2161. Let I pray a little water be taken. That this signifies that they should draw near, and let themselves down from things Divine nearer to His intellectual things, cannot be so evident from these words alone-that they should take a little water-but it is evident from the series of things in this verse, and from their connection with those which go before and those which follow. From what is said in this verse no one would ever know that the words "Let I pray a little water be taken, and wash ye your feet, and lie down under the tree" signify that the Divine should let itself down nearer to the state of perception in which the Lord then was, and should put on something natural in order that He might the better perceive; for not a trace of this arcanum is manifest in the words as understood historically; but that nevertheless such in the internal sense is their signification, and that the angels so perceive them, I know for certain.
[2] This shows what great and deep arcana lie hidden in the Word. Moreover that such is the signification, may be seen from the signification in the internal sense of the several words, namely, from the signification of "water" as being intellectual things, from the signification of "feet" as being natural things, and from the signification of a "tree" as being perception. When these things are understood, the signification in the internal sense (to wit, that which has been stated) can be seen from the series of things, and from their connection with those which precede and those which follow. (That "waters" signify memory-knowledges and rational things, consequently the things of the understanding, has been shown in volume 1, n. 28, 680, and may be seen from very many other passages in the Word that it would be too tedious to bring forward.)