4117. 'And he set his face towards mount Gilead' means good within it. This is clear from the meaning of 'mount' as the celestial element of love, which is good, dealt with in 795, 1430, to which the good meant by 'Jacob' was joined - 'Gilead' meaning the essential nature of it. Since the river was the boundary and, as has been stated, meant the first phase of the joining together, 'mount Gilead', which lay in this part away from the Jordan, means the good involved in that first stage of the joining together.

[2] The land of Gilead where the mountain was situated lay within the confines of the land of Canaan understood in a wide sense. It was situated on this side of the Jordan, and was granted as an inheritance to the Reubenites and the Gadites, and in particular to the half-tribe of Manasseh. And since the inheritances stretched out that far, it is said that it was situated within the confines of the land of Canaan understood in a wide sense. The fact that this territory was granted as an inheritance to those tribes is clear in Moses, Numbers 32:1, 26-41; Deuteronomy 3:8, 10-16; Joshua 13:24-31. For this reason when the land of Canaan was envisaged in its entirety it was said to stretch from Gilead even to Dan, and in another sense from Beersheba even to Dan, for Dan also was a boundary, 1710, 3923. Regarding its stretching from Beersheba even to Dan, see 2858, 2859; and reference to its doing so from Gilead to Dan occurs in Moses,

Moses went up from the plains of Moab onto mount Nebo, the top of Pisgah, which is in the direction of Jericho. There Jehovah showed him the whole land, Gilead even to Dan. Deuteronomy 34:1.

And in the Book of Judges,

Gilead dwelling at the crossing of the Jordan; and Dan, why will he fear ships? Judges 5:17.

[3] Because it was a boundary, 'Gilead' in the spiritual sense means the good that comes first, which is that of the bodily senses, for it is the good or delight of the senses that a person who is being regenerated is introduced into first of all. This is the sense in which 'Gilead' is taken in the Prophets, as in Jeremiah 8:22; 22:6; 46:11; 50:19; Ezekiel 47:18; Obad. verse 19; Micah 7:14; Zechariah 10:10; Psalms 60:7; and in the contrary sense, in Hosea 6:8; 12:11.

2859. 'And Abraham dwelt in Beersheba' means that the Lord is that doctrine itself. This is clear from the meaning of 'dwelling', from the representation of 'Abraham', and from the meaning of 'Beersheba', all of which have been dealt with already, and is at the same time clear from what has gone immediately before. 'Dwelling in Beersheba' means abiding in doctrine, but when used in reference to the Lord the expression means His being such doctrine, even as 'dwelling in heaven', which also is said of the Lord, means not only that He is in heaven but also that He is heaven, for He is the All of heaven, 551, 552. It is well known that the Lord is the Word; so He is doctrine also, 2533, for all doctrine is drawn from the Word. The whole of the doctrine within the Word is received from the Lord and has to do with the Lord. In the internal sense of the Word nothing else than the Lord and His kingdom are the subject, as shown many times. It is the Lord's Divine Human that is the subject primarily of the internal sense of the Word. The whole of the doctrine within the Word, where man is concerned, has to do with worshipping Him and loving Him.