1411. Get thee out of thy land. That this signifies the corporeal and worldly things from which He was to recede, is evident from the signification of “land” or “earth,” ¹ which is variable, adapting itself to the person or thing of which it is predicated-as in the first chapter of Genesis, where likewise “earth” signifies the external man (see also n. 82, 620, 636, 913). That it here signifies corporeal and worldly things, is because these are of the external man. A “land,” in the proper sense, is the land, region, or kingdom itself; it is also the inhabitant thereof; and also the people itself and the nation itself, in the land. Thus the word “land” not only signifies in a broad sense the people or the nation, but also in a limited sense the inhabitant. When the word “land” is used with reference to the inhabitant, its signification is then in accordance with the thing concerning which it is used. It is here used respecting corporeal and worldly things; for the land of his birth, out of which Abram was to go, was idolatrous. In the historical sense, therefore, the meaning here is that Abram should go out from that land; but in the representative sense, that He should recede from the things which are of the external man; that is, that external things should not resist, nor bring in disturbance; and because this is concerning the Lord, it signifies that His externals should agree with His internals.

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