4458. Verses 13-17. And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father in fraud, and spoke, because he had defiled Dinah their sister; and they said unto them, We cannot do this word, to give our sister to a man that hath a foreskin, because this would be a reproach unto us. Nevertheless in this we will consent to you, if ye be as we, to circumcise for you every male. We will both give our daughters to you, and will take your daughters to us; and we will dwell with you, and we will be for one people. And if ye will not listen unto us to circumcise, we will even take our daughter and go.

“And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father in fraud,” signifies an evil opinion and intention concerning the truth and good of the Church among the Ancients; “and spoke, because he had defiled Dinah their sister,” signifies that the initiation to conjunction, which could not be different, should be made by accession; “and they said unto them, We cannot do this word,” signifies that they disapproved; “to give our sister to a man that hath a foreskin,” signifies unless they made the truth and good of the church to consist in representatives, and would recede from the things which these signify; “because this would be a reproach unto us,” signifies that this would be contrary to them; “nevertheless in this will we consent to you, if ye be as we,” signifies accession to their religiosity; “to circumcise for you every male,” signifies an external representative only, and that so they would be pure to them; “we will both give our daughters to you, and will take your daughters to us,” signifies conjunction in this manner; “and we will dwell with you,” signifies in respect to life; “and we will be for one people,” signifies in respect to doctrine; “and if ye will not listen unto us to circumcise,” signifies unless they would recede from their truths and accede to external representatives; “We will even take our daughter and go,” signifies that there would be no conjunction.

1116. Dwellings were shown me of those who were of the second and third posterities of this Most Ancient Church. They are magnificent, extending to a great length, and diversified with beautiful colors of bright crimson and azure blue. For the angels have most magnificent dwellings, such as cannot be described, as I have often seen. To their eyes so real is their appearance that nothing can be more real. But whence such real appearances come will be shown of the Lord’s Divine mercy hereafter. They live in an aura, so to speak, of resplendent pearly and sometimes of diamond-like light. For there are wonderful auras in the other life, of inexpressible variety. They greatly err who do not believe that such things exist there, and indefinitely more than anyone ever could or can conceive. They are indeed representative, like the things sometimes seen by the prophets; but yet are so real that they who are in the other life hold them to be real, and the things which are in the world to be relatively unreal.