387. And with death, signifies the consequent extinction of spiritual life. This is evident from the signification of "death," as being the extinction of spiritual life (See above, n. 78, 186). That this is what "death" here signifies is evident from the series of things in the internal sense; for it is said that "there was given unto them power to kill with sword, with famine, and with death;" and "sword" signifies falsity destroying truth, "famine" the deprivation of the knowledges of truth and good; thence "death" signifies the extinction of spiritual life; for where falsity reigns, and where there are no knowledges of truth and good, there is no spiritual life, for spiritual life is acquired by means of the knowledges of truth and good applied to the uses of life. For man is born into all evil and falsity from evil; he is therefore born also into an entire ignorance of all spiritual knowledges; therefore in order that he may be led away from the evils and consequent falsities into which he is born, and be led into the life of heaven and be saved, he must needs acquire the knowledges of truth and good, by means of which he can be led into spiritual life and become spiritual. From this series of things in the internal sense it is evident that "death" here signifies the extinction of spiritual life; this is meant, too, by spiritual death.

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.