4861. 'And sat in the gate of the fountains, which is on the road to Timnah' means that which lies between the truths of the Church and falsities. This is clear from the meaning of 'the fountains' as the truths of the Church which arise out of the Word, for 'a fountain' in the universal sense means the Word, dealt with in 2702, 3096, 3424. 'In the gate of them' means at the place of entry into them. And because the external truths which belong to the sense of the letter of the Word serve as the place of entry, these are meant by 'the gate'. Unless those truths receive light from internal truths, that is, from those which belong to the internal sense, they present themselves as falsities among those governed by evil. Therefore 'the gate of the fountains' here means that which lies between the truths of the Church and falsities. 'On the road to Timnah' means for the use of the Church, for 'Timnah' means a state when the interests of the Church are consulted, 4855, 4857.

909. 'Birds' means things of his understanding and 'beasts' those of his will, [both of] which belong to the internal man; and 'every creeping thing that creeps over the earth' means corresponding things of a like nature residing with his external man. This becomes clear from the meaning of 'a bird', dealt with already in 40, 776, and of 'a beast' in 45, 46, 142, 143, 246. That 'creeping thing that creeps over the earth' means corresponding things residing with the external man is clear from this. Indeed 'creeping thing that creeps' here stands in relation both to 'birds', or things of the understanding, and to 'beasts', or those of the will. The most ancient people used to call the sensory powers and the appetites of the body 'creeping things that creep' because they are indeed just like reptiles that creep along the ground. They also likened the human body to the earth or to the ground. Indeed they actually called it the earth or the ground, as in the present verse where nothing other than the external man is meant by 'the earth'.