6306. 'Which I took out of the hand of the Amorite' means because of the victory over evil. This is clear from the representation of 'the Amorite' as evil, dealt with in 1857; and from the meaning of 'taking out of the hand' as acquiring through victory. As regards 'the Amorites', it should be recognized that they mean evil, just as 'the Canaanites' and all the other nations in the land that are mentioned in the Word mean various kinds of evil and also of falsity. Such things were represented by the nations when the children of Israel were taking possession of the land of Canaan. The reason for this was that whenever the children of Israel represented the things of heaven those nations represented the things of hell; thus the land of Canaan represented every state that exists in the next life. Also, because the nations represented the things of hell they were utterly destroyed; and entrance into any treaty with those who might remain was forbidden.

[2] The action of the children of Israel, of their taking possession of and dwelling in the land of those who represented the hells, was representative. It represented what happened around the time of the Lord's Coming, when spirits from hell had possession of a large part of heaven but He, by coming into the world and making the human within Himself Divine, cast them out of there and down into hell, and thereby delivered heaven from them, which He then gave as an inheritance to those who belonged to His spiritual kingdom.

[3] The representation of the Amorite nation as evil in general is evident from the places where it is referred to, as in Ezekiel, Thus said the Lord Jehovih to Jerusalem, ¹ Your tradings and your births are of the land of the Canaanite. Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. Ezekiel 16:3, 45.

'Father' in the internal sense means the Church's good, or in the contrary sense evil, and 'mother' means the Church's truth, or in the contrary sense falsity; and this is why it is said, 'Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite'.

[4] In Amos,

I destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and whose strength was like the oaks. I led you in the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite. Amos 2:9-10.

Here also 'the Amorite' stands for evil, for the evil of self-love is described by 'the height of the cedars' and 'the strength of an oak'. The reason why 'the Amorite' means evil in general is that the entire land of Canaan was called 'the land of the Amorite'; for it says, 'I led you in the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite'. In addition the second Book of Kings says,

Manasseh king of Judah did what was evil, greater than all the evil which the Amorites did, who were before him. 2 Kings 21:11.

[5] 'With my sword' means through truth engaged in conflict. This is clear from the meaning of 'sword' as truth engaged in conflict, dealt with in 2799, 4499.

'And my bow' means received from doctrine. This is clear from the meaning of 'bow' as doctrine, dealt with in 2686, 2709.

[6] The words used here, 'the portion which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow' were, it is quite evident, uttered by Israel on account of the internal sense; for Jacob did not take that portion from the Amorite with sword or bow. He bought it from the sons of Hamor, as is evident from Genesis 33, where these words occur, Jacob came to Salem, the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, as he was coming from Paddan Aram; and he encamped towards the face of the city. And he bought the portion of the field where he had stretched his tent, from the hand of the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for a hundred kesitahs. Genesis 33:18-19.

The fact that this field was the portion he gave to Joseph is clear in Joshua,

The bones of Joseph which the children of Israel caused to be brought up out of Egypt they buried in Shechem, in the part of the field which Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for a hundred kesitahs; and they had become an inheritance for the children of Joseph. Joshua 24:32.

From this it is evident that the portion had been bought, and that this is what was given to Joseph. Nor was the city of Shechem nearby meant, the city in which Simeon and Levi killed every male and which they took with the sword, Genesis 34. This is made clear by the fact that Jacob detested what they did and for that reason cursed Simeon and Levi, completely dissociating himself from the crime. He said,

Simeon and Levi are brothers; instruments of violence are their swords. Into their secret place let my soul not come; in their congregation let not my glory be united; for in their anger they killed a man, and in their pleasure they hamstrung an ox. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce, and their wrath, for it was hard. ² I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel. Genesis 49:5-7.

From all this it may now be seen that the words 'the portion which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow' were uttered by him, when the spirit of prophecy rested on him, for the sake of the internal sense.

Footnotes:

2709. 'And was an archer' means the member of the spiritual Church. This is clear from the meaning of 'darts, arrows, or shafts' as truth, and from the meaning of 'a bow' as doctrine, dealt with above in 2686. The member of the spiritual Church was in former times called 'an archer' because such a member uses truths to defend himself, and discusses truths, unlike the member of the celestial Church who is protected by good and does not discuss truths, see above in 2708. The truths which the member of the spiritual Church uses to defend himself and which he discusses are derived from the doctrine he acknowledges.

[2] The fact that the spiritual man was in former times called 'an archer' and 'a bowman', and that doctrine was called a bow and a quiver, and the truths of doctrine, or rather matters of doctrine, were called arrows, darts, and shafts, is further clear in David,

The children of Ephraim who were armed (they were archers) turned back on the day of battle. Psalms 78:9.

'Ephraim' stands for the intellectual side of the Church. In the Book of Judges,

You who ride white she-asses, you who sit on Middin, ¹ and you who walk along the way, may you ponder. From the voice of the bowmen among those drawing water, there they will discuss the righteous acts of Jehovah, the righteous acts of His village in Israel. Judges 5:10-11.

In Isaiah.

Jehovah called me from the womb, from my mother's body ² He made mention of my name and set my mouth like a sharp sword. In the shadow of His hand He hid me and turned me into a polished arrow; in His quiver He hid me, and He said to me, You are My servant Israel, for I will be glorified in you. Isaiah 49:1-3.

'Israel' stands for the spiritual Church.

[3] In David,

Like arrows in the hand of a powerful man so are the children of the days of one's youth. Blessed is the man who has filled his quiver with them. Psalms 127:4-5.

'A quiver' stands for the doctrine of good and truth. In Habakkuk,

The sun, the moon, stood still in their place. At the light of Your arrows they will go, at the flash of Your glittering spear. Habakkuk 3:11.

In the reference to Joash king of Israel who at Elisha's command shot the arrow from the bow through the window, with Elisha saying as he shot it, Jehovah's arrow of salvation, Jehovah's arrow of salvation against the Syrian, 2 Kings 13:16-18, arcana to do with the doctrine of good and truth are meant.

[4] Since most things in the Word also possess a contrary sense, darts, arrows, shafts, bows, and archers accordingly possess such. In that contrary sense they mean falsities, doctrine that teaches what is false, and those who are under the influence of falsity, as in Moses,

The son of a fruitful one is Joseph, the son of a fruitful one beside a spring, O daughters, ³ he trails over the wall; and they bitterly grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him did the archers. Genesis 49:22-23.

In Jeremiah,

They shot with their tongue, their bow is a bow of lies and not used for truth. Their tongue is a shaft extended; it speaks deceit. Jeremiah 9:3, 8.

In David,

They sharpened their tongue like a sword, they aimed their shaft, a bitter word, to shoot in secret places at the upright; they will shoot suddenly and will not fear him. They will make strong for themselves an evil matter; they will tell of laying snares secretly. Psalms 64:3-5.

In the same author,

Behold, the evil bend the bow, they make ready their shaft upon the string, to shoot in thick darkness itself at the upright in heart. Psalms 11:2.

In the same author,

His truth is a shield and buckler; you will not be afraid of the terror of the night, of the shaft that flies by day. Psalms 91:4-5.

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