4822. 'And he called his name Er' means the essential nature of that falsity. This is clear from the meaning of 'calling the name' as the essential nature, dealt with in 144, 145, 1754, 1896, 2009, 2724, 3006, 3421, namely the nature of the falsity of the Church, dealt with immediately above in 4821. The expression 'the nature of the falsity' is used because falsities differ from one another, even as truths do, so much so that the different types of falsity can hardly be counted; and each type of falsity has its own specific nature by which it is distinguished from any other. Common falsities reign among the wicked in every Church, but each person's falsity varies in keeping with the life he leads. The falsity which existed in the Jewish Church and is referred to here was falsity springing from the evil of self-love and of love of the world based on this, see 4818.

4826. 'And she called his name Shelah' means the essential nature of this. This is clear from the meaning of 'calling the name' as the essential nature, dealt with above where Judah's first two sons, Er and Onan, are dealt with, 4822, 4824. The essential nature of that idolatry is meant by Shelah, for there are many kinds of idolatry. There is external idolatry and there is internal; and in general both involve the worship of falsity and evil.