9166. The oath of Jehovah shall be between them both. That this signifies a search by means of truths from the Word in respect to each and all of these things, is evident from the signification of an “oath,” as being confirmation by means of truths (see n. 2842, 3037, 3375), thus “the oath of Jehovah” denotes by means of truths from the Word, for in the Word are the truths of Jehovah, or truths Divine; and from the signification of “them both,” as being in each and all things, for in the internal sense “between both” does not signify between two persons, but in each and all things, for “two” denotes conjunction into one (n. 1686, 3519, 5194, 8423), thus whatsoever is in the one, or each and all things therein. That these things are perceived in heaven by “two,” is because when the angels are conversing about two truths which do not agree together, there are presented below two debating spirits, who are the subjects of a number of societies. With the one spirit appear each and all things that belong to the one truth, and with the other spirit each and all things that belong to the other truth; and in this way it is perceived how these truths may be conjoined. That this is so I have been given to know from experience. Hence it is that by “two” is also signified what is full (n. 9103).

[2] The reason why it was allowable for the Israelitish and Jewish nation to swear by Jehovah, was that they were not internal, but external men; and while they were in Divine worship, they were in the external apart from the internal. (That such was their nature, see n. 4281, 4293, 4429, 4433, 4680, 4844, 4847, 4865, 4903, 6304, 8588, 8788, 8806.) When the confirmation of truth descends into the external man separated from the internal, it is effected by an oath. It is otherwise when it descends into the external through the internal; for in the internal man truth appears in its own light, but in the external apart from the internal man, truth appears in darkness. From this it is that the celestial angels, who are in the inmost or third heaven, being in the highest light, do not even confirm truths by reasons, still less do they debate or reason about them, but merely say Yea, or Nay. This is because they perceive and see truths from the Lord.

[3] Therefore the Lord said concerning oaths:

Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt not forswear thyself; but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths. But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by the heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, for thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your speech be, Yea, yea; nay, nay; whatsoever is more than these is from evil (Matthew 5:33-37).

These words involve that truths Divine are to be confirmed from the Lord, and not from man, which is effected when men are internal, and not external; for external men confirm truths by oaths, but internal men by reasons. They who are still more internal do not confirm them; but only say that it is so, or that it is not so. External men are they who are called natural men; internal men are they who are called spiritual men; and still more internal men are they who are called celestial men. (That these celestial men perceive from the Lord whether a thing is true or not, see n. 2708, 2715, 2718, 3246, 4448, 7877.) From all this it is evident what is involved in the Lord’s saying, “Swear not at all,” and “Let your speech be, Yea, yea; nay, nay.” But it shall be explained why He also said that they should not swear by heaven, nor by the earth, nor by Jerusalem, nor by the head, and that any speech more than yea, yea, and nay, nay, is from evil.

[4] “To swear by heaven” denotes by the Divine truth, and thus by the Lord in heaven; for heaven is not heaven from the angels regarded in themselves, but from the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, and thus from the Lord in them; for it is the Divine in them that causes them to be, and to be called, angels of heaven. From this it is that they who are in heaven are said to be “in the Lord;” also that the Lord is everything in each and all things of heaven; and likewise that the angels are truths Divine, because they are recipients of truth Divine from the Lord. (That heaven is, and is called, heaven, from the Divine of the Lord therein, see n. 552, 3038, 3700; also that the angels are truths Divine, n. 4295, 4402, 7268, 7873, 8301; and that something of the Lord is meant in the Word by an “angel,” n. 1925, 2821, 3039, 4085, 4295, 6280.) Because heaven is the Lord as to Divine truth, it is said, “thou shalt not swear by heaven, for it is God’s throne,” for “God’s throne” denotes the Divine truth which proceeds from the Lord (see n. 5313, 6397, 9039).

[5] But “to swear by the earth” denotes by the church, and thus by the Divine truth therein; for as heaven is the Lord by virtue of the Divine truth which proceeds from Him, so also is the church, because the church is the Lord’s heaven, or His kingdom, on earth (“earth” in the Word being the church, n. 662, 1066, 1262, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 2928, 3355, 4535, 4447, 5577, 8011, 8732). And as “the earth” denotes the church, wherein is the Divine of the Lord beneath heaven, it is therefore said, “thou shalt not swear by the earth, for it is God’s footstool.” “The footstool” denotes truth Divine under heaven, such as is the Word in the literal sense, for upon this sense rests, and as it were stands, the truth Divine in heaven, which is the Word in the internal sense. This truth is signified by “footstool” in David (Psalms 99:5; 132:7; in Isaiah (60:13; and in the Lamentations of Jeremiah (2:1).

[6] “To swear by Jerusalem” denotes by the doctrine of truth from the Word, for “Jerusalem” in a wide sense denotes the church (n. 2117, 3654). But when mention is made of “the earth,” which denotes the church, and afterward of “Jerusalem,” then by “Jerusalem” is signified the doctrine of the church, consequently the doctrine of truth Divine from the Word. Hence it is that it is called “the city of the great King,” for by “a city” in the Word in its internal sense is signified the doctrine of truth (see n. 402, 2449, 2943, 3216, 4478, 4492, 4493).

[7] “To swear by one’s own head” denotes by the truth which the man himself believes to be truth, and which he makes of his faith, for this makes the head with the man, and is also signified by the “head” in Isaiah 15:2; 29:10; Ezekiel 7:18; 1 3:18; 16:12; 29:18; Matthew 6:17 elsewhere. Wherefore it is also said, “for thou canst not make one hair white or black,” for “hair” denotes the truth of the external or natural man (n. 3301), such as those have who are in the faith of truth, not because they perceive it to be truth, but because the doctrine of the church so teaches. And because they do not know it from any other source, it is said that they “shall not swear by it, because they cannot make one hair white or black.” “To make a hair white” denotes to declare from one’s self that truth is truth; and “to make a hair black” denotes to declare from one’s self that falsity is falsity; for “white” is predicated of truth (n. 3301, 3993, 4007, 5319), and consequently “black” is predicated of falsity.

[8] From all this it is now evident what is meant by “not swearing at all, neither by heaven, nor by the earth, nor by Jerusalem, nor by one’s own head,” namely, that truth Divine is not to be confirmed from man, but from the Lord in man. On this account it is lastly said, “let your speech be, Yea, yea; nay, nay; for whatsoever is more than these is from evil.” For they who perceive and see truth from the Lord, do not otherwise confirm it; as is the case with the angels of the inmost or third heaven, who are called celestial angels, and are spoken of above. The reason why speech more than this is from evil, is that what is more than this is not from the Lord, but from man’s own, thus from evil, for man’s own is nothing but evil (n. 210, 215, 874-876, 987, 1023, 1044, 1047, 3812, 4328, 5660, 8941, 8944). From all this it is again evident in what manner the Lord spoke, namely, so that in each and all things there is an internal sense; because He spoke from the Divine, and thus for the angels at the same time as for men, for the angels perceive the Word according to its internal sense.

4493. And they circumcised every male, all that went out of the gate of his city. That this signifies accession to external things, is evident from the signification of “circumcising every male,” as being to be initiated thereby into the representatives and significatives of the descendants of Jacob in respect to the external alone (see n. 4486); and from the signification of “going out of the gate of the city,” as being to recede from the doctrine of the Church among the Ancients, concerning which just above (n. 4492). And because recession from their own doctrine and accession to externals are both signified, it is therefore twice said, “all that went out of the gate of his city.” But it is not at the same time said also, as elsewhere, “they that go into it,” because by “going in” is signified accession to doctrine, and recession from externals, whereas here the contrary is signified.

[2] It is necessary to say how the case herein is. The men of the Most Ancient Church, of the remains of which were Hamor and Shechem with their families, were of a totally different genius and native quality from the men of the Ancient Church; for the men of the Most Ancient Church had a will in which there was soundness, but not so the men of the Ancient Church. Therefore with the men of the Most Ancient Church the Lord could inflow through the will, thus by an internal way; but not so with the men of the Ancient Church, in whom the will had been destroyed; but with these He inflowed into the understanding, thus not by an internal way, but by an external way, as before said (n. 4489). To inflow through the will is to inflow through the good of love, for all good is of the will part; but to inflow through the understanding is to inflow through the truth of faith, for all truth is of the intellectual part. When the Lord regenerated the men of the Ancient Church He formed a new will in their intellectual part.

(That goods and truths were implanted in the will part of the men of the Most Ancient Church, may be seen, n. 895, 927, but in the intellectual part of the men of the Ancient Church, n. 863, 875, 895, 927, 2124, 2256, 4328: That a new will is formed in the intellectual part, n. 928, 1023, 1043, 1044, 4328: That there is a parallelism between the Lord and the good that is with man, but not between the Lord and the truth with man, n. 1831, 1832, 2718, 3514 ence the men of the Ancient Church were in comparative obscurity, n. 2708, 2715, 2935, 2937, 3246, 3833.) From all this it is evident that the men of the Most Ancient Church were of a totally different genius and native quality from the men of the Ancient Church.

[3] It was for this reason that the men of the Most Ancient Church were internal men and had no externals of worship, and that the men of the Ancient Church were external men and had externals of worship; for the former saw external things through internal ones as in the light of the sun by day, and the latter saw internal things through external ones as in the light of the moon and stars by night. Therefore also in heaven the Lord appears to the former as a sun, but to the latter as a moon (n. 1521, 1529-1531, 2441, 2495, 4060). In these explications the former are they who are called “celestial,” but the latter “spiritual.”

[4] To illustrate the difference let us take an example: If a man of the Most Ancient Church had read the historic or prophetic Word, he would have seen its internal sense without any previous instruction or explication, and this so fully that the celestial and spiritual things of this sense would have at once occurred to him, and scarcely anything in the sense of the letter; thus the internal sense would have been in clearness to him, but the sense of the letter in obscurity. He would be like one who hears another speaking and gets the meaning without attending to the words. But if a man of the Ancient Church had read the Word he could not have seen its internal sense without previous instruction or explication; thus the internal sense would have been in obscurity to him, but the sense of the letter in clearness. He would be like one who hears another speaking and is intent upon the words while not attending to the meaning, which is thus lost to him. But when a man of the Jewish Church reads the Word, he apprehends nothing beyond the sense of the letter, he is not aware that there is any internal sense, and also denies it; and at the present day the case is the same with a man of the Christian Church.

[5] All this shows what was the difference between those represented by Hamor and Shechem (who being of the remains of the Most Ancient Church were in internals and not in externals), and those signified by the sons of Jacob (who were in externals and not in internals); and it shows further that Hamor and Shechem could not accede to externals and accept those among the sons of Jacob without their internals being closed; thus causing their eternal destruction.

[6] This is the secret reason why Hamor and Shechem with their families were slain, which otherwise would not have been permitted. But this does not exculpate the sons of Jacob from having committed an enormous crime. They knew nothing of this secret reason, and it was not the end they had in view. Everyone is judged according to his end or intention, and that their intention was fraudulent is plainly stated in the thirteenth verse (Genesis 34:13); and when any such crime is permitted by the Lord, it is evil men and their infernal instigators who are the authors of it. Nevertheless all the evil which the evil intend and do to the good is turned by the Lord into good, as in the present instance, in that Hamor and Shechem with their families were saved.