220. 'His voice going to and fro' means that only a residue of perception was left, so small as to be solitary and inaudible, so to speak. This is also clear from the next verse in which it is said that Jehovah called out to the man. A similar usage occurs in Isaiah,

The voice of one crying in the wilderness; the voice said, Cry! Isaiah 40:3, 6.

'Wilderness' stands for a Church where no faith exists; 'the voice of one crying stands for the declaration of the Lord's coming, in general for every declaration of His coming, as is made to regenerate persons who have this dictate residing in them.

8315. 'The powerful ones of Moab' means those leading a life of falsity resulting from that love. This is clear from the meaning of 'the powerful ones' as ruling and predominant elements; and from the representation of 'Moab' as people who are governed by natural good yet easily allow themselves to be led into error, dealt with in 2468, thus who lead a life of falsity as a result. For people governed by natural good and not by good that springs from the truth of faith, thus who are not governed by spiritual good, allow themselves to be carried away into believing any falsities whatever, and so into living in accordance with them. They are carried away from truths to falsities, in particular by ones that accord with the kinds of love they have. These are the people that 'Moab' serves to mean. Those governed by natural and not by spiritual good cannot at all be led by any influx from heaven, see 3470, 3471, 3518, 4988, 4992, 5032, 6208, 7197, 8002. The word used in the original language to express 'powerful ones' refers to those strong in truth that is grounded in good, and in the contrary sense to those strong in falsity that is rooted in evil. The word is used in the latter sense in Ezekiel 31:11; 2 Kings 24:15.