 1:7.

[7] The successive states of the church on this earth in respect to the reception of the truth Divine that proceeds from the Lord are also meant by the image seen by Nebuchadnezzar; in Daniel:

The head of the image was gold, his breast and his arms silver, his belly and thighs brass, his legs iron, his feet part iron and part clay, which did not cohere. And a stone out of the rock broke in pieces the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold (Daniel 2:32-35, 43).

The first state of the church in respect to the reception of the truth Divine that proceeds from the Lord is the “gold,” because by “gold” is signified celestial good, which is the good of love to the the Lord, (n. 113, 1551, 1552, 5658, 8932); the second state is signified by the “silver,” which denotes spiritual good, which is the good of faith in the Lord and of charity toward the neighbor (see n. 1551, 2954, 5658, 7999); the third state is signified by the “brass,” which denotes natural good (n. 425, 1551); and the fourth state by the “iron,” which denotes natural truth (n. 425, 426); the “clay” denotes falsity which does not cohere with truth and good. That “a stone out of the rock broke in pieces the iron, the brass, the silver, and the gold” signifies that the church perishes in respect to the reception of truth from the Word, when falsity and evil are confirmed by the sense of the letter of the Word, as is the case when the church is in its last state, when it is no longer in any heavenly love, but only in worldly and bodily love. Such was the Word in respect to its reception among the Jewish nation when the Lord came into the world; and such is the Word with many at this day, insomuch that it is not even known that there is anything internal in the Word; and if it were to be said that there is, and its nature were to be told, it would not be received; when yet in the most ancient times, which were signified by “gold,” nothing else was seen in the sense of the letter of the Word than what is heavenly, almost abstractedly from the letter. From all this it can now be seen that by “the God of Israel” as seen “under His feet” is signified the Word in the ultimate sense, which is the sense of the letter.