4867. 'And he turned aside to her at the wayside' means that it associated itself because of what it was by nature. This is clear from the meaning of 'the way' as truth, dealt with in 627, 2333, 3123, 3142, 3477, and so in the contrary sense as falsity. Falsity is meant here because he supposed that she was a prostitute, by whom falsity is meant; see just above in 4865. For the same reason it is also said that 'he turned aside' at the wayside, for 'turning aside' is used in reference to falsity, 4815, 4816.

4816. 'And turned aside [even] to a man, an Adullamite' means a turning to falsity. This is clear from the meaning of 'turning aside' as a departure into perversity, for turning aside, like going down, is used to refer to a retreat from good to evil, and from truth to falsity; from the meaning of 'a man' as one who has intelligence, and in the abstract sense as truth since a genuine understanding is formed from truths, dealt with in 265, 749, 1007, 3134, 3309, but in the contrary sense as one who has no intelligence, and therefore as falsity. This falsity is represented by 'an Adullamite', for Adullam was on the border of the inheritance of Judah, Joshua 15:35, and consequently meant truth coming from good, as also in Micah,

I will again bring an heir to you, O inhabitant of Mareshah; even to Adullam the glory of Israel will come. Micah 1:15.

But because most things in the Word also have a contrary sense, so also does Adullam, in which case it means falsity coming from evil. The reason most things also have a contrary sense is that before the land of Canaan became an inheritance for the sons of Jacob it was occupied by nations who meant falsities and evils, as it also was subsequently when the sons of Jacob entered into what was contrary. For territories take on the same representations as those of the nations or peoples inhabiting them, in accordance with the essential nature of these.