4462. To give our sister to a man that hath a foreskin. That this signifies unless they made the truth and good of the church to consist in representatives, and would recede from the things which these signify, is evident from the signification of the “foreskin,” as being an external representative-a sign that they were of the church; and therefore it was usual to speak of circumcision and the foreskin when a distinction was to be made between those who were of the church and those who were not. For “circumcision” signifies recession from filthy loves, namely, from the love of self and of the world, and accession to heavenly loves, which are love to the Lord and love toward the neighbor, thus accession to the church. Hence it is that by these words is signified accession to their religiosity, and consequently that like them they should make the truth and good of the church consist in representatives by receding from the internal things which are signified, for otherwise they would not be like them, according to the words that follow: “In this will we consent to you, if ye be as we.” (That circumcision is a sign of purification from filthy loves, see n. 2039, 2632; and that they who are in these loves were called “uncircumcised,” n. 2049, 3412, 3413.)

[2] Scarcely anyone at this day knows what is the specific signification of circumcision, and therefore this must be told. The genitals in both sexes signify the things which belong to the conjunction of good and truth; nor do they merely signify these things, but also actually correspond to them. It has been shown at the end of the chapters that all man’s organs and members have a correspondence with spiritual things in heaven, and consequently so have the organs and members allotted to generation. These correspond to the marriage of good and truth; and from this marriage descends conjugial love (see n. 2618, 2727-2729, 2803, 3132, 4434). As the foreskin covers the genital, in the Most Ancient Church it corresponded to the obscuration of good and truth, but in the Ancient Church to their defilement. For with the man of the Most Ancient Church, who was an internal man, good and truth could be obscured but not defiled; whereas with the man of the Ancient Church, being a comparatively external man, good and truth could be defiled, because it is external things—that is, external loves—which defile. For this reason they who were of the Most Ancient Church knew nothing of circumcision, but only they who were of the Ancient Church.

[3] From this church circumcision spread to many nations; and it was not enjoined upon Abraham and his descendants as anything new, but merely as a discontinued rite that was to be restored; and it became to his posterity a sign that they were of the church. But that nation neither knew nor desired to know what this rite signified, for they made their religiosity consist in mere representatives, which are external matters, and therefore they included all the uncircumcised in one general condemnation, although circumcision was only a sign representative of purification from the love of self and of the world. Those who are purified from this love are the spiritually circumcised, and are said to be “circumcised in heart,” as in Moses:

Jehovah thy God will circumcise thy heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love Jehovah thy God in all thy heart, and in all thy soul (Deuteronomy 30:6).

In the same:

Ye shall circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and shall no longer harden your neck (Deuteronomy 10:16).

And in Jeremiah:

Break up your fallow ground, and take away the foreskin of your heart (Jeremiah 4:3-4).

[4] But they who are in the loves of self and of the world are called “the uncircumcised,” in spite of the fact that they had been circumcised; as in Jeremiah:

Behold the days come in which I will visit upon everyone that is circumcised in the foreskin, upon Egypt, and upon Judah, and upon Edom, and upon the sons of Ammon, and upon Moab, and upon all that are cut off at the corner, that dwell in the wilderness; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart (Jeremiah 9:25-26);

this passage shows that many other nations were circumcised, for it is said, “I will visit upon everyone that is circumcised in the foreskin,” so that as already stated this was not a new rite, or restricted to the descendants of Jacob as a mark of distinction. The Philistines were not circumcised, and therefore it is they who are usually meant by “the uncircumcised” (1 Samuel 14:6; 17:26, 36; 31:4; 2 Samuel 1:20, and in other places).

2039. That every male be circumcised. That this signifies purity, is evident from the representation and derivative signification in the internal sense of “circumcising.” Circumcision, or the cutting off of the foreskin, signified the removal and wiping away of those things that were impeding and defiling celestial love, and which are the evils of cupidities (especially the evils of the cupidities of the love of self) and the derivative falsities. The reason of this signification is that the organs of generation, in both sexes, represent celestial love. There are loves of three kinds that constitute the celestial things of the Lord’s kingdom, namely, conjugial love, love for infants, and the love for society, or mutual love. Conjugial love is the principal love of all, because it has within it the end of greatest use, namely, the propagation of the human race, and thereby of the Lord’s kingdom, of which it is the seminary. Love toward infants follows next, being derived from conjugial love; and then comes the love for society, or mutual love. Whatever covers up, obstructs, and defiles these loves, is signified by the foreskin; and the cutting off of this, or circumcision, was therefore made representative; for insofar as the evils of cupidities, and the falsities derived from them are removed, insofar the man is purified; and insofar celestial love can appear. How contrary to celestial love, and how filthy, is the love of self, has been stated and shown above (n. 760, 1307, 1308, 1321, 1594, 2045, 2057). From what has now been said, it is clear that in the internal sense “circumcision” signifies purity.

[2] That circumcision is only a sign of covenant, or of conjunction, may be plainly seen from considering that the circumcision of the foreskin amounts to nothing at all without the circumcision of the heart; and that it is the circumcision of the heart, or purification from the filthy loves above referred to that is signified by it, as is plainly evident from the following passages in the Word.

In Moses:

Jehovah thy God will circumcise thy heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love Jehovah thy God in thy whole heart, and in thy whole soul, that thou mayest live (Deuteronomy 30:6);

from which it is evident that to “circumcise the heart” is to be purified from filthy loves, in order that Jehovah God, or the Lord, may be loved with all the heart and with all the soul.

[3] In Jeremiah:

Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns; circumcise yourselves unto Jehovah, and take away the foreskin of your heart, O man of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 4:3-4);

to “circumcise one’s self to Jehovah, and remove the foreskin of the heart,” is to remove such things as obstruct heavenly love; all which shows that the circumcision of the heart is an interior thing that is signified by the circumcision of the foreskin.

In Moses:

Ye shall circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and shall no longer harden your neck, doing the judgment of the orphan and the widow, and loving the stranger to give him bread and raiment (Deuteronomy 10:16, 18); where also it is clear that to “circumcise the foreskin of the heart” is to be purified from the evils of filthy loves and from the falsities derived from them. The celestial things of love are described by these works of charity, namely, “doing the judgment of the orphan and the widow,” and “loving the stranger to give him bread and raiment.”

[4] In Jeremiah:

Behold, the days come in which I will visit upon everyone that is circumcised in the foreskin, upon Egypt, and upon Judah, and upon Edom, and upon the sons of Ammon, and upon Moab, and upon all that are cut off at the corner, that dwell in the wilderness; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart (Jeremiah 9:25-26); where it is evident that circumcision is significative of purification, for they are called the “circumcised in the foreskin,” but still are reckoned among the uncircumcised nations, as are even the Jews; and Israel is said to be “uncircumcised in heart.” And it is the same in Moses:

If then their uncircumcised heart be humbled (Leviticus 26:41).

[5] That by the “foreskin” and by “one that is uncircumcised” is signified uncleanness, is evident in Isaiah:

Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion; put on the garments of thy beauty, O Jerusalem, the city of holiness; for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean (Isaiah 52:1).

By “Zion” is meant the celestial church, and by “Jerusalem” the spiritual church, into which what is “uncircumcised,” that is, the “unclean,” shall not enter.

[6] That circumcision is a sign of a covenant, or a token of conjunction, is clearly evident from the fact that the like was represented by means of the fruits of trees, which also were to be circumcised, concerning which in Moses:

When ye shall have come into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees of food, ye shall circumcise the foreskin thereof, its fruit; three years shall they be unto you as uncircumcised, it shall not be eaten; and in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be holiness for praises unto Jehovah (Leviticus 19:23-24);

“fruits,” like the “heart,” represent and signify charity, as may be seen from many passages in the Word; and thus their “foreskin” signifies the uncleanness which obstructs and contaminates charity.

[7] Wonderful to say, when the angels who are in heaven have the idea of purification from natural defilements, with the utmost rapidity there is represented in the world of spirits something like circumcision; for the angelic ideas pass over into representatives in the world of spirits. In the Jewish Church some of the representative rites originated in this source, and some did not. Those with whom that quick circumcision was represented in the world of spirits, were in the desire to be admitted into heaven; and before they were admitted, there was this representation. This shows why Joshua was commanded to circumcise the people, when, having passed over Jordan, they were entering the land of Canaan; for the entrance of the people into the land of Canaan represented this very admission of the faithful into heaven.

[8] For this reason circumcision was commanded a second time, concerning which in Joshua:

Jehovah said unto Joshua, Make thee swords of rocks, and circumcise the sons of Israel the second time; and Joshua made him swords of rocks, and circumcised the sons of Israel at the hill of the foreskins; and Jehovah said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you; and he called the name of that place Gilgal [Rolling off] (Joshua 5:2-3, 9).

The “swords of rocks” signify the truths with which they were to be imbued, in order that thereby they might castigate and disperse filthy loves; for without the knowledges of truth no purification is possible. (That a “stone” or “rock” signifies truths, has been shown before, n. 643, 1298; and that a “sword” is predicated of the truths by which evils may be castigated, is evident from the Word.)