1159. Each by its tongue, by their clans, in their nations, means each according to its mentality. By its tongue is each according to its way of thinking, by their clans is according to its sense of ethics, and in their nations is in respect to both traits more broadly. This can be seen from the symbolism of tongue, clans, and nations in the Word, as explained below, by the Lord's divine mercy.

On the inner level, a tongue symbolizes a way of thinking, so it symbolizes assumptions and opinions. The reason for the symbolism is that the correlation between our tongue and our intellectual side — that is, our thoughts — is the same as that between an effect and its cause. And not only does a person's thinking flow into the movements of the speaking tongue in this way but heaven does too. The evidence of experience concerning these things will be given elsewhere, the Lord in his divine mercy willing [§§1638, 3741:2, 4044, 4791, 4801].

[2] The inner-level symbolism of clans as a sense of ethics, and also as charity and love, is due to the fact that all the bonds of mutual love in heaven resemble blood relationships and family ties and so resemble clans. (For more on this see §685.) In the Word, then, things that have to do with love or charity are depicted as households and clans, although there is no need to spend time proving it here. (For this symbolism of households, see §710.)

[3] The symbolism of the nations as both traits more broadly can be seen from the symbolism of a nation or nations in the Word. In a good sense, they symbolize the contents of the will and the intellect when these faculties have been renewed. As a result they symbolize the good effects of love and the true ideas of faith. In the opposite sense, though, they symbolize evil and falsity, as do households, clans, and tongues. These things can be corroborated by many passages in the Word. ¹

The reason for this symbolism is that the earliest church was divided into households, clans, and nations. A household comprised a married couple together with their children and their male and female servants; a clan comprised a number of households that were not too far apart; while nations comprised several clans. So the nations meant all clans taken together, or collectively. The situation in heaven is similar, but all relationships there are determined by people's love for the Lord and faith in him (see §685).

[4] This, then, is why on an inner level the nations symbolize something broader that incorporates attributes of both will and intellect — or aspects of both love and faith, to put it another way — in relation to the clans and households that compose them. (For more on this, see what was said earlier, at §§470, 471, 483.)

These things show that the nations symbolize both traits more broadly and that each by its tongue, by their clans, and in their nations means the mentality of every person, clan, and nation that inherited its worship from the ancient church.

Footnotes:

470. What follows establishes clearly enough that the book of births is the enumeration of those who were part of the earliest church. From here up to chapter 11, or to Eber, names never refer to individuals but to some development.

In the earliest era, the human race was divided up into households, clans, and nations. A household comprised a husband and wife and their children along with others of the same clan who served them. A clan comprised several households (the number could be small or large) living not far from each other but not in exactly the same place either. A nation comprised a small or large number of clans.