3412. And all the wells that his father’s servants digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped them up. That this signifies that they who were in the memory-knowledge of knowledges were not willing to know interior truths which are from the Divine, and thus obliterated them, is evident from the signification of “wells,” as being truths (n. 2702, 3096), here, interior truths which are from the Divine, inasmuch as the wells by which truths are signified are said to have been digged by his father’s servants in the days of Abraham his father, for by Abraham is represented the Lord’s Divine Itself (n. 2011, 2833, 2836, 3251, 3305); from the signification of “stopping up,” as being not to be willing to know, and thus to obliterate; and from the representation of the Philistines, as being those who are solely in the memory-knowledges of knowledges (n. 1197, 1198).

[2] Appearances of truth of a lower degree are now treated of, in which they may be who are in the memory-knowledge of knowledges, and who are here meant by the “Philistines.” With interior truths which are from the Divine, and which are obliterated by those who are called “Philistines,” the case is this: In the Ancient Church and afterwards, those were called “Philistines” who applied themselves little to life, but much to doctrine, and who in process of time even rejected the things which are of life, and acknowledged as the essential of the church the things which are of faith, which they separated from life; consequently who made light of the doctrinal things of charity, which in the Ancient Church were the sum and substance of doctrine, and thus obliterated them, and instead thereof vaunted much the doctrinal things of faith, and made the whole of religion to consist in these; and inasmuch as thereby they departed from the life which is of charity-that is, from the charity which is of life-they preeminently were called the “uncircumcised;” for by the “uncircumcised” were signified all who were not in charity, however much they might be in doctrinal things (n. 2049).

[3] Those who thus departed from charity removed themselves also from wisdom and intelligence; for no one can be wise and intelligent in regard to truth unless he is in good, that is, in charity, because all truth is from good, and looks to good; so that they who are without good cannot understand truth, and are not even willing to know it. In the other life, when such persons are far from heaven, there sometimes appears with them a snowy light; but this light is like that of winter, which being devoid of heat produces no fruit; and therefore when such persons draw near to heaven their light is turned into mere darkness, and their minds are plunged into the like, that is, into stupor. From all this it can now be seen what is meant by the statement that those who are in the mere memory-knowledge of knowledges were not willing to know interior truths which are from the Divine, and thus obliterated them.

3251. And these are the days of the years of the lives of Abraham, which he lived. That this signifies a state representative by Abraham of the Lord as to the Divine Itself, is evident from the signification of “days” and “years,” as being states (n. 23, 487, 488, 493, 893, 2788); and from the signification here of “lives,” as also being states (n. 2904), here, states that were represented by Abraham; for all his life, as it is described in the Word, and the end of which is now treated of, was representative. That Abraham represented the Lord as to the Divine Itself, has been shown in the explications. In order that he might represent, he was called by the name Abraham, the letter “h” being inserted, which was taken from the name “Jehovah” (n. 2010). Abraham represented both the Divine Itself, which is called the “Father,” and the Divine Human, which is called the “Son,” thus he represented the Lord as to both the Divine Itself and the Divine Human, but that Divine Human which is from eternity, from which came forth and to which He reduced or brought the Human that was born in time, when He glorified it. This is the representation of the Lord by Abraham.