8538. 'Until they came to an inhabited land' means before they reached heaven, where good resides everywhere. This is clear from the meaning of 'land', at this point the land of Canaan, as the Lord's kingdom, thus heaven, dealt with in 1607, 3038, 3481, 3686, 3705, 4240, 4447, 5136. Heaven is called 'an inhabited land' because of the good present there, for 'inhabited' means having life as a result of the existence of good, 2268, 2451, 2712, 3613, 8269, 8309.

2451. 'And all the inhabitants of the cities' means that all goods were severed from them so that they might possess nothing but evils. This is clear from the meaning of 'the inhabitants' when they are those of a city, as goods - as may be confirmed from many examples in the Word. This meaning is also evident from the fact that when 'a city' means truth, as has been shown, 'inhabitant' means good, for it is truth that good inhabits. But truth in which there is no good is like an empty or uninhabited city. That in addition to this all goods as well are separated from the evil so that they possess nothing but evils, see above in 2449.