4504. 'Because they had defiled their sister' means that they had violated the truth of faith. This is clear from the meaning of 'defiling' as violating, and from the meaning of 'a sister' as truth, dealt with in 1495, 2508, 2524, 2556, 3386, in this case the truth of faith because Dinah, to whom 'their sister' refers here, means the affection for all things of faith, 4427. The reason why Shechem's defilement of their sister means that they befouled the truth of faith is that she represents the affection for all truths, and so means the Church itself, 3963, 3964. And because she was not given by her brothers to Shechem as a wife but remained with them as one defiled, therefore like her brothers she subsequently had a contrary representation. That is to say, she represented the affection for all falsities, and so represented the corrupted Church. Consequently the statement that they defiled their sister means that they had violated the truth of faith.

4427. 'Dinah went out' means the affection for all things of faith, and also means the Church arising from that affection. This is clear from the representation of 'Dinah' as the affection for all truths, and as the Church arising from that affection, dealt with in 3963, 3964. For 'the twelve sons of Jacob' represented all things of faith, and so all things that constitute the Church, 2129, 2130, 3858, 3926, 3939; and therefore 'Dinah', who was born after Jacob's ten sons by Leah and the servant-girls, means the affection for those things of faith, and so means the Church. Indeed the Church arises from the affection for truth, so much so that whether you speak of the affection for truth or of the Church it amounts to the same; for it is by virtue of the affection for truth that anyone is a Church.