1238. In regard to the fact that Eber too means a nation — one whose ancestor was Eber, an individual called by that name — the case is this: The names mentioned so far were nations among whom the ancient church was present. All of them were called children of Shem, Ham, Japheth, or Canaan because Shem, Ham, Japheth, and Canaan symbolized dissimilar cultures in the church. Noah, Shem, Ham, Japheth, and Canaan themselves never existed. But the ancient church in particular (like every religion in general) by its very nature had genuine depths, corrupt depths, genuine externals, and corrupt externals. That is why these names came into being: so that all the different general types could be categorized under the headings represented by these individuals and their offspring.

At their outset, the nations named here also practiced the kind of worship [symbolized by each]. That is why they are called the children of one of Noah's sons, and it is why the names of these nations in the Word symbolize the different cultures themselves.

[2] This first ancient church — the one that Noah and his sons symbolize — did not exist among only a few people but spread out through many countries. One indication is the number of nations mentioned: Assyria, Mesopotamia, Syria, Ethiopia, Arabia, Libya, Egypt, Philistia as far as Tyre and Sidon, and the whole land of Canaan on both the far and the near sides of the Jordan.

Afterward, though, a certain shallow kind of worship took hold in Syria, and it eventually spread far and wide through many lands (especially in Canaan). It was at variance with the worship of the ancient church, and since its existence constituted the start of something like a church distinct and separate from the ancient church, a seemingly new church now arose, which can therefore be called the second ancient church. The founder was Eber, so the religion was named after him.

At that period people were all divided into households, clans, and nations, as already noted [§§470-471, 483:2, 1159:3]. Each nation acknowledged one father, for whom it was named, as the Word demonstrates throughout. So the nation that acknowledged Eber as its father was called the Hebrew nation.

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.

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