4447. And Hamor spoke with them, saying. That this signifies the good of the Church among the Ancients, is evident from the representation of Hamor, as being what is from the ancients (see n. 4431), that is, the good of the church which was among them. For the good of the church is father, and the derivative truth (“Shechem”) is son; and therefore by “father” in the Word is signified good, and by “son” truth. It is here said “the good of the Church among the Ancients,” but not “the good of the Ancient Church,” for the reason that by the “Church among the Ancients” is meant the church that was derived from the Most Ancient Church which existed before the flood, and by the “Ancient Church” is meant the church that existed after the flood. These two churches have sometimes been treated of in the preceding pages, and it has been shown that the Most Ancient Church which was before the flood was celestial, but the Ancient Church which was after the flood was spiritual, and the difference between them has often been treated of.

[2] The remains of the Most Ancient Church which was celestial still existed in the land of Canaan, especially among those called Hittites and Hivites. The reason why these remains did not exist anywhere else was that the Most Ancient Church called “Man” or “Adam” (n. 478, 479) was in the land of Canaan, and therefore the “garden of Eden,” by which was signified the intelligence and wisdom of the men of that church (n. 100, 1588), and by the trees in it their perception, (n. 103, 2163, 2722, 2972), was in that land. And because intelligence and wisdom were signified by this “garden” or paradise, the church itself was meant by it; and because the church was meant, so also was heaven; and because heaven, so also in the supreme sense, was the Lord; and therefore in this sense the “land of Canaan” itself signifies the Lord, in the relative sense heaven and also the church, and in the individual sense the man of the church (n. 1413, 1437, 1607, 3038, 3481, 3705); and therefore also the term “land” or “earth” when mentioned alone in the Word has a like signification (n. 566, 662, 1066, 1067, 1413, 1607, 3355); the “new heaven and new earth” being a new church in respect to its internal and its external (n. 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 3355). That the Most Ancient Church was in the land of Canaan may be seen in n. 567; and the result of this was that the places there became representative, and for this reason Abram was commanded to go there, and the land was given to his descendants the sons of Jacob in order that the representatives of the places in accordance with which the Word was to be written, might be retained. (See n. 3686 and that for the same reason all the places there, as well as the mountains and rivers, and all the borders round about, became representative, n. 1585, 1866, 4240.)

[3] All this shows what is here meant by the “Church among the Ancients,” namely, remains from the Most Ancient Church. And as these remains existed among the Hittites and Hivites, therefore Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, together with their wives, obtained a place of burial with the Hittites in their land (Genesis 23:1-20; 49:29-32; 50:13); and Joseph with the Hivites (Josh. 24:32). Hamor the father of Shechem represented the remains of this Church, and therefore by him is signified the good of the Church among the Ancients, and consequently the origin of interior truth from a Divine stock (n. 4399). (What the distinction is between the Most Ancient Church which was before the flood, and the Ancient Church which was after the flood, may be seen above, n. 597, 607, 608, 640, 641, 765, 784, 895, 920, 1114-1128, 1238, 1327, 2896, 2897.)

765. Thus far the temptation of the man of the church called “Noah” has been treated of: first, his temptation as to things of the understanding, which are truths of faith (verses 6-10); and then his temptation as to things of the will, which have regard to the goods of charity (verses 11-12). The end or purpose of the temptations was that a man of the church or a new church might be born again by their means; seeing that the Most Ancient Church had perished. This church called “Noah” was as before said of a different character from that of the Most Ancient Church; that is to say, it was spiritual, the characteristic of which is that man is born again by means of doctrinal matters of faith, after the implantation of which a conscience is insinuated into him, lest he should act against the truth and good of faith; and in this way he is endowed with charity, which governs the conscience from which he is thus beginning to act. From this it is evident what a spiritual man is; that he is not one who believes faith without charity to be saving, but one who makes charity the essential of faith, and acts from it. That such a man or such a church might arise, was the end in view, and therefore that church itself is now treated of. That the church is now treated of is evident also from the repetition as it were of the same matter; for it is said here: “in the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;” and likewise above in verse 7, but in these words: “and Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, into the ark.” But now, because the church is treated of, the sons are named, “Shem, Ham, and Japheth” who when thus named signify the man of the church, but when called “sons” without names, signify truths of faith. Besides, that which was said in verses 8-9 about the beasts and the fowls that went into the ark is repeated again, in verses 14-16, but here with a difference accordant with and applicable to the subject of the church.