4454. 'And Shechem said to her father and to her brothers' means counsel taken by the truth from the ancient Divine stock with the good and truth of this semblance of religion. This is clear from the meaning of 'saying' in this case as taking counsel; from the representation of 'Shechem' as the truth from the ancient Divine stock, dealt with above in 4447; from the meaning of 'father', who in this case is Jacob, as the good of truth, dealt with in 4273, 4337; and from the meaning of 'brothers', who in this case are the sons of Jacob, as truths, dealt with above. It is evident from the references quoted above in 4447 that Shechem means truth from the ancient Divine stock; for Hamor the Hivite together with his nation and family in the land of Canaan were part of the remnants of the Most Ancient Church, which was celestial. This Church, more than all other Churches in the whole world, was in origin Divine, for the good of love to the Lord was present in it. Will and understanding with them made one, and so one mind, and on that account they had from good a perception of truth. For the Lord was flowing in by an internal route into the good present in their will and from this into the good present in their understanding, that is, into their truth, as a consequence of which that Church more than all others was called Man, 477-479, and also the Likeness of God, 51, 473, 1013. From this one may see why Hamor and Shechem are said to be from the ancient Divine stock, as previously in 4399. The fact that the Most Ancient Church, which was called 'Man', or to use the Hebrew word 'Adam', was located in the land of Canaan, as stated above in 4447, is quite evident from their descendants who were called the Nephilim, Genesis 6:4. The presence of the latter in the land of Canaan is referred to in Numbers 13:33; see 581. But at that time the expression 'the land of Canaan' was used to mean all the land from the river of Egypt to the river Euphrates, Genesis 15:18.

In Genesis 34:10, this signifies to secure and communicate knowledges for oneself. (Arcana Coelestia 4453)

In Genesis 42:34, this signifies truths will become fruitful from good, and will turn to use and profit. (Arcana Coelestia 5527)

In Luke 19:15, this shows how business is useful when it is the real love and money is a subservient, supporting love, provided the merchant avoids and recoils from fraud and deceptive practices as sins. It is different when money is the real love and business is the subservient, supporting love. This is greed, the root of evils. (Divine Providence 220)

'To merchandise and trade' in the Word, signifies acquiring spiritual riches, which are the knowledges of truths and goods, and in an opposite sense, knowledges of falsity and evil. The negative are used to gain in the world, and the positive, to gain heaven. This is why the Lord compared the kingdom of heaven to a merchant seeking goodly pearls, in Matthew 13:45-46, and the members of the church to servants to whom were given talents to trade with and make profit, in Matthew 25:14-20. And since 'Tyre' signifies the church with respect to the knowledges of truths and good, 'her trade and merchandise' are discussed throughout the whole of Ezekiel 27, and in Ezekiel 28:5, and Isaiah 23:1, 8. The perverted church among the Jews in the land of Canaan is called the land of traffic, in Ezekiel 16:3, 29, 21:35, and 29:14. 'To trade' signifies acquiring knowledges for one's self, and to communicate. This is because in heaven, where the Word is perceived according to the internal sense, there is no trading, because there is no gold or silver or any currency for trade in the world. This is why when trading is mentioned in the Word, it a spiritual sense, and is perceived as corresponding, in general, to the acquisition and communication of knowledges, specifically whatever is being traded. If gold is mentioned, it is the good of love and wisdom, and silver, the truth of intelligence and faith, and so on.

(References: Ezekiel 16; Isaiah 23; Luke 12, 19, 19:12-26; Matthew 13)