5676. 'And bowed down to the earth' means an expression of humility. This is clear from the meaning of 'bowing down to the earth' as expressing humility, dealt with in 2153. See also below, in 5682.

2153. 'And he bowed down towards the ground' means the expression of humility from the resulting joy. This is clear from the meaning of 'bowing down' as expressing humility. Insofar as all interior affections have corresponding gestures within external or bodily activity - gestures which are expressions of affections as their own efficient causes, the affection belonging to humility has the corresponding gesture of bowing down ¹ and also that of prostration. This gesture was clearly a product of joy, for as has been stated, He recognized the perception to be from the Divine. 'The Lord's state of humiliation when He was in the Human has been referred to in various places already, and in the Lord's Divine mercy is to be referred to further in the present chapter.

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