3385. 'And the men of the place asked about his wife' means questions that people ask about Divine Truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'asking about' as the asking of questions; from the meaning of 'the men of the place (that is to say, of Gerar)' as people who possess matters of doctrine concerning faith - 'Gerar' meaning matters of faith, see 1209, 2504, and so 'the men of the place' people whose state is such; and from the meaning of 'wife', who is Rebekah here, as the Divine Truth of the Lord's Divine Rational, dealt with in 3012, 3013, 3077. The subject in previous verses has been the consideration that appearances of truth are the product of Divine influx from the Lord into a person's rational concepts. Now the subject is the reception of those appearances, and indeed first by people who possess matters of doctrine concerning faith, and who are meant by 'the men of the place (which is Gerar)' who belong to the first class of those called spiritual. In fact because these do not have perception, as those who are celestial do, and in comparison with whom they are in obscurity, 1043, 2088, 2669, 2708, 2715, 2718, 2831, 3235, 3241, 3246, they always question whether a thing is so, and also whether it is Divine Truth. And because they do not have perception by which they see whether it is so, they are given something which is an appearance of the truth, such as falls within the range of their rational thought, that is, within their mental grasp and so can be received by them. Everyone is allowed to believe truths in the measure that he understands them. If this were not so there would be no reception of them because there would be no acknowledgement. These are the matters which are the subject now.

1293. 'And they dwelt there' means the life that resulted. This becomes clear from the meaning in the Word of 'dwelling' as living. The expression to dwell occurs many times in both the prophetical and the historical sections of the Word, and in the internal sense it as a rule means to live. The reason is that the most ancient people dwelt in tents and celebrated their most holy worship in them, and this also is why 'tents' in the Word means the holiness of worship, as shown in 414. And since 'tents' meant the holiness within worship, 'dwelling' in a good sense also means living, or life. In a similar way it is because the most ancient people travelled around with their tents that 'travelling' in the internal sense of the Word means the established patterns and order of life.