1710. The symbolism of and he pursued all the way to Dan as the state of his purification can be seen from the series of ideas in the inner meaning. Here, pursuing enemies is driving off the evil and falsity that coexisted with [apparent] goodness and truth and made them look good and true. So it means freeing and purifying them. All the way to Dan means to the farthest border of Canaan, so it means to the outermost limits of their flight. Throughout the Word Dan can be seen to symbolize the farthest borders or outermost limits of Canaan. In Samuel, for instance:
... to transfer the kingship from the house of Saul, and to raise the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan all the way to Beer-sheba. (2 Samuel 3:10)
In the same author:
The whole of Israel without exception shall be gathered from Dan all the way to Beer-sheba. (2 Samuel 17:11)
In the same author:
David said to Joab, "Roam through all the tribes of Israel from Dan all the way to Beer-sheba." (2 Samuel 24:2, 15)
In Kings:
Judah and Israel lived in safety, all of them under their own grapevine and under their own fig tree, from Dan all the way to Beer-sheba. (1 Kings 4:25)
From these passages it is clear that Dan was the farthest border of Canaan, 1 and that Abram pursued his enemies that far — the enemies that overran the goodness and truth of the Lord's outer self. Because Dan was the border of Canaan, however, and was therefore inside Canaan, he chased them even farther in order to rid the land of them completely — to Hobah on the left of Damascus, as the next verse says. This is how he accomplished the purification. In a holy sense the land of Canaan symbolizes the Lord's kingdom, as mentioned earlier [§§1, 620, 1413, 1437, 1585:1-2]. Consequently it symbolizes the heavenly effect of love, or that which is good — chiefly goodness in the Lord.
Footnotes:
1. Specifically, "the farthest border of Canaan" is the northernmost border. [RS]
