241. Verse 18. I counsel thee, signifies the means of reformation of those who are in the doctrine of faith alone. This is evident from what now follows, for the reformation of those who are in that doctrine is now treated of; therefore "I counsel thee" implies precepts as to how such must live that they may be reformed and thus saved.

5156. 'And will hang you on wood' means a casting aside and condemnation. This is clear from the meaning of 'being hanged on wood' as a casting aside and condemnation; for hanging someone on wood was a curse, and a curse is being cast aside from the Divine and consequently is condemnation. The fact that hanging someone on wood was a curse is clear in Moses,

If a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he has been slain, so that you hang him on wood, his dead body shall not remain all night on the wood, but you must bury him the same day, for the one hanged is the curse of God. For you shall not defile the land which Jehovah your God is giving you for an inheritance. Deuteronomy 21:22-23.

'It shall not remain all night on the wood' meant casting aside for ever. For in the evening a new day began; therefore if those who had been hanged were not cast away before the evening, the failure to cast evil aside and consequently the failure to rid the land of that evil were represented. The land was defiled; hence the addition of the words 'You shall not defile the land which Jehovah your God is giving you for an inheritance'. They were left hanging until evening, but no later, see Joshua 8:29; 10:16. Among the Jewish nation two chief forms of punishment existed, stoning and hanging. The existence of stoning was due to falsity, that of hanging on wood to evil, for the reason that 'stone' means truth, 643, 1298, 3720, and in the contrary sense falsity, while 'wood' means good, 2784, 2812, 3720, and in the contrary sense evil. This is why frequent reference is made in the prophetical part of the Word to 'committing adultery with stone and wood', meaning the perversion of truth, which is falsity, and the adulteration of good, which is evil.

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.