9960. 'To cover their naked flesh' means to prevent inner desires of that love from appearing when they are foul and hellish. This is clear from the meaning of 'covering' as preventing them from appearing; and from the meaning of the genital organs and loins, which 'naked flesh' is used to mean here, as inner desires of conjugial love. For when 'undergarment' means things composing the external level of that love, 9959, 'flesh' which they cover means those on its internal levels. Conjugial love is meant by 'the loins', see 3021, 4280, 4575, also by 'the genital organs', 4462, 5050-5062, and the good of love by 'flesh', 3813, 7850, 9127; but since most things in the Word can also have a contrary meaning, so can the loins, genital organs, and flesh. In that contrary sense they mean evil, foul, and hellish desires of that love, 3813, 5059. The fact that here they mean evil, foul, and hellish desires is evident from the consideration that the words 'to cover their naked flesh' are used, 'naked flesh' here being that which is the opposite of the good of conjugial love, namely delight that is adulterous and for that reason hellish, which will be spoken of below.

[2] As regards 'nakedness', it derives its meaning from the parts of the body that appear naked, just as garments derive theirs from the parts of the body they clothe, 9827. 'Nakedness' has one meaning therefore when it applies to the head, which is baldness; another meaning when it applies to the whole body; and yet another when it applies to the loins and genital organs. When nakedness applies to the head, which is baldness, it means the deprivation of an intelligent understanding of truth and of a wise discernment of good; when it applies to the whole body it means the deprivation of truths that belong to faith; but when it applies to the loins and genital organs it means the deprivation of the good of love.

[3] 1. When nakedness applies to the head, which is baldness, it means the deprivation of an intelligent understanding of truth and of a wise discernment of good This is clear in Isaiah,

On that day the Lord by means of the king of Asshur will shave the head and the hair of the feet, and will consume the beard. Isaiah 7:20.

'Shaving the head' stands for depriving of the internal truths of the Church, 'shaving the hair of the feet and consuming the beard' for depriving of its external truths, and 'by means of the king of Asshur' for by means of reasonings based on falsities. It is evident to anyone that no head, hairs of the feet, or beard was going to be shaved by means of the king of Asshur, and that those words must have some other meaning. 'The head' means more internal things that belong to wisdom and intelligence, see 6292, 6436, 9166, 9656; 'the king of Asshur' means reasoning, 119, 1186; 'hair' means the external truth of the Church, 3301, 5247, 5569-5573; 'the feet' too means external or natural things, 2162, 3147, 3986, 4280, 4938-4952, 9406; and 'the beard' means items of knowledge on sensory levels, that is, truths on last and lowest levels, as is clear from places in the Word mentioning 'the beard'.

[4] In the same prophet,

On all heads there is baldness; every beard is shaved off. Isaiah 15:2.

Here the meaning is similar. In Jeremiah,

Baldness will come upon Gaza. How long will you cut yourself? Jeremiah 47:5.

In Ezekiel,

On all faces there will be shame, and on all heads baldness. They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will become an abomination. Ezekiel 7:18-19.

'On all heads baldness' stands for the deprivation of an intelligent understanding of truth and of a wise discernment of good. Since this is meant it also says 'they will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will become an abomination'; for 'silver' means truth that belongs to intelligence, and 'gold' good that belongs to wisdom, 1551, 5658, 6914, 6917, 8932. The fact that baldness on all heads should not be understood literally, that they would not literally throw silver into the streets, and that gold would not literally become an abomination, is self-evident.

[5] In Moses,

Moses said to Aaron, and to Eleazar and Ithamar his sons, You shall not shave your heads and you shall not rip apart the seams of your garments, lest you die and He is angry with the whole congregation. Leviticus 10:6.

And in Ezekiel,

The priests, the Levites, shall not shave their head and shall not let their hair grow long. Ezekiel 44:20.

Since Aaron and his sons represented the Lord in respect of Divine Good and in respect of Divine Truth, 9806, 9807, and since 'a shaved head' and 'garments ripped apart at the seams' meant the deprivation of that Good and Truth, they were forbidden to shave their heads or so rip apart their garments. It also says 'lest you die and He is angry with the whole congregation', meaning that as a consequence what was representative of the Lord in respect of Divine Good and in respect of Divine Truth, and so what was representative of the Church, would be destroyed.

[6] Since mourning represented spiritual mourning, which is mourning because of the deprivation of the Church's truth and good, those in mourning made themselves bald, as in Jeremiah,

They will not lament for them, nor will they make themselves bald ¹ because of them. Jeremiah 16:6.

In Amos,

I will turn your feasts into mourning, and cause baldness to come up over every head; and I will make it as the mourning for an only-begotten son. Amos 8:10.

And in Micah,

Make yourself bald, ² and shave your head for the sons of your delight; extend your baldness like an eagle, for they have departed from you. Micah 1:16.

'The sons of delight' are God's truths, and their 'departure' is the deprivation of them, 'sons' meaning truths, see 9807.

[7] 2. When nakedness applies to the whole body it means the deprivation of the truths of faith

This is clear in John,

To the angel of the Church of the Laodiceans write, Because you say, I am rich and in need of nothing - when you do not know that you are wretched and miserable, and needy, and blind, and naked - I counsel you to buy from Me gold purified in fire, and white garments that you may put on, that the shame of your nakedness may not be manifested. Revelation 3:14, 17-18.

'The angel of the Church' is God's truth there. 'Saying it is rich' means that it is in possession of cognitions or knowledge of truth and good. 'Wretched, needy, blind, and naked' means being nevertheless devoid of truths implanted in life, thus being devoid of good. 'Buying gold purified in fire' means acquiring good to itself, 'white garments' authentic truths of faith springing from good. From this it is evident what 'that the shame of nakedness may not be manifested' means.

[8] In the same book,

Behold, I am coming like a thief; blessed is he who is awake and keeps his garments, so that he may not walk naked and they see his shame. Revelation 16:15.

Here the meaning is similar. In the same book,

They will hate the prostitute, and make her devastated and naked. Revelation 17:16.

'The prostitute' stands for those who falsify God's truths. 'Making her naked' plainly stands for depriving of those truths; for the words 'devastated' and 'naked' are used, and 'devastating' means depriving of truths.

[9] Nakedness also means having no knowledge of truth and putting on clothes being taught it, in Isaiah,

When you see the naked and cover him, your light will break forth like the dawn. Isaiah 58:7-8.

And in Matthew,

The King will say to those who are on the right, I was naked and you clothed Me. And He said to those on the left, I was naked and you did not clothe Me. Matthew 25:36, 38, 43-44.

'Naked' here stands for those who have no truths and still desire truths, also those who acknowledge that no good or truth at all exists within them, see 4956, 4958.

[10] 3. When nakedness applies to the loins and genital organs it means the deprivation of the good of love

This is clear in Isaiah,

O virgin daughter of Babel, take a mill and grind flour, uncover your hair, bare your feet, uncover your thigh, pass through the rivers. Let your nakedness be uncovered, also let your reproach be seen. Isaiah 47:1-3.

'Daughter of Babel' means the Church or semblance of the Church, where holiness resides outwardly but profanity inwardly. The profanity residing inwardly is such that people have themselves and the world in mind, thus domination and abundant riches as their end in view, holy things being regarded as means to that end. 'Taking a mill and grinding flour' means producing teachings out of such matters as will serve as means to the end, 7780. 'Uncovering the hair, baring the feet, and uncovering the thigh' means prostituting without any shame or fear things that are outwardly and inwardly holy, so that 'uncovering nakedness' means causing foul and hellish things, which are the ends, to appear.

[11] In Jeremiah,

Jerusalem sinned grievously; those who honoured her despise her, because they see her nakedness, her uncleanness in her skirts. Lamentations 1:8-9.

'Jerusalem' stands for the Church, in this instance for a Church that is steeped in falsities arising from evil. 'Seeing her nakedness' stands for beholding foul and hellish loves; 'uncleanness in her skirts' stands for such loves on most external levels, 'skirts' or 'hem' meaning most external levels, see 9917. In Nahum,

I will uncover your skirts upon your face, ³ and I will show the nations your nakedness and the kingdoms your shame. Nahum 3:5.

'Uncovering skirts' stands for taking away outward things in order that more internal ones may appear. 'Nakedness' which will be shown to the nations and 'shame' to the kingdoms mean hellish kinds of love, which are self-love and love of the world, which defile the more internal things.

[12] In Ezekiel,

You reached full beauty, your breasts were formed and your hair had grown; [but] you were naked and bare. With all your abominations and your acts of whoredom you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, and were downtrodden in your blood. Your nakedness has been uncovered through your whoredoms with your lovers. Ezekiel 16:7, 22, 36.

In the same prophet,

I will give you into the hand [of those] whom you hate, that they may deal with you out of hatred; and let them leave you naked and bare, and let the nakedness of your whoredoms be uncovered. Ezekiel 23:28-29.

In Hosea,

Contend with your mother, that she may remove her whoredoms from her sight, ⁴ and her adulteries from between her breasts, lest perhaps I strip her naked, and present her as on the day she was born, and make her like a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst. I will return and take back My grain, My new wine, My wool, and My flax, which [I gave her] to cover her nakedness; and I will uncover her foulness in the eyes of her lovers. Hosea 2:2-3, 9-10.

[13] The words in the preceding as well as in this present quotation refer to Jerusalem, which is also called 'mother'; and by it the Church is meant. Its perversity is described by 'the whoredoms', 'the adulteries', and 'the uncovering of nakedness', which are nothing other than the foul and hellish kinds of love - that is, self-love and love of the world, when they are ends in view - from which all evils and derivative falsities gush out. Falsifications of truth therefore and adulterations of good are described in the Word by acts of whoredom and adultery, and are also actually called whoredoms and adulteries there, see 8904. And from this it is evident what 'nakedness' and 'uncovering of nakedness' are used to mean. Since reference is being made to the Church's truths when falsified and to its forms of good when adulterated, the verses quoted declare 'I will make her like a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst'. 'A wilderness' is that which is devoid of forms of good, 'a dry land' that which is devoid of truths, and 'thirst' the deprivation of all matters of faith.

[14] It also declares that [the Lord] would take back His grain, His new wine, His wool, and His flax, with which He had covered her nakedness, because 'grain' means the spiritual Church's more internal good, 'new wine' its more internal truth, 'wool' its more external good, and 'flax' its more external truth. All who read these things with a power of reason that is to some degree enlightened, who believe that no expression used in the Word is meaningless, and that the Word is altogether holy in every part because it is Divine, can see that flax, wool, new wine, and grain are not meant literally.

[15] In Jeremiah,

O daughter of Edom, to you also the cup will pass, you will be made drunk and naked. Lamentations 4:21.

In Habakkuk,

Woe to him who gives drink to his companion, ⁵ making him drunk, and looking on their nakedness! You will be sated with shame rather than glory. Drink, you also - that your foreskin may be revealed. Habakkuk 2:15-16.

And in Ezekiel,

They have shed blood in you; they have uncovered their father's nakedness in you. Ezekiel 22:9-10.

What these statements mean no one can know unless he knows what the meaning is of 'the cup', 'drinking', 'being made drunk', 'being made naked', 'looking on their nakedness, and uncovering them', and also 'foreskin'. All these, it is self-evident, should be understood spiritually. 'Drinking' understood spiritually is receiving instruction in truths, or in the contrary sense in falsities, that is, absorbing them, 3069, 3168, 3772, 8562, 9412; and from this it is clear what 'the cup' that is drunk from means, 5120. 'Being made drunk' means becoming insane as a result, and 'being made naked' becoming completely destitute of them. 'Uncovering nakedness' means uncovering the evils of self-love and love of the world, which are hellish evils. 'Uncovering their father's nakedness' means uncovering those evils when they have a hereditary origin and are present in the will. 'Revealing the foreskin' means defiling them, 'the foreskin' meaning the defilement of heavenly forms of good by those two kinds of love, see 2056, 3412, 4462, 7045. 'Circumcision' therefore means purification from them, 2039, 2632.

[16] All this makes clear what the meaning is of Noah's drunkenness and the consequent uncovering of his nakedness, described as follows in Genesis,

Noah drank of the wine, and was drunk, and was uncovered in the middle of his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father's nakedness and pointed it out to his two brothers. And Shem and Japheth took a garment and both of them put it on a shoulder, and went backwards and covered their father's nakedness; and their faces were backwards, and they did not see their father's nakedness. Genesis 9:21-23.

This describes members of the Ancient Church, whom Noah represents. 'The wine' which he drank and which made him drunk is the falsity which that Church was at the start imbued with. His lying as a result 'uncovered in the middle of the tent' means evils owing to the lack of truth in worship. 'The garment' with which Shem and Japheth covered his nakedness is the truth of faith, by means of which those evils were covered and corrected. An implanting of the truth and good of faith in the understanding part of the mind is described by their putting a garment on a shoulder, going backwards, and turning their faces away backwards; for this is exactly how it is with the truths and forms of the good of faith present with a member of the spiritual Church. 'Shem and Japheth' means those belonging to the spiritual Church, who received the truths of faith within good, which is charity; but 'Canaan' means those who did not receive the truths of faith in good or charity.

[17] Noah represents members of the Ancient Church at the start, who were such as has been described, see 736, 773, 788, 1126.

Shem is those belonging to the internal spiritual Church, and Japheth those belonging to the external, 1062, 1127, 1140, 1141, 1150.

Canaan represented those whose faith was separated from charity, or what amounts to the same thing, whose worship was external separated from anything internal, so that in particular he represented the Jewish nation, 1093, 1140, 1141, 1167.

With members of the spiritual Church the truth and good of faith are implanted in the understanding part of the mind, 9596.

'The wine' that made Noah drunk means falsity, 6377.

'The tent' in which he lay uncovered means the holiness of worship, 2145, 2152, 3312, 4128, 4391.

'The garment' with which they covered their father's nakedness means the truth of faith, 5954, 9212, 9216.

His actual nakedness means the evil occupying the will part of his mind. That evil is covered by means of the truths of faith, and when it is being covered truths look away backwards.

The presence of such arcana, embodied in these details of the story, is evident from the internal sense. And the fact that these arcana are arcana which have to do with the Church may be seen from the consideration that Shem and Japheth simply because they covered their father's nakedness were blessed, and all their descendants too, and that Canaan was cursed and all his descendants simply because their father had pointed it out to his brothers.

[18] Because the interiors of the Jewish and Israelite nation were foul, for they were steeped in self-love and love of the world more than all the other nations, and since conjugial love is meant by 'the genital organs and loins' and this love is fundamental to and so embraces all celestial and spiritual forms of love, precautions had to be taken to prevent the nakedness of those parts of Aaron's or his sons' bodies from being in any way visible when they were engaged in holy worship. This is the reason for its being said that linen undergarments should be made for them to cover their naked flesh, from the loins even to the thighs; and in another place for the declaration that they were not to go up by steps to the altar, in order that their nakedness should not be revealed on it, Exodus 20:26.

The interiors of the Jewish and Israelite nation were foul, and when they were engaged in worship those interiors were closed off, see the places referred to in 9320 (end), 9380.

Conjugial love is meant by 'the genital organs and loins', 3021, 4280, 4462, 4575, 5050-5062.

Conjugial love is fundamental to all celestial and spiritual forms of love, and therefore these forms of love are understood as well by it, 686, 2739, 3021, 4280, 5054.

From all this it is now clear what 'nakedness' means, in particular nakedness of the bodily parts devoted to procreation, when people's interiors are foul.

[19] But when the interiors are chaste 'nakedness' means innocence. It does so because conjugial love is meant, and innocence is the indispensable element of truly conjugial love.

Truly conjugial love belongs to innocence, see 2736.

Therefore 'nakedness' in that sense means innocence, 165, 8375.

For the same reason angels of the inmost heaven, who are called celestial angels, appear naked, 165, 2306, 2736.

Since the Most Ancient Church, described in the opening chapters of Genesis and meant in the internal sense by Man or Adam and his wife, was a celestial Church, it says in Genesis 2:25 that both were naked, and they were not ashamed. But when that Church fell, which came about through eating from the tree of knowledge, by which reasoning about Divine matters that was based on factual knowledge was meant, it says that they knew that they were naked, and sewed fig leaves together for themselves and made themselves girdles, thus that they covered their nakedness. It also says that when Jehovah called to him the man said that he was afraid because he was naked, and further on that Jehovah God made for them tunics of skin and clothed them, Genesis 3:6-11, 21.

[20] By 'fig leaves' from which they made themselves girdles, and also by 'tunics of skin' truths and forms of good belonging to the external man should be understood. The reason why their state after the fall is so described is that from being internal people they became external. Their internal is meant by 'paradise', for paradise is the intelligence and wisdom of the internal man, and the closing of their internal by being cast out of paradise.

'Leaf' means natural truth, which is factual knowledge, see 885. 'Fig' means natural good or the external man's good, 217, 4231, 5113. 'Tunic of skin' too means the external man's truth and good, 294-296. 'Skin' means what is external, 3540.

2049. 'From every son who is a foreigner and not of your seed' means those outside the Church. This is clear from the meaning of 'son who is a foreigner' as those who are not born inside the Church and so are not governed by goods and truths of faith because they have no knowledge of them. 'Sons who are foreigners' also means people whose worship is external, dealt with in 1097, though in that context people inside the Church are the subject. Here however, the subject being the Lord's Church in its widest extent, 'sons who are foreigners' means those who, like gentiles, are not born inside the Church. Gentiles outside the Church can possess truths, but not the truths of faith. Their truths, like the Ten Commandments, are that parents should be honoured; that people should not murder, steal, commit adultery, or covet the things that belong to others; and also that they should worship God. Truths of faith consist however of all doctrinal teachings concerning eternal life, the Lord's kingdom, and the Lord. Such teachings cannot be known by gentiles because they do not possess the Word.

[2] These are the people who are meant by 'sons who are foreigners and not of your seed' but who are to be circumcised, that is to be purified. From this it is evident that they are just as much capable of being purified as those inside the Church, which purification was represented by being circumcised. They are purified when they cast aside filthy loves and live among one another in charity, for in their case truths have a part to play in their lives because charity and all truths go together, though such truths belong to the first of the two types mentioned above. When these truths play a part in their lives they then absorb the truths of faith with ease, if not during this life then in the next, because truths of faith are the interior truths of charity. Indeed at that point there is nothing they desire more than to be introduced into the interior truths of charity. Interior truths of charity are what constitute the Lord's kingdom. Regarding these, see 932, 1032, 1059, 1327, 1328, 1366.

[3] In the next life mere knowledge of the cognitions of faith is of no value at all, for the worst people, even those in hell, can have such knowledge, sometimes a better knowledge than others have. Leading a life in accordance with those cognitions is what matters, for all cognitions have life as their end in view. If life was not the reason for learning them they would have no use, apart from enabling people to discuss them and as a result to be considered learned in the world, to be raised to positions of importance, and to enhance reputation and wealth. From this it is clear that a life in keeping with the cognitions of faith is nothing other than the life of charity. Indeed love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour constitute the Law and the Prophets, that is, the doctrine of faith in its entirety together with all the cognitions of it, as is plain to anyone from the Lord's words in Matthew 22:35-40, and Mark 12:28-35.

[4] Matters of doctrine, or cognitions of faith, are nevertheless absolutely vital for the formation of the life of charity; it cannot be formed without them. This is the life which saves a person after death. The life of faith never exists without the life of charity, for without charity the life of faith is impossible. People in whom the life of love and charity dwells have the Lord's life within them. Nobody can be joined to Him by means of any other life. From this it is also clear that the truths of faith cannot possibly be acknowledged as truths - that is, no acknowledgement of what they are saying is possible - other than outwardly or with the lips, if they are not implanted within charity, since inwardly or at heart they are denied. For as has been stated, all truths of faith have charity as their end in view, and if charity is not present within them then inwardly they are rejected. The nature of the things that are interior is plain to see when those that are exterior are taken away, as is done in the next life, namely that they are utterly contrary to all the truths of faith. No people can possibly receive the life of charity, or mutual love, in the next life, when they have had none in this life; but their life as it has been with them in the world remains with them after death. Indeed they are averse to and hate mutual love. When merely approaching a community where the life that belongs to mutual love exists they quiver and shake, and experience torment.

[5] Although people such as these are born inside the Church, they are called 'sons who are foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in the flesh' who are not to be allowed into the sanctuary, that is, into the Lord's kingdom. They are also meant in Ezekiel,

No son who is a foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter the sanctuary. Ezekiel 44:7, 9.

And in the same prophet,

Whom have you thus become like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? You will be made to go down with the trees of Eden into the nether world; you will lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with those slain by the sword. Ezekiel 31:18.

This refers to Pharaoh who means types of knowledge in general, 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462. 'The trees of Eden' with which they were to go down into the nether world also means types of knowledge, but knowledge of the cognitions of faith. From this it is now evident what 'one uncircumcised' means in the internal sense, namely one in whom filthy loves and the life belonging to these are present.