Arcana Coelestia #4502
4502. 'And they took Dinah from Shechem's house, and went away' means that they took away the affection for truth. This is clear from the representation of 'Dinah' as the affection for truth, dealt with above in 4498. The meaning according to the internal proximate sense is that they took away the affection for truth from those who were part of the remnants of the Most Ancient Church, for the phrase 'from Shechem's house' is used and by 'Shechem's house' is meant the good of truth of that Church. But as the subject here is the utter destruction of truth and good among those descended from Jacob, who are meant here by Jacob's sons, and as every detail mentioned has a specific application to the particular subject that is under discussion, 'Shechem's house' therefore means here simply the good of truth, like that which had existed with the member of the Most Ancient Church. Thus the meaning is that this good was wiped out among the nation descended from Jacob. For in the internal sense of the Word every expression or name means some aspect of the subject to which it belongs. At the same time the extinction of good and truth among Hamor and Shechem and his family is meant, because they accepted external usages, as shown in 4493.
[2] The truth of what has been explained so far regarding Simeon and Levi becomes clear from the prophetical utterances of Jacob before he died, where the following occurs,
Simeon and Levi are brothers; instruments of violence are their swords. Into their secret place let my soul not come; in their congregation let not my glory be united; for in their anger they killed a man, in their pleasure they hamstrung an ox. Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce, and their fury, for it is severe. I will divide them in Jacob, and will scatter them in Israel. Genesis 49:5-7.
'Simeon and Levi' means the truth of faith which among the descendants of Jacob was turned into falsity, and the good of charity into evil, as above in 4499, 4500. They are called 'brothers' because good is the brother of truth, or charity is the brother of faith, 4498. 'Instruments of violence are their swords' means that falsities and evils did violence to truths and goods, 4499. 'Into their secret place let my soul not come, in their congregation let not my glory be united' means severance as regards life and doctrine, for in the Word 'soul' is used to refer to life, 1000, 1040, 1742, 3299, and 'glory' to doctrine. 'For in their anger they killed a man, in their pleasure they hamstrung an ox' means that with evil intent they annihilated the truth of the Church and the good of the Church, 'a man' meaning the truth of the Church, 3134, and 'an ox' its good, 2180, 2566, 2781. 'Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce, and their fury, for it is severe' means the punishment incurred for turning away from truth and good - 'cursing' meaning turning oneself away and also being punished on that account, 245, 379, 1423, 3530, 3584, while anger means the departure from good, and 'fury' the departure from truth, 357, 3614. 'I will divide them in Jacob, and will scatter them in Israel' means that goods and truths will exist no longer within either the external or the internal aspect of their Church - 'dividing' and 'scattering' meaning separating and completely removing from them, 4424, 'Jacob' being the external aspect of the Church and 'Israel' the internal, 4286.
[3] These things are said about Simeon and Levi in this prophetical utterance because those two mean in general the truth and good of the Church, and when these cease to exist, and more so when falsities and evils take their place, the Church has been wiped out. Nothing other than this is contained in these prophetical words, as may be seen from the fact that neither the tribe of Simeon nor the tribe of Levi was cursed more than any other tribe. For the tribe of Levi was selected for the priesthood, and the tribe of Simeon existed as one of the rest of the tribes of Israel.
Ezekiel 33
1
The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
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Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and tell them, When I bring the sword on a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and set him for their watchman;
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if, when he sees the sword come on the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;
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then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet, and doesn't take warning, if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be on his own head.
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He heard the sound of the trumpet, and didn't take warning; his blood shall be on him; whereas if he had taken warning, he would have delivered his soul.
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But if the watchman sees the sword come, and doesn't blow the trumpet, and the people aren't warned, and the sword comes, and take any person from among them; he is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.
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So you, son of man, I have set you a watchman to the house of Israel; therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.
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When I tell the wicked, O wicked man, you shall surely die, and you don't speak to warn the wicked from his way; that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at your hand.
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Nevertheless, if you warn the wicked of his way to turn from it, and he doesn't turn from his way; he shall die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your soul.
10
You, son of man, tell the house of Israel: Thus you speak, saying, Our transgressions and our sins are on us, and we pine away in them; how then can we live?
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Tell them, As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn, turn from your evil ways; for why will you die, house of Israel?
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You, son of man, tell the children of your people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his disobedience; and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turns from his wickedness; neither shall he who is righteous be able to live thereby in the day that he sins.
13
When I tell the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his righteousness, and commit iniquity, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered; but in his iniquity that he has committed, therein shall he die.
14
Again, when I say to the wicked, You shall surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right;
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if the wicked restore the pledge, give again that which he had taken by robbery, walk in the statutes of life, committing no iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die.
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None of his sins that he has committed shall be remembered against him: he has done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.
17
Yet the children of your people say, The way of the Lord is not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal.
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When the righteous turns from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, he shall even die therein.
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When the wicked turns from his wickedness, and does that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby.
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Yet you say, The way of the Lord is not equal. House of Israel, I will judge every one of you after his ways.
21
It happened in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth [month], in the fifth [day] of the month, that one who had escaped out of Jerusalem came to me, saying, The city has been struck.
22
Now the hand of Yahweh had been on me in the evening, before he who was escaped came; and he had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no more mute.
23
The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
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Son of man, they who inhabit those waste places in the land of Israel speak, saying, Abraham was one, and he inherited the land: but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance.
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Therefore tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: You eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes to your idols, and shed blood: and shall you possess the land?
26
You stand on your sword, you work abomination, and every one of you defiles his neighbor's wife: and shall you possess the land?
27
You shall tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: As I live, surely those who are in the waste places shall fall by the sword; and him who is in the open field will I give to the animals to be devoured; and those who are in the strongholds and in the caves shall die of the pestilence.
28
I will make the land a desolation and an astonishment; and the pride of her power shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, so that none shall pass through.
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Then shall they know that I am Yahweh, when I have made the land a desolation and an astonishment, because of all their abominations which they have committed.
30
As for you, son of man, the children of your people talk of you by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, everyone to his brother, saying, Please come and hear what is the word that comes forth from Yahweh.
31
They come to you as the people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear your words, but don't do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goes after their gain.
32
Behold, you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they don't do them.
33
When this comes to pass, (behold, it comes), then shall they know that a prophet has been among them.
