3686. 'And Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan were evil in the eyes of Isaac his father' means the Lord's foresight and provision that the affections for that truth - the affections to which natural good had been joined until then - would not be suitable for such conjunction. This is clear from the meaning of 'seeing' here as foresight and provision, dealt with in 2837, 2839; from the representation of 'Esau' as the Lord as regards the Divine Good of the Natural, dealt with already; from the meaning of 'the daughters of Canaan', in this case the daughters of Heth, as affections for truth from a non-genuine source, dealt with in 3470, 3620-3622; and from the meaning of '[evil] in the eyes of Isaac his father' as not being suitable for such conjunction, that is to say, through the good of the natural, represented by 'Esau', with the good of the rational, represented by 'Isaac'. From this it is evident that all these words mean the Lord's foresight and provision that the affections for that truth, being from a non-genuine source, would not be suitable for conjunction. The truth of all this may be seen from the explanation given at 26:34-35, where the subject is the daughters of Heth whom Esau had taken as wives, and at 27:46, where the subject is the plea to Jacob not to marry one of the daughters of Canaan. The reason why 'the daughters of Canaan' here means affections for truth from a non-genuine source, whereas above 'the daughters of Canaan' meant affections for falsity and evil, 3662, 3683, is that the Hittites in the land of Canaan belonged to the Church as it existed among gentiles. They were not so much under the influence of falsity and evil as other nations there, such as the Canaanites, Amorites, and Perizzites. This also was why the Hittites represented the Lord's spiritual Church among the gentiles, 2913, 2986.

[2] The Most Ancient Church which was celestial and existed before the Flood was situated in the land of Canaan, see 567. The Ancient Church which existed after the Flood was also situated there, as well as in many other countries, 1238, 2385. This was how it came about that all the gentile nations there, and also all the territories there, and all the rivers there, served as representatives. For the most ancient people, who were celestial, perceived through all the objects they beheld the kind of things that belong to the Lord's kingdom, 920, 1409, 2896, 2897, 2995, and so beheld the same through the territories and the rivers there.

[3] After their times those representatives survived in the Ancient Church, including the representatives related to the places there. Furthermore the Word that existed in the Ancient Church, dealt with in 2897-2899, contained place-names which were for the same reason representative; and the Word existing after their times, which is called Moses and the Prophets, also contains them. This was why Abraham was commanded to go there, and the promise was made to him that his descendants would possess that land. That promise was not made because they were any better than all the other nations, for they were the worst of them all, 1167, 3373. But it was made so that through them the representative Church might be established, in which no attention was paid to representative persons and places themselves but to the actual things which these represented, 3670, and thus also so that the names existing in the Most Ancient and the Ancient Churches might be preserved.

1203. 'Heth' means exterior cognitions of celestial things, as is clear from what is said above. In the Prophets it is common for spiritual and celestial things to be linked together, that is, when spiritual things are dealt with so are celestial things, the reason being that one stems from the other, and perfection is somewhat lacking if they are not linked together. Consequently a likeness to the heavenly marriage exists in every single part of the Word. From this as well as other places in the Word it is also clear that Sidon means exterior cognitions of spiritual things, while Heth means exterior cognitions of celestial things. They are used in both senses, that is to say, either when internals are missing or when they are present, as well as being used to stand simply for exterior cognitions. As stated frequently already, spiritual things are those that belong to faith, celestial things those that belong to love. Spiritual things are also those that belong to the understanding, and celestial those that belong to the will. That 'Heth' means exterior cognitions devoid of internal is clear in Ezekiel,

Thus said the Lord Jehovih to Jerusalem, Your tracings and your nativity are of the land of Canaan Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. You are the daughter of your mother who loathes her husband and her sons; and you are the sister of your sisters who loathed their husbands and their sons. Your mother is a Hittite and your father an Amorite. Ezekiel 16:3, 45.

Here external worship devoid of internal is 'Canaan'. 'Loathing husbands and sons' is spurning goods and truths, and this is why their mother is called 'a Hittite'. In addition to this 'Heth' in the Word also stands for exterior cognitions of celestial things in a good sense, as, for reasons dealt with already, almost all names of lands, cities, nations, and persons are so used. In the Lord's Divine mercy the meaning of 'Heth' will be dealt with later on Cognitions of spiritual things are those that have regard to faith, and so to doctrine, while cognitions of celestial things are those that have regard to love, and so to life.