1362. That Terah was the son of Nahor, and also a nation named from him as its father, and that by him is signified idolatrous worship, has been shown before. That Terah was a nation, may be seen from the fact that the nations which originated from his sons acknowledged him as their father, just as the sons of Jacob, or the Jews and Israelites, and also the Ishmaelites, Midianites, and others, acknowledged Abraham; and the Moabites and Ammonites acknowledged Lot. Although these nations were not named from them, but from their sons, yet when all acknowledge a common father and call themselves his sons-as the sons of Terah, the sons of Abraham, or the sons of Lot-in a general sense a nation is signified by each one of these, as here by Terah, by Abram, by Nahor, and by Lot; for they are the stocks or roots of the nations. So with the descendants of Jacob, who were all named from his twelve sons, and yet were called Jacob and Israel, as also the seed and the sons of Abraham (John 8:33, 39).

7188. For by a strong hand shall he let them go. That this signifies that with all force and power they shall flee from them, is evident from the signification of a “strong hand,” as being all force and power (that “hand” denotes power, see n. 878, 3387, 4931, 5327, 5328, 6947, 7011); and from the signification of “letting them go,” as being to flee from them. The case herein is this. When the infernals are deterred by punishments from doing evils, they at last abstain from infestation, and desire to leave those who are being infested, and to flee away; but as it is the sole delight of their life to do evil and to infest, they therefore cannot abstain unless they employ all force and power to remove themselves; for as the delight of anyone’s life is of his love, it is of his life, and carries him away, nor can it be resisted unless the undelight of punishment prevails over the delight of doing evil; hence come the punishments of the evil in the other life.