10037. And its dung. That this signifies all the other unclean things, is evident from the signification of “dung,” as being what is unclean. That “dung” signifies what is unclean, consequently evil and falsity, for in the spiritual sense these are unclean, is because all that is useless and worn out of the food goes into dung and into ordure, and in the spiritual sense “food” denotes the truth and good of faith and of love (see n. 4792, 5147, 5293, 5340, 5342, 5576, 5915, 8562, 9003). Hence also it is that dung, ordure, and excrement correspond to evils which are in hell, which also in the Word is called “the draught” (in regard to which correspondence see above, n. 954, 2755, 4948, 5394, 5395, 7161).

[2] Hence then it is that such things in the Word signify things infernal, as can be seen from the following passages.

In Isaiah:

He that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, everyone that is written unto life in Jerusalem, when the Lord shall have washed away the excrement of the daughters of Zion, and shall have washed away the bloods of Jerusalem (Isaiah 4:3-4);

by “Zion” and “Jerusalem” is signified the church, by “Zion” the church with those who are in the good of love, and by “Jerusalem” with those who are in truths from this good; “to wash away the excrement of the daughters of Zion” denotes to purify from evils those in the church who are in the good of love, and “to wash away the bloods of Jerusalem” denotes to purify from falsities of evil those in the church who are in truths.

[3] In Jeremiah:

They shall draw out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and shall spread them before the sun and the moon, and all the army of the heavens, which they had loved, and which they had served; they shall not be gathered, nor buried; they shall be for dung upon the faces of the earth (Jeremiah 8:1-2);

by these words is described the state of those who have profaned the goods and truths of the church, which state at that time was also represented by the drawing out of bones from the sepulchers; “the bones of kings and of princes drawn out from sepulchers” signify truths profaned; “the bones of priests and of prophets” signify goods profaned; “to be spread before the sun, the moon, and all the army of the heavens,” signifies removal from all good and truth; “not to be gathered, nor buried,” signifies no resurrection to life; “to be dung on the faces of the earth” signifies to be nothing but infernal. Again:

They shall die by deaths of malignant diseases, so that they shall not be bewailed, neither shall they be buried; they shall be for dung on the faces of the earth (Jeremiah 16:4; 25:33);

by “dung on the faces of the earth” is signified the like as above.

[4] In Lamentations:

They who did eat dainties were devastated in the streets; they that were brought up on crimson have embraced dunghills (Lam. 4:5);

“they who did eat dainties” denote those who have the Word and from it the knowledges of truth; “they that were brought up on crimson” denote those who are in the knowledges of good; “to embrace dunghills” denotes to learn and choose falsities in place of these.

In Malachi:

If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay to heart, I will send a curse upon you, and will scatter dung upon your faces, the dung of your feasts (Malachi 2:2-3);

“to scatter dung upon the faces” denotes to defile the interiors of life with the falsities of evil; “the dung of feasts” denotes to defile the holy things of worship.

[5] In Ezekiel:

The prophet was commanded to make a cake of barley with the dung of human excrement, because thus do the sons of Israel eat their unclean bread. But he said, Ah, Lord Jehovih, my soul hath not been polluted; there hath not come into my mouth the flesh of abomination. Then He answered, I give thee the excrement of an ox instead of the dung of man, that thou mayest make thy bread with it; for I will cause them to lack bread and water, and a man and his brother shall be desolated, and shall pine away because of their iniquity (Ezekiel 4:9, 12 4:12-17);

by these things was represented the quality of the good and truth of the church of the Jewish nation; “a cake of barley with the dung of human excrement” signifies the interior good of the church defiled with the evils of the love of self; “a cake with the excrements of an ox” signifies the external good of the church defiled with the evils of this love.

[6] Because these things are signified by the “cake,” it is said that they “should lack bread and water,” and “should be desolated;” “bread and water” denote good and truth; “to lack them,” and “to be desolated,” denote to be deprived of them. Because such things were signified by “dung,” “ordure,” and “excrement,” it is plain what is signified by these words in Moses:

There shall be a space without the camp, whither thou shalt go forth abroad; and thou shalt have a paddle, with which thou shalt cover thine excrement; for Jehovah God walketh in the midst of thy camp; that thy camp may be holy, and He see not in thee the nakedness of anything, and turn back from behind thee (Deuteronomy 23:12-15);

this was commanded because what is unclean was represented by the ordure; for by the camp where the sons of Israel were, was represented heaven and the church, where the Lord is present through faith and love; and therefore by the “space without the camp” was represented where heaven and the church are not, thus where the Lord is not present through faith and love. Therefore it is said that “the camp should be holy, lest Jehovah walking in the midst of the camp should see the nakedness of anything and should turn back.” “Nakedness” denotes what is unclean by reason of evils and falsities. (That “the camp” there signified heaven and the church, where the Lord is, will be seen in what now follows.)

5147. There was of all food for Pharaoh. That this signifies full of celestial good for the nourishment of the natural, is evident from the signification of “food,” as being celestial good (of which presently); and from the representation of Pharaoh, as being the interior natural (see n. 5080, 5095), and also the natural in general; for when they correspond, the interior and exterior natural make a one; and as food is for nourishment, by the words “there was of all food for Pharaoh” is signified full of celestial good for the nourishment of the natural. It is said that this food was in the uppermost basket; and by this is signified that the inmost of the will part was full of celestial good. For good from the Lord flows in through man’s inmost, and thence through degrees as by the steps of a ladder to the exteriors; for the inmost is relatively in the most perfect state, and therefore can receive good immediately from the Lord; but not so the lower things. If these were to receive good from the Lord immediately, they would either obscure it or pervert it, for they are relatively more imperfect.

[2] As regards the influx of celestial good from the Lord, and its reception, be it known that man’s will part receives good, and his intellectual receives truth, and that the intellectual can by no means receive truth so as to make it its own, unless at the same time the will part receives good; and conversely; for the one flows in this way into the other, and disposes it to receive. The things of the intellect may be compared to forms which are continually varying, and the things of the will to the harmonies that result from this variation; consequently truths may be compared to variations, and goods to the delights therefrom; and as this is eminently the case with truths and goods, it is evident that the one is impossible without the other, and also that the one cannot be produced except by means of the other.

[3] That “food” signifies celestial good, is because the food of the angels is nothing else than the goods of love and of charity, by which they are not only made alive, but are also refreshed. These goods in act, or the practice of them, serve especially for the refreshment of the angels, because they are their desires; and it is known that when the desires are realized in act, they afford refreshment and life. That such things yield nourishment to the spirit of man, while material food yields nourishment to his body, may also be seen from the fact that food without delights conduces but little to nourishment, but together with delights it nourishes. It is the delights that open the passages or ducts which receive the food and convey it into the blood; whereas things undelightful close them. With the angels these delights are the goods of love and of charity, and from this it can be inferred that they are spiritual foods which correspond to earthly foods. As goods are food, so truths are drink.

[4] “Food” is mentioned in many places in the Word, and one who is not acquainted with the internal sense cannot know but that ordinary food is there meant, whereas it is spiritual food; as in Jeremiah:

All the people groan, seeking bread; they have given their desirable things for food, to refresh the soul (Lam. 1:11).

In Isaiah:

Everyone that thirsteth, go ye to the waters, and he that hath no silver, go ye, buy, and eat; yea, go, buy wine and milk without silver and without price (Isaiah 55:1).

In Joel:

The day of Jehovah is near, and as devastation from the Thunderer shall it come. Is not the food cut off before our eyes? gladness and joy from the house of our God? The grains have rotted under their clods; the garners are devastated, the barns are destroyed, because the corn is withered (Joel 1:15-17).

In David:

Our garners are full, bringing forth from food to food; our flocks are thousands and ten thousands in our streets. There is no cry in our streets; blessed is the people that is in such a case (Psalms 144:13-15).

Again:

All things wait for Thee, that Thou mayest give them their food in its time. Thou givest them, they gather; Thou openest Thy hand, they are sated with good (Psalms 104:27-28).

[5] In these passages celestial and spiritual food is meant in the internal sense, while material food is meant in the sense of the letter. From this it is plain in what manner the interiors and exteriors of the Word, or those things therein which are of the spirit, and those which are of the letter, correspond to each other; so that while man understands these things according to the sense of the letter, the angels with him understand them according to the spiritual sense. The Word has been so written as to serve not only the human race, but also heaven; for which reason all the expressions therein are significative of heavenly things, and all the things are representative of them, and this even to the least jot.

[6] That “food” in the spiritual sense is good, the Lord also plainly teaches in John:

Labor not for the food that perisheth, but for the food that abideth into life eternal, which the Son of man shall give to you (John 6:27).

Again:

My flesh is truly food, and My blood is truly drink (John 6:55); where “flesh” is the Divine good (n. 3813); and “blood” is the Divine truth (n. 4735). And again:

Jesus said to His disciples, I have food to eat that ye know not. The disciples said one to another, Hath any man brought Him aught to eat? Jesus saith to them, My food is that I do the will of Him that sent Me, and that I perfect His work (John 4:32-34);

“to do the will of the Father, and to perfect His work,” is the Divine good in act or exercise, which as before said in the genuine sense is “food.”