4429. 'To see the daughters of the land' means to get to know the affections for truth, and the Churches which arise from these. This is clear from the meaning of 'seeing' as getting to know, dealt with frequently already; from the meaning of 'the daughters' as affections, and consequently Churches, dealt with in 2362, 3024, 3963; and from the meaning of 'the land', in this case the land of Canaan, as that area where the Church is, and therefore also the Church itself, dealt with in 662, 1066, 1067, 1262, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 2928, 3355, 3686, 3705.

[2] The meaning of these things contained in this verse becomes clear from those that follow, for the subject is the representative of the Church which was to be established among the descendants of Jacob. This representative among them could not be established until they had undergone complete vastation so far as interior truths were concerned, that is, until they no longer had any knowledge of them; see 4289. Interior truths are all those which are represented and meant by the religious observances which they were commanded to keep; for every religious observance represented, and was a sign meaning, something in the Lord's kingdom in heaven, and consequently something in the Lord's kingdom on earth, that is, in the Church. The things which they meant and represented are in this instance interior truths. The fact that all the things, each one, which the descendants of Jacob were commanded to observe when a representative of the Church was established among them - which things are laid down in the books of Moses, especially in Exodus and Leviticus - were representatives and meaningful signs of the celestial and spiritual things of the Lord's kingdom has been shown throughout the explanatory sections. None of these spiritual and celestial things were known to the descendants of Jacob, for the character of those descendants was such that if they had known them they would have profaned them, 301-303, 2520, 3398, 3479, 3769, 4281, 4293. For that reason they did not enter into those representatives until they had undergone complete vastation so far as interior things were concerned. The subject in this chapter therefore is those truths and that people's annihilation of them.

[3] The representatives which the descendants of Jacob were commanded to observe were not new, the majority being like those that had been in use formerly among the Ancients. Unlike the descendants of Jacob however, that is, unlike the Jews and Israelites, the Ancients did not worship external things but internal ones. Through internal things they acknowledged the Lord Himself. Remnants of the Church from ancient times still existed in the land of Canaan, especially among those who were called Hittites and Hivites. This is why those nations represent the truths of the Church. From all this one may now have some idea of what is meant by Dinah, the daughter of Jacob by Leah, going out to see the daughters of the land. For 'Dinah' represents the external Church such as was established among the descendants of Jacob, while 'the daughters of the land' means Churches existing among the Ancients. Everywhere in the Word Churches are meant in its internal sense by 'daughters', see 2362, 3024, where this meaning has been shown; and 'land' means an area and a nation where the Church exists, and so means the Church, 662, 1066, 1067, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 2928, 3355, 3686, 3705.

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.