4552. And Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem. That this signifies eternal rejection, is evident from the signification of “hiding,” as being to reject and bury as dead; and from the signification of “under the oak,” as being to eternity; for as the oak is a very long-lived tree, when anything was hidden under it, it signified what is perpetual; and it also signified what is entangled, and moreover what is fallacious and false, because the lowest of the natural is relatively entangled and fallacious insofar as it derives its knowledge and its pleasure from the sensuous things of the body, and thus from fallacies. For by the “oak” is specifically signified the lowest of the natural, consequently in a good sense the truths and goods which are therein, and in the opposite sense the evils and falsities which are therein.

[2] Moreover, when falsities are removed in a regenerate man, they are rejected to the lowest of the natural; and therefore when a man becomes mature in judgment and clearsighted, and especially when he becomes intelligent and wise, they appear still further removed from his interior sight. For with the regenerate man truths are in the inmost of his natural near good, which is like a little sun there; and the truths which depend on these are distant therefrom according to the degrees of-so to speak-their consanguinity and affinity with good. Fallacious truths are in the more outward circumferences, and falsities are rejected to the outermost ones. The latter remain with man forever, but are in this order when the man suffers himself to be led by the Lord, for this order is heavenly order, inasmuch as heaven itself is in such an order. But when a man does not suffer himself to be led by the Lord, but by evil, these things are then in the opposite order, evil with falsities then being in the middle, truths being rejected to the circumferences, and the veriest Divine truths to the outermost circumferences, which order is infernal, for in such an order is hell, the outermost circumferences being the lowest things of the natural.

[3] That “oaks” denote the falsities which are the lowest things of the natural, is because in the Ancient Church, when there was external worship representative of the Lord’s kingdom, all trees of whatever kind signified something spiritual or celestial; for instance the olive and the oil from it signified the things which are of celestial love; the vine and the wine from it, the things which are of charity and its derivative faith; and so with the other trees, as the cedar, the fig, the poplar, the beech, and the oak, the signification of which has been occasionally shown in the explications. It is for this reason that they are so often mentioned in the Word, and also in general gardens, groves, and forests, and that men had their worship in these under certain trees. But as this worship became idolatrous, and the posterity of Jacob, with whom the representative of a church was instituted, was prone to idolatry, and consequently set up so many idols therein, they were forbidden to hold worship in gardens and groves, and under the trees therein; nevertheless the trees retained their signification, and therefore not only the more noble, as the olive, the vine, and the cedar, but also the poplar, the beech, and the oak, where mentioned in the Word, are each significative as in the Ancient Church.

[4] That “oaks” in a good sense signify the truths and goods which are lowest of the natural, and in the opposite sense falsities and evils, is evident from the passages in the Word where they are mentioned, when understood in the internal sense, as in Isaiah:

They who forsake Jehovah shall be consumed, for they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired; and ye shall be as an oak that casteth its leaves, and as a garden that hath no water (Isaiah 1:28-30).

The day of Jehovah Zebaoth shall be upon everyone lifted up and low, and upon all the cedars of Lebanon, and upon all the oaks of Bashan (Isaiah 2:12-13).

That the day of Jehovah will not be upon the cedars and the oaks, everyone may know, but upon those who are signified by them. Again:

He who formeth a god heweth him down cedars, and taketh the beech and the oak, and strengtheneth for himself in the trees of the forest (Isaiah 44:14).

[5] In Ezekiel:

Ye shall acknowledge that I am Jehovah when their pierced ones shall be in the midst of the idols round about their altars, upon every high hill, in all the heads of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every tangled oak, the place where they have given an odor of rest to all their idols (Ezekiel 6:13).

Moreover the ancients had worship upon hills and mountains because hills and mountains signified celestial love; but when the worship was performed by idolaters, as here, they signify the love of self and of the world (n. 795, 796, 1430, 2722, 4210); and they held it under trees, because as before said these were significative according to their species. “Under the tangled oak” here denotes that the worship was from falsities, which are the lowest things of the natural, for these are in an entangled state (n. 2831).

In Hosea:

They sacrifice upon the heads of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under the oak, the poplar, and the hard oak, because the shade thereof is good; therefore your daughters commit whoredom, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery (Hos. 4:13).

That “to commit whoredom” is to falsify truths, and “to commit adultery” is to pervert goods, may be seen in n. 2466, 2729, 3399.

In Zechariah:

Open thy doors, O Lebanon, and let the fire devour the cedars, because the magnificent ones are laid waste; howl, ye oaks of Bashan, for the forest of Bazar is come down (Zech. 11:1-2).

2466. That the things now set forth are signified in the internal sense, can be confirmed, and indeed as to each word; but most of them have been confirmed before, and besides, they are such as do violence to our ideas and give offense to chaste ears. From the summary explication we can see that by the things in question there is described the origin of such a religion as is signified in the Word by “Moab” and the “son of Ammon.” The nature of this religion will be told hereafter, where Moab and the son of Ammon are treated of. That it is adulterated good and falsified truth, is evident. The adulterations of good and the falsifications of truth are commonly described in the Word by “adulteries” and “whoredoms,” and are also so called, the reason of which is based on the fact that good and truth form a marriage with each other (n. 1904, 2173); nay, incredible as it may appear to most, it is from this marriage as from its genuine origin that there comes the sanctity of marriages on earth, and also the laws of marriages given in the Word.

[2] For the case is this: When celestial and spiritual things descend out of heaven into a lower sphere, they are there turned in the most perfect manner into some likeness of marriages, and this from the correspondence that exists between spiritual and natural things (concerning which correspondence of the Lord’s Divine mercy elsewhere). But when they are perverted in the lower sphere, as is done where evil genii and evil spirits are present, the same are then turned into such things as belong to adulteries and whoredoms. Hence it is that contaminations of good and perversions of truth are described in the Word by adulteries and whoredoms, and are also so named, as is very evident from the following passages in Ezekiel:

Thou didst commit whoredom because of thy name, and pouredst out thy whoredoms on everyone that passed by; thou didst take of thy garments and madest for thee high places decked with diverse colors, and didst commit whoredom upon them; thou didst take the vessels of thy adornment of My gold and of My silver, which I had given thee, and madest for thee images of a male, and didst commit whoredom with them; thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto Me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them. Was there but little of thy whoredoms? Thou hast committed whoredom with the sons of Egypt, thy neighbors, great of flesh and hast multiplied thy whoredom to provoke Me to anger; thou hast committed whoredom with the sons of Asshur, and hast committed whoredom with them, and wast not satisfied; and thou hast multiplied thy whoredom even unto the land of traffic, unto Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied therewith (Ezekiel 16:15-17, 20, 26, 28-29, etc.),

[3] where Jerusalem is treated of, by which is here signified the church perverted in respect to truths. Everyone can see that all these things have quite different meanings. That something of the church that has been perverted is called “whoredom” is quite evident; the “garments” here mentioned denote the truths that are being perverted; the falsities thence derived, which are worshiped, are the “high places decked with divers colors,” with which there was whoredom. (That “garments” denote truths may be seen above, n. 1073; and that “high places” denote worship, n. 796.)

The “vessels of adornment of gold and silver which I had given,” denote the knowledges of good and truth from the Word by which they confirm falsities; and when these appear as truths, they are called “images of a male” with which whoredom was committed. (That the “vessels of adornment of gold and silver,” denote the knowledges of good and truth, is evident from the signification of “gold,” as being good, n. 113, 1551, 1552; and of “silver” as being truth, n. 1551, 2048; and that the “images of a male” signify that they appear as truths may be seen above, n. 2046.) That the “sons and daughters” which they bore and sacrificed to them denote the truths and goods which they have perverted, is evident from the signification of “sons and daughters” (see n. 489-491, 533, 2362). That to “commit whoredom with the sons of Egypt,” denotes to pervert these truths and goods by means of memory-knowledges is evident from the signification of “Egypt” as being memory-knowledge (n. 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462). That to “commit whoredom with the sons of Asshur,” denotes to pervert them by reasonings, is evident from the signification of “Asshur,” as being reasoning (n. 119, 1186). That to “multiply whoredom even unto the land of Chaldea,” denotes to pervert them even to the profanation of truth, which is “Chaldea” (n. 1368). All this makes clear what is the nature of the internal sense of the Word in the very sense of the letter.

[4] In like manner elsewhere in the same Prophet:

Two women, the daughters of one mother, committed whoredom in Egypt; they committed whoredom in their youth; Samaria is Oholah, Jerusalem is Oholibah. Oholah committed whoredom under Me, and she doted on her lovers, the Assyrians her neighbors, she bestowed her whoredoms upon them, the choice of all the sons of Asshur; she hath not forsaken her whoredoms from Egypt, for they lay with her in her youth. Oholibah corrupted her love more than she, and her whoredoms more than the whoredoms of her sister; she doted upon the sons of Asshur; she added to her whoredoms, and saw the images of the Chaldeans, she doted upon them at the view of her eyes; the sons of Babel came to her into the bed of loves (Ezekiel 23:2-5, 7-8, 11-12, 14, 16, etc.).

“Samaria” denotes the church which is in the affection of truth, and “Jerusalem” that which is in the affection of good; whose “whoredoms with the Egyptians,” and “with the sons of Asshur,” denote perversions of good and truth by means of memory-knowledges and reasonings, by which falsities are confirmed, as is evident from the signification of “Egypt” (n. 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462); and of “Asshur” (n. 119, 1186). That this was done even to profane worship, which in respect to truth is “Chaldea” (n. 1368); and in respect to good is the “sons of Babel” (n. 1182, 1326).

[5] In Isaiah:

And it shall come to pass at the end of seventy years that Jehovah will visit Tyre, and she shall return to her harlot hire, and shall commit whoredom with all the kingdoms of the earth (Isaiah 23:17).

It is the vaunting of what is false that is signified by the “harlot hire” and the “whoredom” of Tyre. That “Tyre” denotes the knowledges of truth may be seen above (n. 1201); and also that the “kingdoms” with which the whoredom was committed denote truths (n. 1672).

[6] In Jeremiah:

Thou hast committed whoredom with many companions; and return again unto Me. Lift up thine eyes unto the hills, and see; where hast thou not been debauched? Upon the ways hast thou sat for them as an Arab in the wilderness, and thou hast profaned the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness (Jeremiah 3:1-2).

To “commit whoredoms” and to “profane the land with whoredoms” denote to pervert and falsify the truths of the church (that the “land” denotes the church see above, n. 662, 1066, 1067).

[7] Again:

By the voice of her whoredom she hath profaned the land, she hath committed adultery with stone and with wood (Jeremiah 3:9);

to “commit adultery with stone and with wood,” denotes to pervert the truths and goods of external worship (that “stone” is such truth may be seen above, n. 643, 1298; and that “wood” is such good, n. 643).

[8] Again:

Because they have wrought folly in Israel, and have committed adultery with the wives of their fellows, and have spoken a word in My name that is false, which I commanded them not (Jeremiah 29:23);

to “commit adultery with the wives of their fellows,” is to teach falsity as from them.

[9] Again:

In the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing, in committing adultery and walking in falsehood (Jeremiah 23:14); where to “commit adultery” regards good which is contaminated; and to “walk in falsehood” regards truth which is perverted. Again:

I have seen thine abominations; thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the foulness of thy whoredom upon the hills in the field. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem, thou wilt not be made clean; how long shall it yet be? (Jeremiah 13:27).

[10] In Hosea:

Whoredom, and wine, and new wine, have taken possession of the heart. My people inquireth of wood, and the staff thereof will declare it; for the spirit of whoredom hath led them astray, and they have committed whoredom from under their God; they sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under the oak, the poplar, and the terebinth [robore]; therefore your daughters commit whoredom, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery; shall I not visit upon your daughters because they commit whoredom, and upon your daughters-in-law because they commit adultery? For they divide with whores, and sacrifice with prostitutes (Hos. 4:11-14).

What each of these things signifies in the internal sense can be seen from the signification of “wine,” as being falsity; of “new wine,” as being the evil thence derived; of the “wood that is inquired of,” as being the good of the delight of some cupidity; of the “staff that will declare,” as being the imaginary power of their understanding; also of the “mountains” and the “hills,” as being the loves of self and of the world; of the “oak, the poplar, and the terebinth,” as being so many gross perceptions thence derived in which they trust; of “daughters” and the “daughters-in-law” as being such affections; all of which show what is here signified by “whoredoms,” “adulteries,” and “harlots.”

[11] In the same:

O Israel, thou hast committed whoredom over thy God, thou hast loved harlot hire upon all the corn floors (Hos. 9:1);

“harlot hire” denotes the vaunting of what is false.

In Moses:

Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they commit whoredom after their gods, and sacrifice unto their gods; and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifices, and thou take of his daughters for thy sons, and his daughters commit whoredom after their gods, and make thy sons commit whoredom after their gods (Exodus 34:15-16).

In the same:

I will cut off all that commit whoredom after him, committing whoredom after Molech, from the midst of their people; and the soul that turneth unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto the soothsayers, to commit whoredom after them, I will set My face against that soul, and will cut him off from the midst of his people (Leviticus 20:5-6

In the same:

Your sons shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years, and shall bear your whoredoms, until your bodies be consumed in the wilderness (Numbers 14:33).

In the same:

Remember all the precepts of Jehovah, and do them, that ye seek not after your own heart, and your own eyes, after which ye do commit whoredom (Numbers 15:39).

[12] And still more plainly in John:

An angel said, Come hither, I will show thee the judgment of the great harlot that sitteth upon many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed whoredom, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her whoredom (Revelation 17:1-2).

The “great harlot” denotes those who are in profane worship; the “many waters” upon which she sits, are knowledges (n. 28, 739); the “kings of the earth” who have committed whoredom with her, are the truths of the church (n. 1672, 2015, 2069); the “wine” with which they were made drunk, is falsity (n. 1071, 1072). Because “wine” and “drunkenness” signify these things, it is said of the daughters of Lot, that they made their father drink wine (verses 32-33, 35).

[13] In the same:

Babylon hath made all nations drink of the wine of the fury of her whoredom, and the kings of the earth have committed whoredom with her (Revelation 18:3).

“Babylon” or “Babel” denotes a worship the externals of which appear holy, while the interiors are profane (n. 1182, 1295, 1326); the “nations that she makes to drink,” are the goods which are being profaned (n. 1259, 1260, 1416, 1849); the “kings” who committed whoredom with her, are truths (n. 1672, 2015, 2069). In the same:

True and just are the judgments of the Lord God, for He hath judged the great harlot, who corrupted the earth with her whoredom (Revelation 19:2); where the “earth” denotes the church (n. 566, 662, 1066, 1068, 2117, 2118).

[14] As “whoredoms” signify such things, and “daughters” signify affections, it was therefore forbidden so severely that the daughter of a priest should commit whoredom; concerning which we read in Moses:

The daughter of a priest, having begun to commit whoredom, she is profaning her father, she shall be burned with fire (Leviticus 21:9).

It was also commanded that they should not bring the hire of a harlot into the house of Jehovah, because it is an abomination (Deuteronomy 23:18). And for the same reason there was such an inquisitorial process concerning a wife whose husband had conceived a suspicion of adultery (Numbers 5:12-31), in which instance each and all things have relation to the adulterations of good. Moreover in the Word many different kinds of adulteries and whoredoms are spoken of, and still more varieties. This kind which is here described by Lot’s daughters lying with their father, is what is called “Moab” and the “son of Ammon,” now to be explained.