3196. 'And Isaac came out to meditate in the field' means a state of the Rational immersed in good. This is clear from the representation of 'Isaac' as the Divine Rational, often dealt with already, and from the meaning of 'meditating in the field' as its state when immersed in good. For 'meditating' is a state of the rational when this controls the mind. 'A field' however is doctrine and the things that constitute doctrine, 368, and so the things that constitute the Church as regards good, 2971. Consequently the expression of old 'meditating in the field' stands for thought immersed in good, which is the condition of an unmarried man (homo) with thoughts of a wife.

2972. 'And every tree which was in the field' means the interior cognitions of the Church. This is clear from the meaning of 'a tree' as perceptions when the celestial Church is the subject, dealt with in 103, 2163, but cognitions when the spiritual Church is the subject, dealt with in 2722 - interior cognitions here because the words 'every tree which was in the field' are used, followed by 'which was in all its borders round about', by which exterior cognitions are meant; and from the meaning of 'the field' as the Church, dealt with already. Mention is made of the tree in the field and in its borders round about for the sake of that internal sense; otherwise it would not have been worth any mention in the Word, which is Divine.