2234. That 'the way' means doctrine is clear from the meaning of 'a way'. 'A way' in the Word is used in reference to truths, because truths lead to good and go forth from good, as is made clear from the places quoted in Volume One, in 627. And because a way is used in reference to truths, 'a way' is doctrine since doctrine taken as a whole embraces all those things which lead to good, that is, to charity.

Mamre was an Amorite who lived in the land of Canaan, in the area called Hebron in what would much later be the kingdom of Judah. He and his brothers, Aner and Eshcol, were friends of Abram. To dwell in "the oak groves of Mamre" is to perceive the affections aroused by delight in the early simple knowledges gathered in childhood through the senses; oaks refer knowledge and Mamre indicates its delightful quality. In representative language, this describes a state that Jesus went through in early childhood, and at a different level, a state that we pass through too.

(Odkazy: Arcana Coelestia 1616 [2], 1704)