2467. Verses 37-38 And the firstborn gave birth to a son and called his name Moab; he is the father of Moab even to this day. And the younger also gave birth to a son and called his name Ben-ammi; he is the father of the children of Ammon even to this day.

'The firstborn gave birth to a son' means the religion of that Church as regards good. 'And called his name Moab' means the nature of it. 'He is the father of Moab even to this day' means that these are the origins of such people. 'And the younger also gave birth to a son' means the falsified truth of that Church. 'And called his name Ben-ammi' means the nature of it. 'He is the father of the children of Ammon even to this day' means that these are the origins of such people.

1068. That 'Noah began to be a man of the ground' means in general a person who has been instructed from matters of doctrine concerning faith is clear from the meaning of 'the ground', dealt with already in 268, 566, as the member of the Church, or what amounts to the same, the Church. For if the Church is to exist at all the individual must be the Church. The Church is called 'the ground' from the fact that it receives the seeds of faith, which are the truths and goods of faith. 'The ground' is distinguished from 'the earth' or 'the land' - which, as has been shown, also means the Church - as faith is from charity. As charity includes faith within itself so does earth or land include the ground. Consequently when the Church is dealt with in general it is called 'the earth' or 'the land', and when dealt with specifically it is called 'the ground', as here. For that which is general is a complex whole consisting of the things deriving from it. The matters of doctrine which the members of the Ancient Church possessed had come down, as stated already, from revelations and perceptions of the Most Ancient Church which had been preserved, and in which they had faith, such as those we have today in the Word. Those matters of doctrine were their Word. 'Noah began to be a man of the ground' therefore means a person who has been instructed from matters of doctrine concerning faith.