3196. And Isaac went out to meditate in the field. That this signifies the state of the rational in good, is evident from the representation of Isaac, as being the Divine rational (concerning which often above); and from the signification of “meditating in the field,” as being its state in good; for meditating is a state of the rational when it applies the mind intently; but a “field” is doctrine and the things of doctrine (n. 368); thus the things of the church as to good (n. 2971); hence came the ancient form of expression, “to meditate in the field,” denoting to cogitate in good; which is the act of a man not married, when thinking about a wife.

368. That a “field” signifies doctrine, and consequently whatever belongs to the doctrine of faith and charity, is evident from the Word, as in Jeremiah:

O My mountain in the field, I will give thy possessions [facultates] and all thy treasures for a spoil (Jeremiah 17:3).

In this passage “field” signifies doctrine; “possessions” and “treasures” denote the spiritual riches of faith, or the things that belong to the doctrine of faith. In the same:

Shall the snow of Lebanon fail from the rock of My field? (Jeremiah 18:14).

It is declared concerning Zion, when destitute of the doctrine of faith, that she shall be “plowed like a field” (Jeremiah 26:18, Micah 3:12).

In Ezekiel:

He took of the seed of the land, and set it in a field of sowing (Ezekiel 17:5),

treating of the church and of its faith; for doctrine is called a “field” from the seed in it. In the same:

And let all the trees of the field know that I Jehovah bring down the high tree (Ezekiel 17:24).

In Joel:

The field is laid waste, the ground mourneth, for the corn is wasted, the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth, the husbandmen are ashamed, the harvest of the field is perished, all the trees of the field are withered (Joel 1:10-12),

where the “field” signifies doctrine, “trees” knowledges, and “husbandmen” worshipers.

In David:

The field shall exult and all that is therein; then shall all the trees of the forest sing (Psalms 96:12),where it is perfectly evident that the field cannot exult, nor the trees of the forest sing; but things that are in man, which are the knowledges of faith.

In Jeremiah:

How long shall the land mourn, and the herb of every field wither? (Jeremiah 12:4),

where it is also evident that neither the land nor the herbs of the field can mourn; but that the expressions relate to something in man while in a state of vastation. A similar passage occurs in Isaiah:

The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands (Isaiah 55:12).

The Lord also in His prediction concerning the consummation of the age calls the doctrine of faith a “field:”

Then shall two be in the field, the one shall be taken and the other left (Matthew 24:40; Luke 17:36),

where by a “field” is meant the doctrine of faith, both true and false. As a “field” signifies doctrine, whoever receives a seed of faith, whether a man, the church, or the world, is also called a “field.”