10049. 'And wash the intestines' means purification of the lowest things. This is clear from the meaning of 'washing' as purifying, dealt with in 3147, 5954(end), 9088 (the purification that was represented by washing is a purification from evils and falsities, for these are what dirt is in the spiritual sense); and from the meaning of 'the intestines' as lowest things, dealt with above in 10030. The reason why it says that the intestines and legs had to be washed is that lowest things and natural things are meant by them, and lowest and natural things are sullied by evils and falsities, more so than interior ones. For they are based in the world, and the things of the senses - the lowest of all - stand exposed to the world and are therefore in direct receipt of influences from the world. Those influences enter them as the delights of self-love and love of the world, along with the delights of the senses and the illusions of the senses. But this is not so with interior things, for these are not based in the world but in heaven. Furthermore the things of the world cannot pass into those of heaven, for there is no such thing as physical influx; but the things of heaven can pass into those of the world present with a person. Therefore as soon as the external man wishes to enter the internal, which is done by means of reasonings that are products of self-love and love of the world, and products of the illusions of the senses, the internal man is closed; the Lord sees to this. Therefore when a person is being regenerated the purification of the internal man is effected in heaven by the Lord, with the consequence that while in the world the person does not see what is being accomplished in his internal man. These things are the ones that should be understood by the Lord's words in John,

The spirit breathes where it wishes, and you hear its voice; but you do not know where it comes from and where it goes away to. So is everyone who is born from the spirit. John 3:8.

'The spirit' is the life of charity through faith.

4280. In that lower sense the words 'he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh' mean where conjugial love is joined to natural good. This is clear from the meaning of 'the hollow of the thigh' as the place where conjugial love is linked to it, see above in 4277. The reason why the place where it is linked to natural good is meant is that it is the place where the thigh is joined to the feet. 'The feet' in the internal sense means natural good, see 2162, 3147, 3761, 3986.

[2] As regards 'the thigh' meaning conjugial love and 'the feet' natural good, that is one of those realities known in the past which have grown old and died. The Ancient Church, which existed in an age of representatives and meaningful signs, was extremely well acquainted with these meanings, such knowledge of them constituting their intelligence and wisdom. Indeed it constituted the intelligence and wisdom not only of those who belonged to the Church but also of those outside the Church, as becomes clear from the oldest books written by gentiles and from the stories in them which are nowadays called myths - for meaningful signs and representatives spread from the Ancient Church to those gentiles. With these also 'the thighs and loins' meant that which belonged to marriage, and 'the feet' things that were natural. The origin of this meaning of 'the thighs and the feet' lies in the correspondences of all the members, organs, and viscera of the human being with the Grand Man, which - that is to say, such correspondences - are being dealt with now at the ends of chapters. The correspondences with the thigh and the feet will be discussed again further on, where actual experience will be used to corroborate that their meaning is as indicated above.

[3] These things are bound to seem like enigmas at the present day because, as has been stated, that knowledge has grown very old indeed and died. Yet how far that knowledge excels other types of knowledge becomes clear from the consideration that the internal sense of the Word cannot possibly be known without that knowledge, as well as for the reason that the angels present with man perceive the Word according to that sense. It becomes clear also from the consideration that by means of that knowledge man is provided with communication with heaven. And what is unbelievable, the internal man himself does not think in any other way; for when the external man understands the Word according to the letter the internal man does so according to the internal sense, though while living in the body a person is not at all conscious of doing so. This becomes particularly clear from the fact that when anyone enters the next life and becomes an angel he has no need to learn the internal sense but knows it instinctively, so to speak.

[4] What conjugial love is which is meant by 'the thighs' and also by 'the loins', see 995, 1123, 2727-2759; and conjugial love is the basic love of all loves, 686, 3021. Consequently people who have genuine conjugial love in them also have celestial love, which is love to the Lord, and spiritual love, which is charity towards the neighbour. For this reason the expression 'conjugial love' is used to mean not only that love itself but also all celestial and spiritual love. These kinds of love are said to be joined to natural good when the internal man is joined to the external, that is, the spiritual man to the natural - that joining together of them being meant by 'the hollow of the thigh'. The fact that with Jacob and his descendants in general no such conjunction existed will be evident from what follows, for this is the subject dealt with here in the internal historical sense.