Jesus said, Blessed art thou, Simon, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father who is in the heavens (Matt. 16:17). That "flesh" here, and also "blood," denote that which is man's own, is very evident. [3] In John:

As many as received Him, to them gave He power to be the sons of God, who were born, not of bloods, nor of the will of the flesh, but of God (John 1:12, 13). By "bloods" are here signified the falsities which come forth from that which is man's own in his understanding; and by "the will of the flesh" are signified the evils which come forth from that which is his own in his will. (That "bloods" denote falsity from evil, thus what is man's own in the understanding derived from what is his own in the will, see n. 4735, 9127.) [4] In Isaiah:

I will feed thine oppressors with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood as with new wine (Isa. 49:26);

where to "feed them with their own flesh, and make them drunken with their own blood," denotes to fill them with evil and the falsity of evil, thus with that which is their own; for both evil and falsity are from this. [5] In Jeremiah:

Cursed is the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm (Jer. 17:5). "To trust in man, and make flesh his arm," denotes to trust in himself and in what is his own. [6] In Isaiah:

The people is become like food for the fire; if one shall cut down on the right hand, he shall be hungry; and if he shall eat on the left hand, they shall not be satisfied; they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm: Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh (Isa. 9:19, 20). By "food for the fire" is signified the appropriation of evils, or the cupidities of the love of self and the world; by "being hungry and not being satisfied" is signified not to receive the good and truth of faith; by "the flesh of the arm" is signified what is man's own of both kinds; by "Manasseh," the evil of the will; by "Ephraim," the falsity of the understanding; and by "eating," to make one's own. (That "fires" denote the evils or cupidities of the love of self and the world, see n. 5071, 5215, 6314, 6832, 7324, 7575, 9141; and that "to be hungry and not satisfied" denotes not to receive the good and truth of faith, is because by "hunger and thirst" is signified the desolation of good and truth, n. 5360, 5376, 6110, 7102, 8568; that the "right hand" denotes the good from which is truth, and the "left hand" the truth through which is good, see n. 10061.) Hence "to be hungry if he cut down on the right hand, and not to be satisfied if he ate on the left hand," signifies that however much they are instructed concerning good and truth, they will nevertheless not receive them. [7] "Manasseh" denotes the good of the will (see n. 5348, 5351, 5353, 6222, 6234, 6238, 6267); and "Ephraim" denotes the truth of the understanding (n. 3969, 5354, 6222, 6234, 6238, 6267); hence in the opposite sense "Manasseh" denotes the evil of the will, and "Ephraim" the falsity of the understanding, for almost all things in the Word have also an opposite sense. "To eat" denotes to appropriate (n. 3168, 3513, 3596, 4745); hence it is plain what is meant by "eating the flesh of his own arm," namely, appropriating to themselves evil and falsity from what is their own. It is said "the flesh of the arm" because by the "arm," as by the "hand," is signified that which belongs to man, and in which he trusts (see at the places cited in n. 10019). [8] In Zechariah:

I said, I will not feed you; he that dieth let him die; let those who remain eat everyone the flesh of another (Zech. 11:9). "Not to feed" denotes not to instruct and reform; "to die" denotes to perish as to spiritual life; "to eat the flesh of another" denotes to appropriate to themselves the evils which are from that which is another's. [9] In Ezekiel:

Jerusalem, thou hast committed whoredom with the sons of Egypt thy neighbors, great in flesh (Ezek. 16:26). "Jerusalem" denotes the perverted church; "to commit whoredom with the sons of Egypt great in flesh" denotes to falsify the truths of the church by means of memory-knowledges which are from the natural man alone, thus by means of sensuous memory-knowledges. (That "Jerusalem" denotes the church, see n. 402, 2117, 3654, here the perverted church; that "to commit whoredom" denotes to falsify truths, n. 2466, 2729, 8904; that "sons" denote truths and also falsities, n. 1147, 3373, 4257, 9807; that "Egypt" denotes memory-knowledge in both senses, see the places cited in n. 9340; and that it denotes the natural, n. 9391.) Hence those are called "great in flesh" who from the things of sense reason and draw conclusions about the truths of the church. They who do this, seize on falsities instead of truths, for to reason and draw conclusions from the things of sense is to do so from the fallacies of the bodily senses; wherefore it is sensuous men who are meant by "great in flesh," because they think from that which is their own in the body. [10] In Isaiah:

Egypt is a man, and not God; and his horses are flesh, and not spirit (Isa. 31:3). Here also "Egypt" denotes memory-knowledge; his "horses" denote the understanding thence derived; this is called "flesh not spirit," when they draw conclusions from what is their own, and not from the Divine (that "horses" denote the understanding, see n. 2761, 2762, 3217, 5321, 6534; and that the "horses of Egypt" denote memory-knowledges in conformity with a perverted understanding, n. 6125, 8146, 8148). [11] That by "flesh" is signified that which is man's own, or what is the same, the evil of his will, is evident from Moses where the subject treated of is the desire of the Israelitish people to eat flesh, of which it is thus written:

The rabble that was in the midst of the people lusted a lust, and said, Who shall feed us with flesh? Jehovah said, Tomorrow ye shall eat flesh; ye shall not eat it one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, but even for a month of days. And there went forth a wind from Jehovah, and carried off the quails from the sea, and let them fall over the camp, as it were two ells upon the faces of the earth. The people rose up all the day and all the night, and all the next day, and gathered and spread them round about the camp. While the flesh was yet between their teeth, before it was swallowed, the anger of Jehovah burned against the people, and Jehovah smote the people with a very great plague; whence he called the name of that place, The graves of lust (Num. 11:4, 18-20, 31-33). [12] That "flesh" signified what belonged to that nation, can be seen from the details in this passage; for had it not been so, what evil could there have been in desiring flesh, especially as flesh had previously been promised them (Exod. 16:12)? But as it signified that which was their own, thus the evil of the will, in which that nation was more than other nations, therefore it is said when they desired flesh, that they "lusted a lust;" and therefore they were smitten with a great plague, and the name of the place where they were buried was called "the graves of lusts [concupiscentiarum]." Whether you say evil of the will, or concupiscence, it is the same, for the evil of the will is concupiscence, because man's own desires nothing but its own, and not anything of the neighbor, or anything of God, except for the sake of itself. Because that nation was of this character, it is said that "they should eat flesh, not one day, nor two, nor five, nor ten, nor twenty, but even for a month of days," by which is signified that that nation would be such forever; for "a month of days" means forever, and therefore it is said that "the flesh being yet between the teeth, before it was swallowed, they were smitten with a great plague;" for by "teeth" is signified the bodily (or corporeal) own, which is the lowest of man (n. 4424, 5565-5568, 9062). (That that nation was of such a character, see the places cited in n. 9380; and also in the song of Moses in Deuteronomy, 32:20-28, 32-34.) [13] In the Word, "spirit" is opposed to "flesh," because by "spirit" is signified life from the Lord, and by "flesh" life from man, as in John:

It is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I speak unto you are spirit and are life (John 6:63). From this it is evident that "spirit" denotes life from the Lord, which is the life of love and faith to Him from Him; and that "flesh" denotes life from man, thus what is his own; hence it is said, "the flesh profiteth nothing." In like manner elsewhere:

That which is born of the flesh is flesh; but that which is born of the spirit is spirit (John 3:6). God remembered that they were flesh, a wind [spirit] that goeth away, and cometh not again (Ps. 78:39). [14] As by "flesh," when said of man, is signified that which is his own, which is the evil of the love of self and the world, it is plain what is signified by "flesh" when said of the Lord, namely, that which is His own, which is the Divine good of the Divine love. This is signified by the "flesh" of the Lord in John:

The bread that I will give is My flesh. Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you; he that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life; for My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed (John 6:51, 53-55). (That by the Lord's "flesh" is signified the Divine good of His Divine love, and by His "blood" the Divine truth proceeding from this Divine good, thus the like as by the bread and the wine in the Holy Supper, and that these are His own in His Divine Human, see n. 1001, 3813, 4735, 4976, 6978, 7317, 7326, 7850, 9127, 9393, 10026, 10033, 10152; and that the sacrifices represented the goods which are from the Lord, and that on this account their "flesh" signified goods, see n. 10040, 10079). Moreover, in the Word throughout mention is made of "all flesh," and by it is meant every man (as Gen. 6:12-13, 17, 19; Isa. 40:5-6; 49:26; 66:16, 23-24; Jer. 25:31; 32:27; 45:5; Ezek. 20:48; 21:4-5; and elsewhere).