4503. 'The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city' means that all his descendants destroyed that doctrine. This is clear from the meaning of 'the sons of Jacob' as descendants from Jacob, dealt with above; from the meaning of 'plundering' as destroying; and from the meaning of 'the city' as the doctrine of the Church, dealt with above in 4500. Simeon and Levi's going away after they had killed every male in the city as well as Hamor and Shechem, and then Jacob's sons' coming upon the slain and plundering the city, involves an arcanum, the meaning of which is not evident except from the internal sense.

[2] That arcanum is this: After the truth and good of the Church which are represented by 'Simeon and Levi' were wiped out and falsity and evil took their place, further falsities and evils were added, which are meant in the contrary sense by the rest of Jacob's sons. Each son of Jacob represented some general aspect of faith and charity, as has been shown in 2129, 3858, 3913, 3926, 3939, 4060.

Which aspect is represented by each, see the following:

Reuben, 3861, 3866, 3870;

Judah, 3881;

Dan, 3921-3923;

Naphtali, 3927, 3928;

Gad, 3934, 3935;

Asher, 3938, 3939;

Issachar, 3956, 3957;

Zebulun, 3960, 3961.

These general aspects of faith and charity which those sons represented become falsities and evils of that kind once the truth and good of the Church have been wiped out and those further falsities and evils have been added to them; for falsities and evils are constantly on the increase within the Church once it has been perverted and wiped out. It is these added falsities and evils that are meant by the reference to Jacob's sons coming upon the slain and plundering the city after Simeon and Levi had killed every male in the city as well as Hamor and Shechem, and had taken Dinah and gone away.

[3] That 'the slain' in the Word means truths and goods which have been wiped out may be seen from the following places: In Isaiah,

You are cast out from your sepulchre like an abominable branch, a garment of the killed - slain with the sword - who go down to the stones of the pit like a dead body trodden underfoot. Isaiah 14:19.

This refers to Babel. 'Those slain with the sword' stands for those who have profaned the truths of the Church. In the same prophet,

So that their slain are cast out and the stench of their dead bodies rises up. Isaiah 34:3.

This refers to the falsities and evils which infest the Church, 'the slain' standing for these.

[4] In Ezekiel,

The violent of the nations will draw the sword against the beauty of your wisdom, and they will profane your loveliness. They will bring you down into the pit and you will die the deaths of those slain in the midst of the seas. Ezekiel 28:7-8.

This refers to the prince of Tyre who means the leading cognitions of truth and good. 'Dying the deaths of those slain in the midst of the seas' stands for those who use facts to hatch falsities and in consequence defile the truths of the Church.

[5] In the same prophet,

They also will go down with them into hell, to those slain with the sword. You will be made to go down with the trees of Eden into the nether world, in the midst of the uncircumcised you will lie with those slain with the sword. Ezekiel 31:17-18.

In the same prophet,

Go down and lie with the uncircumcised; they will fall in the midst of those slain with the sword; the chief of the powerful ones will speak to him in the midst of hell. Ezekiel 32:19-21.

This refers to Pharaoh and Egypt. 'Those slain with the sword' stands for those who by their use of knowledge become insane; by their use of it they destroy all belief in the truth known to the Church.

[6] In David,

I have been reckoned with them going down to the pit; I have become as a man with no strength, neglected among the dead, like the slain lying in the sepulchre whom you remember no more and who have been cut off by your hand.

'The slain' in hell - those in the pit and 'in the sepulchre' - stands for those who have destroyed the truths and goods residing with them by means of falsities and evils. Anyone can recognize that these are not in hell merely because they have been slain with the sword.

[7] In Isaiah,

A city of tumults, an exultant city, [your slain] have not been slain with the sword, and they have not been killed in war. All who have been found in you have been bound together in chains. They have fled from far away. Isaiah 22:2-3.

This refers to the illusions resulting from the evidence of the senses which do not enable the truths of the Church to be seen. It refers therefore to people subject to negative doubt, and these are called 'slain but not with the sword'.

[8] In Ezekiel,

I am bringing a sword upon you and destroying your high places; and your altars will be destroyed, and your statues will be broken; and I will cause your slain to lie before your idols. When the slain have fallen in the midst of you, you will know that I am Jehovah. Then you will acknowledge, when the slain are in the midst of their idols, around their altar. Ezekiel 6:3-4, 7, 13.

'The slain' stands for those who are governed by falsities of doctrine.

[9] In the same prophet,

Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain. They went forth and smote in the city. Ezekiel 9:7.

This is a prophetic vision. 'Defiling the house and filling the courts with the slain' stands for profaning goods and truths. In the same prophet,

You have multiplied your slain in this city, and have filled its streets with the slain. Therefore said the Lord Jehovih, Your slain whom you have placed in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and that is the pot; and he will lead you out from the midst of it. Ezekiel 11:6-7.

[10] Because 'the slain' meant those who have annihilated the truths of the Church by means of falsities and evils, therefore also in the representative Church those who touched one who had been slain were unclean. Such persons are referred to in Moses as follows,

Everyone who has touched on the surface of the field one slain with the sword, or one dead, or a human bone, or a sepulchre will be unclean for seven days. Numbers 19:16, 18.

Inquiry was therefore made and atonement effected by means of a heifer. In the same author,

If one is found slain, lying in the field, and it is not known who smote him, then the elders of the city and the judges shall come out and they shall measure [the distance] to the cities which are around the one slain. It shall be, that in the city nearest to the one slain the elders of that city shall take a heifer by means of which no work has been done, which has not pulled in the yoke, and they shall bring it down to the river or valley, and there they shall break the heifer's neck. And they shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck has been broken and shall say, Our hands have not shed blood, and our eyes have not seen it. Expiate Your people Israel, O Jehovah, and do not set innocent blood in the midst of Your people; and the blood shall be expiated for them. Deuteronomy 21:1-8.

[11] These laws were laid down because one who has been slain means the perversion, destruction, and profanation of the truth of the Church by means of falsity and evil, as is evident from each detail in the internal sense. The expression 'one slain, lying in the field' is used because 'the field' means the Church, see 2971, 3310, 3766. 'A heifer by means of which no work has been done' means the innocence of the external man which is present within ignorance. Without a clear knowledge of these things meant in the internal sense everyone will be surprised that a procedure such as this for making expiation should ever have been ordained.

1808. 'And count the stars' means a representation of goods and truths in a mental view of the constellations. This is clear from what has just been stated, and also from the representation and meaning of 'the stars' as goods and truths. Stars are mentioned many times in the Word, and in every instance they mean goods and truths, and also in the contrary sense evils and falsities. Or what amounts to the same, they mean angels or communities of angels, and also in the contrary sense evil spirits and groupings of these. When angels or communities of angels are meant they are stars that are motionless, but when evil spirits and groupings of these are meant, they are stars that wander, as I have seen on many occasions.

[2] The fact that everything in the sky above and on the earth beneath is representative of celestial and spiritual things has become clear from the plain evidence that things similar to those that appear before the eyes in the sky and on the earth are also manifested visually in the world of spirits, and this as clearly as in broad daylight. There they are nothing other than representatives. For example, when a starry sky appears and the stars in it are motionless one knows instantly that they mean goods and truths; and when the stars appear wandering one knows instantly that they mean evils and falsities. And from the way in which the stars shine and sparkle the nature of them is made clear too, besides countless other considerations. Consequently if anyone is willing to be wise in his thinking he may know where all things on earth originate, namely in the Lord. And the reason why these things do not present themselves on earth in non-physical ideas but in actual physical objects is that all things, both celestial and spiritual, which derive from the Lord are living and essential, or substantial (as they are called), and therefore manifest themselves as actual objects within the natural order, see 1632.

[3] That 'the stars' represents and means goods and truths becomes clear from the following places in the Word: In Isaiah,

The stars of the heavens and their constellations do not give their light. The sun is darkened in its going forth, and the moon does not shed its light And I will punish the world for evil, and the wicked for their iniquity. Isaiah 13:10-11.

The subject here is the day of a visiting with punishment. Anyone may see that here 'the stars' and 'the constellations' are not used to mean stars and constellations but truths and goods, 'the sun' to mean love, and 'the moon' to mean faith; for falsities and evils which 'darken' are being referred to.

[4] In Ezekiel,

When I have blotted you out I will cover the heavens; I will darken their stars. I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give its light. All the bright lights I will make dark over you, and I will put darkness over your land. Ezekiel 32:7-8.

Here the meaning is similar. In Joel,

The earth quaked before Him, the heavens trembled. The sun and the moon were darkened, and the stars withdrew their shining. Joel 2:10; 3:15.

Here the meaning is similar. In David,

Praise Jehovah, sun and moon, praise Him, all stars of light! Praise Him, heavens of heavens! Psalms 148:3-4.

Here the meaning is similar.

[5] That 'stars' does not mean stars but goods and truths, or what amounts to the same, people who are wholly taken up with goods and truths, as angels are, is stated plainly in John,

I saw the Son of Man holding in His right hand seven stars. As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven Churches; while the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven Churches. Revelation 1:16, 20.

[6] In the same book,

The fourth angel sounded, and a third part of the sun was struck, and a third part of the moon, and a third part of the stars, so that a third part of them was darkened, and the day did not shine for a third part of it, and the night likewise. Revelation 8:12.

Here it is quite clear that good and truth were darkened. In Daniel,

There came forth a little horn, and it grew very much towards the south, and towards the east, and towards the glorious [land]. And it grew even towards the host of heaven, and cast down to earth some of the host, and of the stars, and trampled on them. Daniel 8:9-10.

Clearly 'the host of heaven' and 'the stars' are goods and truths, which were 'trampled on'.

[7] These places also show what is meant by the Lord's words in Matthew,

At the close of the age, immediately after the affliction of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Matthew 24:29.

And in Luke,

There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth distress of nations in despair, at the roaring of the sea and of the ocean. Luke 21:25.

Here 'the sun' does not at all mean the sun, nor 'the moon' the moon, nor 'stars' the stars, nor 'sea' the sea, but the things which these represent; that is to say, 'the sun' means the celestial things of love, 'moon' the spiritual things, 'stars' goods and truths, or cognitions of good and truth, which around the close of the age when no faith, that is, no charity, exists, are thus darkened.