'A nation,' as in Genesis 21:18, signifies the spiritual church which should receive the good of faith.

In Isaiah 1:4, this signifies evils of the will, or lusts, while people signify falsities of the understanding, or persuasions. (Arcana Coelestia 622)

In Psalm 106:5, this signifies the Lord's kingdom. (Arcana Coelestia 1416[5])

In Ezekiel 29:15, this signifies the gentiles who will no longer be under the dominion of external truths. (Arcana Coelestia 409, 410)

In Micah 7:16, this signifies people who trust in themselves. (Arcana Coelestia 249)

(Referenties: Arcana Coelestia 2699; Jeremiah 5, 5:17, Jeremiah 17)

622. The relating of 'to corrupt' to persuasions is clear in Isaiah,

They will not do evil, and they will not corrupt in all My holy mountain, for the land will be full of the knowledge from Jehovah. Isaiah 11:9.

And similarly in Isaiah 65:25, where 'doing evil' has regard to the will or evil desires, 'to corrupt' to the understanding or false persuasions. In the same prophet,

Woe to a sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil-doers, sons who deal corruptly! Isaiah 1:4.

Here, as elsewhere, 'nation' and' seed of evil-doers stand for evils constituting the will, which are evil desires, while 'people' and 'sons who deal corruptly' stand for falsities constituting the understanding which are persuasions. In Ezekiel,

You were more corrupt than they in all your ways. Ezekiel 16:47.

Here 'to corrupt' relates to things of the understanding, reason, or thought, for 'way' is a term meaning truth. In David,

They have done what is corrupt, and they have done an abominable deed. Psalms 14:1.

Here 'corrupt' stands for dreadful persuasions and 'abominable' for the filthy desires which lie within the deed, or from which the deed originates. In Daniel,

After sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and will have nothing. And the people of the leader who is to come will corrupt the city and the sanctuary, and his end will come with a flood. Daniel 9:26.

In a similar way 'to corrupt' stands for false persuasions, to which 'a flood' has reference.