3923. Therefore she called his name Dan. That this signifies its quality, is evident from the signification of a “name” and of “calling a name,” as being quality (see n. 144, 145, 1754, 1896, 2009, 2724, 3421). The quality itself is within the name “Dan,” for he was so called from “judging.” But though the name was given to him from “judging,” it nevertheless involves what is signified by all these words of Rachel: “God hath judged me, and also hath heard my voice,” that is, the good of life, and the holy of faith, and also in the supreme sense the justice and mercy of the Lord. It is this general principle of the church that is signified by “Dan,” and that is represented by the tribe named from Dan. This general principle is the first that is to be affirmed or acknowledged, before a man can be regenerated or made a church. Unless these things are affirmed and acknowledged, the rest of the things both of faith and of life cannot possibly be received, and therefore cannot be affirmed, still less acknowledged. For he who affirms mere faith with himself, and not the holy of faith, that is, charity (for this is the holy of faith), and does not affirm this by the good of life, that is, by the works of charity, can no longer have a relish for the essence of faith, because he rejects it. Affirmation together with acknowledgment is the first general principle with the man who is being regenerated, but is the last with him who has been regenerated; and therefore “Dan” is the first with him who is to be regenerated, and “Joseph” is the last; for “Joseph” is the spiritual man himself. But “Joseph” is the first with him who has been regenerated, and “Dan” the last; because the man who is to be regenerated commences from the affirmation that it is so, namely, the holy of faith and the good of life. But the regenerate man, who is spiritual, is in spiritual good itself, and from this he regards such affirmation as last; for with him the holy things of faith and goods of life have been confirmed.

[2] That “Dan” is the affirmative which must be the first thing when a man is being regenerated, may also be seen from other passages in the Word where “Dan” is named; as from the prophecy of Jacob, then Israel, respecting his sons:

Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel; Dan shall be a serpent upon the way, an adder upon the path, that biteth the horse’s heels, and his rider falleth backward. I wait for thy salvation, O Jehovah (Genesis 49:16-18).

“Dan” here denotes the affirmative of truth, concerning which it is said that it will be “a serpent upon the way, and an adder upon the path,” when anyone reasons about truth from sensuous things; “biting the horse’s heels,” when it consults the lowest intellectual things or memory-knowledges, and draws conclusions from them; and that it is then led away from the truth, is signified by “his rider falling backward;” for which reason it is said, “I wait for thy salvation, O Jehovah.” That the “serpent” is the man who reasons from sensuous things and memory-knowledges concerning Divine arcana, may be seen above (n. 195-197); and that “way” and “path” signify truth (n. 627, 2333); and that the “horse’s heels” are the lowest intellectual things or memory-knowledges (n. 259); for a “horse” is the intellectual (n. 2761, 2762); the lowest part of which is the “heel.”

[3] Again in the prophecy of Moses concerning the twelve tribes:

Of Dan he said, Dan is a lion’s whelp, he leapeth forth from Bashan (Deuteronomy 33:22);

a “lion” in the internal sense of the Word signifies the truth of the church, from his strength, for truth is that which fights and conquers; hence a “lion’s whelp” denotes the first of truth, which is affirmation and acknowledgment. It is said “from Bashan,” because it is from the good of the natural.

In Jeremiah:

Wash thine heart from wickedness, O Jerusalem, that thou mayest be saved. How long makest thou the thoughts of thine iniquity to lodge in the midst of thee? For a voice declareth from Dan, and causeth to hear iniquity from Mount Ephraim (Jeremiah 4:14-15);

“from Dan,” denotes the truth that is to be affirmed; “from Mount Ephraim,” that it is from the affection of it.

[4] In the same:

Wait for peace, but there is no good; and for a time of healing, and behold terror. The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan; at the sound of the neighings of his strong ones the whole land trembled; and they came and devoured the land and the fullness thereof, the city and them that dwell therein. For behold I will send among you serpents, basilisks, against which there is no enchantment, and they shall bite you (Jeremiah 8:15-17);

“the snorting of horses heard from Dan” denotes reasoning concerning truth from what is non-affirmative; the “land that trembled,” and their “devouring the fullness thereof,” denotes the church and all the things of the church; for they who reason concerning truth from what is non-affirmative (that is, negative) destroy all things of faith; the “basilisk serpents” denote reasonings, as above.

[5] In Ezekiel:

Dan and Javan coming in gave bright iron in thy fairs; cassia and calamus were in thy trading (Ezekiel 27:19); where Tyre is the subject treated of, by which are signified the knowledges of truth and good (n. 1201). “Dan” denotes the first truths that are affirmed; “fairs” and “trading,” the acquisitions of truth and good (n. 2967); the “bright iron,” natural truth which is the first (n. 425, 426); “cassia and calamus,” natural truth from which there is good.

[6] In Amos:

In that day shall the fair virgins and the young men faint for thirst. They that swear by the guilt of Samaria, and have said, Thy God, O Dan, liveth; and the way of Beersheba liveth; even they shall fall, and shall rise up no more (Amos 8:13-14);

“Thy God, O Dan, liveth, and the way of Beersheba liveth” denotes that they are in the denial of all things of faith and its doctrine. (That “way” denotes truth, see above, (627) n. 627, 2333; and “Beersheba,” doctrine, n. 2723, 2858, 2859, 3466.) That there is signified the denial of all things of faith, is because Dan was the last boundary of the land of Canaan, and Beersheba the first, that is, the midst or inmost of the land; for by the “land of Canaan” was represented and signified the Lord’s kingdom, and thus the church (n. 1607, 3038, 3481), and accordingly all things of love and faith, because these are of the Lord’s kingdom and church. Hence all things in the land of Canaan were representative, according to their distances, situations, and boundaries (n. 1585, 1866, 3686).

[7] The first boundary, that is, the midst or inmost of the land, was Beersheba, before Jerusalem became so, because Abraham was there, and also Isaac; but the last boundary, or the outermost of the land, was Dan; and hence when all things in one complex were signified, it was said, “from Dan even to Beersheba;” as in the second book of Samuel:

To transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul, and to set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan even to Beersheba (2 Samuel 3:10).

In the same:

All Israel gathering was gathered together from Dan even to Beersheba (2 Sam 17:11).

And again:

David said to Joab, Pass through all the tribes of Israel from Dan even to Beersheba (2 Samuel 24:2, 15).

And in the first book of Kings:

Judah and Israel dwelt in security, every man under his vine and under his fig-tree, from Dan even to Beersheba (1 Kings 4:25).

By this expression are meant in the historic sense all things of the land of Canaan; but in the internal sense all things of the Lord’s kingdom, and also all things of the church.

[8] The reason why, as before said, “Dan” is the first boundary, and also the last, is that the affirmative of truth and good is the first of all things when faith and charity are beginning with man, and the last when man is in charity and thereby in faith. It was from this also that the last lot fell to Dan when the land of Canaan was divided for inheritance (Josh. 19:40, etc.); for the lot was cast before Jehovah (Josh. 18:6); and hence it fell according to the representation of each tribe.

[9] And because the lot did not fall to Dan among the inheritances of the rest of the tribes, but beyond their borders (Judges 18:1), that tribe was omitted by John in the Revelation (Revelation 7:5-8), where the twelve thousand that were sealed are mentioned; for they who are only in the affirmative of truth and also of good, and go no further, are not in the Lord’s kingdom, that is, among the “sealed.” Even the worst men are able to know truths and goods, and also to affirm them; but the quality of the affirmation is known from the life.

[10] “Dan” is also mentioned as a boundary in Genesis 14:14, where Abraham is described as having pursued the enemy thus far, and where “Dan” has a similar signification. The city called “Dan” was not indeed built by the posterity of Dan at that time, but afterwards (Josh. 19:47; Judges 18:29); yet even then it was called the first boundary with respect to entering into the land of Canaan, or the last with respect to going out; and the inmost of the land was Hebron, and afterwards Beersheba, where Abraham and Isaac dwelt.

920. In this verse there is described the worship of the Ancient Church in general, and this by the “altar” and the “burnt-offering” which were the principal things in all representative worship. In the first place, however, we will describe the worship that existed in the Most Ancient Church, and from that show how there originated the worship of the Lord by means of representatives. The men of the Most Ancient Church had no other than internal worship, such as there is in heaven; for with them heaven was in communication with man, so that they made a one; and this communication was perception, of which we have often spoken before. Thus being angelic they were internal men, and although they sensated the external things of the body and the world, they cared not for them; for in each object of sense they perceived something Divine and heavenly. For example, when they saw a high mountain, they perceived an idea, not of a mountain, but of elevation, and from elevation, of heaven and the Lord, from which it came to pass that the Lord was said to dwell in the highest, He himself being called the “Most High and Lofty One;” and that afterwards the worship of the Lord was held on mountains. So with other things; as when they observed the morning, they did not then perceive the morning of the day, but that which is heavenly, and which is like a morning and a dawn in human minds, and from which the Lord is called the “Morning” the “East” and the “Dawn” or “Day-spring.” So when they looked at a tree and its leaves and fruit, they cared not for these, but saw man as it were represented in them; in the fruit, love and charity, in the leaves faith; and from this the man of the church was not only compared to a tree, and to a paradise, and what is in him to leaves and fruit, but he was even called so. Such are they who are in a heavenly and angelic idea.

[2] Everyone may know that a general idea rules all the particulars, thus all the objects of the senses, as well those seen as those heard, so much so that the objects are not cared for except so far as they flow into the man’s general idea. Thus to him who is glad at heart, all things that he hears and sees appear smiling and joyful; but to him who is sad at heart, all things that he sees and hears appear sad and sorrowful; and so in other cases. For the general affection is in all the particulars, and causes them to be seen in the general affection; while all other things do not even appear, but are as if absent or of no account. And so it was with the man of the Most Ancient Church: whatever he saw with his eyes was heavenly to him; and thus with him everything seemed to be alive. And this shows the character of his Divine worship, that it was internal, and by no means external.

[3] But when the church declined, as in his posterity, and that perception or communication with heaven began to be lost, another state of things commenced. Then no longer did men perceive anything heavenly in the objects of the senses, as they had done before, but merely what is worldly, and this to an increasing extent in proportion to the loss of their perception; and at last, in the closing posterity which existed just before the flood, they apprehended in objects nothing but what is worldly, corporeal, and earthly. Thus was heaven separated from man, nor did they communicate except very remotely; and communication was then opened to man with hell, and from thence came his general idea, from which flow the ideas of all the particulars, as has been shown. Then when any heavenly idea presented itself, it was as nothing to them, so that at last they were not even willing to acknowledge that anything spiritual and celestial existed. Thus did the state of man become changed and inverted.

[4] As the Lord foresaw that such would be the state of man, He provided for the preservation of the doctrinal things of faith, in order that men might know what is celestial and what is spiritual. These doctrinal things were collected from the men of the Most Ancient Church by those called “Cain” and also by those called “Enoch” concerning whom above. Wherefore it is said of Cain that a mark was set upon him lest anyone should kill him (see Genesis 4:15, n. 393, 394); and of Enoch that he was taken by God (Genesis 5:24). These doctrinal things consisted only in significative, and thus as it were enigmatical things, that is, in the significations of various objects on the face of the earth; such as that mountains signify celestial things, and the Lord; that morning and the east have this same signification; that trees of various kinds and their fruits signify man and his heavenly things, and so on. In such things as these consisted their doctrinal things, all of which were collected from the significatives of the Most Ancient Church; and consequently their writings also were of the same nature. And as in these representatives they admired, and seemed to themselves even to behold, what is Divine and heavenly, and also because of the antiquity of the same, their worship from things like these was begun and was permitted, and this was the origin of their worship upon mountains, and in groves in the midst of trees, and also of their pillars or statues in the open air, and at last of the altars and burnt-offerings which afterwards became the principal things of all worship. This worship was begun by the Ancient Church, and passed thence to their posterity and to all nations round about, besides many other things, concerning which of the Lord’s Divine mercy hereafter.