4852. 'The wife of Judah' means the semblance of religion existing among the nation descended from Jacob, specifically that from Judah. This is clear from the meaning of 'the wife' as the Church, dealt with in 252, 253, 409, 749, 770, but here as a semblance of religion because the subject is the Jewish nation, among which no Church existed, only an external shell of a Church separated from anything internal, 4281, 4288, 4289, 4307, 4433, 4500, 4680, 4825, 4844, 4847 (this cannot be called anything else than the semblance of religion, for only external holiness completely devoid of any internal holiness could exist with them, 4293); and from the representation of 'Judah' as the nation descended from Jacob, and specifically that descended from Judah, dealt with above in 4815, 4842.