1292. The meaning of they found a valley in the land of Shinar as the fact that their worship grew more unclean and profane can be seen from the symbolism of a valley and the symbolism of the land of Shinar.
As for a valley: In the Word, mountains symbolize love, or charity, because these are the aspects of worship that reach the highest above or (to say the same thing another way) the deepest within. This was shown earlier, at §795. A valley consequently symbolizes what lies at the foot of the mountains — that is, something in worship that is on a lower level or (to put it another way) more on the surface.
The land of Shinar, though, symbolizes outward worship that has a profane quality, as shown above at §1183. So "they found a valley in the land of Shinar" here means that their worship grew more unclean and profane.
[2] The first verse spoke of the church, saying that it had one language and the same words, or a single broad and a single detailed view of doctrine. The present verse, however, describes how the church went downhill by "setting out from the east," that is, by starting to draw back from neighborly love. The further the church or its members depart from charity, the further its worship departs from holiness and the closer that worship approaches to being unclean and profane.
The reason their discovery of a valley in the land of Shinar symbolizes the lapse of the church and of its worship into profanation is that a valley is a low spot between mountains, which, again, symbolize the holy qualities of love or of charity that are present in worship. This can be seen from the meaning of a valley in the Word, which expresses the concept through several different words in the original language. 1 Those words, when used in this sense, symbolize varying degrees of profanation in worship.
[3] Isaiah provides evidence that valleys have such a symbolism:
The burden of the Valley of Vision: ... for it is a day of upheaval and trampling and chaos to the Lord Jehovih Sabaoth in the Valley of Vision. (Isaiah 22:1, 5)
The Valley of Vision stands for delusions and twisted reasoning that introduce falsity and at last profanation into worship. In Jeremiah:
How can you say, "I am not defiled; I have not walked after the baals"? Look at your path in the valley! (Jeremiah 2:23)
The valley stands for unclean worship. In the same author:
They built the high places of Topheth that are in the Valley of the Children of Hinnom. 2 So watch! The days are coming, and it will no longer be called Topheth or the Valley of the Children of Hinnom but the Valley of Murder. (Jeremiah 7:31-32; 19:6)
The Valley of Hinnom stands for hell, and also for the profanation of what is true and good.
[4] In Ezekiel:
This is what the Lord Jehovih has said to the mountains and hills, the gullies and valleys: "Watch! I myself am bringing a sword on you, and I will destroy your high places." (Ezekiel 6:3)
In the same author:
I will give Gog a place there for a grave in Israel: the valley of those going by toward the east of the sea. And they will call it the Valley of Gog's Horde. (Ezekiel 39:11, 15)
This is about superficial worship; the valley stands for such worship.
When worship has not yet become quite so profane, though, it is portrayed by use of the same word for valley as in the current verse. 3 An example in Isaiah:
I will open rivers on the slopes, and in the middle of valleys I will set springs; [I will make] the desert into a pool of water, and dry land into outlets of water. (Isaiah 41:18)
People who live in ignorance (without access to knowledge about faith and charity) but still in charity are the focus here, and the valley in this verse stands for them. The valley in Ezekiel 37:1 has a similar meaning. 4
Footnotes:
1. The Hebrew word used for "valley" in most of the quotations that follow is גַּיְא (gay). In Genesis 11:2 itself, and in Isaiah 41:18 and Ezekiel 37:1 (both mentioned in the final paragraph), the word is בִִּקְעָה (biq‘ā). The word for "gully" in Ezekiel 6:3 is אָפִיק ('āṕîq). [LHC]
2. Topheth was a site of human sacrifice in the Valley of the Children of Hinnom, also called Gehenna, south of Jerusalem. The name Gehenna became a byword for hell because it was associated with the sacrifice of children by fire. Compare §§374, 825-831. For more on Gehenna, see note 3 in §374. [LHC, RS]
3. The Hebrew word for "valley" to which Swedenborg refers here is בִִּקְעָה (biq‘ā). Compare note 1 in §292, where this word is the second term discussed. [LHC]
4. The valley in Ezekiel 37 is a valley full of dry bones that are miraculously brought to life by Jehovah through the prophet. [LHC]
