10075. 'And the right flank' means inmost good. This is clear from the meaning of 'the right flank' as inmost good. 'The right flank' means inmost good because animals' flanks have the same meaning as the loins and thighs on a human being; a human being's loins and thighs mean conjugial love and consequently the good of celestial love, which is the good of the inmost heaven, see 3021, 4277, 4280, 4575, 5050-5062, 9961; and the right side of the loins and the right thigh mean the inmost good there. For by virtue of their correspondence the parts on the right side of a human being mean good from which springs truth, and those on the left side truth through which comes good; and those in the middle therefore mean the joining together of the two, that is, of good and truth. From this also it becomes clear that the flanks are the hindquarters of an animal where its genital organs reside, but not the forequarters, for these are called its breast. Since it means inmost good or celestial good, when the right flank of a sacrifice was lifted up and was given to Aaron it is called 'the anointing of him and of his sons', in Moses,

The right flank you shall give as a heave offering to the priest out of your eucharistic sacrifices. The breast of the wave offering and the flank of the heave offering I have received from the children of Israel from their eucharistic sacrifices; I have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons by the statute of an age ¹ . This is the anointing of Aaron and the anointing of his sons from the fire offerings to Jehovah. Leviticus 7:32, 34-35.

The breast and flank are called 'the anointing' on account of their representation of spiritual good and celestial good; for the breast by virtue of its correspondence means spiritual good, which is the good of the middle or second heaven, and the right flank celestial good, which is the good of the inmost or third heaven; and 'anointing' is a representation of the Lord in respect of Divine Good, 9954, 10019. Also the breast and the right flank were given to Aaron from sacrifices of the firstborn of ox, sheep, and goat, Numbers 18:18. The meaning of 'the right flank' as inmost good is also evident from the fact that it is mentioned last; for the tail and the intestines are mentioned first, after these the omentum on the liver, and the kidneys, and finally the right flank. The things that are mentioned first are most external, those that are mentioned second are more internal, and what is mentioned last is inmost.

脚注:

9962. 'And they shall be on Aaron and on his sons' means safety from the hells. This is clear from the meaning of 'the undergarments', to which 'they shall be on Aaron and on his sons' refers, as the things composing the external level of conjugial love, dealt with in 9959; and from the meaning of their 'nakedness', which the undergarments were to cover, as the inner desires of that love when they are foul and hellish, also dealt with above in 9960. And since 'nakedness' had that meaning, the purpose of the undergarments which were on Aaron and his sons was to keep them safe from the hells. The implications of all this are that so far as their interiors were concerned members of the Jewish and Israelite nation were steeped in self-love and love of the world, and so in hellish kinds of love, more than all the other nations; but so far as their exteriors were concerned they could be in a state of holiness, again more than all the other nations. For that reason when they were in a state of holiness their interiors were closed off; for then through that nation outwardly holy things were communicable to the heavens, and in this way they could be linked to heaven. It would have been altogether different if their internals, which were foul and hellish, as has been stated, had not been closed off. This is why no Church existed among them, only what was representative of the Church; for a Church that is indeed a Church resides in things of an internal nature, which are those of faith and love, not in those of an external nature separated from them. The things of an external nature among them were all representative.

[2] Since then things composing the external level of conjugial love - and in general those composing the external levels of all heavenly kinds of love - are meant by 'the undergarments', and since external levels were what covered internal ones, and since the internals with that nation were foul and hellish, the declaration that the undergarments should be on Aaron and on his sons means safety from the hells. For, as long as they were in a state of outward holiness, their internals having been covered or closed off, they were also remote from the hells and consequently in safety.

Internals with the Jewish and Israelite nation were foul and hellish, therefore no Church existed among them, only a representative of the Church, see the places referred to in 9320 (end), 9380.

When engaged in worship they were in a state of solely outward holiness, 3479, 4293, 4311, 6304, 8588, 9373, 9380.

And their interiors at such times were closed off, 8788, 8806.