3420. 'Which the Philistines had been stopping up after Abraham's death' means that people who had no more than a knowledge of cognitions refused to recognize these truths. This is clear from the meaning of 'stopping up' as not wishing to know, and what amounts to the same, refusing to recognize and so effacing, dealt with above in 3412; and from the representation of 'the Philistines' as those who have no more than a knowledge of cognitions, dealt with in 1197, 1198, 3412, 3413. It is the knowledge of cognitions that those ruled by matters of doctrine concerning faith possess, and they have no wish to know the truths that are the sources of cognitions or matters of doctrine. The truths that are the sources of cognitions or matters of doctrine are those that have to do with life and that have regard to charity towards the neighbour and love to the Lord. Religious teaching, which consists of matters of doctrine and of recognized facts, does no more than teach those things. Anyone therefore who teaches what ought to be done, but does not do it himself, does not wish to know truths since they run counter to his life. And things contrary to his life he also refuses to recognize. These are the reasons why the matters of doctrine concerning love and charity which in the Ancient Church constituted the whole of religious teaching have been effaced.

3413. 'And filled them up with dust' means by means of earthly things, that is, by means of self-love and love of material gain. This is clear from the meaning of 'dust' as such, dealt with in 249. The meaning is that those who are called 'the Philistines', that is, who are not concerned with life but with doctrine, efface interior truths by means of earthly loves, which are self-love and love of gain. Because of those loves they are called 'the uncircumcised', 2039, 2049, 2056, 2632. Indeed people who are under the influence of those loves cannot avoid 'filling up the wells of Abraham with dust', that is, effacing the interior truths of the Word by means of earthly things, for there is no way in which they are able from these loves to see spiritual things, that is, things which belong to the light of truth from the Lord. In fact those loves introduce darkness, and this banishes that light, for as stated just above in 3412, as the light of truth from the Lord draws nearer, people who are concerned with doctrine alone and not with life are plunged into complete darkness and stupidity. Indeed they become like those in a rage, doing all they can to destroy truths in every way. For self-love and the love of gain are such that they do not allow any truth at all from the Divine to come anywhere near them. Nevertheless those people are able to boast of and pride themselves in the fact that they know truths; indeed they proclaim them with seeming zeal. It is however the fires of self-love and love of gain which inflame them and spur them on, and their zeal is merely the enthusiasm fired by those loves. This becomes quite clear from the fact that even though truths run counter to such persons' actual lives they are able to proclaim them with the selfsame zeal or enthusiasm. These are the earthly things which block the Word itself, the fountain of all truth.