3365. 'And Isaac went to Abimelech the king of the Philistines, to Gerar' means matters of doctrine concerning faith. This is clear from the representation of 'Isaac' as the Lord as regards the Divine Rational, dealt with in 1893, 2066, 2072, 2083, 2630 - 'Isaac' being the Lord's Divine Rational as regards Divine Good, 3012, 3194, 3210, and also as regards Divine Truth, which is represented by Isaac's marriage to Rebekah, 3012, 3013, 3077, so that 'Isaac' here represents the Lord as regards the Divine Truth joined to the Divine Good of the Rational, since Isaac was accompanied by Rebekah, and she was called his sister; from the representation of 'Abimelech' as the doctrine of faith which has regard to rational concepts, 2504, 2509, 2510, 2533; from the meaning of 'the king of the Philistines' as matters of doctrine - 'the king' in the internal sense being truth that is the truth of doctrine, see 1672, 2015, 2069, and 'the Philistines' the knowledge of cognitions, which are also matters of doctrine, 1197, 1198; and from the meaning of 'Gerar' as faith, 1209, 2504. From these meanings one may see what 'Isaac went to Abimelech the king of the Philistines, to Gerar' means, namely that the Lord is the source of the doctrine of faith which has regard to rational concepts, or what amounts to the same, to matters of doctrine concerning faith.

[2] The expression 'matters of doctrine' is used to describe all those things that constitute doctrine, and insofar as that doctrine is able to be received and to be acknowledged in heaven by angels and on earth by men it is said to have regard to rational concepts. Actually it is the rational that receives and acknowledges them; but the rational is such that it cannot possibly comprehend Divine things, for it is finite, and what is finite cannot comprehend anything of what is Infinite. For this reason Divine truths from the Lord present themselves before the rational by means of appearances. This is why matters of doctrine are no more than the appearances of Divine truth, that is, no more than celestial and spiritual vessels that hold what is Divine within them. And because they hold the Divine, that is, the Lord, within them, they therefore stir a person's affection, and thereby the Lord is joined to angels and to men.

1197. 'From whom Pelishtim came forth' means the nation which came from these, and which means a knowledge of the cognitions of faith and charity. This is clear from the Word where they are mentioned many times. In the Ancient Church all were called Philistines who spoke much about faith and who asserted that salvation lay in faith, and yet possessed nothing of the life of faith. Consequently they more than any others were called uncircumcised, that is, devoid of charity. (For references to them as the uncircumcised, see 1 Samuel 14:6; 17:26, 36; 31:4; 2 Samuel 1:20; and elsewhere.) Being such as they were they inevitably made cognitions of faith matters of memory, for cognitions of spiritual and celestial things, and the arcana of faith themselves, become purely matters of memory when a person who is acquainted with them is devoid of charity. Things of the memory are so to speak dead if the person is not such that he lives according to them from conscience. When he does live according to them from conscience things of the memory are in that case matters of life as well, and only then do they remain with him for his use and salvation following life in the body. Knowledge and cognitions are of no value to anyone in the next life, even though he may have known all the arcana that have ever been revealed, if they have made no impact on his life.

[2] Throughout the prophetical parts of the Word 'the Philistines' means people such as these, as they do in the historical sections of the Word, as when Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines and made a covenant with Abimelech, the king of the Philistines, Genesis 20:1-end; 21:22-end; 26:1-33. Because the Philistines here meant cognitions of faith, and because Abraham represented the celestial things of faith, he sojourned there and made a covenant with them. So likewise did Isaac, who represented the spiritual things of faith. But Jacob did not do so because he represented the external features of the Church.

[3] That 'the Philistines' means, in general, knowledge of the cognitions of faith, and in particular people who make faith and salvation reside in cognitions alone which they make matters of memory, becomes clear also in Isaiah,

Rejoice not, O Philistia, all of you, that the rod which smites you has been broken, for from the serpent's root will come forth an adder, and its fruit will be a flying prester. Isaiah 14:29

Here 'the serpent's root' stands for facts, 'an adder' for evil arising out of falsities based on facts. 'The fruits of a flying prester' is their works which, because they are the product of evil desires, are called 'a flying prester'

[4] In Joel,

What are you to Me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the borders of Philistia? Are you rendering Me a recompense? Swiftly and speedily I will return your recompense upon your own head, inasmuch as you have taken My silver and My gold, and My good and desirable treasures you have carried into your temples, and have sold the sons of Judah and the sons of Jerusalem to the sons of the Javanites, ¹ that you might remove them far away from their border. Joel 3:4-6.

What 'the Philistines' and the whole of Philistia, or 'all its borders', are used to mean here is plain. 'Silver' and 'gold' here are the spiritual and celestial things of faith, 'good and desirable treasures' cognitions of them. 'They carried them into their temples' means that they were in possession of them and proclaimed them. 'They sold the sons of Judah and the sons of Jerusalem' however means that they possessed no love and no faith. In the Word 'Judah' is the celestial element of faith, and 'Jerusalem' the spiritual element deriving from it, which were 'removed far away from their borders'. Further examples exist in the Prophets, such as Jeremiah 25:20; Jeremiah 47:1-end; Ezekiel 16:27, 57; 25:15-16; Amos 1:8; 19; Zephaniah 2:5; Psalms 87:4; and the people of Caphtor are mentioned in Deuteronomy 2:23; Jeremiah 47:4; Amos 9:7.

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