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.

3614. 'Until your brother's wrath turns back' means until the state changes; and 'until your brother's anger turns back from you' means the subsequent stage of the state with natural good. This is clear from the meaning of 'wrath' and of 'anger' as states that are antagonistic to each other, dealt with below. And when these states become such that they cease to be antagonistic any longer and begin to join together, wrath is said to turn back and anger to turn back. Consequently 'until your brother's wrath turns back' means until the state changes, and 'until your brother's anger turns back' means the subsequent stage of the state with natural good. 'Wrath' implies something different from 'anger', as may be seen from the fact that in addition to their being similar expressions it is a pointless repetition to say, 'Until your brother's wrath turns back' and then 'until your brother's anger turns back'. What each implies is evident from the general explanation and also from that to which wrath and anger are each used to refer. 'Wrath' is used in reference to truth, in this case to the truth of good, represented by 'Esau', while 'anger' is used in reference to that good itself.

[2] 'Wrath' and 'anger' are mentioned many times in the Word, but in the internal sense they do not mean wrath or anger but that which is antagonistic. The reason for this is that whatever is antagonistic towards any affection produces wrath or anger; so that in the internal sense simply forms of antagonism are meant by those two expressions. 'Wrath' is used to describe that which is antagonistic towards truth and 'anger' that which is antagonistic towards good; but in the contrary sense 'wrath' describes that which is antagonistic towards falsity or the affection for it, that is, towards false assumptions, while 'anger' describes that which is antagonistic towards evil or the desire for it, that is, towards self-love and love of the world. Also, in this contrary sense actual wrath is meant by 'wrath', and actual anger by 'anger'; but when those expressions are used in reference to good and truth the wrath and anger which are manifestations of zeal are meant. And because this zeal is to outward appearance like wrath and anger it is called such in the sense of the letter.

[3] As regards 'wrath' or 'anger' in the internal sense meaning simply forms of antagonism, this may be seen from the following places in the Word: In Isaiah,

Jehovah's indignation is against all the nations, and wrath against all their host. Isaiah 34:2.

'Jehovah's indignation against the nations' stands for antagonism towards evil - 'the nations' meaning evils, see 1259, 1260, 1849, 1868, 2588 (end). 'Wrath against all their host' stands for antagonism towards falsities derived from that evil, for by 'the stars' - here called 'the host of heaven' - are meant cognitions, and so truths, and in the contrary sense falsities, see 1128, 1808, 2120, 2495, 2849. In the same prophet,

Who gave Jacob over to plunder, and Israel to spoilers? Was it not Jehovah against whom we have sinned? And He poured out upon him the wrath of His anger. Isaiah 42:24-25.

'Wrath of anger' stands for antagonism towards falsity stemming from evil, 'Jacob' for people under the influence of evil, and 'Israel' for those under the influence of falsity.

[4] In the same prophet,

I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples there was no man (vir) with Me. I trod them in My anger, and destroyed them in My wrath. And I trod down the peoples in My anger, and made them drunk in My wrath. Isaiah 63:3, 6.

This refers to the Lord and His victories in temptations. 'Treading' and 'treading down in anger' stand for victories over evils, 'destroying' and 'making drunk in wrath' for victories over falsities. In the Word 'treading down' has reference to evil, and 'making drunk' to falsity. In Jeremiah,

Thus said the Lord Jehovih. Behold, My anger and My wrath have been poured out on this place, on man, and on beast, and on the tree of the field, and on the fruit of the ground; and it will burn and not be quenched. Jeremiah 7:20.

Both are mentioned - 'anger' and 'wrath' - because both evil and falsity are the subject.

[5] In the Prophets, whenever evil is mentioned so also is falsity, even as whenever good is mentioned so also is truth, the reason being the heavenly marriage, which is the marriage of good and truth in every detail of the Word, 683, 793, 801, 2173, 2516, 2712. It is also why 'anger' and 'wrath' are both mentioned; otherwise one of them would be enough. In the same prophet,

I Myself will fight against you with outstretched hand and strong arm, and in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation; and I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast. Jeremiah 21:5-6.

Here in a similar way 'anger' has reference to the punishment of evil, 'wrath' to the punishment of falsity, and 'indignation' to that of both. Since anger and wrath describe antagonism they also mean punishment, for things antagonistic to one another also clash with one another; and in that case evil and falsity suffer punishment. For evil holds within itself antagonism towards good, and falsity holds within itself antagonism towards truth. And because there is antagonism a clash also occurs; and from this punishment results, see 696, 967.

[6] In Ezekiel,

And My anger will be accomplished, and I will make My wrath on them die down, and I will be comforted; and they will know that I Jehovah have spoken in My zeal, when accomplishing My wrath on them - when executing judgements on you in anger and in wrath and in wrathful rebukes. Ezekiel 5:13, 15.

Here also 'anger' stands for the punishment of evil, and 'wrath' for the punishment of falsity, that result from antagonism and consequent aggression. In Moses,

Jehovah will not be pleased to pardon him, for then the anger of Jehovah, and His zeal, will smoke against that man, and Jehovah will separate him as evil from all the tribes of Israel. The whole land will be brimstone and salt, a burning; it will not be sown, and it will not sprout, nor will any plant come up on it, as at the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, of Admah and Zeboiim, which Jehovah overthrew in His anger and His wrath. And all the nations will say, Why has Jehovah done this to this land? What means the heat of this great anger? Deuteronomy 29:20-21, 23-24.

Since 'Sodom' means evil, and 'Gomorrah' falsity deriving from this, 2220, 2246, 232, and the nation to which Moses is referring here is compared to those nations as regards evil and falsity, the expression 'anger' is used in reference to evil, 'wrath' in reference to falsity, and 'the heat of anger' to both. Such passions as these are attributed to Jehovah or the Lord according to the appearance, for the Lord does seem to man to display such when man enters into evil and evil punishes him, see 245, 592, 696, 1093, 1683, 1874, 2335, 2395, 2447, 3605.