6306. Which I took out of the hand of the Amorite. That this signifies by victory over evil, is evident from the representation of the Amorite, as being evil (see n. 1857); and from the signification of “taking out of the hand,” as being to acquire through victory. As regards the Amorites, be it known that by them is signified evil, and also by the Canaanites; and by the rest of the nations in that land which are mentioned in the Word are signified various kinds of evil and also of falsity. Such things were represented by the nations when the sons of Israel came into possession of the land of Canaan, for the reason that, while the sons of Israel represented heavenly things, those nations represented infernal things, and in this way the land of Canaan represented every state of the other life; and because the nations represented infernal things, they were given to the curse, and it was forbidden to enter into a covenant with those which remained.

[2] That the sons of Israel seized and inhabited the land of those who represented the hells was a representative that about the time of the Lord’s coming the infernals would have occupied a large part of heaven; and that by coming into the world and making the Human in Himself Divine the Lord would expel them and cast them down into the hells, and thus deliver heaven from them, and give it for an inheritance to those who would be of His spiritual kingdom.

[3] That by the Amorite nation was represented evil in general, is plain from the passages where it is mentioned, as in Ezekiel:

Jerusalem, thy tradings and thy generations were from the land of the Canaanite; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother a Hittite (Ezekiel 16:3, 45);

as in the internal sense “father” signifies the good of the church, but in the opposite sense evil; and “mother” signifies the truth of the church, but in the opposite sense falsity, therefore it is said “thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother a Hittite.”

[4] And in Amos:

I destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was sturdy as the oak. I led you in the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite (Amos 2:9-10);

here also the “Amorite” denotes evil, for the evil of the love of self is described by the “height of the cedars and the sturdiness of the oak.” That the “Amorite” is evil in general, is because the whole land of Canaan was called “the land of the Amorite;” for it is said, “I led you in the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite.” Again in the second book of Kings:

Manasseh king of Judah hath done evil above all the evil that the Amorites did, who were before him (2 Kings 21:11).

[5] That “with my sword” signifies by means of truth combating, is evident from the signification of “sword,” as being truth combating (see n. 2799, 4499). And that “with my bow” signifies by means of doctrine, is evident from the signification of “bow,” as being doctrine (n. 2686, 2709).

[6] That the words “the portion which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow” were spoken by Israel on account of the internal sense, is very manifest, because Jacob did not take that portion from the Amorite with his sword nor with his bow, but bought it of the sons of Hamor, as is plain from the words in Genesis:

Jacob came to Shalem, a city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came thither from Paddan-aram; and encamped before the city. And he bought the portion of the field, where he had spread his tent, from the hand of the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred kesitah (Genesis 33:18-19).

That this field was the portion which he gave to Joseph, is evident from these words in Joshua:

The bones of Joseph, which the sons of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in the portion of the field which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for a hundred kesitah; and they were for an inheritance to the sons of Joseph (Josh. 24:32).

From this it is plain that that portion was bought, and that it was what was given to Joseph.

[7] That the city of Shechem was not meant, which was near there, where Simeon and Leviticus slew every male, and which they took with the sword (Genesis 34), may be seen from the fact that Jacob abhorred that deed, and on that account cursed Simeon and Levi, and utterly put away from himself that deed, saying:

Let not my soul come into their secret; in their assembly let not my glory be united; for in their anger they slew a man, and in their good pleasure they unstrung an ox. Cursed be their anger, for it was vehement; and their wrath, for it was hard: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel” (Genesis 49:5-7).

From all this it is now evident that these words, “one portion which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow,” were said by him when he was in the prophetic spirit, for the sake of the internal sense.

2709. And he became a shooter of the bow. That this signifies the man of the spiritual church, is evident from the signification of a “shaft,” “dart,” or “arrow,” as being truth; and from the signification of a “bow,” as being doctrine (see above, n. 2686). The man of the spiritual church was formerly called a “shooter of the bow,” because he defended himself by truths, and disputed about truths; differently from the man of the celestial church, who is secure by means of good, and does not dispute about truths (see above, n. 2708). The truths by which the man of the spiritual church defends himself, and respecting which he disputes, are from the doctrine which he acknowledges.

[2] That the spiritual man was in old time called a “shooter” and an “archer,” and that doctrine was called a “bow” and a “quiver,” and that the truths of doctrine, or rather doctrinal matters, were called “darts,” “shafts,” and “arrows,” is further evident in David:

The sons of Ephraim, being armed, shooters of the bow, turned back in the day of battle (Psalms 78:9).

“Ephraim” denotes the intellectual of the church. In the book of Judges:

Consider, ye that ride on white asses, ye that sit upon carpets, and ye that walk by the way; because of the voice of archers among them that draw water, there shall they rehearse the righteousnesses of Jehovah, the righteousnesses toward His villages in Israel (Judg. 5:10-11).

In Isaiah:

Jehovah hath called me from the womb, from the bowels of my mother hath He made mention of my name, and He hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand hath He hid me, and He hath made me a polished arrow, in His quiver hath He hid me; and He said unto me, Thou art My servant; Israel, in whom I will be glorified ¹ (Isaiah 49:1-3).

“Israel” denotes the spiritual church.

[3] In David:

As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, so are the children of the youth; happy is the man that hath filled his quiver with them (Psalms 127:4);

a “quiver” denotes the doctrine of good and truth.

In Habakkuk:

The sun and moon stood still in their seat; at the light of Thine arrows shall they go, at the shining of the lightning of Thy spear (Hab. 3:11).

That Joash king of Israel shot an arrow from a bow through the window, at the command of Elisha, while Elisha said, “The arrow of the salvation of Jehovah, the arrow of the salvation of Jehovah against the Syrian” (2 Kings 13:16 to 18), signifies arcana concerning the doctrine of good and truth.

[4] As most of the things in the Word have also an opposite sense, so likewise have “shafts,” “darts,” “arrows,” “bows,” and a “shooter;” and they signify falsities, the doctrine of falsity, and those who are in falsity. Thus in Moses:

Joseph is the son of a fruitful one, the son of a fruitful one by a fountain, of a daughter, she marcheth upon the wall; they grieved him, and shot at him, and the archers hated him (Genesis 49:22-23).

In Jeremiah:

They have shot out their tongue, their bow is a lie, and not for truth; their tongue is a lengthened arrow, it speaketh deceit (Jeremiah 9:3, 8).

In David:

They have sharpened their tongue like a sword, they have aimed their arrow, a bitter word, to shoot in secret places at the perfect; suddenly will they shoot at him, and will not fear. They will make strong for themselves an evil word, they will tell of the hiding of snares (Psalms 64:4-6).

In the same:

Lo, the wicked bend the bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, to shoot in the darkness at the upright in heart (Psalms 11:2).

In the same:

His truth is a shield and buckler; thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, for the arrow that flieth by day (Psalms 91:4-5).

Fußnoten:

3441. For the sake of Abraham my servant. That this signifies from the Lord’s Divine Human is evident from the representation of Abraham, as being the Lord’s Divine, and also the Divine Human (n. 2833, 2836, 3251); and from the signification of “my servant,” when predicated of the Lord, as being the Divine Human; not that the Divine Human is a servant, because this also is Jehovah (n. 1736, 2156, 2329, 2921, 3023, 3035), but because the Lord by this serves the human race; for by this man is saved, inasmuch as unless the Lord had united the Human to the Divine, so that man might be enabled with his mind to look upon and adore the Human of the Lord and thus have access to the Divine, he could not possibly have been saved. The conjunction of man with the Divine itself which is called the “Father” is through the Divine Human which is called the “Son”; thus through the Lord, by whom the spiritual man understands the Human, but the celestial man the Divine Itself. Hence it is evident why the Divine Human is called a “servant,” namely, because it serves the Divine, in order that man may have access thereto, and because it serves mankind for their salvation.

[2] This then is what is signified by “Abraham my servant” as also in David:

Remember his marvelous works that He hath done, his wonders and the judgments of His mouth, O ye seed of Abraham His servant, ye sons of Jacob, His chosen ones. He sent Moses His servant, Aaron whom He hath chosen. He remembered the word of His holiness with Abraham His servant (Psalms 105:5-6, 26, (Psalms 105:26)42); where by “Abraham his servant” is meant the Lord as to the Divine Human. In like manner also the Lord as to the Divine Human is meant in the supreme sense by “Israel his servant,” by “Jacob his servant,” and by “David his servant”; by Israel his servant, in Isaiah:

Thou Israel my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham My friend; thou whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the wings thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art My servant, I have chosen thee (Isaiah 41:8-9); where “Israel my servant” in the supreme sense is the Lord in respect to the internal things of the spiritual church; and “Jacob” as to the external things of this church. Again:

He said unto me, Thou art My servant Israel, in whom I will be glorified. It is a light thing that thou shouldest be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to bring back the preserved of Israel; and I have given thee for a light of the Gentiles, that thou mayest be My salvation unto the end of the earth (Isaiah 49:3, 6); where “Israel, in whom I will be glorified,” manifestly represents the Lord’s Divine Human. That he is called “servant” from serving is manifest, for it is said, “that thou shouldest be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to bring back the preserved of Israel.”

[3] That the Lord as to his Divine Human is meant also by “Jacob my servant” is evident in the following passage from Isaiah:

I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, for Jacob My servant’s sake, and Israel My chosen (Isaiah 45:3-4); where by “Jacob My servant, and Israel My chosen” is meant the Lord, “Jacob My servant” having respect to the external things of the church, and “Israel My chosen” to the internal things of the church.

[4] The same is also signified by “David my servant” in Ezekiel:

I will gather the sons of Israel from every side. My servant David shall be king over them; there shall be to them all one shepherd. They shall dwell upon the land which I have given unto Jacob My servant, and they shall dwell therein, they and their sons and their sons’ sons even forever; and David My servant shall be their prince forever (Ezekiel 37:21, 24-25).

“David My servant” plainly denotes the Lord’s Divine Human (n. 1888), and this from Divine truth, which is signified by “king,” and here by “David” (n. 1728, 2015, 3009). That truth itself also is relatively a servant, may be seen above (n. 3409); and because it is so, the Lord Himself calls Himself one that serveth” or “ministereth,” in Mark:

Whosoever would become great among you shall be your minister; and whosoever would be first among you shall be servant of all. For the Son of man also came not to be ministered unto, but to minister (Mark 10:43-45; Matthew 20:26-28).

And in Luke:

Which is the greater, he that reclineth at meat, or he that ministereth? Is not he that reclineth at meat? But I am in the midst of you as he that ministereth (Luke 22:27).