72. Verse 16. And having in His right hand seven stars, signifies all knowledges of good and truth from Him. This is evident from the signification of "having in His right hand," as being from Him; for "hand" signifies power, thus it signifies whatever pertains to one, and so also whatever is from him. It is said "right hand," because "right hand" signifies the power of good through truth. (That "hand" signifies power, see Arcana Coelestia, n. Arcana Coelestia 878, 3091, 4931-4937, 6947, 10019; and consequently that it signifies whatever pertains to one, and so also whatever is from him, 9133, 10019, 10405; that the "right hand" signifies the power of good through truth, see n. 9604, 9736, 10061; and that "the right hand of Jehovah" signifies the Lord's Divine power, thus omnipotence, see n. 3387, 4592, 4933, 7518, 7673, 8281, 9133, 10019.) This is evident also from the signification of "stars," as being the knowledges of good and truth, of which more in what follows; and from the signification of "seven," as being all (See above, n. 20, 24).

[2] That "stars" signify the knowledges of good and truth, thus goods and truths, is from the appearance in the spiritual world; for there the Lord appears as a sun, and angels from afar off as stars. Angels appear thus from their reception of light from the Lord as a sun, thus from their reception of Divine truth, which is from the Lord, for this is the light of heaven. From this it is that it is said in Daniel:

The intelligent shall shine as the brightness of the expanse; and they that justify many, as the stars for ever and ever (Daniel 12:3).

The "intelligent" are they that are in truths, and "they that justify" are those that are in good (See the work on Heaven and Hell 346-348).

[3] When it is known to any that the "sun" signifies the Lord in respect to Divine love, thus also Divine love from the Lord, and that "stars" signify the truths of the church and knowledges thereof, these can also know what is signified in the Word where it is said that "the sun shall be darkened," and that "the stars shall not give light," also that they "shall fall from heaven;" and also what "stars" signify when mentioned elsewhere in the Word, as in the following passages. In Isaiah:

I will make the land a waste, and destroy the sinners thereof out of it; the stars of the heaven and the constellations thereof shall not shine forth with their light; the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not make bright her light (Isaiah 13:9-10).

The vastation of the church is here treated of, which is when there is no good of love any more, nor any truths of faith. The "land" that shall be laid waste is the church; the "land" is the church (as may be seen above, n. 29.

[4] In Ezekiel:

When I shall extinguish thee I will cover the heavens, and will make the stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not make her light to shine; all the luminaries of light will I make dark over thee, and I will set darkness upon the land (Ezekiel 32:7-8

"Darkness upon the land" means falsities in the church. In Joel:

The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars withdraw their brightness (Joel 2:10-11; 3:15).

In Matthew:

In the consummation of the age, after the affliction of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken (Matthew 24:29; Mark 13:24).

In Daniel:

From one of the horns of the he-goat went forth a horn, a little one, and it waxed exceeding great towards the south, and towards the east, and towards splendor; and it waxed great towards the host of the heavens; and some of the host and of the stars it cast down and trampled upon them. Yea, it magnified itself even to the Prince of the host (Daniel 8:9-11).

By the "host of the heavens" the goods and truths of the church in the complex are meant (See Arcana Coelestia 3448, 7236, 7988, 8019); in particular, such as combat against falsities (See n. 7277). From this Jehovah is called "Jehovah Zebaoth," that is, Jehovah of Hosts (See n. 3448, 7988).

[5] In Revelation:

The dragon with his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven to the earth (Revelation 12:4).

The "stars" here also are the goods and truths of the church, and the knowledges thereof; the "third part" is the greater part; but what is signified by the "dragon" will be told in what follows. In the same:

The stars of heaven fell unto the earth (Revelation 6:13).

In the same:

A star from heaven is fallen unto the earth (Revelation 9:1).

In the same:

There fell from heaven a great star burning as a torch; it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters (Revelation 8:10).

As "stars" signify the goods and truths of the church and the knowledges thereof, by their "falling from heaven" is signified that these perish. In David:

Jehovah telleth the number of the stars, He calleth them all by names (Psalms 147:4).

In the same:

Praise ye Jehovah, sun and moon; praise Him, all ye stars of light (Psalms 148:3).

In the book of Judges:

The kings came, they fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought (Judges 5:19-20).

Since the angels in the spiritual heaven shine as stars, and since all the truths and goods that are with the angels are from the Lord, therefore the Lord, as He is called an "Angel," is likewise called a "Star," as in Moses:

There shall arise a star out of Jacob, and a Scepter shall arise out of Israel (Numbers 24:17).

In Revelation:

Jesus, the bright and morning Star (Revelation 22:16).

From this it can be seen:

Why the wise men from the east saw a star, and followed it, and why it stood where Jesus had been born (Matthew 2:1-2, 9).

From this it can now be known what is signified by the "seven stars" that were in the right hand of the Son of man, who there is the Lord in respect to the Divine Human (See above, n. 63).

4447. 'Hamor spoke to them, saying' means the good of the Church among the Ancients. This is clear from the representation of 'Hamor' as that which was received from the Ancients, dealt with in 4431, namely the good of the Church received from them, for the good of the Church is 'a father', and the truth derived from that good, meant here by 'Shechem', is 'a son' - which also is why 'father' in the Word means good, and 'son' truth. The expression 'the good of the Church among the Ancients' is used here, not the good of the Ancient Church, for the reason that the phrase 'the Church among the Ancients' is used to mean the Church that descended from the Most Ancient Church which existed before the Flood, whereas the Ancient Church is used to mean the Church which came into existence after the Flood. Those two Churches have been dealt with several times previous to this, when it has been shown that the Most Ancient Church which existed before the Flood was celestial whereas the Ancient Church which came into existence after the Flood was spiritual. The difference between the two has also been dealt with often.

[2] Remnants of the Most Ancient Church which was celestial were still in existence in the land of Canaan, especially among those in that land who were called Hittites and Hivites. The reason why such remnants did not exist anywhere else was that the Most Ancient Church, which was called Man or Adam, 478, 479, existed in the land of Canaan, where the garden of Eden, which meant the intelligence and wisdom of the members of that Church, 100, 1588, and the trees in it their perception, 103, 2163, 2722, 2972, was therefore situated. And because intelligence and wisdom were meant by that garden or paradise the Church itself is also meant by it. And because the Church is meant, so also is heaven; and because heaven is meant, so also in the highest sense is the Lord. So it is that in the highest sense the land of Canaan also means the Lord, in the relative sense heaven and also the Church, and in the personal sense the member of the Church, 1413, 1437, 1607, 3038, 3481, 3705. So it is too that the word 'land' standing by itself in the Word has a similar meaning, 566, 662, 1066, 1067, 1413, 1607, 3355; while a new heaven and a new earth mean a new Church, internally and externally, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end), 3355 (end). The Most Ancient Church was situated in the land of Canaan, see 567, and it was from this that places there became representative. It explains why Abram was commanded to go there, and also why the land was given to his descendants from Jacob, namely that the representatives connected with the places which were to be used in the composition of the Word might be perpetuated, 3686. This was why every place in that land, including mountains and rivers, and also all the borders surrounding it, became representative, 1585, 1866, 4240.

[3] From all these considerations one may see what the expression 'Church among the Ancients' is used to mean, namely remnants of the Most Ancient Church. And because those remnants existed among the Hittites and Hivites, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, with their wives, acquired a burial-place among the Hittites in their land, Genesis 23:1-end; Genesis 49:29-32; 50:13; and Joseph among the Hivites, Joshua 24:32. Hamor, Shechem's father, represented the remnants of that Church, and as a consequence means the good of the Church among the Ancients and therefore the origin of interior truth from a Divine stock, 4399. What the difference is between the Most Ancient Church which existed before the Flood and the Ancient Church which came into existence after the Flood, see 597, 607, 608, 640, 641, 765, 784, 895, 920, 1114-1128, 1238, 1327, 2896, 2897.