70. The reason why the feet are said to be like unto fine brass is, that by fine brass is meant brass polished and shining, like something fiery; and brass in the Word signifies natural good. Metals, like all other things in the Word, are significative. Gold in the Word signifies celestial good, which is inmost good; silver signifies its truth, which is spiritual good; brass natural good, which is ultimate good, and iron its truth, which is natural truth. That such things are signified by metals, is from correspondence; for many things are seen in heaven shining like gold and silver, and also many things shining like brass and iron. And it is there known, that by those things are signified the above-mentioned kinds of good and truth; this is why the ancients, who were in the knowledge of correspondences, named the ages after those metals. The first age they called the golden age, because innocence, love and wisdom therefrom, then reigned; but the second age they called the silver age, because truth from that good, or spiritual good, and intelligence therefrom, then reigned; the third age they called the brazen, or copper, age, because only natural good, which is what is just and sincere pertaining to moral life, then reigned; but the last age they called the iron age, because only truth without good then reigned, and when that reigns, then also falsity reigns. The reason why the ages were thus distinguished, was from the spiritual signification of those metals.

[2] From these considerations it is evident what is signified by the statue of Nebuchadnezzar, seen in his dream,

"whose head was of gold, the chest and arms of silver, the belly and thighs of brass, the legs of iron, and the feet partly of iron and partly of clay" (Dan. 2:32, 33).

The state of the church from its first time to its last as to good and truth, is here signified; its last time was when the Lord came into the world.

When it is known that gold signifies celestial good, silver spiritual good, brass natural good, and iron natural truth, many arcana in the Word where those metals are mentioned can be known. For example, what is signified by these words in Isaiah:

"For brass I will bring gold, for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron; I will also make thy government peace, and thine exactors justice" (60:17).

[3] But as the signification of brass is what is here treated of, as being natural good, it is necessary only to adduce a few passages where brass is mentioned and signifies that good. Thus in Moses:

"Asher acceptable to his brethren, and dipping his foot in oil; iron and brass thy shoe, and as thy day, thy fame" (Deuteronomy 33:24, 25).

Asher, as one of the tribes, signifies the happiness of life, and the delight of the affections (see Arcana Coelestia 3938, 3939, 6408); to dip the foot in oil signifies natural delight (that oil denotes delight, see n. 9954, and that the foot denotes the Natural, see above, n. 69); the shoe being iron and brass signifies the lowest Natural derived from truth and good, shoe denoting the lowest Natural (see n. 1748, 1860, 6844); iron is its truth, and brass its good, as above. Again,

"Jehovah thy God will bring thee into a rich land; a land out of whose stones thou shalt cut iron, and out of whose mountains brass" (Deuteronomy 8:7, 9).

And in Jeremiah:

"I will give thee unto this people for a fortified wall of brass, that they may fight against thee, and not prevail over thee" (15:20).

And in Ezekiel:

"Javan, Tubal, and Mesech, they were thy merchants; with the soul of man and vessels of brass they gave thy merchandise" (27:13).

In this chapter the merchandises of Tyre are treated of, by which are signified the knowledges (cognitiones) of good and truth. By the names Javan, Tubal, and Mesech, are signified those things that pertain to good and truth, to which the knowledges relate; the soul of man denotes the truth of life; vessels of brass denote scientifics of natural good.

[4] (What is signified by Tyre, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 1201; what by merchandises, n. 2967, 4453; what by Tubal and Mesech, n. 1151; what by Javan, n. 1152, 1153, 1155; what by the soul of man, n. 2930, 9050, 9281; what by vessels, n. 3068, 3079, 3316, 3318.)

Again, in the same prophet:

The feet of the cherubs "shone like the appearance of polished brass" (1:7).

(What the cherubs and the feet signify, may be seen above, n. 69.) And in the same prophet:

"I saw, and, lo, a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, and a thread of flax in his hands; he stood in the gate" (40:3).

Because the angel here mentioned measured the wall and the gates of the house of God, which signify the externals of the church, his appearance was seen to be the appearance of brass.

He who knows that brass signifies the external of the church, which in itself is natural, may in some measure understand why the altar of burnt-offering was overlaid with brass, and the gate round it was of brass, and the vessels of brass (Exodus 27:1-4), also why the great vessel, which was called the sea, with the twelve oxen under it, and the ten lavers with the bases, and also all the vessels of the tabernacle for the house of God, were made by Solomon of polished brass (1 Kings 7:43-47). He who knows what brass signifies, can also enter into the arcanum why a serpent of brass was commanded to be set up for the people to look at, concerning which it is thus written in Moses:

"Jehovah sent serpents among the people, which bit the people. And he said unto Moses, Make thee a serpent, and set it upon a pole; and it shall come to pass that every one that is bitten, when he hath looked upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and set it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that when a serpent had bitten any man, and he looked upon the serpent of brass, he lived" (Numbers 21:6, 8, 9).

That the Lord was signified by that serpent, He himself teaches in John:

"As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (3:14, 15).

By the serpent is signified the ultimate of life in man, which is called the external Sensual, which is natural. To represent this ultimate, which in the Lord was Divine, among the sons of Israel, with whom all things were representative, a serpent of brass was made; and the signification was, that, if they looked to the Divine Human of the Lord, they would revive, that is, if they believed in Him, they should have eternal life, as the Lord himself also teaches. (That to see in the spiritual sense is to believe, may be seen above, n. 37, 68; and that a serpent denotes the external Sensual, which is the ultimate of the life of man, see Arcana Coelestia 195-197, 6398, 6949, 10313.) That brass and iron in the Word also signify what is hard, as in Isaiah 48:4; Dan. 7:19; and other places, will be seen in the following pages.

2701. 'God opened her eyes' means intelligence. This is clear from the meaning of 'opening' - and that it is God who did so - and also from [the meaning] of 'the eyes', as conferring intelligence; for 'the eyes' means the understanding, see 212, as also does 'sight' or 'seeing', 2150, 2325. The expression 'God opens the eyes' is used when He opens interior sight or the understanding, which opening is accomplished by means of an influx into the rational part of the person's mind, or rather into the spiritual part of his rational. The route taken by this influx is the soul, that is, the internal route, of which the person himself is not aware. This influx is his state of enlightenment in which the truths he hears or reads about are confirmed for him by a kind of perception existing within, in the understanding part of his mind. The person himself believes that this enlightenment is innate within himself and that it springs from his own power of understanding; but in this he is very much mistaken. This enlightenment consists in an influx from the Lord by way of heaven into that person's dim, mistaken, and specious sight of things, and by means of the good there causes the things which he believes to become imitations of truth. Only those who are spiritual however are blessed with enlightenment in spiritual matters of faith; and this is the meaning of the expression 'God opens the eyes'.

[2] The reason why 'the eye' means the understanding is that the sight belonging to the body corresponds to that belonging to its spirit, which is the understanding. And because it has this correspondence 'the eye' in the Word, in almost every place where it is mentioned, means the understanding, even where people believe something other is meant, as where the Lord says in Matthew,

The lamp of the body is the eye. If the eye is sound, the whole body is full of light. If the eye has been evil the whole body has been made full of darkness. If therefore the light is darkness, how great is the darkness! Matthew 6:22-23; Luke 11:34.

Here 'the eye' is the understanding, the spiritual constituent of which is faith, as also is shown by the explanation added here - 'if therefore the light is darkness, how great is the darkness!' Similarly in the same gospel,

If your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it away from you. Matthew 5:29; 18:9.

'The left eye' is the understanding part of the mind, whereas 'the right eye' is its affection. The command to pluck out the right eye means that if it causes one to stumble one's affection must be disciplined.

[3] In the same gospel,

Blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. Matthew 13:16.

And in Luke, Jesus said to the disciples, Blessed are the eyes which see what you see. Luke 10:23.

Here 'the eyes which see' means intelligence and faith, for it was not the mere fact that they saw the Lord and also His miracles and works that caused any one of the disciples to be blessed but the fact that they could grasp things with their understandings and had faith, meant by 'seeing with the eyes', and that they were obedient, meant by 'hearing with the ears'. As regards 'seeing with the eyes' meaning to see with the understanding and also to have faith, see 897, 2325. For the understanding is the spiritual complement of sight, and faith the spiritual complement of the understanding. The sight of the eye is received from the light of the world, the sight of the understanding from the light of heaven flowing into things which belong to the light of the world; but the sight of faith is received from the light of heaven. This is the origin of such phrases as seeing with the understanding and seeing with faith. 'Hearing with the ear' means being obedient, see 2542.

[4] In Mark,

Jesus said to the disciples, Do you not yet know nor understand? Do you still have your heart hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? Mark 8:17-18.

Here it is evident that 'having eyes but not seeing' means not wishing to understand and not believing. In Luke,

Jesus said of the city, Would that you knew the things that make for your peace! But such is hidden from your eyes. Luke 19:41-42.

And in Mark,

By the Lord has this been done, and it is marvellous in our eyes. Mark 12:11.

Here 'hidden from the eyes' and 'marvellous in the eyes' mean to be so to the understanding, as is well known to everyone from the meaning of 'the eyes' even in everyday speech.