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.

Footnotes:

359. And he went forth conquering, and to conquer. That this signifies the removal of evils and thence of falsities at the end of life, and afterwards to eternity, is manifest from the signification of conquering in the Word, as denoting to conquer spiritually, which is, to subjugate evils and falsities; but because these are conquered only as they are removed by the Lord, hence by conquering is signified the removal of evils and falsities. (That evils and falsities are removed and not obliterated, or that man is withheld from them, and kept in good and truth by the Lord, may be seen in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 166; and in the Arcana Coelestia 865, 868, 887, 894, 929, 1581, 2116, 2406, 4564, 8206, 8393, 8988, 9014, 9333-9338, 9446-9448, 9451, 10057, 10060.) It is said, He went forth conquering, and to conquer, and by, He went forth conquering, is signified the removal of evils and of the falsities thence to the end of life; and by to conquer, is signified, and afterwards to eternity; for he who combats against evils and falsities, and conquers them in the world even to the end of life, conquers them to eternity; for according to the character of a man at the end of his life in consequence of his past life, such he remains to eternity. The reason why to conquer signifies to conquer spiritually is, because the Word in its inmost is spiritual, or in its inmost treats of spiritual things, and not of earthly things; the earthly things which are in the sense of the letter, serve only its spiritual sense for a basis, in which spiritual things terminate and in which they are. The same is signified by conquering in the following passages:

[2] In the Revelation:

"To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God" (2:7). "He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death" (2:11). "He that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations" (2:26). "I will make him that overcometh a pillar in the temple of God" (3:12). "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne" (3:21). "They overcame the dragon by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of the testimony" (12:11). "He that overcometh shall be master of all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son" (21:7).

And in John:

Jesus [said] to the disciples, These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation; but trust confidently, I have overcome the world (16:33).

By the Lord's overcoming the world, is meant that He subjugated all the hells; for the world here signifies all evils and falsities, which are from hell (as also in John 8:23; 12:31; 14:17, 19, 30; 15:18, 19; 16:8, 11; 17:9, 14, 16).

[3] The same is signified by conquering, where it is said of the Lord, in Isaiah:

"Who is this that cometh from Edom, sprinkled as to his garments from Bozrah? I have trodden the wine-press alone; and of the people not a man was with me; therefore have I trodden them in mine anger, and trampled them in my wrath; whence their victory is sprinkled upon my garments, and I have polluted all my raiment. But I have made their victory to descend into the earth" (63:1, 3, 6).

The Lord is here treated of, and His combats against the hells, and the subjugation of them. He Himself as to His Divine Human is here meant by "Edom, sprinkled as to his garments from Bozrah," and by His garments is signified the Word in the letter, for garments signify truths investing; and when said of the Lord, they signify Divine truths, consequently, the Word, for all Divine truths are therein (see above, n. 195). The Word in the sense of the letter is here also meant by garments, because therein are truths investing, for the sense of the letter serves for a garment to the spiritual sense; and because the Word, as to that sense, was torn asunder by the Jewish people, and thereby the Divine truth adulterated, it is said, "sprinkled as to his garments from Bozrah, their victory is sprinkled upon my garments, and I have polluted all my raiment." The garments from Bozrah signify the ultimate of the Word, which is the sense of its letter; their victory upon my garments, signifies the wrong interpretation and application of the truth by those who wrest the sense of the letter to favour their own loves, and the principles thence conceived, as was done by the Jews, and is also done at this day by many. This is meant by their victory upon my garments. That the Lord alone fought, is signified by, I have trodden the wine-press alone; and of the people there was not a man with me. The wine-press signifies combat from Divine truths against falsities, because in the wine-presses the wine is pressed out from the grapes; and by wine is signified Divine truth; hence to tread it alone, and of the people not a man was with me, signifies, alone, without the aid of any one. That the Lord subjugated the hells, is signified by, I have trodden them in mine anger, and trampled them in my wrath. It is said, I have trodden and I have trampled, because of the wine-press, and they signify that he destroyed; it is said anger and wrath, because they were destroyed, and they are attributed in the sense of the letter to the Lord, when, notwithstanding, there is nothing of anger and wrath in Him, but in those who are against Him; from the appearance it is so said here and in many places elsewhere. That they were subjugated, and condemned to hell, is signified by, I have made their victory to descend into the earth, into the earth denoting into damnation, thus into hell. That by the earth is also signified damnation, may be seen above (n. 304 at the end).