402. 'A city that was built' means all doctrinal or heretical teaching founded on that heresy. This is clear from the Word wherever the name of any city occurs. In the Word 'city' never means a city but something doctrinal or else something heretical. For angels are totally ignorant of what a city is or what the name of any city is. They never do nor can have any city in mind, for their ideas are of spiritual and celestial things, as shown already. Their perception is solely of what is meant spiritually by cities, and the names of them. For example, by the Holy City, which is also called the Holy Jerusalem, they understand nothing other than the Lord's kingdom in general, or as it exists with each individual who has the Lord's kingdom within him. And the city of Zion or Mount Zion they understand in a similar way, the latter being the celestial degree of faith, the former the spiritual.

[2] And the celestial and spiritual itself is also described by cities, palaces, houses, walls, the foundations of walls, ramparts, gates, bars, and by the temple at the centre, as in Ezekiel 48, and in Revelation 21:15-end. In Revelation 21:2, 10, it is called 'the Holy Jerusalem'; in Jeremiah 31:38 ['the city for Jehovah']; in David, Psalms 46:4, 'the city of God, the holy place of the dwellings of the Most High'; and in Ezekiel 48:35, it is called 'the city, Jehovah is there'. And in Isaiah,

The sons of the foreigner will build up your walls. They will bend down to the soles of your feet, all who disapprove of you, and they will call you the City of Jehovah, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. Isaiah 60:10, 14.

In Zechariah,

Jerusalem [will be called] the city of truth, and Mount Zion the mountain of holiness. Zechariah 8:3

Here 'city of truth', which is Jerusalem, means the spiritual things of faith, and 'the holy mountain', which is Zion, the celestial things of faith. And whereas the celestial and spiritual things of faith were represented by a city, so all matters of doctrine were meant by the cities of Judah and Israel, each one, when mentioned by name, meaning some specific point of doctrine, though exactly which nobody can know except from the internal sense.

[3] As cities meant matters of doctrine, cities also meant heretical ideas, each one when mentioned by name meaning some specific heretical idea. But at this point solely the consideration that in general a city means doctrinal teaching or else heretical may be established from the following places:

[4] In Isaiah,

On that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt which speak in the lip of Canaan and swear to Jehovah Zebaoth. One of these will be called the city Heres. Isaiah 19:18.

This refers to man's knowledge of spiritual and celestial things at the time of the Lord's Coming. In the same prophet,

Full of tumults, a tumultuous city, an exultant city. Isaiah 22:1, 2.

This refers to 'the valley of vision', which is delusion. In Jeremiah,

The cities of the south are shut up, with none opening them. Jeremiah 13:10.

This refers to people who are in 'the south', that is, who dwell in the light of truth, but blot it out. In the same prophet,

Jehovah thought to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion. He causes rampart and wall to mourn; they have languished together. Her gates have sunk into the ground, He has destroyed and broken in pieces her bars. Lamentations 2:8-9.

Here anyone may see that nothing else is meant by 'wall, rampart, gates and bars' than matters of doctrine.

[5] Similarly in Isaiah,

This song will be sung in the land of Judah, Ours is a strong city, salvation will establish walls and a rampart. Open the gates that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in. Isaiah 26:1-2.

In the same prophet,

I will exalt You, I will confess Your name. You have made the city into a heap, the fortified city into a ruin; let not a palace of aliens be built of the city for ever. Therefore a strong people will honour You, the city of terrifying nations will fear You. Isaiah 25:1-3.

Nor does this refer to any actual city. In Balaam's prophecy,

Edom will be an inheritance, and out of Jacob one will have dominion, and he will accomplish the destruction of the remnant of the city. Numbers 24:18-19.

Here anyone may see that 'the city' does not mean an actual city. In Isaiah,

The city of hollowness has been broken down, every house has been shut up so that none may enter in. There is an outcry in the streets over the wine. Isaiah 24:10-11.

Here 'city of hollowness' stands for hollowness of doctrine. In this and other places 'streets' means the things that constitute a city, namely falsities or truths. In John,

When the seventh angel poured out his bowl the great city was split into three parts and the cities of the nations fell. Revelation 16:17, 19.

That 'a great city' means something heretical, as do 'the cities of the nations', may be clear to anyone. The explanation is also given in Revelation 17:18 that the great city means the woman whom John saw, 'the woman', as shown already, being a Church of that nature.

3412. 'All the wells which his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped them up' means that people who possessed knowledge of cognitions did not wish to know interior truths that came from the Divine and so effaced them. This is clear from the meaning of 'wells' as truths, dealt with in 2702, 3096, here interior truths coming from the Divine since the wells, which mean truths, are said to have been dug by 'his father's servants in the days of Abraham his father' - 'Abraham' representing the Lord's Divine itself, 2011, 2833, 2836, 3251, 3305 (end); from the meaning of 'stopping up' as not wishing to know and so effacing; and from the representation of 'the Philistines' as people who possess no more than a knowledge of cognitions, dealt with in 1197, 1198.

[2] The subject at this point is the appearances of truth that belong to the lower degree, which are able to exist with those who possess a knowledge of cognitions and whom 'the Philistines' are used to mean here. With regard to the interior truths that come from the Divine and are effaced by those called the Philistines, the position is that in the Ancient Church and after it the name Philistines was used for those who gave little thought to life and very much to doctrine, and who in course of time even rejected matters of life and acknowledged matters of faith - which faith was separated from life - as being the essential element of the Church. As a consequence they attached no importance at all to matters of doctrine concerning charity which in the Ancient Church constituted the all of doctrine, and so they effaced it. Instead they proclaimed matters of doctrine concerning faith and centred the whole of their religion in these. And since in this way they departed from the life of charity, that is, from charity as the sum and substance of life, they more than all others were called 'the uncircumcised'. For by 'the uncircumcised' were meant all in whom charity was not present, no matter how much doctrine they knew, 2049 (end).

[3] Because such people departed from charity they also removed themselves from wisdom and intelligence, for no one can have a wise and intelligent discernment of what truth is unless good, that is, charity, reigns in him. Indeed all truth originates in good and has regard to good, so that anyone who is devoid of good is unable to have an intelligent discernment of truth, and does not even wish to know it. When such people in the next life are far away from heaven, light bright as snow is sometimes seen to be with them. But that light is like the light in wintertime which, being devoid of warmth, is unproductive. This also explains why, when such persons draw near to heaven, their light is converted into utter darkness, and their minds into something akin to that darkness, which is stupidity. From these considerations it may now be seen what is meant by the statement that people who possessed no more than a knowledge of cognitions did not wish to know interior truths that came from the Divine and so effaced them.