[2] That an eagle signifies intelligence is evident from the following passages in the Word. In Ezekiel:

"A great eagle with great wings, long pinions, full of feathers, which had embroidering, came upon Lebanon, and took a small branch of a cedar. He plucked off the head of its shoots, and carried it down into a land of traffic; he set it in a city of dealers in spices. He took of the seed of the land, and placed it in the field of the sower; he took it to great waters, and placed it circumspectly; and it budded and became a luxuriant vine of low stature, so that its branches looked to him, and the roots thereof were under him: so it became a vine, which produced branches and sent out boughs to him. There was also another great eagle with great wings and full of feathers; and, behold, this vine did bend its roots toward him, and shot forth its branches toward him to water him from the little beds of its plantation. It was planted in a good field near many waters to form the bough, and to bear fruit, that it might be for a vine of magnificence" (xvii. 1-8).

The subject here treated of is the establishment of the spiritual church by the Lord; and, in the internal sense, the process of its establishment, or of the regeneration of the man of that church, is described from beginning to end. By the first eagle is described the process of the regeneration of the natural or external man, by means of scientifics (scientifica) and by means of knowledges (cognitiones) from the Word; and by the other eagle is described the process of the regeneration of the spiritual or internal man by means of truths from good; hence by the first eagle is signified the intelligence of the natural man, and by the second the intelligence of the spiritual man.

What these particulars signify shall be explained in a few words. The first eagle is said to have great wings, long pinions, and to be full of feathers, and thereby are signified the abundance of the knowledges (scientiae) and cognitions of truth and good, from which is derived the first intelligence, or the intelligence of the natural man. It is therefore said that it had embroidering, for by embroidering is signified what pertains to knowledge and cognition (as may be seen, Arcana Coelestia, n. 9688). It came upon Lebanon, and took a small branch of cedar, signifies that it took some knowledges (cognitiones) of truth from the doctrine of the church which is from the Word; for by Lebanon is signified that doctrine, and by the small branch of a cedar are signified knowledges. He plucked off the head of its shoots and carried it into a land of traffic signifies primary cognitions therefrom, to which it applied (by the head of the shoots are signified primary knowledges, and by the land of traffic is signified the natural man, to which knowledge (scientia) belongs). In a city of dealers in spices, signifies among truths from good in the natural man. (That spices signify truths which are grateful because from good, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia, 4748, 5621, 9474, 9475, 10,199, 10,254). He took of the seed of the land, and placed it in the field of the sower, he took it to great waters and placed it circumspectly, signifies multiplication. The seed of the land denotes the truth of the church; the field of the sower denotes the good by virtue of which it grows. Great waters signify the knowledges of truth and good; to place circumspectly denotes separation from falsities. And it budded and became a luxuriant vine, so that its branches looked towards him, and the roots thereof were under him signifies the church arising from the arrangement of the knowledges of truth, and their application to use. So it became a vine which produced branches, and sent out boughs signifies the beginning of the spiritual church, and the continuous increase of truths. (That vine signifies the spiritual church, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia, n. 1069, 6375, 9277.) Hitherto the beginning of the church in the natural or external man has been described; its establishment, which takes place in the spiritual or internal man, is now described by the other eagle. Because this signifies spiritual intelligence, it is said that the vine bent its roots and sent its branches towards him, namely, the eagle, for by roots are signified knowledges (scientiae), and by branches the cognitions (cognitiones) of truth and good, which are all applied to the truths which are in the spiritual or internal man, since without their spiritual application man has no wisdom. The multiplication and fructification of truth from good, thus the increase of intelligence, is described by the vine being planted in a good field, near many waters, to form the bough, and to bear fruit, that it might be a vine of magnificence. Here, by the good field is signified the church as to the good of charity; many waters signify the knowledges, of good and truth. To form the bough is to multiply truths; and to bear fruit is to produce goods, which are uses. A vine of magnificence is the spiritual church, thus internal and external. (But these things, because they are arcana of regeneration and of the establishment of the church with man, may be better perceived from what is adduced in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem from Arcana Coelestia, concerning knowledges (scientiae) and knowledges (cognitiones), n. 51, and concerning regeneration, n. 183.)

[3] That eagle signifies intelligence is also evident in Isaiah:

"They that wait for Jehovah shall renew their strength, and mount up with wings as eagles" (xl. 31).

To mount up with wings as eagles denotes ascent into the light of heaven, thus into intelligence. [4] Again, in David:

"Jehovah satisfieth thy mouth; so that thou art renewed as the eagle" (Psalm ciii. 5).

To be renewed as the eagle, means as to intelligence. [5] Again, in Moses:

"Ye have seen how I bare you as on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself" (Exod. xix. 4).

By bearing them as on eagles' wings and bringing them is also signified into intelligence, because into heaven and the light thereof. [6] Again:

Jehovah "found him in a desert land; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the pupil of his eye. As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings; so Jehovah alone did lead him" (Deut. xxxii. 10-12).

Here the establishment of the Ancient Church is treated of, and the first reformation of those who belonged to that church; their first state is meant by the desert land in which Jehovah found them. This land denotes a state in which there is no good because there is no truth. Their instruction in truths, the guarding of them from falsities, and the opening of the interiors of their mind that they may come into the light of heaven and so into the understanding of truth and good, which is intelligence, is described by the eagle stirring up her nest, fluttering over her young, and bearing them upon her wings; comparison is here made with the eagle, because the eagle signifies intelligence.

[7] In 2 Samuel:

"Saul and Jonathan were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions" (i. 23).

By Saul as king, and by Jonathan as son of a king, the truth of the church is signified; and because intelligence and power are therefrom, it is said that they were swifter than eagles, and stronger than lions; swiftness in the Word, when said of intelligence, signifying the affection of truth. For David wrote his lamentation over Saul and Jonathan to teach the sons of Judah the bow; and by the sons of Judah are signified the truths of the church, and by the bow is meant the doctrine of truth fighting against falsities. [8] In Job:

"Doth the hawk fly by thy intelligence, and stretch her wings toward the south? Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high? In the rock she dwelleth and passeth the night, thence she seeketh her food, and her eyes behold afar off; and where the slain are, there is she" (xxxix. 26-30).

Here the subject treated of is intelligence, which no one can procure from himself or from proprium.; wherefore it is said, "Doth the hawk fly by thy intelligence, and stretch her wings towards the south?" by which is signified man's leading himself into the light of intelligence, which is signified by the south; but, in this case, that he cannot. The intelligence itself, which is that of the spiritual man, is described by the eagle mounting up, making her nest on high, dwelling and passing the night on the rock; also by her thence searching out her food, and her eyes beholding afar off. That no one has such intelligence from himself is signified by the question, "Doth the eagle mount up at thy command?" But that nothing but falsities can proceed from man's own intelligence is signified by where the slain are, there is she. The slain in the Word signify those with whom truths are extinguished by falsities (see Arcana Coelestia, n. 4503).

[9] From these considerations it is evident what is signified by the words of the Lord when the disciples asked Him where the Last Judgment would be:

They said unto Him, "Where, Lord? He said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together" (Luke xvii. 37).

By the body is here signified the spiritual world, where all men are together, good and evil. By eagles are signified those who are in truths, and also those who are in falsities, thus those who are in true intelligence and those who are in false intelligence. False intelligence is from man's proprium, but true intelligence is from the Lord, by means of the Word. [10] The falsities which are from man's own intelligence are also described by eagles in the following passages in the Word. In Jeremiah:

"Behold he ascendeth as clouds, and his chariots are, as a storm, his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us, for we are spoiled" (iv. 13).

The subject here treated of is the desolation of truth in the church, and by the clouds which ascend are signified falsities; by the chariots which are as a storm is signified the doctrine of falsities; their eagerness and pleasure in reasoning against truths and destroying them is signified by their horses being swifter than eagles, for by swiftness and haste in the Word is signified incitement by affection and lust (see Arcana Coelestia, n. 7695, 7866), and by horses the understanding of truth, and, in the opposite sense, the understanding of falsity, or reasoning from fallacies against truths (see Arcana Coelestia, n. 2760, 2761, 2762, 3217, 5321, 6125, 6400, 6534, 7024, 8146, 8148, 8381). And because horses signify the understanding of truth, and eagles intelligence, in this place man's own intelligence, which is reasoning from falsities, it is therefore said, "their horses are swifter than eagles." [11] In Lamentations:

"Our persecutors were swifter than the eagles of the heavens" (iv. 19).

In Habakkuk:

Their horses are swifter than leopards, and are fiercer than the wolves of evening: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, whence his horsemen come from far; they fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat. They come all for violence" (i. 8, 9).

The eagle here, in like manner, signifies reasoning from falsities against truths, which is reasoning from man's own intelligence.