1574. The symbolism of a Canaanite as evil in his outer self, inherited from his mother, was shown above at §1444. The symbolism of a Perizzite as falsity coming out of that evil, though, can be seen from other passages in the Word mentioning a Perizzite. Concerning Jacob, for instance:

Jacob said to Simeon and to Levi, "You have caused me trouble, making me stink with the inhabitant of the land — with the Canaanites and with the Perizzites — and my numbers are few; and they will gather against me and strike me, and I will be destroyed, I and my household." (Genesis 34:30)

Here too a Canaanite symbolizes evil, and a Perizzite, falsity.

[2] In Joshua:

Joshua said to Joseph's children, "If you are a numerous people, go up into the forest, and you are to carve out [a place] for yourself there in the land of the Perizzite and the Rephaim, if Mount Ephraim is too narrow for you." (Joshua 17:15)

The Perizzites symbolize falsity as a premise, while the Rephaim symbolize falsity as a conviction. These they were to annihilate, because in an inner sense Mount Ephraim is the capacity for understanding.

[3] In Judges:

After Joshua's death, the children of Israel asked Jehovah a question, saying, "Who will go up to the Canaanites for us at first, to fight against them?" And Jehovah said, "Judah will go up. See? I've given the land into his hand." And Judah said to Simeon his brother, "Go up with me into my allotment and we'll fight against the Canaanite, and I, yes I, will go with you into your allotment." And Simeon went with him, and Judah went up, and Jehovah gave the Canaanite and the Perizzite into their hand. (Judges 1:1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

Judah too represents the Lord's heavenly qualities, while Simeon represents the spiritual qualities in him, which sprang from the heavenly ones. The Canaanite is the evil and the Perizzite is the falsity that he overcame. This was a divine answer, or prophecy, which should be understood in this way.