4552.“雅各把它们都藏在示剑附近的橡树底下”表外在弃绝。这从“藏”和“橡树底下”的含义清楚可知：“藏”是指弃绝并像死人那样埋葬；“橡树底下”是指永恒，因为橡树的生命期很长，当有东西藏在它下面时，橡树就表示恒久之物。它还表示缠结之物，尤表谬误和虚假之物，因为属世层的最低层部分相对于在它之上的一切事物，是缠结和谬误的；它从身体感官事物，因而从谬误获得自己的知识及其乐趣。“橡树”尤表属世层的最低层部分，因而在正面意义上表示那里的真理与良善，在反面意义上表示那里的邪恶与虚假。
此外，当虚假在重生之人里面被去除时，它们就被属世层的最低层弃绝。因此，当一个人在判断力上变得成熟，头脑清晰，尤其变得聪明智慧时，属世层里的这些事物看似与他的内在视觉相去甚远。因为对重生之人来说，真理在其属世层的至内层，与良善挨着，而良善在那里就像一个小太阳。依赖这些的其它真理则照着它们与良善的血亲或姻亲关系而与它们拉开距离。谬误的真理在更边缘的部分，虚假则被丢到最边远的部分。后者永远与人同在，但当此人允许自己被主引领时，它们就被纳入刚才所描述的那种次序。事实上，这种次序是天上的次序，因为天堂本身就处于这种次序。但当人不允许自己被主引领，而是被邪恶引领时，这些事物就会处于相反的次序。对他来说，邪恶与虚假在中间，真理被丢到周边，真正的神性真理则被丢到最外边。这种次序是地狱的次序，因为地狱就处于这种次序；最外边的构成属世层的最低层部分。
“橡树”之所以表示虚假，也就是属世层的最低层部分，是因为在古教会，当代表主国度的外在敬拜存在时，各种各样的一切树都具有某种属灵或属天的含义。例如，橄榄树和橄榄油表示那些属于属天之爱的事物；葡萄树和葡萄酒表示那些属于仁，并由此属于信的事物；其它各种树也是如此，如香柏树，无花果树，杨树、山毛榉和橡树，它们也具有各自的含义，如在解释部分的各个地方所说明的。正因这些树在古教会所具有的含义，它们在圣言中经常被提及；一般来说，花园、果园和森林也是如此；人们就在这些地方的某些树下面举行敬拜。但由于这种敬拜沦为了偶像崇拜，并且教会代表被建于其中的雅各后代也倾向于偶像崇拜，因而在这些地方立了如此多的偶像，所以他们被禁止在花园和果园的树底下举行敬拜。尽管如此，这些树仍保留它们属灵或属天的含义。因此，不仅更高贵的树种，如橄榄树，葡萄树和香柏树，而且杨树、山毛榉和橡树在圣言中被提及时，就具有它们在古教会所具有的那种含义。
“橡树”在正面意义上表示构成属世层的最低层部分的真理与良善，在反面意义上表示虚假与邪恶；这一点从它们在圣言中被提及并以内义来理解的地方明显看出来，如以赛亚书：
离弃耶和华的必致消灭，因为他们必为你们所喜爱的橡树抱愧；你们必如叶子凋落的橡树，好像无水的园子。（以赛亚书1:28-30）
同一先知书：
万军之耶和华的一个日子要临到一切抬高和降低的，又临到黎巴嫩的一切香柏树和巴珊的一切橡树。（以赛亚书2:12-13）
谁都能知道，“耶和华的一个日子”不会临到香柏树和橡树，而是临到这些树所表示的人。又：
制造神像的为自己砍伐香柏树，又取山毛榉和橡树，为自己（让它）在森林的树木当中茁壮。（以赛亚书44:10，14）
以西结书：
他们被杀的人，倒在他们祭坛四围的偶像中间，就是各高冈、各山顶、各青翠树下、各缠结的橡树下，乃是他们献馨香的祭给一切偶像的地方。那时，你们必承认我是耶和华。（以西结书6:13）
此外，古人还在大山小山上敬拜，因为大山小山表示属天之爱；但当偶像崇拜者进行敬拜时，如此处的情形，它们就表示自我之爱和尘世之爱（795，796，1430，2722，4210节）；他们之所以在树底下举行敬拜，是因为如前所述，这些树照其种类而具有各自的含义。此处“缠结的橡树下”表示基于构成属世层最低层部分的虚假的敬拜，因为它们处于缠结的状态（2831节）。何西阿书：
他们在各山顶献祭，在各高冈的橡树、杨树、硬橡树之下烧香，因为树影美好。所以，你们的女儿淫乱，你们的儿妇行淫。（何西阿书4:13）
“淫乱”表示歪曲真理，“行淫”表示玷污良善（参看2466，2729，3399节）
撒迦利亚书：
黎巴嫩哪，开开你的门，任火烧灭你的香柏树。因为香柏树倾倒，佳美的树毁坏。巴珊的橡树啊，应当哀号，因为茂盛（Bazar，或译破斯喇）的森林已经倒下来了。（撒迦利亚书11:1-2）
Potts(1905-1910) 4552
4552. And Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem. That this signifies eternal rejection, is evident from the signification of "hiding," as being to reject and bury as dead; and from the signification of "under the oak," as being to eternity; for as the oak is a very long-lived tree, when anything was hidden under it, it signified what is perpetual; and it also signified what is entangled, and moreover what is fallacious and false, because the lowest of the natural is relatively entangled and fallacious insofar as it derives its knowledge and its pleasure from the sensuous things of the body, and thus from fallacies. For by the "oak" is specifically signified the lowest of the natural, consequently in a good sense the truths and goods which are therein, and in the opposite sense the evils and falsities which are therein. [2] Moreover, when falsities are removed in a regenerate man, they are rejected to the lowest of the natural; and therefore when a man becomes mature in judgment and clearsighted, and especially when he becomes intelligent and wise, they appear still further removed from his interior sight. For with the regenerate man truths are in the inmost of his natural near good, which is like a little sun there; and the truths which depend on these are distant therefrom according to the degrees of-so to speak-their consanguinity and affinity with good. Fallacious truths are in the more outward circumferences, and falsities are rejected to the outermost ones. The latter remain with man forever, but are in this order when the man suffers himself to be led by the Lord, for this order is heavenly order, inasmuch as heaven itself is in such an order. But when a man does not suffer himself to be led by the Lord, but by evil, these things are then in the opposite order, evil with falsities then being in the middle, truths being rejected to the circumferences, and the veriest Divine truths to the outermost circumferences, which order is infernal, for in such an order is hell, the outermost circumferences being the lowest things of the natural. [3] That "oaks" denote the falsities which are the lowest things of the natural, is because in the Ancient Church, when there was external worship representative of the Lord's kingdom, all trees of whatever kind signified something spiritual or celestial; for instance the olive and the oil from it signified the things which are of celestial love; the vine and the wine from it, the things which are of charity and its derivative faith; and so with the other trees, as the cedar, the fig, the poplar, the beech, and the oak, the signification of which has been occasionally shown in the explications. It is for this reason that they are so often mentioned in the Word, and also in general gardens, groves, and forests, and that men had their worship in these under certain trees. But as this worship became idolatrous, and the posterity of Jacob, with whom the representative of a church was instituted, was prone to idolatry, and consequently set up so many idols therein, they were forbidden to hold worship in gardens and groves, and under the trees therein; nevertheless the trees retained their signification, and therefore not only the more noble, as the olive, the vine, and the cedar, but also the poplar, the beech, and the oak, where mentioned in the Word, are each significative as in the Ancient Church. [4] That "oaks" in a good sense signify the truths and goods which are lowest of the natural, and in the opposite sense falsities and evils, is evident from the passages in the Word where they are mentioned, when understood in the internal sense, as in Isaiah:
They who forsake Jehovah shall be consumed, for they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired; and ye shall be as an oak that casteth its leaves, and as a garden that hath no water (Isa. 1:28-30). The day of Jehovah Zebaoth shall be upon everyone lifted up and low, and upon all the cedars of Lebanon, and upon all the oaks of Bashan (Isa. 2:12-13);
that the day of Jehovah will not be upon the cedars and the oaks, everyone may know, but upon those who are signified by them. Again:
He who formeth a god heweth him down cedars, and taketh the beech and the oak, and strengtheneth for himself in the trees of the forest (Isa. 44:14). [5] In Ezekiel:
Ye shall acknowledge that I am Jehovah when their pierced ones shall be in the midst of the idols round about their altars, upon every high hill, in all the heads of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every tangled oak, the place where they have given an odor of rest to all their idols (Ezek. 6:13). Moreover the ancients had worship upon hills and mountains because hills and mountains signified celestial love; but when the worship was performed by idolaters, as here, they signify the love of self and of the world (n. 795, 796, 1430, 2722, 4210); and they held it under trees, because as before said these were significative according to their species. "Under the tangled oak" here denotes that the worship was from falsities, which are the lowest things of the natural, for these are in an entangled state (n. 2831). In Hosea:
They sacrifice upon the heads of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under the oak, the poplar, and the hard oak, because the shade thereof is good; therefore your daughters commit whoredom, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery (Hos. 4:13);
that "to commit whoredom" is to falsify truths, and "to commit adultery" is to pervert goods, may be seen in n. 2466, 2729, 3399. In Zechariah:
Open thy doors, O Lebanon, and let the fire devour the cedars, because the magnificent ones are laid waste; howl, ye oaks of Bashan, for the forest of Bazar is come down (Zech. 11:1-2).
Elliott(1983-1999) 4552
4552. 'And Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem' means an eternal casting away. This is clear from the meaning of 'hiding' as casting away and burying as dead, and from the meaning of 'under the oak' as for ever, for being a tree that lives to a very great age, 'the oak' meant, when anything was hidden under it, that which is everlasting. It also had the meaning of that which is tangled up, and above all that which is deceptive and false, because compared with everything above it the lowest part of the natural is tangled up and deceptive, inasmuch as it relies on the physical senses, and so on deceptive ideas, for its knowledge and delight. Specifically 'the oak' means the lowest part of the natural, and therefore in the good sense means the truths and goods there, and in the contrary sense the evils and falsities there.
[2] Furthermore, when falsities are being removed in the case of a regenerate person they are cast away to the lowest part of the natural. For this reason when anyone has become mature in judgement and clear-sighted, and especially when he has become intelligent and wise, those things in the natural seem to be far removed from the interior sight he has. For with one who is regenerate truths are present within the inmost part of his natural alongside the good there, which is like a small sun. Other kinds of truths which are dependent on these are distanced from them by, so to speak, their relationships by blood or through marriage to good Deceptive truths exist in the more outlying parts, and falsities are cast away to the outermost parts. These remain with a person for ever, arranged - when he allows himself to be led by the Lord - into the kind of order that has just been described. For that ordering is a heavenly one since heaven itself is ordered in a similar way. But when a person does not allow himself to be led by the Lord but by evil, a contrary ordering exists. In his case evil together with falsities is at the centre; truths have then been cast away to the surrounding parts, and actual Divine truths to the ultimate parts. This ordering is a hellish one since hell itself is ordered in a similar way. The most outlying parts constitute the lowest of the natural.
[3] The reason why 'the oak' means falsities which are the lowest parts of the natural is that in the Ancient Church, when external worship representative of the Lord's kingdom existed, all trees of every kind had some spiritual or else celestial meaning. The olive, for example, and consequently olive oil, meant those things which belonged to celestial love; the vine and consequently wine those things that belonged to charity and from this to faith; and so on with every other kind of tree, such as the cedar, the fig, the poplar, the beech, and the oak, which too had their own individual meanings, as shown in various places in explanatory sections. It is because of the meaning these trees had in the Ancient Church that they are mentioned so many times in the Word, as also in general are gardens, groves, and forests, and that people held their worship in these, under particular trees. But because that worship became idolatrous, and the descendants of Jacob, among whom a representative of the Church was to be established, were inclined to idolatrous practices and therefore set up so many idols in such places, they were forbidden to hold worship in gardens and groves, under the trees there. Even so, these trees retained their spiritual or celestial meanings. Consequently not only the more noble trees, such as olives, vines, and cedars, but also the poplar, the beech, and the oak, when mentioned in the Word, have the same meanings as they had in the Ancient Church.
[4] 'Oaks' in the good sense means the truths and forms of good that make up the lowest parts of the natural, and in the contrary sense the falsities and evils which do so, as is clear from places where they are mentioned in the Word and understood in the internal sense, as in Isaiah,
Those forsaking Jehovah will be consumed, for they will be ashamed of the oaks which you have desired. And you will be like an oak, casting down its leaves and like a garden that has no water. Isa 1:28-30.
In the same prophet,
The day of Jehovah Zebaoth upon everyone uplifted or lowly, and upon all the cedars of Lebanon, and upon all the oaks of Bashan. Isa 2:12, 13.
Anyone may recognize that 'the day of Jehovah' is not going to be a visitation upon cedars and oaks but upon people meant by those trees. In the same prophet,
He who fashions a god cuts down cedars for himself, and takes a beech and an oak and strengthens himself among the trees of the forest. Isa 44:[10,] 14.
[5] In Ezekiel,
You will acknowledge that I am Jehovah, when their slain lie in the midst of the idols around their altars, upon every high hill, on all the mountain-tops, and under every green tree, and under every entangled oak, in the place where they offered an odour of rest to all their idols. Ezek 6:13.
The ancients also worshipped on hills and mountains because 'hills and mountains' means heavenly love - though when idolaters do the same, self-love and love of the world are meant, 795, 796, 1430, 2722, 4210 - and also under trees because, as stated above, each had a meaning of its own depending on what kind of tree it was. 'Under an entangled oak' here means worship based on falsities constituting the lowest parts of the natural, for they exist there in an entangled condition, 2831. In Hosea,
They offer sacrifice on mountain-tops and burn incense on hills, under oak, poplar, and hard oak, because its shade is good. Therefore your daughters commit whoredom, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery. Hosea 4:13.
'Committing whoredom' means falsifying truths, and 'committing adultery' perverting forms of good - see 2466, 2729, 3399. In Zechariah,
Open your doors, O Lebanon, and let fire consume your cedars, for the cedar is fallen, for the magnificent ones are ruined. Howl, O oaks of Bashan, for the forest of Bazir has come down. Zech 11:1, 2.
Latin(1748-1756) 4552
4552. `Et abscondidit illa Jacob sub quercu quae juxta Shechem':quod significet rejectionem aeternam, constat ex significatione `abscondere' quod sit rejicere et sicut mortua sepelire; et ex significatione `sub quercu' quod sit in aeternum, nam quercus quia annosissima arbor, `cum sub illa reconderetur aliquid,(n) significabat perpetuum; et quoque significabat id quod perplexum esset, (c)ac insuper quod fallax et falsum, quoniam infimum naturalis respective est perplexum et fallax quatenus id ex sensualibus quae sunt corporis, ita ex fallaciis trahit suum scientificum et volupe; in specie enim per `quercum' significatur infimum naturalis, proinde in bono sensu vera et bona quae ibi, et {1} in opposito (t)mala et falsa quae ibi; [2] cum quoque removentur falsa apud hominem regeneratum, etiam ad infimum naturalis rejiciuntur; quapropter a visu interiore, cum homo judicio maturus et perspicax factus est, et imprimis quando intelligens et sapiens, illa apparent longius remota; vera enim apud {2} hominem: regeneratum, in intimo ejus (o)naturalis sunt juxta {3} bonum, (o)quod ibi est instar parvuli solis; vera quae (c)ab illis dependent, abinde distant secundum (t)gradus quasi consanguinitatis et affinitatis cum bono, fallacia vera {4} ad peripherias exteriores sunt, et falsa ad extimas rejecta (o)sunt;
haec apud hominem in perpetuum manent {5}, sed in illo ordine sunt quando homo se duci a Domino patitur, is enim ordo est ordo caelestis, nam ipsum caelum in tali est; at cum homo non patitur se duci a Domino, sed a malo {6}, tunc in opposito ordine sunt, in medio tunc est malum cum falsis ad peripherias rejecta sunt vera, et ad ultimas ipsissima vera Divina; hic ordo est infernalis, nam infernum in tali est; (o)extimae peripheriae sunt infima naturalis. [3] Quod `quercus' sint falsa quae infima naturalis, est quia in (t)Ecclesia Antiqua quando cultus externus repraesentativus regni Domini fuit, omnes arbores cujuscumque generis significabant aliquid spirituale aut caeleste; sicut `olea et inde oleum' illa quae amoris (o)caelestis sunt, `vitis et inde vinum' illa quae charitatis et ex hac fidei sunt; et praeterea reliquae arbores, sicut cedrus, ficus, populus, fagus, quercus; quae quid significarunt, passim in explicationibus ostensum est; exinde est quod in Verbo toties memorentur, et quoque in genere horti, luci et silvae, et quod in illis sub certis arboribus cultum suum habuerint sed quia cultus ille idololatricus factus est, et posteritas Jacobi apud quam repraesentativum Ecclesiae instauraretur, ad idololatrica prona erat et sic tot idola ibi poneret, ideo interdicebatur illis cultum habere in hortis et lucis, subque arboribus ibi, sed usque arbores suam significationem retinebant; inde nunc est quod non solum nobiliores arbores, sicut oleae, vites, cedri {7}, sed etiam populus, fagus, quercus, in Verbo ubi memorantur, significent, quaelibet sicut in Antiqua Ecclesia. [4] Quod `quercus' in bono sensu vera et bona quae sunt infima naturalis, et in opposito falsa et mala, significent, constat a locis in Verbo ubi nominantur, in sensu interno intellectis {8}; ut apud Esaiam, Desertores Jehovae consumentur, quia pudefient a quercubus, quas desideravistis {9}:... et eritis sicut quercus dejiciens folia sua, et sicut hortus, cui aquae non, i [28], 29, 30:
apud eundem, Dies Jehovae Zebaoth... super omnem elatum et humilem, et super omnes cedros Libani,... et super omnes quercus Bashanis, 11, 12, 13;
quod `dies Jehovae' non erit super cedros et quercus, quisque scire potest, sed {10} super illos qui significantur per illas: apud eundem, Qui format deum, exscindit sibi cedros, et accipit fagum et quercum, et firmat sibi in arboribus silvae, xliv 14:
[5] apud Ezechielem, Agnoscetis quod Ego Jehovah, cum fuerint confossi eorum in medio idolorum circa altaria eorum, super omni colle alto, in omnibus capitibus montium, et sub omni arbore viridi, et sub omni quercu implexa, loco ubi dederunt odorem quietationis omnibus idolis suis, vi 13;
fuerat etiam antiquis cultus super collibus et montibus, quia `colles et montes' significabant amorem caelestem, at cum cultus factus ab idololatris, ut hic, significant {11} amorem sui et mundi, n. 795, 796, 1430, 2722, 4210; et sub arboribus, quia significabant secundum species suas, ut supra dictum; (o)sub quercu implexa hic ex falsis, quae infima naturalis, nam illa sunt in implexo, n. 2831: apud Hosheam, Super capitibus montium sacrificant, super collibus suffiunt, sub quercu, {1} populo, et robore, quia bona umbra ejus; propterea scortantur filiae vestrae, et nurus vestrae adulterantur, iv 13;
quod `scortari' sit falsificare vera, et `adulterari' sit pervertere bona, videatur n. 2466, 2729, 3399 apud Zachariam, Aperi Libane januas tuas, et comedat ignis cedros [tuas,... quia cecidit cedrus], quia magnifici vastati sunt;
ejulate quercus Bashanis, quia descendit silva Bazaris, xi 1, 2. @1 ita in specie per quercum significatur in bono sensu vera et bona quae sunt infima naturalis,$ @2 i in naturali$ @3 ubi$ @4 i autem$ @5 remanent$ @6 tunc alio ordine sunt, et cum a malo$ @7 i et$ @8 Inde est quod quercus in Verbo ubi nominantur significent in genuino sensu vera et bona quae sunt infima naturalis, et in opposito sensu falsa et mala quae ibi$ @9 i et erubiscetis ab hortis quos elegistis:$ @10 i quod$ @11 et in opposito sensu$