9340. 'And I will set your boundary from the Sea Suph even to the Sea of the Philistines' means the full range of truths from factual ones to interior truths of faith. This is clear from the meaning of 'setting the boundary from one place to another', when it refers to spiritual truths, as the full range; from the meaning of 'the Sea Suph' as truths on the levels of the senses and of factual knowledge, which are the lowest levels of the human mind (the Sea Suph was the final boundary of the land of Egypt, and 'Egypt' means factual knowledge in both senses, that is, true factual knowledge and false, 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462, 2588, 4749, 4964, 4966, 5700, 6004, 6015, 6125, 6651, 6679, 6683, 6692, 6750, 7779 (end), 7926, 8146, 8148; in this instance true factual knowledge is meant since the subject is the full range of spiritual matters of faith among the children of Israel, who represented the spiritual Church, 4286, 4598, 6426, 6637, 6862, 6868, 7035, 7062, 7198, 7201, 7215, 7223, 8805); and from the meaning of 'the Sea of the Philistines' as interior truths of faith. The reason why these truths are meant by 'the Sea of the Philistines' is that the sea where Tyre and Sidon lay was the boundary of the land of Philistia, and 'Tyre and Sidon' means cognitions or knowledge of truth and good, 1201, while 'the land of Philistia' means the knowledge of interior matters of faith, 1197, 2504, 2726, 3463.

[2] Since 'the land of Canaan' represented the Lord's kingdom, which is heaven and the Church, all places in the land therefore meant such things as form part of the Lord's kingdom, or heaven and the Church, which things are called celestial and spiritual, and are connected with the good of love to the Lord and the truths of faith in Him. For this reason the seas and rivers which were boundaries meant the final limits there, and therefore 'from sea to sea' or 'from river to river' meant the full range of those things, as may be seen in 1585, 1866, 4116, 4240, 6516. From all this it becomes clear that 'the boundary from the Sea Suph even to the Sea of the Philistines' means the range of spiritual things, which are matters of truth, from external ones to internal, thus truths ranging from factual ones to interior truths of faith. But the range of celestial things, which are aspects of the good of love, is described next by the words 'from the wilderness even to the River'. The fact that places belonging to the land of Canaan, including seas and rivers, mean such things in the Word, has been shown in explanations everywhere.

[3] What the full range of truths from factual ones to interior truths of faith is must be stated briefly. Truths which exist in the external man are called factual ones, but truths which exist in the internal man are called interior truths of faith. Factual truths reside in a person's memory, and when they are brought out from there they pass into the person's immediate awareness. But interior truths of faith are truths of life itself which are inscribed on the internal man, but few of which show up in the memory. These however are matters which will in the Lord's Divine mercy be spoken of more fully elsewhere. Factual truths and interior truths of faith were meant in Genesis 1:6-7 by the waters under the expanse and the waters above the expanse, 24; for the first chapter of Genesis deals in the internal sense with the new creation or the regeneration of a member of the celestial Church.

[4] The reason why 'Philistia', which also bordered on the land of Canaan as far as Tyre and Sidon, meant the interior truths of faith was that there also the representative Ancient Church had existed, as is evident from the remnants of Divine worship among them which are alluded to in historical sections and prophetical parts of the Word in which the Philistines and the land of Philistia are the subject, such as - in the prophetical parts - Jeremiah 25:20; Jeremiah 47:1-end; Ezekiel 16:27, 57; 25:15-16; Amos 1:8; Zephaniah 2:5; Zechariah 9:6; Psalms 56:1; ¹ 60:8; 83:7; 108:9. The situation with the Philistines was the same as it was with all the nations in the land of Canaan, in that they represented the Church's forms of good and its truths, and also evils and falsities. When the representative Ancient Church existed among them they represented celestial things which were aspects of good and spiritual things which were matters of truth. But when they fell away from true representative worship they began to represent devilish things which were aspects of evil and hellish things which were matters of falsity. This is the reason why 'Philistia', like all the other nations belonging to the land of Canaan in the Word, means either forms of good and truths, or else evils and falsities.

[5] The fact that interior truths of faith are meant by 'the Philistines' is clear in David,

Glorious things are to be spoken in you, O city of God. I will mention Rahab and Babel among those who know Me; also Philistia and Tyre, with Ethiopia. The latter was born here. ² Psalms 87:3-4.

'The city of God' means teachings presenting the truth of faith that are drawn from the Word, 402, 2268, 2449, 2712, 2943, 3216, 4492, 4493, 5297; 'Tyre' means cognitions or knowledge of truth and good, 1201, and so does 'Ethiopia', 116, 117. From this it is evident that 'Philistia' means knowledge of the truths of faith.

[6] In Amos,

Are you not like the children of the Ethiopians to Me, O children of Israel? Did I not cause Israel to come up from the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir? Amos 9:7.

This refers to the corruption and destruction of the Church after it had been established. 'The children of the Ethiopians' here are those in possession of cognitions of goodness and truth, which they use to substantiate evils and falsities, 1163, 1164. 'The children of Israel from the land of Egypt' are those who had been brought to spiritual truths and forms of good by means of factual truths, 'the children of Israel' being people in possession of spiritual truths and forms of good, thus in the abstract sense spiritual truths and forms of good, see 5414, 5801, 5803, 5806, 5812, 5817, 5819, 5826, 5833, 5879, 5951, 7957, 8234, and 'the land of Egypt' being factual truth, as shown above. The same is meant by 'the Philistines from Caphtor' and by 'the Syrians from Kir', to whom they are therefore likened. 'The Philistines from Caphtor' are people who had been brought to interior truths by means of exterior ones, but who perverted them and used them to substantiate falsities and evils, 1197, 1198, 3412, 3413, 3762, 8093, 8096, 8099, 8313, whereas 'the Syrians from Kir' are those who were in possession of cognitions of goodness and truth, which they likewise perverted, 1232, 1234, 3051, 3249, 3664, 3680, 4112.

[7] In Jeremiah,

... because of the day that is coming to lay waste all the Philistines, to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every helper that is left, for Jehovah is laying waste the Philistines, the remnants of the island of Caphtor. Jeremiah 47:4.

The subject in Jeremiah 47 is the laying waste of the Church's truths of faith, interior truths of faith being meant by 'the Philistines' and exterior truths by 'the remnants of the island of Caphtor'.

[8] In Joel,

What have you to do with Me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the borders of Philistia? Swiftly I will return your recompense upon your own head, inasmuch as you have taken My silver and My gold, and My good and desirable treasures you have carried into your temples. Joel 3:4-5.

'All the borders of Philistia' stands for all the interior and the exterior truths of faith; 'carrying silver and gold, and good and desirable treasures into their temples' stands for perverting truths and forms of good, and profaning them by putting them together with evils and falsities. For the meaning of 'silver and gold' as truths and forms of good, see 1551, 2954, 5658, 6112, 6914, 6917, 8932.

[9] In Obadiah,

At that time those in the south will be the heirs of the mountain of Esau, and of the plain of the Philistines, and they will become the heirs of the field of Ephraim; but Benjamin [will be the heir] of Gilead. Obad. verse 19.

This refers to the establishment of the Church; but spiritual things are implied by the names. 'Those in the south' are people who dwell in the light of truth, 1458, 3195, 3708, 5672, 5962; 'the mountain of Esau' is the good of love, 3300, 3322, 3494, 3504, 3576; 'the plain of the Philistines' is the truth of faith, 'the plain' being also that which constitutes matters of doctrine about faith, 2418; 'Ephraim' is the Church's power of understanding, 3969, 5354, 6222, 6234, 6238, 6267; 'Benjamin' is the Church's spiritual-celestial truth, 3969, 4592, 5686, 5689, 6440; and 'Gilead' is the corresponding exterior good, 4117, 4124, 4747.

[10] In Isaiah,

He will gather the outcasts of Israel, and will assemble the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. They will fly down onto the shoulder of the Philistines towards the sea, together they will plunder the sons of the east. Isaiah 11:12, 14.

Here 'Israel' and 'Judah' are not used to mean Israel and Judah; rather, 'Israel' means those who are governed by the good of faith, and 'Judah' those who are governed by the good of love. 'Flying down onto the shoulder of the Philistines' stands for receiving and taking into possession interior truths of faith; and 'plundering the sons of the east' stands for receiving and taking into possession interior forms of the good of faith, for 'the sons of the east' are people who are governed by forms of the good of faith and with whom cognitions or knowledge of good exists, 3249. 3762. For the meaning of 'plundering' as receiving and taking into possession, see what has been shown in 6914, 6917, regarding the plundering of the Egyptians by the children of Israel.

[11] Since 'the land of Philistia' meant knowledge of the interior truths of faith, and since Abraham and Isaac represented the Lord, and the sojourning of these two in places meant instruction received by the Lord in the truths and forms of the good of faith and love, which belong to God's wisdom, therefore - to provide a figurative representation of this - Abraham was commanded to sojourn in Philistia, Genesis 20:1-end, and so too was Isaac, Genesis 26:1-24. Therefore also Abimelech king of the Philistines made a covenant with Abraham, Genesis 21:22-end, and also with Isaac, Genesis 26:26-end. Regarding all this, see the explanations to those chapters.

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3527. 'And I am a smooth man' means the nature of natural truth compared with natural good. This is clear from the representation of Jacob, to whom 'I' refers here, as the natural as regards truth, dealt with in 3305, and from the meaning of 'a smooth man' as the nature of it, which is dealt with below. Before anyone can know what these words mean he needs to know what 'hairy' means and what 'smooth' means. The inner things present in a person manifest themselves outwardly in some visible form, especially in his face and facial expressions. The things that are inmost within him are not seen there at the present day, only to some extent things less interior than those inmost ones. But not even these are seen, if he has learned since early childhood to employ presence, for in that case he adopts so to speak a different disposition of mind (animus) and as a consequence produces a different facial expression - it being the disposition of mind (animus) that shows in the face. Hypocrites more than all others have become steeped in such presence from actually behaving, and so becoming accustomed to behave in such ways; and the more deceitful they are the more thoroughly are they steeped in it. With people who are not hypocrites rational good is seen in the face as the manifestation of a certain fire of life, and rational truth as the manifestation of the light of that fire. These matters a person is aware of from a certain innate knowledge without having to learn them, for it is the life of his spirit as regards good and as regards truth that manifests itself in this way. And because man is a spirit clothed with a body he knows about such a thing as this from a perception of it in his spirit, and so is aware of it from within himself. This is why a person is on occasions stirred with affection by another's facial expression, though it is not the facial expression that stirs him but the disposition of mind shining through it. The natural degree of the mind however reveals itself in the face as a more obscure fire of life and more obscure light of life, while the bodily degree scarcely does so as more than a warm and bright complexion, and as the change of their states in accordance with affections.

[2] Because the inner things present in a person manifest themselves thus in a visible form, especially in the face, the most ancient people - who were celestial and had no knowledge at all of what it was to employ presence, let alone of what hypocrisy or what deceit was - were able to see the mind of another plainly revealed in his face. For this reason the face also meant things of the will and those of the understanding, that is, interior rational things as regards good and truth, 358, 1999, 2434. Indeed those interior things as regards good were meant by the blood and its redness, and as regards truths by the form resulting from it, and its pure whiteness. But interior natural things were meant by things growing out of these, such as hairs and scales are; that is to say, things stemming from the natural as regards good were meant by 'hairs' and those stemming from the natural as regards truth by 'scales'. Consequently people governed by natural good were called 'hairy men' whereas those governed by natural truth were called 'smooth men'. These considerations show what these words 'Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man' mean in the internal sense, namely the nature of natural good compared with natural truth, and the nature of natural truth compared with natural good. From this it is also evident what Esau represents, that is to say, the good of the natural; for he was called Esau because of his hairiness, Genesis 25:25, and Edom because of his ruddiness, Genesis 25:30. And Mount Seir where he dwelt also has a similar meaning, namely, shaggy. This being so, the mountain that led up to Seir was called the bald or smooth mountain, mentioned in Joshua 11:17; 12:7, which was also the representative of truth leading upwards to good.

[3] 'Hairy' has reference to good and from this to truth, and also in the contrary sense to evil and from this to falsity, as has been shown in 3301. But 'smooth' has reference to truth and in the contrary sense to falsity, as is also evident from the following places in the Word: In Isaiah,

You who inflame yourselves among the gods under every green tree, among the smooth [stones] of the valley is your portion. Isaiah 57:5-6.

Here 'inflaming' has reference to evil, 'smooth [stones] of the valley' to falsity. In the same prophet,

The craftsman encourages the smith, the one rubbing smooth the hammer by his striking the anvil, and says of the soldering. It is good. Isaiah 41:7.

Here 'the craftsman encourages the smith' has reference to evil, 'the one rubbing smooth the hammer' to falsity. In David,

Butter makes his ¹ mouth smooth; when his heart draws near, his words are softer than oil. Psalms 55:21.

Here 'a smooth mouth' or flattery refers to falsity, 'heart' and consequent soft words to evil. In the same author,

Their throat is an open sepulchre, they speak smooth things with their tongue. Psalms 5:9.

'Throat is an open sepulchre' refers to evil, 'tongue speaking smooth things' to falsity. In Luke,

Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be brought low; and the crooked places will be made straight, and the rough places into level ways. Luke 3:5.

'Valley' stands for what is lowly, 1723, 3417, 'mountain and hill' for what is exalted, 1691. 'The crooked made straight' stands for turning into good that evil which is due to ignorance, for 'length' and things to do with length have reference to good, 1613; 'rough places into level ways' stands for turning into truths those falsities which are due to ignorance - 'way' having reference to truth, 627, 2333.

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