6541. 'And the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at the threshing-floor of Atad' means a discernment of the grief by the good of the Church. This is clear from the meaning of 'seeing as discerning, dealt with in 2150, 3764, 4727, 5400; from the meaning of 'inhabitant' as good, dealt with in 2268, 2451, 2712, 3613; from the meaning of 'the land', here the land of Canaan in which the Canaanites were inhabitants, as the Church, dealt with in 1413, 1437, 1607, 1866, 3038, 3481, 3705; from the meaning of 'the mourning' as grief, dealt with immediately above in 6539, 6540; and from the meaning of 'the threshing-floor of Atad' as the initial state, which is one of introduction, dealt with in 6537, 6538. From all this it is evident that 'the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at the threshing-floor of Atad' means a discernment of the grief by the good of the Church.

6539. 'And wailed there with great and extremely loud wailing means grief. This is clear from the meaning of 'wailing' as grief. The grief that is meant here is a grief that goes with the introduction referred to just above in 6537; for before the cognitions of good and truth which come at the initial stage can be implanted in good and so become part of the Church's good, grief exists; for a different state must be brought about in the natural, and the known facts must be rearranged into a different order there. Thus what a person has loved formerly must be destroyed, which means that he will also have to undergo temptations. This is what gives rise to the grief that is represented by 'the loud wailing with which they wailed'.