3413. 'And filled them up with dust' means by means of earthly things, that is, by means of self-love and love of material gain. This is clear from the meaning of 'dust' as such, dealt with in 249. The meaning is that those who are called 'the Philistines', that is, who are not concerned with life but with doctrine, efface interior truths by means of earthly loves, which are self-love and love of gain. Because of those loves they are called 'the uncircumcised', 2039, 2049, 2056, 2632. Indeed people who are under the influence of those loves cannot avoid 'filling up the wells of Abraham with dust', that is, effacing the interior truths of the Word by means of earthly things, for there is no way in which they are able from these loves to see spiritual things, that is, things which belong to the light of truth from the Lord. In fact those loves introduce darkness, and this banishes that light, for as stated just above in 3412, as the light of truth from the Lord draws nearer, people who are concerned with doctrine alone and not with life are plunged into complete darkness and stupidity. Indeed they become like those in a rage, doing all they can to destroy truths in every way. For self-love and the love of gain are such that they do not allow any truth at all from the Divine to come anywhere near them. Nevertheless those people are able to boast of and pride themselves in the fact that they know truths; indeed they proclaim them with seeming zeal. It is however the fires of self-love and love of gain which inflame them and spur them on, and their zeal is merely the enthusiasm fired by those loves. This becomes quite clear from the fact that even though truths run counter to such persons' actual lives they are able to proclaim them with the selfsame zeal or enthusiasm. These are the earthly things which block the Word itself, the fountain of all truth.

2056. That 'the uncircumcised male' means one who does not possess the truth of faith is clear from the meaning of 'a male' as the truth of faith, dealt with above in 2046. 'The uncircumcised male' here therefore means one who does not possess the truth of faith and so is subject to falsity. 'Uncircumcised' has reference to what stands in the way and defiles, as stated already. When added to the word 'male' it refers to that which stands in the way of and defiles truth. And when added in a similar way to anything else it means the degradation and corruption of that same thing, as with 'an uncircumcised ear' in Jeremiah,

On whom shall I speak and testify and they will hear? Behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot listen. Behold, the Word of Jehovah has become a reproach; they have no wish for it. Jeremiah 6:10.

'Uncircumcised ear' stands for the fact that they did not listen at all and that to them the Word was a reproach.

[2] The present verse also deals with those inside the Church who are subject not only to falsity but also to the impurity of self-love and love of the world, for this verse continues what has gone before. Hence the statement 'the uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin' - thus having the meaning of falsity joined to impurity of life. How much those persons are in danger of eternal condemnation becomes clear from what has been stated above in 2051. Here it means in particular people inside the Church who profane the goods and truths of faith, of whom it is said that 'that soul will be cut off from his peoples'. For unlike those outside the Church, they are capable of profaning, as shown in Volume One, in 593, 1008, 1010, 1059.