454. Out of every nation and all tribes, signifies all who are in good in respect to life according to the doctrinals of their religion. This is evident from the signification of "nation," as being those who are in the good (on which see above, n. 175, 331), here those who are in the good of life; also from the signification of "tribes," as being the goods and truths of the church in the whole complex (on which see also above, n. 431. But here, as those who are in the good of life according to their religion are treated of, "tribes" signify the doctrinals of religion that such believe to be truths and goods, and this is what is meant by "tribes" in the Word when such are treated of; while "the tribes of Israel," which were treated of above mean all who are in the genuine truths and goods of the church, and in an abstract sense those truths and goods. So here, "out of every nation and all tribes" signifies all who are in good in respect to life according to the doctrinals of their religion.

4492. 'All who went out of the gate of his city' means that they departed from the doctrine of the Church among the Ancients. This is clear from the meaning of 'going out' here as departing from, and from the meaning of 'the gate of the city' as doctrine, dealt with in 2943, 4477, here the doctrine of the Church among the Ancients, since it was the gate of 'his', that is, Shechem's, city. For 'Shechem' represents the truth of the Church among the Ancients, 4454, the phrase 'the Church among the Ancients' being used to mean that which descended from the Most Ancient Church, as also stated already. The implications of this will be evident from what follows next.