4440. 'And his sons were with his cattle in the field' means that his descendants dwelt in their own semblance of religion. This is clear from the meaning of 'his sons' as descendants; from the meaning of 'cattle' as external truths, dealt with in 1435, ¹ 4391; and from the meaning of 'the field' as the Church, dealt with in 2971, 3766. Consequently 'his sons were with his cattle in the field' means that they dwelt in their own semblance of religion; for the kind of Church that existed with them must be called a semblance of religion since it involves external worship devoid of internal.

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1435. 'And all the acquisitions that they had acquired' means all truths that have been learned through the senses. This is clear from what has been stated already. Every fact from which a person thinks is called 'an acquisition'. Until he has acquired such facts nobody can as a human being possess a single idea comprising thought. Such ideas are based on sensory impressions contained in the memory. Facts therefore are the vessels for spiritual things, while affections that are the product of bodily pleasures that are good are the vessels for celestial things. All of these are called 'acquisitions', and indeed those acquired 'in Haran', by which is meant an obscure state like that of infancy through to childhood.