4477. 'And Hamor came, then Shechem his son, to the gate of their city' means the goods and truths of the Church among the Ancients which lay within their doctrine. This is clear from the representation of 'Hamor' as the good of the Church among the Ancients, dealt with in 4447; from the representation of 'Shechem' as the truth springing from that good, dealt with in 4454; and from the meaning of 'the gate of the city' as the doctrine of truth, dealt with in 2943.

9488. 'And a cubit and a half its breadth' means what is complete so far as truth is concerned. This is clear from the meaning of 'one and a half' as what is complete, the reason why this number means what is complete being that 'three' has this meaning (for the half of a number is similar in meaning to the whole number, because a number that results from multiplication keeps the same meaning as a simple number of which it is the product through multiplication, 5291, 5335. Regarding 'three', that it means what is complete, see 2788, 7715, 9198; and that all numbers in the Word mean spiritual realities, 482, 487, 575, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1963, 1988, 2075, 2252, 3252, 4264, 4495, 4670, 5265, 5291, 5335, 5708, 6175, 7973); and from the meaning of 'breadth' as truth, dealt with immediately above in 9487.