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.

Poznámky pod čarou:

“Hearing” in the Bible means more than just the collection of atmospheric vibrations: It represents receiving and understanding new ideas, particularly those from the Lord. On a deeper level it represents obedience, because we must understand to obey. This also is reflected in natural language, in which we often use “hear” to mean “obey.” There are many shades of meaning beyond that, depending on context -- who is hearing whom, and what the subject at hand is.