4815. 'That Judah went down from his brothers' means the descendants of Jacob, in particular the tribe of Judah which was separated from the rest. This is clear from the representation of 'Judah' in the universal sense as the descendants of Jacob, and in a particular sense as the tribe called the tribe of Judah; and from the meaning of 'going down from his brothers' as being separated from the rest of the tribes, here as a departure into evil worse than theirs. 'Going down' implies a decline into evil, since 'going up' implies a lifting up to what is good, 3084, 4539. The reason for this is, as also stated already, that the land of Canaan represented the Lord's kingdom, and Jerusalem and Zion in that land the inmost part of this kingdom. But the regions outside the boundaries of that land represented things outside the Lord's kingdom, namely falsity and evil. Consequently the expression 'to go down' was used when going from Zion and Jerusalem towards the boundaries of the land, but 'to go up' when going from the boundaries towards Jerusalem and Zion. This is why 'going up' implies a lifting up to truth and goodness, and 'going down' a decline into falsity and evil. As the reference here is to the falsity and evil into which the tribe of Judah declined, the expression 'Judah went down' is used, and after that 'he turned aside to a man, an Adullamite', 'turning aside' meaning that it declined into falsity and then into evil.

[2] It is well known that the tribe of Judah was separated from the rest of the tribes. The reason for the separation was so that the tribe might represent the Lord's celestial kingdom, and the rest of the tribes His spiritual kingdom. This being so, Judah also describes, in the representative sense, the celestial man, and in the universal sense the Lord's celestial kingdom, 3654, 3881. The rest of the tribes however were referred to by the single term 'the Israelites', for in the representative sense Israel describes the spiritual man, and in the universal sense the Lord's spiritual kingdom, 3654, 4286.

[3] The decline of the tribe of Judah into evil worse than that of the rest is the particular meaning of these words - 'and Judah went down from his brothers, and turned aside'. The departure of the tribe of Judah into evil worse than that of the rest is clear from many places in the Word, in particular in the Prophets, as in Jeremiah,

Her treacherous sister Judah saw when, because of all the ways in which estranged Israel committed adultery, I sent her away and gave her a decree of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she also went and committed whoredom, so much so that with the voice of her whoredom she profaned the land; she committed adultery with stone and wood. Yet for all this treacherous Judah has not returned to Me. Estranged Israel has justified her soul more than treacherous Judah. Jeremiah 3:7-11.

And in Ezekiel,

Her sister did indeed see, yet she corrupted her own love more than she, and her own acts of whoredom beyond her sister's acts of whoredom. Ezekiel 23:11-end.

These, in addition to many others elsewhere, are references to Jerusalem and Samaria, that is, to the tribe of Judah and the tribes of Israel.

[4] Described in the internal sense of this chapter is the way in which that tribe sank into falsity, and from this into evil, and at length into that which was wholly idolatrous. This, it is true, is described in the internal sense even before that tribe was separated from the rest and before it came to be as mentioned above. But that which is contained in the internal sense is Divine, and to the Divine future things are also present ones. See what was foretold about that nation in Deuteronomy 31:16-21; 32:15-43.

3084. 'And went up' means a raising up. This is clear from the meaning of 'going up' as being raised up. The expression 'raised up' is used to describe from what is lower to what is higher, and because it is used to describe this it is also used to describe from what is exterior to what is interior, for the two are one and the same. Indeed what is lower and higher in human thought is exterior and interior in angelic thought, as with the idea of heaven. By men heaven is seen as that which is higher, but by angels as that which is interior. It is similarly so with the natural with man. In relation to his spiritual it is exterior, while the spiritual in turn is exterior in relation to the celestial. Or what amounts to the same, factual knowledge which belongs to the natural man is exterior in relation to truth, while truth is exterior in relation to good. Therefore also factual knowledge in relation to truth is called a covering as well as a garment, and so in a similar way is truth in relation to good.

[2] This explains why the expressions 'going up' to Jerusalem, but 'coming down' from Jerusalem are used; also 'going up' from Jerusalem to Zion, and 'coming down' from Zion to Jerusalem; for the parts surrounding Jerusalem mean the exterior features of the Church, Jerusalem meaning the more interior features and Zion the inmost. Since in the internal sense this verse describes the initial stage in the raising up of truth from the natural man to the rational man, therefore it is first of all said here that the affection for truth represented by Rebekah 'went down to the spring' and shortly after that 'went up'. For as stated above in 3074, Divine love flows into the affection for good, and from there into the affection for truth, and in so doing brings life and light to the things that are in the natural man, and at the same time orders them. This is the meaning of 'going down'. In this way truths are raised up from the natural man into the rational man where they are joined to good. This is the meaning of 'going up'.