9458. 'Speak to the children of Israel' means the representative Church. This is clear from the representation of 'the children of Israel' as the Church, in particular the spiritual Church, dealt with in 8805, 9340, but at this point the representative Church, since the kinds of objects that represented the holy things of the Church and of heaven are the subject, such as the ark, the mercy-seat, the cherubs, the table on which the loaves of the Presence were laid, the lampstand, and further on the tabernacle, Aaron's garments, and the altar and sacrifices, all of which were representative. The reason why the spiritual Church is meant by 'the children of Israel' is that it was represented by them. However no actual representative Church could be established among that people, only a representative of a Church, see 4281, 4288, 4311, 4444, 4500, 6304, 7048, 9320.

4500. 'And came with confidence upon the city, and killed every male' means that they utterly destroyed the truths of doctrine of the Church among the Ancients. This is clear from the meaning of 'the city' as the doctrine of the Church, dealt with in 402, 2449, 2943, 3216, 4478, in this case of the Church among the Ancients, for that Church is represented by Hamor and Shechem whose city it was; from the meaning of 'with confidence' as with trust, in this case with trust in falsity and evil; and from the meaning of 'a male' as truth, dealt with in 749, 2046, 4005. From these meanings it is evident that 'they came with confidence upon the city, and killed every male' means that with a trust in falsity and evil they utterly destroyed the truths of doctrine of the Church among the Ancients.

[2] It was the Church among the Ancients, a descendant of the Most Ancient Church, that was going to be established among the descendants from Jacob, because the Ancient Church had begun to perish. But the fact that they utterly destroyed every truth of faith and good of charity, and thus every internal aspect of worship among them, and so the fact that no Church could be established among Jacob's descendants, is described at this point in the internal sense. This explains how it came about that, because of their stubborn insistence, that which was merely a representative of the Church was established among them 4281, 4288-4290, 4293, 4307, 4314, 4316, 4317, 4429, 4433, 4444.