Spiritual Meaning of GENESIS 9:27-29
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AC 1099. Verse 27. May God enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. By "Japheth" is signified as before a corresponding external church; "May God enlarge Japheth," signifies its enlightenment; "and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem," signifies in order that the internals of worship may be in the externals; "and Canaan shall be his servant," signifies here as before that those who make worship consist solely in externals are able to perform vile services.

AC 1100. That by "Japheth" is signified a corresponding external church, has been already stated, and also what is meant by an external church, namely, external worship, and thus those who do not know what the internal man is, nor anything that belongs to the internal man, and yet live in charity. With these the Lord is equally present, for the Lord works through charity, wherever charity exists. The case in this respect is the same as it is with little children, with whom, although they do not know what charity is, still less what faith is, the Lord is nevertheless much more present than with adults, especially when the little children live together in charity. And the case is the same with the simple who have innocence, charity, and mercy. It is utterly useless for a man to know many things if he does not live according to what be knows. For knowing has no other end than that the man may thereby become good. When he has become good, he has much more than one who knows innumerable things and yet is not good; for what the latter seeks by much knowledge, the former already has. Very different however is the case with one who knows many truths and goods, and at the same time has charity and conscience; for such a one is a man of the internal church or "Shem." Those who know little and yet have conscience are enlightened in the other life, insomuch that they become angels, and possess wisdom and intelligence inexpressible. These are signified by "Japheth."

AC 1101. May God enlarge Japheth, signifies the enlightenment of this church. In the literal sense "to enlarge" is to extend the boundaries, but in the internal sense it is to be enlightened; for enlightenment is the enlargement, as it were, of the boundaries of wisdom and intelligence. As in Isaiah:--

AC 1102. And he shall dwell in the tents of Shem. That this signifies in order that the internals of worship may be in the externals, is evident from all that has been said before concerning Shem, namely, that "Shem" is the internal church, or internal worship, and that external worship is nothing but an inanimate affair, or else an unclean one, unless there is internal worship to vivify and hallow it. That the "tents" signify nothing else than what is holy of love, and the derivative worship, is evident from the signification of "tents", (n. 414). It was customary among the ancients to speak of "journeying" and "dwelling in tents," by which was signified in the internal sense holy worship, for the reason that the most ancient people not only journeyed with tents, but also dwelt in tents, and performed their holy worship in them. Hence also "to journey" and " to dwell" signified in the internal sense to live.

[2] That "tents" signify holy worship, the following passages (n. 414), may serve for confirmation. In David:--

where "tent" signifies the same as "temple," in which God is said to "dwell" when He is present with man in love. Hence the man who lived in holy worship, was called by the ancients a tent, and afterwards a temple. In Isaiah:--

meaning enlightenment in those things which are of true worship. In Jeremiah:--

where it is very manifest that tents are not meant, but holy worship. In Zechariah:--

where the "tents of Judah" stand for the worship of the Lord from the holy of love.

[3] From these passages it is now evident what it is "to dwell in the tents of Shem," namely, that internal worship is in external. But because the man Japheth, or the man of the external church, does not well know what internal things are, this shall be briefly told. When a man feels or perceives in himself that he has good thoughts concerning the Lord, and that he has good thoughts concerning the neighbor, and desires to perform kind offices for him, not for the sake of any gain or honor for himself; and when he feels that he has pity for any one who is in trouble, and still more for one who is in error in respect to the doctrine of faith, then he may know that he dwells in the tents of Shem, that is, that he has internal things in him through which the Lord is working.

AC 1103. And Canaan shall be his servant. That this signifies that those who make worship consist solely in externals are able to perform vile offices, is evident from what has been said above, under the preceding (verses 25, 26), about Canaan, as being a servant. Such men are not indeed servants in the church of the Lord on earth, for there are many of them who hold high stations, and who are set over all others, who do nothing from charity and conscience, and yet observe with much strictness the externals of the church, and even condemn those who do not observe them. But such persons, because they are in no charity and conscience, and make worship consist solely in externals without internals, are servants in the kingdom of the Lord, that is, in the other life; for they are among the unhappy. The services which they there perform are vile, and are so many that they cannot be well set forth here, but of the Divine mercy of the Lord will be described hereafter. For in the other life every one without exception must perform some use, because man is born for no other end than that he may perform use to the society in which he is and to the neighbor, while he lives in the world, and in the other life according to the good pleasure of the Lord. The case in this respect is the same as it is in the human body, every part of which must perform some use, even things which in themselves are of no value, such as humors which in themselves are excrementitious, as are the many salival fluids, the biles, and other secretions, which must be of service not only to the food, but in separating the excrements and purging the intestines. Such also are the uses of manure and dung in the fields and vineyards; and many other such things.

AC 1104. Verses 28, 29. And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years; and all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years; and he died. These words signify the duration of the first Ancient Church, and at the same time its state.

AC 1105. That these things are signified is sufficiently evident from what has been said before concerning numbers and years (n. 482, 487, 488, 493, 575, 647, 648).