Arcana Coelestia # 4117
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.
Numbers 32:26-41
26
Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our livestock, shall be there in the cities of Gilead;
27
but your servants will pass over, every man who is armed for war, before Yahweh to battle, as my lord says."
28
So Moses commanded concerning them to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers' [houses] of the tribes of the children of Israel.
29
Moses said to them, "If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben will pass with you over the Jordan, every man who is armed to battle, before Yahweh, and the land shall be subdued before you; then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession:
30
but if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan."
31
The children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying, "As Yahweh has said to your servants, so will we do.
32
We will pass over armed before Yahweh into the land of Canaan, and the possession of our inheritance [shall remain] with us beyond the Jordan."
33
Moses gave to them, even to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land, according to the cities of it with [their] borders, even the cities of the surrounding land.
34
The children of Gad built Dibon, and Ataroth, and Aroer,
35
and Atrothshophan, and Jazer, and Jogbehah,
36
and Beth Nimrah, and Beth Haran: fortified cities, and folds for sheep.
37
The children of Reuben built Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Kiriathaim,
38
and Nebo, and Baal Meon, (their names being changed), and Sibmah: and they gave other names to the cities which they built.
39
The children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead, and took it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were therein.
40
Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh; and he lived therein.
41
Jair the son of Manasseh went and took its towns, and called them Havvoth Jair.
