354. Come and see. That this signifies attention and perception, is clear from the signification of coming when anything is made visible, as denoting to attend; for by coming, in the spiritual sense, is meant to draw near with the sight, thus to attend; all attention also is from the presence of the sight in the object; and from the signification of beholding, as denoting perception, for by seeing in the Word is signified to understand (as may be seen above, n. 11, 260); here to perceive, because out of the inmost heaven; for what comes out of the inmost heaven, is perceived; but what comes out of the middle heaven, is understood. The reason is, that the inmost heaven is in the good of love, but the middle heaven is in the truths therefrom, and all perception is from good, and all understanding from truths. (Concerning this fact see above, n. 307; what perception is may be seen in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 140.)

259. 'The heel' is used to mean the lowest part of the natural, which is the bodily. This cannot be known unless one knows how the most ancient people looked on the things that are in man. Celestial and spiritual things within him they associated with the head and face. The things that sprang from these, such as charity and mercy, they associated with the breast. Natural things however they associated with the foot, lower natural things with the sole of the foot, and the lowest natural and bodily with the heel. Not only did they associate things within man with parts of the body, they also called them such. The lowest things of reason, namely facts, were also meant by what Jacob prophesied concerning Dan,

Dan will be a serpent on the road, an asp on the path, biting the horse's heels; and its rider falls backwards. Genesis 49:17.

And the statement in David,

The iniquity of my heels has surrounded me. Psalms 49:5.

A similar statement is made in reference to Jacob whose hand, as he was being born, was grasping Esau's heel, which was why he was called Jacob, Genesis 25:26. The name Jacob derives from the word for a heel, for the Jewish Church, meant by Jacob, was to bruise the heel.

[2] The serpent is capable of harming only the lowest natural things in man, but not, unless they are types of vipers, the interior natural, still less the spiritual, and least of all the celestial. These the Lord preserves, and stores away in man without his awareness. The things which the Lord stores away are in the Word called 'remnants'. But how the serpent through sensory-mindedness and self-love destroyed those lowest things with people before the Flood; how it destroyed them with the Jews by means of sensory judgements, traditions, and things of no importance, as well as by self-love and love of the world; and how today it is destroying them and has destroyed them by means of sensory judgements, material facts, and philosophical arguments, along with the same self-love and love of the world, will in the Lord's Divine mercy be discussed later on.