2351. 'They cried out to Lot, and said to him' means anger directed against good on the part of falsity deriving from evil. This becomes clear from the meaning of 'crying out', also of 'Lot', and so from the feeling that is being expressed. The expression 'cry out' has reference to what is false, as shown in 2240, while 'Lot' represents members of the Church with whom good exists, and so represents good itself, 2324. From this meaning of 'cry out' and this representation of 'Lot', and from the feeling of anger which these words hold within them, it is clear that anger directed against good on the part of falsity deriving from evil is meant. There are many kinds of falsity, but they all fall into two general categories - either into falsity which is a product of evil, or into falsity which is a producer of evil, see 1188, 1212, 1295, 1679, 2243.

[2] Falsity from evil, within the Church, is in particular that falsity which looks favourably on evils of life, such as the falsity that good, or charity, does not make anyone a member of the Church, but truth, or faith; and that a person is saved, no matter whether throughout the whole course of his life he has led a life of evil deeds, provided that when the desires and sensations of the body decline - as usually happens shortly before death - he utters some profession of faith with apparent affection. This is the falsity which in particular has its anger directed against good and which is meant by the words 'they cried out to Lot'. The cause of anger exists in everything that endeavours to destroy the delight that belongs to any love. It is termed 'anger' when evil attacks good, but 'zeal' when good reproves evil.

1679. 'And they smote all the territory of the Amalekites' means kinds of falsities. This is clear from the representation and meaning of the 'Amalekite' nation, for all the nations that were in the land of Canaan represented kinds of falsities and evils, as will be clear, in the Lord's Divine mercy, from what follows. 'The Amalekites' means falsities, 'the Amorites in Hazezon-tamar' evils deriving from falsities. That 'the Amalekites' means falsities which assail truths becomes clear from what is mentioned regarding the Amalekites in Exodus 17:13-end; Numbers 13:29; 24:20; Deuteronomy 25:17-19; Judges 5:14; 1 Samuel 15:1-end; 1 Samuel 27:8; Psalms 83:7-8.

[2] The Rephaim, Zuzim, Emim, and Horites, referred to in verses 5-6, mean false persuasions that have their origins in desires for evil, that is, in evils, whereas here 'the Amalekites and the Amorites in Hazezon-tamar' means falsities from which evils derive. Falsity deriving from evil is one thing, falsity and evil deriving from that falsity another. Falsities spring either from evil desires which belong to the will or from accepted ideas which belong to the understanding. Falsities that spring from evil desires belonging to the will are foul and do not easily allow themselves to be rooted out, for they cling to a person's life itself. A person's life itself is that which desires, that is, which loves. As long as he is making that life firm within himself, that is, confirming that desire or love, all things of a confirmatory nature are false and are implanted in his life. Such were the people before the Flood.

[3] Falsities however which spring from accepted ideas belonging to the understanding cannot be rooted in the same way in the will part of man's mind. Like false or heretical doctrines, these have their origin outside of the will, coming instead from the absorption of such matters in early childhood, and after that from the confirmation of them in adult years. Yet because they are false they inevitably produce evils of life. For example, when anyone believes that he merits salvation through works and confirms himself in that belief, a sense of merit, of his own righteousness, and of assurance [of salvation] are the evils that result from it. On the other hand, when anyone believes that a truly devout life is not possible unless merit is attached to works, the evil which results from that belief is that he destroys all such devoutness in himself and gives himself up to evil desires and pleasures. It is the same with many other examples that could be taken. Such are the falsities and derivative evils dealt with in this verse.