6541. 'And the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at the threshing-floor of Atad' means a discernment of the grief by the good of the Church. This is clear from the meaning of 'seeing as discerning, dealt with in 2150, 3764, 4727, 5400; from the meaning of 'inhabitant' as good, dealt with in 2268, 2451, 2712, 3613; from the meaning of 'the land', here the land of Canaan in which the Canaanites were inhabitants, as the Church, dealt with in 1413, 1437, 1607, 1866, 3038, 3481, 3705; from the meaning of 'the mourning' as grief, dealt with immediately above in 6539, 6540; and from the meaning of 'the threshing-floor of Atad' as the initial state, which is one of introduction, dealt with in 6537, 6538. From all this it is evident that 'the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at the threshing-floor of Atad' means a discernment of the grief by the good of the Church.

6538. 'Which is at the crossing of the Jordan' means which is one of introduction into cognitions of good and truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'the Jordan' as introduction into cognitions of good and truth, thus the first sector of the Lord's kingdom and the Church as one goes in, and the last as one comes out, dealt with in 4255. The rivers where the land of Canaan came to an end were representative of the outermost things within the Lord's kingdom, see 1585, 4116, 4240. This is why 'the crossing of the Jordan' means introduction into cognitions of good and truth, for cognitions of good and truth are what come first and serve to introduce a person into the things that constitute the Church.