Page:Arcana Coelestia (Potts) vol 1.djvu/130

 And in Ezekiel:—

. That to "eat the herb of the field" (that is, wild food) denotes to live like a wild animal, is evident from what is said of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel:—

And in Isaiah:—

Here it is explained what is signified by the "grass of the field," the "green of the herb," the "grass on the house-tops," and a "field parched;" for the subject here treated of is the time before the flood, which is meant by "long ago," and the "days of old."

. Verse 19. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. By "eating bread in the sweat of the face," is signified to be averse to what is celestial; to "return to the ground from whence he was taken," is to relapse into the external man, such as he was before regeneration; and "dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return," signifies that he is condemned and infernal.

. That to "eat bread in the sweat of the face" signifies to be averse to what is celestial, is evident from the signification of "bread." By "bread" is meant everything spiritual and celestial, which is the food of the angels, on the deprivation of which they would cease to live as certainly as men deprived of bread or food. That which is celestial and spiritual in heaven also corresponds to bread on earth, by which moreover they are represented, as is shown by many passages in the Word. That the Lord is "bread," because from Him proceeds whatever is celestial and spiritual, He Himself teaches in John:—