10050. 'And its legs' means purification of the more external things belonging to the natural man. This is clear from the meaning of 'washing the legs' as purification of the natural man (for the meaning of 'washing' as purifying, see immediately above in 10049); and from the meaning of 'the legs' as the more external things belonging to the natural man. The reason why these things are meant by 'the legs' is that one must at the same time understand the feet, since an animal's four legs are closely connected to its feet, and 'the feet' by virtue of their correspondence mean the natural or external level in a person, see 2162, 3147, 3761, 4938-4952.

[2] Much the same is meant by 'the legs' in Amos,

As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs or a piece of an ear, so will the children of Israel dwelling in Samaria be rescued, on the corner of a bed and on the end of a couch. Amos 3:12.

'The lion' here means those who lay the Church waste, 'legs' the external part of it, which is also the external part of the natural man, 'a piece of an ear' its discernment, and those 'dwelling in Samaria' those whose worship is external. 'The corner of a bed and the end of a couch' is the lowest part of the natural, which is external sensory awareness and its truth and good.

[3] In Daniel's description of Nebuchadnezzar's statue - its head made of pure gold, breast and arms of silver, belly and side of bronze, legs of iron, and feet partly of iron and partly of clay, Daniel 2:32-33 - what is meant by 'the legs' is the truth of faith in the external or natural man; and the same thing is also meant by 'iron', see 10030. The reason why the legs in the description are distinguished from the feet is that human legs are by nature different from animal legs.

9088. 'He shall give silver to its owner' means by means of truth with him whose good or truth in the natural has been perverted. This is clear from the meaning of 'silver' as truth, dealt with in 1551, 2048, 5658, 6112, 6914, 6917, 7999, and of 'giving silver' as redeeming by means of truth 2954; and from the meaning of 'its owner' - the owner of the ox or ass that fell into the pit - as the one whose good or truth in the natural has been perverted. For 'ox' is good in the natural, and 'ass' the truth there, 9086; and 'falling into a pit' means perverting them, 9086.

[2] The situation here is that if good or truth is perverted by falsity, then what has been perverted must be amended by means of truth, within the Church by means of truth from the Word, or from teachings drawn from the Word. The reason why it must be done this way is that truth teaches what evil is and what falsity is, and thereby a person sees and acknowledges them; and when he sees and acknowledges them amendment can be accomplished in him, since the Lord enters into those things with a person that the person knows, not into those he does not know. He does not therefore amend evil or falsity until the person has learned that it is evil or falsity. So it is that those who have to do the work of repentance must see and acknowledge their evils, and accordingly lead the life of truth, 8388-8392. The situation is similar with purification from the evils of self-love and love of the world. Purification from those loves cannot at all be accomplished except by means of the truths of faith, because these teach that all sinful desires spring from those loves. This explains why circumcision among the Israelite and Jewish nation was performed with a knife made of flint; for circumcision was a sign of purification from those foul loves, and the knife of flint with which it was performed was a sign of the truth of faith, 2799 (middle), 7044. By means of the truths of faith also a person is regenerated, 8635-8640, 8772. This was meant by the washings used in former times for ritual cleansings; and the same thing is also meant at the present day by the waters of baptism. For the waters are a sign of the truths of faith, by means of which evils are removed, 739, 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976, 7307, 8568, and baptism is a sign of regeneration, 4255, 5120 (end).

[3] From all this it is evident how false the thinking is of those who believe that a person's evils or sins are wiped away as dirt on the body is washed away by water, that the interiors of those who were washed with water in former times according to the rules of the Church were cleansed, and also that people at the present day are saved through undergoing baptism. In actual fact the washings in former times did no more than represent the cleansing of people interiorly, and baptism is only the sign of regeneration. The waters there mean the truths of faith by means of which a person is cleansed and regenerated, for by means of those truths are evils removed. Baptism is for those within the Church, because they have the Word, where the truths of faith, the means by which a person is regenerated, are to be found.