1178. 'He was mighty in hunting before Jehovah' means that he persuaded many people. This is clear from the fact that faith separated from charity is such, and also from the meaning of 'hunting' in the Word. Faith separated from charity is such that people are easily persuaded. The vast majority of mankind do not know what internal things are, but they do know what external are. The vast majority are also given to sensualism, low pleasures and desires, considering only themselves and the world, and are therefore easily captivated by that kind of religion. From the meaning of 'hunting': in the Word 'hunting' means in general persuading and in particular captivating people's minds, by pandering to the senses, low pleasures and desires, and by the use of matters of doctrine which in an arbitrary fashion they explain in a way that satisfies their own disposition and that of the other person. They do this for the selfish reason that they may be important in position and in wealth, and so by the use of persuasion.

[2] This is clear in Ezekiel,

Woe to those who sew little pillows on all the joints of My hands and make veils upon the head [of persons] of every stature to hunt souls! You hunt souls for My people, and you keep souls alive for yourselves; and you have desecrated Me among My people for handfuls of barley and for crusts of bread, to slay souls that will not die, and to keep alive souls that will not live, by lying to My people that listen to lies. behold, I am against your little pillows with which you there hunt the souls to make them fly away, and I will tear them from on your arms, and I will let the souls go that you hunt, souls to fly away; and I will tear off your veils and deliver My people out of your hand, and they will be no more in your hand to be hunted. Ezekiel 13:18-21.

These verses explain what 'hunting' means - a deceiving by means of persuasions and by means of cognitions which they pervert and explain to their own advantage, and at the same time according to the other person's disposition.

[3] In Micah,

The compassionate man has perished from the earth, and there is none upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; ¹ they hunt every man his brother with a net. When they do evil with the hands instead of doing good, the prince asks for and gives judgement for the sake of a reward, and the great man utters the perversity of his soul; and they twist it around. Micah 7:2-3.

This in a similar way explains what 'hunting' means, namely lying in wait for the sake of self, that is, calling true that which is false, uttering perversity, and twisting things around, and in these ways persuading. In David,

A slanderer ² will not be established in the land; as for the violent man, evil hunts him down, to overthrow him! Psalms 140:11.

This refers to wicked persons who persuade by means of falsities, think wickedly, and speak smoothly, with deceitful intent. 'Tongue' here stands for lying.

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