It’s common to say “I see” when we understand something. And indeed, “seeing” in the Bible represents grasping and understanding spiritual things. So it makes sense that the eyes, which allow us to see, represent the intellect, which allows us to understand spiritual things.
This can also be used in the negative (as can all symbols); the Bible speaks of people having eyes and refusing to see, and the Lord when he was in the world advised plucking out an offending eye. These eyes that offend and eyes that don’t see represent a refusal to acknowledge truth, or being misled by falsity.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 212
- That ‘the eyes becoming opened’ means a dictate coming from within is clear from similar usages in the Word, such as that which Balaam adopts when speaking about himself. Because he had visions he calls himself’ a man who has had his eyes opened’, Num. 24:3, 4. And in the case of Jonathan when on tasting from the honeycomb he experienced a dictate from within indicating that doing so was evil, it is said that his eyes saw, that is, they were enlightened for him to see the thing he had not known up to then, 1 Samuel 14:27, 29. Also, many times in the Word, the eyes stand for the understanding, and so for an inner dictate from the understanding, as in David,
Lighten my eyes, lest I sleep [the sleep of] death. Ps 13:3.
‘Eyes’ here stands for the understanding. In Ezekiel,
They have eyes to see but they see not. Ezek. 11:2.
Here they stand for those who do not wish to understand. In Isaiah,
Plaster over their eyes, lest they see with their eyes. Isa. 6:10.
This stands for their being blinded to prevent their understanding. Through Moses the people were told,
Jehovah has not given you a heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear. Deut. 29:4.
‘Heart’ stands for the will, and ‘eyes’ for the understanding. It is said of the Lord in Isaiah 42:7 that He will open eyes that are blind; and in the same prophet,
Out of thick darkness and out of darkness the eyes of the blind will see. Isa. 29:18.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 1584
- That ‘Lot lifted up his eyes’ means that the external man received light from the internal is clear from the meaning of ‘lifting up the eyes’, which is seeing, in the internal sense, perceiving. Here ‘lifting up the eyes’ means receiving light, for this expression is used in reference to Lot, or the external man; and by perceiving the nature of the External Man when joined to the Internal Man, that is, the nature of its beauty, the external man receives light from the internal and possesses the Divine vision that is the subject here. Nor can there be any doubt that when He was a boy, the Lord as regards His external Man frequently had such Divine vision, for He alone was to join the external Man to the internal Man. The External Man was His Human Essence, while the Internal Man was His Divine Essence.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 1806
- That ‘He brought him outside’ means the sight possessed by the Interior Man, which from external things sees internal things, becomes clear from the meaning of ‘bringing outside’ and at the same time from what follows next. Internal things are ‘brought out’ when someone looks with his physical eyes at the starry sky and from this thinks about the Lord’s kingdom. Whenever a person sees anything with his eyes, yet so to speak does not see the things he sees, but from them sees or thinks of the things that belong to the Church or to heaven, his interior sight, that is, the sight of his spirit or soul, is being ‘brought outside’. Strictly speaking the eye itself is nothing else than the sight of the spirit itself ‘brought outside’, the specific purpose of this being that from external things a person may see internal things, that is, that from objects existing in the world he may reflect continually on things that exist in the next life, for it is for the sake of that life that he lives in the world. Such was the sight of the Most Ancient Church; such is the sight of angels who reside with man; and such was the Lord’s sight.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 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! Matt. 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. Matt. 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. Matt. 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.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 3820
- ‘And Leah’s eyes were weak’ means that the affection for external truth is weak so far as the understanding of it is concerned. This is clear from the representation of ‘Leah’ as the affection for external truth, dealt with in 3793, and immediately above in 3819; from the meaning of ‘the eyes’ as the understanding, dealt with in 2701; and from the meaning of ‘weak’ as its being such in comparison with the affection for internal truth. The fact that affections for external truth are weak so far as the understanding of it is concerned, or what amounts to the same, so far as people governed by those affections are concerned, becomes clear from external – that is, general – ideas which have not yet been filled in with their particular details. They are feeble and shaky ideas, which so to speak allow themselves to be carried along by every puff of wind, that is, to be won over to every opinion. But when those same ideas have been filled in with their particular details they emerge as firm and steadfast ideas, for they then possess the essence and form meant by ‘beautiful in form and beautiful in appearance’ as Rachel was, who represents the affections for interior truth.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 3863
[6] In Isaiah,
The Lord said, Go and say to this people, Hearing, hear – but do not understand; and seeing, see – but do not comprehend. Make the heart of this people fat and their ears heavy, and plaster over their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and their heart understands. Isa. 6:9, 10.
Here it is quite evident that ‘seeing, see – but do not comprehend’ means understanding what is true and yet not acknowledging. The words ‘plastering over their eyes, lest they see with their eyes’ means depriving them of the understanding of truth, faith in the Lord being meant in this case by ‘seeing’, as is clear from the Lord’s words in Matthew 13:13, 14, and in John 12:36, 37, 39, 40.
[7] In Ezekiel,
Son of man, you are dwelling in the midst of a rebellious house, who have eyes to see but they do not see, who have ears to hear but they do not hear. Ezek. 12:2
‘Eyes to see but they do not see’ stands for their being able to understand the truths of faith but not willing them. They do not will them on account of evils, meant by ‘a rebellious house’, which bring an untrue light to falsities and darkness to truths, in accordance with the following in Isaiah,
They were a rebellious people, lying sons, sons who did not wish to hear the law of Jehovah, who said to the seers, Do not see; and to those who had visions, Do not see for us things that are right, tell us smooth things, see illusions. Isa. 30:9, 10.
In Isaiah,
This people walking in darkness have seen a great light; those dwelling in the land of the shadow of death, upon them has the light shone out. Isa. 9:2.
‘Seeing a great light’ stands for receiving and believing the truths of faith. It is over those who have faith that heavenly ‘light’ is said ‘to shine out’, for the light which is shed in heaven is Divine Truth coming from Divine Good.
[8] In the same prophet,
Jehovah has poured out over you a spirit of slumber, and has closed your eyes, the prophets and your heads, the seers, He has covered. Isa. 29:10.
‘Closing the eyes’ stands for closing the understanding of truth – ‘the eye’ meaning the understanding, see 2701. ‘Covering the seers’ stands for covering those who know and teach the truths of faith. ‘Seers’ in former times were called prophets, and prophets mean those who teach as well as meaning the truths of doctrine, see 2534. In the same prophet,
The priest and the prophet err through strong drink, they err among those who see, they are tottery in judgement. Isa. 28:7.
Here the meaning is similar. ‘The judgement in which they are tottery’ means the truth of faith, see 2235. In the same prophet,
The eyes of those who see will not be closed, and the ears of those who hear will listen. Isa. 32:3.
Here the meaning is similar.
[9] In the same prophet,
Your eyes will behold the king in his beauty, they will see a land stretching far. Isa. 33:17.
‘Beholding the king in his beauty’ stands for beholding truths of faith which come from the Lord and are called beautiful by virtue of good. ‘Seeing a land stretching far’ stands for seeing the good of love. For ‘the king’ means the truth of faith, see 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 3670, this being called beautiful by virtue of good, 553, 3080, 3821; and ‘a land’ means the good of love, 620, 636, 3368, 3379. In Matthew,
Blessed are the pure in heart, for these will see God. Matt. 5:8.
Here it is quite evident that ‘seeing God’ means believing in Him, and so seeing Him by faith, for people who possess faith, from faith see God, since God is within faith and is that within faith which constitutes true faith.
[10] In the same gospel,
If your eye causes you to stumble pluck it out. It is better for you to enter into life one-eyed than having two eyes to be thrown into the Gehenna of fire. Matt. 18:9.
Here, as is quite evident, ‘the eye’ does not mean the eye. Nor does it mean that the eye has to be plucked out, for it is not the eye that causes the stumbling but the understanding of truth meant here by ‘the eye’, 2701. The law that it is better not to know and grasp the truths of faith than to know and grasp them and yet to lead a life of evil is what is meant by ‘better to enter into life one-eyed than having two eyes to be thrown into the Gehenna of fire’.
[11] In the same gospel,
Blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. Truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, but did not see. Matt. 13:13-17; John 12:40.
‘Seeing’ stands for knowing and understanding the things that constitute faith in the Lord, and so stands for faith. For it was not their seeing the Lord and seeing His miracles that made them ‘blessed’ but their believing, as becomes clear from the following words in John,
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 4410
- Much experience has made it plain to me that the sight of the left eye corresponds to the truths seen by the understanding and the right eye to the affections for truth which are also present with the understanding; and therefore that the left eye corresponds to the truths of faith and the right eye to the goods of faith. The reason why such correspondence exists is that the light which comes from the Lord is heat as well as light, the light itself being the truth which proceeds from the Lord and the heat the good. This, together with influx into the two hemispheres of the brain, is the origin of that correspondence; for those who are governed by good are on the Lord’s right, and those governed by truth on His left.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 5810
- ‘And I will set my eye on him’ means a flowing in at this point of truth from good. This is clear from the meaning of ‘setting one’s eye on someone’ as communicating the truth of faith. For ‘the eye’ corresponds to the sight of the understanding and to the truths of faith, see 4403-4421, 4523-4534; and since ‘setting one’s eye on someone means communication, a flowing in is meant too. Internal good, which ‘Joseph’ represents, does not communicate with the truth represented by ‘Benjamin’ except by means of a flowing in, because that truth is lower.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 8792
- ‘Jehovah will come down before the eyes of all the people’ means, the coming of the Lord will occur, and enlightenment at that time. This is clear from the meaning of ‘coming down’, when said of Jehovah, that is, the Lord, as His presence through influx, thus His coming – the coming of the Lord being meant here by Jehovah’s coming down before the eyes of all the people. Jehovah appeared in an outward form before those people because they could not perceive His presence in any other way; for they were inwardly devoid of the goodness and truth in which the Lord is present with others, 8787. Enlightenment at that time is meant by ‘before the eyes of all the people’, for ‘the eye’ in the internal sense is the understanding, and consequently the sight of the eye is the perception belonging to faith, which owes its existence to the light of heaven, so that ‘before the eyes’ is enlightenment. For the meaning of the eye as the understanding, and its sight as the perception belonging to faith, see 4403- 4421, 4523-4534.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 9051
- ‘Eye for eye’ means if anything is injured by them in the inner part of the understanding. This is clear from the meaning of ‘the eye’ as the understanding, in this instance the inner part of it, the life of which is the life of faith. A person’s understanding has an outer part and an inner part The outer part of his understanding is where thought that enters his awareness is, whereas the inner part is where thought that does not enter his awareness is, though it enters that of the angels. This part of the understanding is what the Lord enlightens when a person receives faith, for it exists in the light of heaven and holds within it a person’s spiritual life. This is not made plainly evident to the person while in the world, but it is made so to that person in the next life when he becomes an angel among angels in heaven. In the meanwhile that life lies hidden within the thought belonging to the outer part of the understanding, producing there the holiness and reverence for the Lord, for love and faith in Him, for the Word, and for everything else that is the Church’s. The reason why ‘the eye’ means the understanding is that the eye corresponds to the understanding; for the understanding sees in the light of heaven, but the eye sees in the light of the world. The things that the former eye, that is, the understanding, sees are spiritual, and its field of vision is the factual knowledge contained in the person’s memory. But the things which the physical eye sees are earthly, and its field of vision consists in every object that appears in the world. Regarding ‘the eye’, that in the spiritual sense it means the understanding, and also faith since faith composes the life of the inner part of the understanding, see 2701, 4403-4421, 4523-4534.
[2] Anyone who does not know that ‘the eye’ is used in the Word to mean the understanding cannot know what the meaning is of the things which the Lord spoke concerning the eye in the Gospels, first of all these,
If your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes, to be cast into the Gehenna of fire. Matt. 5:29; Mark 9:47.
Everyone recognizes that the eye should not be plucked out even if it does cause a person to stumble, and that no one enters the kingdom of God with only one eye. But ‘the right eye’ means falsity in a person’s belief about the Lord; this is what must be plucked out. Then there are these things spoken by the Lord,
The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light. If your eye is evil your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! Matt. 6:22, 23; Luke 11:34.
Nor is ‘the eye’ used here to mean the eye, but an understanding composed of the truth of faith. This is why the eye is called ‘the lamp of the body’ and why the Lord says, ‘If the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!’ For ‘darkness’ in the spiritual sense is falsities constituting faith, 1839, 1860, 4418, 4531, 7688, 7711.
[3] There are these words too spoken by Him,
Why do you notice the speck which is in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank that is in your own eye? Matt. 7:3-5.
‘Noticing a speck in a brother’s eye’ means seeing something erroneous in a person’s understanding of truth; ‘the plank in one’s own eye’ is huge evil of falsity, since ‘wood’ in the internal sense means good and in the contrary sense evil, 643, 2784, 2812, 3720, 8354. Good is also represented in the next life by a plank, which is why those who pretend to have good within themselves are seen carrying a plank, walking in safety as they do so. If ‘eye’ and ‘plank’ did not have these meanings, would ‘seeing a plank in an eye’ have any meaning at all? If it is not known that ‘eye’ in the Word means the understanding of truth, which is faith, neither can it be known what is implied by the Lord’s action when He healed the blind man,
He spat on the ground and made clay with His saliva, and said to him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam. John 9:6, 7.
Since all the Lord’s miracles, like all Divine miracles, had to do with those things that belong to the Lord’s kingdom and the Church, 7337, 8364, so did this miracle too.
Apocalypse Revealed (Rogers) n. 214
- “‘And to anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.'” This symbolically means, so as to heal their understanding, to keep them from profaning and falsifying genuine truths of wisdom.
Eyes symbolize the intellect, and the sight of the eyes intelligence and wisdom, as may be seen in no. 48. And since eye salve symbolizes medicine for it, it follows that to anoint the eyes with eye salve means, symbolically, to heal the intellect, so that it may see truths and become wise. Otherwise the genuine truths of the Word are profaned and adulterated.