4503. The sons of Jacob came upon those who were pierced, and plundered the city. That this signifies that all that posterity destroyed the doctrine, is evident from the signification of the “sons of Jacob,” as being the posterity from Jacob (of which above); from the signification of “to plunder” as being to destroy; and from the signification of a “city,” as being the doctrine of the church (see above, n. 4500). That after Simeon and Leviticus had slain every male in the city, and also Hamor and Shechem, they went forth, and that the sons of Jacob then came upon those who were pierced and plundered the city, is a mystery not manifest except from the internal sense.

[2] This mystery is that after the truth and good of the church represented by Simeon and Leviticus had been extinguished, and falsity and evil had taken their place, there were then superadded those falsities and evils which are signified in the opposite sense by the rest of the sons of Jacob. (That each son of Jacob represented some general principle of faith and charity was shown above, n. 2129, 3858, 3913, 3926, 3939, 4060; what was represented by Reuben, n. 3861, 3866, 3870; what by Judah, n. 3881; what by Dan, n. 3921-3923; what by Naphtali, n. 3927, 3928; what by Gad, n. 3934, 3935; what by Asher, n. 3938, 3939; what by Issachar, n. 3956, 3957; and what by Zebulun, n. 3960, 3961.) These generals of faith and charity represented by them become falsities and evils of that kind when once the truth and good of the church have been extinguished, and then these falsities and evils are superadded; for falsities and evils continually grow in the church that has once been perverted and extinguished, and it is these which are signified by the sons of Jacob coming upon those who were pierced and plundering the city, after Simeon and Leviticus had slain every male in the city, and Hamor and Shechem also, and had taken away Dinah, and had gone forth.

[3] That by “those who are pierced” are signified in the Word truths and goods extinguished is evident from the following passages.

In Isaiah:

Thou art cast forth out of thy sepulchre like an abominable shoot, the raiment of the slain that are pierced with the sword, that go down to the stones of the pit, as a carcass trodden under foot (Isaiah 14:19);

said of Babylon; “those pierced with the sword” denote those who have profaned the truths of the church. Again:

So that their pierced shall be cast forth, and the stink of their carcasses shall come up (Isaiah 34:3);

treating of the falsities and evils that infest the church, which are meant by the “pierced.”

[4] In Ezekiel:

The violent of the nations shall draw their sword against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall profane thy comeliness; they shall let thee down into the pit, and thou shall die the deaths of those who are pierced in the midst of the seas (Ezekiel 28:7-8);

said of the prince of Tyre, by whom are signified the primary things of the knowledges of truth and good; “dying the deaths of those who are pierced in the midst of the seas,” denotes those who hatch falsities by means of memory-knowledges, and thereby defile the truths of the church.

[5] Again:

These also shall go down with them into hell, unto those who are pierced with the sword; when thou shalt be made to go down with the trees of Eden into the earth of lower things, thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised, with them that are pierced with the sword (Ezekiel 31:17-18).

Again:

Go down and lie with the uncircumcised; they shall fall in the midst of those who are pierced with the sword; the chief of the mighty ones shall speak to him in the midst of hell (Ezekiel 32:19-21);

said of Pharaoh and Egypt; “those pierced with the sword” denote those who become insane through knowledges, by which they extinguish in themselves the faith of the truth of the church.

[6] In David:

I am accounted among those who go down into the pit; I have become as a man that has no strength, neglected among the dead, like the pierced that lie in the grave, whom Thou hast remembered no more, and who have been cut off by Thy hand (Psalms 88:4-5);

“those who are pierced in hell,” “in the pit,” and “in the grave,” denote those who have destroyed truths and goods in themselves by falsities and evils. It is obvious that they are not in hell merely because they had been pierced with the sword.

[7] In Isaiah:

A city of tumults, a city that exulteth, they are not pierced with the sword, and are not slain in war; all who have been found in thee were bound together, they fled from afar (Isaiah 22:2-3);

said of fallacies from sensuous things through which the truths of the church cannot be seen, and concerning which they are therefore in negative doubt, and are said to be “pierced, but not with the sword.”

[8] In Ezekiel:

I bring a sword upon thee, and I destroy your high places, and your altars shall be destroyed, and your statues shall be broken, and I will cause your pierced ones to lie before your idols; when the pierced ones shall fall in the midst of you, you shall know that I am Jehovah; then ye shall acknowledge, when the pierced ones shall be in the midst of their idols, round about their altar (Ezekiel 6:3-4, 7, 13); where the “pierced ones” denote those who are in falsities of doctrine.

[9] Again:

Defile the house, and fill the courts with the pierced ones; they went forth and smote in the city (Ezekiel 9:7);

a prophetic vision; “to defile the house and fill the courts with the pierced ones,” denotes to profane goods and truths. Again:

Ye have multiplied your pierced ones in this city, and ye have filled the streets thereof with the pierced one; wherefore said the Lord Jehovih, Your pierced ones whom ye have put in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and that is the pot, and He shall bring you forth out of the midst of it (Ezekiel 11:6-7).

[10] As by “the pierced” are signified those who have extinguished the truths of the church in themselves by falsities and evils, therefore also in the representative church they who touched one who was pierced were unclean, of whom we read in Moses:

Whosoever has touched upon the surface of the field one that is pierced with a sword, or the dead, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days (Numbers 19:16, 18).

And therefore inquiry was made, and expiation was made by means of a calf, as again in Moses:

If one pierced be found lying in the field, and it be not known who has smitten him, then the elders of the city and the judges shall come forth, and they shall measure toward the cities which are round about him that is pierced; and it shall be, at the city which is nearest unto him that is pierced the elders of that city shall take a she-calf of an ox, by which labor hath not been done, and which hath not drawn in the yoke, and they shall bring her down unto a river or a valley, and shall behead the calf there, and wash their hands over the beheaded calf, and shall say, Our hands have not shed blood, and our eyes have not seen it; expiate Thy people Israel, O Jehovah, and give not innocent blood in the midst of Thy people; and the blood shall be expiated for them (Deuteronomy 21:1-8).

[11] That these laws were given because by the “pierced” is signified the perversion, destruction, and profanation of the truth of the church by falsity and evil, is manifest from every particular in the internal sense. It is said “a pierced one lying in the field,” because by a “field” is signified the church (see n. 2971, 3310, 3766). A “she-calf” by which labor has not been done signifies that innocence of the external man which is in ignorance. Unless these things were made known by the internal sense, the enjoining of such an expiatory process would excite universal surprise.

3956. And Leah said, God hath given me my reward, because I gave my handmaid to my man. That this signifies in the supreme sense the Divine good of truth and truth of good; in the internal sense, celestial conjugial love; and in the external sense, mutual love, may be seen from the signification of “reward.” “Reward” is frequently mentioned in the Word, but few know what it there signifies. It is known in the churches that by the goods which man does he can merit nothing, for they are not his, but the Lord’s; and that meriting or merit looks to man, and thus conjoins itself with the love of self, and with the thought of pre-eminence over others, and consequently with contempt for others. For this reason works done for the sake of reward are not good in themselves, because they do not spring from the genuine fountain; that is, from charity toward the neighbor. Charity toward the neighbor has within it the desire that it should be as well with him as with ourselves; and with the angels, that it should be better with him than with themselves. Such also is the affection of charity; and therefore it is averse to all self-merit, and consequently to all the doing of good that looks to reward. To those who are in charity, the reward consists in being able to show kindness, and in being allowed to do so, and in the kindness being accepted. This is the delight, nay, bliss itself that is enjoyed by those who are in the affection of charity. From this it is evident what that “reward” is that is mentioned in the Word, namely, the delight and bliss of the affection of charity; or what is the same, the delight and bliss of mutual love (n. 3816); for the affection of charity, and mutual love, are the same thing. (See n. 1110, 1111, 1774, 1835, 1877, 2027, 2273, 2340, 2373, 2400.) From all this it is evident that by “reward” in the external sense is here signified mutual love.

[2] That in a sense still higher, or in the internal sense, by “reward” is signified celestial conjugial love, may be seen from the things that have been said above concerning the heavenly marriage (n. 2618, 2739, 2741, 2803, 3024, 3132, 3952), namely, that it is the conjunction of good and truth; and that mutual love is from this conjunction, or from this marriage (n. 2737, 2738). It is evident from this that “reward” in the internal sense is celestial conjugial love.

[3] That in the supreme sense “reward” is the Divine good of truth and truth of good, is evident from the fact that the heavenly marriage is thence derived; for this union is in the Lord, and proceeds from Him; and when it inflows into heaven, it makes the conjugial of good and truth, and thereby mutual love. From what has now been said and from what goes before, it is evident what is signified in the internal sense by these words of Leah: “God hath given me my reward, because I gave my handmaid to my man;” for by the “handmaid” is signified an affirmative means that serves for the conjunction of the external and the internal man (n. 3913, 3917, 3931). Thus before those things which are signified by the sons of the handmaids are affirmed and acknowledged, there cannot come forth any conjunction of good and truth, and thus not any mutual love; for these affirmations necessarily come first. This is what is meant by these words now before us.