The Bible generally uses two different terms for large groups: “people” and “nations.” When it uses “nation,” it is talking about a group with the desire for good as its ultimate underlying motivation; when it uses the term “people” it is talking about a group whose deep motivation is to seek true ideas and concepts. As with all symbolism in the Bible, this can be also used in a negative sense, to describe groups with the lust for evil or those driven by false concepts. It can also be used in the abstract, with “nation” representing desires for good themselves and “people” representing true ideas themselves. In a way, these meanings make sense if we look at the two words themselves. “People” brings to mind a collection of individuals, and that is somewhat how it is with ideas -- you can have many of them that inter-relate, but also stand somewhat on their own, individually. “Nation” is a more unified term, reflecting the way that a desire for good tends to unify other feelings.

325. Since there is a human image to everything in the universe, Adam's wisdom and intelligence are described by the garden of Eden, where there were trees of every kind, as well as rivers, precious stones, and gold, along with the animals that he named. All of these meant things that were within him and that made him what we call "human."

Quite similar things are said of Assyria in Ezekiel 31:3-9, meaning the church as far as its intelligence is concerned, and about Tyre in Ezekiel 28:12, 23 [13], meaning the church in regard to its firsthand knowledge of what is good and true.