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Genesis 34

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1 And Dina the daughter of Lia went out to see the women of that country.

2 And when Sichem the son of Hemor the Hevite, the prince of that land, saw her, he was in love with her: and took her away, and lay with her, ravishing the virgin.

3 And his soul was fast knit unto her, and whereas she was sad, he comforted her with sweet words.

4 And going to Hemor his father, he said: Get me this damsel to wife.

5 But when Jacob had heard this, his sons being absent, and employed in feeding the cattle, he held his peace till they came back.

6 And when Hemor the father of Sichem was come out to speak to Jacob,

7 Behold his sons came from the field: and hearing what had passed, they were exceeding angry, because he had done a foul thing in Israel, and committed an unlawful act, in ravishing Jacob's daughter,

8 And Hemor spoke to them: The soul of my son Sichem has a longing for your daughter: give her him to wife:

9 And let us contract marriages one with another: give us your daughters and take you our daughters,

10 And dwell with us: the land is at your command, till, trade,and possess it.

11 Sichem also said to her father and to her brethren: Let me find favor in your sight: and whatsoever you shall appoint I will give.

12 Raise the dowery,, and ask gifts, and I will gladly give what you shall demand: only give me this damsel to wife.

13 The sons of Jacob answered Sichem and his father deceitfully, being enraged at the deflowering of their sister:

14 We cannot do what you demand, nor give our sister to one that is uncircumcised, which with us is unlawful and abominable.

15 But in this way may we be allied with you, if you will be like us, and all the male sex among you be circumcised:

16 Then will we mutually give and take your daughters, and ours: and we will dwell with you, and will be one people:

17 But if you will not be circumcised, we will take our daughter and depart:

18 Their offer pleased Hemor, and Sichem his son:

19 And the young man made no delay, but forthwith fulfilled what was required, for he loved the damsel exceedingly, and he was the greatest man in all his father's house.

20 And going into the gate of the city they spoke to the people:

21 These men are peaceable and willing to dwell with us: let them trade in the land, and till it, which being large and wide wanteth men to till it: we shall take their daughters for wives, and we will give them ours.

22 One thing there is for which so great a good is deferred: We must circumcise every male among us, following the manner of the nation.

23 And their substance, and cattle, and all that they possess, shall be ours: only in this let us condescend, and by dwelling together, we shall make one people.

24 And they all agreed, and circumcised all the males.

25 And behold the third day, when the pain of the wound was greatest, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, the brothers of Dina, taking their swords, entered boldly into the city, and slew all the men:

26 And they killed also Hemor and Sichem, and took away their sister Dina, out of Sichem's house.

27 And when they were gone out, the other sons of Jacob came upon the slain; and plundered the city in revenge of the rape.

28 And they took their sheep and their herds and their asses, wasting all they had in their houses and in the fields.

29 and their children and wives they took captive,

30 And when they had boldly perpetrated these things, Jacob said to Simeon and Levi: You have troubled me, and made me hateful to the Chanaanites and Pherezites, the inhabitants of this land: we are few: they will gather themselves together and kill me; and both I, and my house, shall be destroyed.

31 They answered: Should they abuse our sister as a strumpet?

   

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Arcana Coelestia #4502

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4502. And took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and went forth. That this signifies that they took away the affection of truth, is evident from the representation of Dinah, as being the affection of truth (see above, n. 4498). It is according to the proximate internal sense that they took away the affection of truth from those who were of the remains of the Most Ancient Church, because it is said that they “took her out of Shechem’s house,” “Shechem’s house” signifying the good of the truth of that church. But as the subject treated of is the extirpation of truth and good among the descendants of Jacob who are here signified by his sons, and as all things are to be taken in application to the subject treated of, therefore by “Shechem’s house” is here signified simply the good of truth such as had existed with the man of the Most Ancient Church; and what is signified is that this was extinguished in the nation sprung from Jacob; for in the internal sense of the Word the signification of the names and words is determined by the subject to which they are applied; yet here there is at the same time signified the breaking down of the good and truth with Hamor and Shechem and his family, because they acceded to externals, as shown above (n. 4493).

[2] That what has thus far been unfolded about Simeon and Leviticus is really so, may be seen from the prophetic utterances of Jacob just before his death:

Simeon and Leviticus are brethren, instruments of violence are their swords; let not my soul come into their secret, in their congregation let not my glory be united, for in their anger they slew a man, and in their pleasure they unstrung an ox; cursed be their anger, for it was vehement, and their fury, for it was grievous; I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel (Genesis 49:5-7);

by “Simeon and Levi” are signified the truth of faith which with the descendants of Jacob was turned into falsity, and the good of charity which was turned into evil (as shown above, n. 4499, 4500). They are called “brethren” because good is the brother of truth, or charity is the brother of faith (n. 4498). “Instruments of violence are their swords” signifies that falsities and evils inflicted violence on truths and goods (n. 4499). “Let not my soul come into their secret, in their congregation let not my glory be united” signifies disjunction as to life and doctrine, for in the Word “soul” is predicated of life (n. 1000, 1040, 1742, 3299), and “glory” of doctrine. “For in their anger they slew a man, and in their pleasure they unstrung an ox” signifies that in evil of set purpose they extinguished the truth of the church and the good of the church (for a “man” is the truth of the church, n. 3134, and an “ox” is its good, n. 2180, 2566, 2781). “Cursed be their anger, for it was vehement, and their fury, for it was grievous” signifies the penalty for turning away from truth and good (for “to curse” is to turn one’s self away, and also to be punished therefor, n. 245, 379, 1423, 3530, 3584; “anger” is a turning away from truth, and “fury,” from good, n. 357, 3614). “I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel” signifies that goods and truths will no longer be in the external and the internal of their church (“to divide” and “to scatter” denote to separate and to extirpate from them, n. 4424; “Jacob” is the external of the church, and “Israel” the internal, n. 4286).

[3] These things were said of Simeon and Leviticus in that prophecy because by them is signified the truth and good of the church in general; but when these have become null and void, and still more when falsities and evils succeed in their place, the church is then extinct. That such is the meaning of these prophetic words is evident from the fact that the tribe of Simeon and the tribe of Leviticus were not cursed above the other tribes; for the tribe of Leviticus was taken for the priesthood, and the tribe of Simeon was among the other tribes of Israel as one of them.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for the permission to use this translation.