4494. Verses 25-29 And it happened on the third day, when they were in pain, that two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, each took his sword, and came with confidence upon the city, and killed every male. And they killed Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and they took Dinah from Shechem's house, and went away. The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister. Their flocks, and their herds, and their asses, and whatever was in the city, and whatever was in the field, they took. And all their wealth, and all their young children, and their women, they took captive and plundered, and everything that was in the house.

'It happened on the third day' means that which is continuous even to the end. 'When they were in pain' means evil desires. 'That two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi' means faith and love. 'Dinah's brothers' means the truths and goods of that Church. 'Each took his sword' means falsity and evil. 'And came with confidence upon the city, and killed every male' means that they utterly destroyed the truths of doctrine of the Church among the Ancients. 'And [they killed] Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword' means the Church itself. 'And they took Dinah from Shechem's house, and went away' means that they took away the affection for truth. 'The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city' means that all his descendants destroyed that doctrine. 'Because they had defiled their sister' means that they had violated the truth of faith. 'Their flocks, and their herds' means that they destroyed rational good and natural good. 'And their asses' means the truths derived from these. 'And whatever was in the city, and whatever was in the field, they took' means every truth and good of the Church. 'And all their wealth' means all factual knowledge which they had acquired for themselves. 'And all their young children' means all innocence. 'And their women' means charity. 'They took captive and plundered' means that they seized them and perverted them. 'And everything that was in the house' means everything of the Church.

4281. 'The hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint as he wrestled with him' means that in the descendants of Jacob that conjunction had been thoroughly damaged and the two loves pulled apart. This becomes clear from the meaning of 'wrestling' in this sense as being pulled apart and so suffering damage. It is evident from what has been stated above in 4280 that 'the hollow of the thigh' means a joining together; and that 'Jacob' in the Word means not only Jacob but also all his descendants is clear from very many places, such as Numbers 23:7, 10, 21, 23; 24:5, 17, 19; Deuteronomy 33:10; Isaiah 40:27; 43:1, 22; 44:1-2, 21; 48:12; 59:20; Jeremiah 10:16, 25; 30:7, 10, 18; 31:7, 11; 46:27-28; Hosea 10:11; Amos 7:2; Micah 2:12; 3:8; Psalms 14:7; 24:6; 59:13; 78:5; 99:4; and in other places.

[2] Jacob and his descendants were by nature such that with them celestial and spiritual love could not be joined to natural good, that is, the internal or spiritual man could not be joined to the external or natural man. This is evident from the details told in the Word concerning that nation. For they neither knew nor wished to know what the internal or spiritual man was, and therefore that matter was not revealed to them. In fact it was their belief that nothing existed with man apart from the external and natural. Nor in all their worship did they have anything else in mind, so that Divine worship with them was wholly idolatrous; for once internal worship is separated from external, it is nothing but idolatrous. The Church which was established among them was not in fact a Church but only a representative of the Church, for which reason that Church is called a representative Church. For it was possible for a representative of the Church to exist among such people, see 1361, 3670, 4208.

[3] Indeed in representations no attention is paid to the person who represents, only to the thing represented by him. Consequently not only persons represented Divine, celestial, or spiritual things, but also inanimate objects, such as Aaron's garments, the ark, the altar, the oxen and sheep which used to be sacrificed, the lampstand with its lamps, the bread of the presence on the table of gold, the oil with which they were anointed, the frankincense, and other objects like these. This was why their kings, bad ones no less than the good, represented the Lord's kingship, and why their high priests, bad ones no less than the good, represented the things that belong to the Lord's Divine priesthood, when they performed their own function in external form according to the prescribed rules and commands. In order therefore that among them a representative of the Church might come into existence they were provided through plainly visible revelation with such prescribed rules and such laws as would be entirely representative. Therefore as long as they kept to them and strictly complied with them, those people were able to play a representative role. But when they deviated from them into the prescribed rules and laws of other nations, and in particular to the worship of another god, they deprived themselves of their ability to play that representative role. For this reason they were coerced by external means - which were captivities, calamities, threats, and miracles - into obeying laws and prescribed rules that were truly representative, not by internal means, as those people are whose external worship has internal within it. These are the considerations that are meant in the internal historical sense by the words 'the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint', which sense has regard to Jacob and his descendants.