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:

643. But as regards the signification itself of the words: that “gopher wood” signifies concupiscences, and the “mansions” the two parts of man, is evident from the Word. Gopher wood is a wood abounding in sulphur, ¹ like the fir, and others of its kind. On account of its sulphur it is said that it signifies concupiscences, because it easily takes fire. The most ancient people compared things in man (and regarded them as having a likeness) to gold, silver, brass, iron, stone, and wood-his inmost celestial to gold, his lower celestial to brass, and what was lowest, or the corporeal therefrom, to wood. But his inmost spiritual they compared (and regarded as having a likeness) to silver, his lower spiritual to iron, and his lowest to stone. And such in the internal sense is the signification of these things when they are mentioned in the Word, as in Isaiah:

For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron; I will also make thine officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness (Isaiah 60:17).

Here the Lord’s kingdom is treated of, in which there are not such metals, but spiritual and celestial things; and that these are signified is very evident from the mention of “peace” and “righteousness.” “Gold” “brass” and “wood” here correspond to each other, and signify things celestial or of the will, as before said; and “silver” “iron” and “stone” correspond to each other, and signify things spiritual or of the understanding.

[2] In Ezekiel:

They shall make a spoil of thy riches and make a prey of thy merchandise; thy stones, and thy wood (Ezekiel 26:12).

It is very manifest that by “riches” and “merchandise” are not meant worldly riches and merchandise, but celestial and spiritual; and the same by the “stones” and “wood”—the “stones” being those things which are of the understanding, and the “wood” those which are of the will.

In Habakkuk:

The stone crieth out of the wall, and the beam out of the wood answereth (Habakkuk 2:11).

The “stone” denotes the lowest degree of the understanding; and the “wood” the lowest of the will, which “answers” when anything is drawn from sensuous knowledge [scientifico sensuali]. Again:

Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; and to the dumb stone, Arise, this shall teach. Behold it is fastened with gold and silver, and there is no breath in the midst of it. But Jehovah is in the temple of His holiness (Habakkuk 2:19-20).

Here also “wood” denotes cupidity; “stone” denotes the lowest of the understanding, and therefore to be “dumb” and to “teach” are predicated of it; “there is no breath in the midst of it” signifies that it represents nothing celestial and spiritual, just as a temple wherein are stone and wood, and these bound together with gold and silver, is to those who think nothing of what they represent.

[3] In Jeremiah:

We drink our waters for silver; our wood cometh for price (Lamentations 5:4).

Here “waters” and “silver” signify the things of the understanding; and “wood” those of the will. Again:

Saying to wood, Thou art my father; and to the stone, Thou hast brought us forth (Jeremiah 2:27).

Here “wood” denotes cupidity, which is of the will, whence is the conception; and “stone” the sensuous knowledge [scientifico sensuali], from which is the “bringing forth.” Hence, in different places in the Prophets, “serving wood and stone” is put for worshiping graven images of wood and stone, by which is signified that they served cupidities and phantasies; and also “committing adultery with wood and stone” as in Jeremiah 3:9.

In Hosea:

My people inquire of their wood, and the staff thereof declareth unto them; because the spirit of whoredoms hath led them away (Hosea 4:12), meaning that they make inquiry of graven images of wood, or of cupidities.

[4] In Isaiah:

Topheth is prepared from yesterday, the pile thereof is fire and mulch wood, the breath of Jehovah is like a stream of burning sulphur (Isaiah 30:33).

Here “fire” “sulphur” and “wood” stand for foul cupidities. In general, “wood” signifies the things of the will which are lowest; the precious woods, such as cedar and the like, those which are good, as for example the cedar wood in the temple, and the cedar wood employed in the cleansing of leprosy (Leviticus 14:4, 6-7); also the wood cast into the bitter waters at Marah, whereby the waters became sweet (Exodus 15:25), concerning which, of the Lord’s Divine mercy in those places. But woods that were not precious, and those which were made into graven images, as well as those used for funeral piles and the like, signify cupidities; as in this place does the gopher wood, on account of its sulphur. So in Isaiah:

The day of vengeance of Jehovah; the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into sulphur, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch (Isaiah 34:9).

“Pitch” stands for dreadful phantasies; “sulphur” for abominable cupidities.

Footnotes: