9339. Verses 31-33 And I will set your boundary from the Sea Suph even to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness even to the River; ¹ for I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out ² from before you. You shall not make a covenant with them and their gods. They shall not dwell in your land, lest perhaps they cause you to sin against Me when you serve their gods; for it will be a snare to you.

'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. 'And from the wilderness even to the River' means from delight belonging to the sensory level even to good and truth belonging to the rational level. 'For I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand' means dominion over evils. 'And you will drive them out from before you' means the removal of them. 'You shall not make a covenant with them and their gods' means no contact with evils and falsities. 'They shall not dwell in your land' means that evils must not exist together with the Church's forms of good. 'Lest perhaps they cause you to sin against Me' means lest evils turn away forms of good from the Lord. 'When you serve their gods' means if worship is kindled by falsities. 'For it will be a snare to you' means owing to evils that are enticing and deceptive.

Footnotes:

6369. 'He crouched, he lay down like a lion, and like an old lion' means the good of love and the truth from that good in their power. This is clear from the meaning of 'crouching' as summoning up one's power, for when a lion crouches he stiffens his sinews and makes himself powerful, as happens when he sees his prey; from the meaning of 'lying down' as lying in safety and without any fear; and from the meaning of 'a lion' and 'an old lion' as the good of love and the truth from that good in their power, dealt with just above in 6367. 'A young lion' is one whose power comes through truth from good, and 'an old lion' one whose power comes through good. For those with whom celestial good exists do not ever engage in fighting but are kept safe by means of good. For the moment they arrive the evil flee since the evil cannot stand the presence of them, see 6365. They are the ones who are meant by 'an old lion'.