Spiritual Meaning of

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The land of Gilead, where the mountain stood, was within the limits of the land of Canaan as understood in a broad sense. It was on the hither side of the Jordan, and passed as an inheritance to the Reubenites and the Gadites, and especially to the half tribe of Manasseh; and as the inheritances extended thus far, it is said that it was within the limits of the land of Canaan as understood in a broad sense. That it passed as an inheritance to them, is evident in Moses (Num. 32:1, 26-41; Deut. 3:8, 10-16; Josh. 13:24-31). Therefore when the land of Canaan was presented in one complex, it was said, from Gilead even unto Dan, and in another sense, from Beer-sheba even unto Dan, for Dan also was a boundary (AC 1710, 3923). As regards the expression from Beer-sheba even unto Dan, see above (AC 2858, 2859). From Gilead even unto Dan is found in Moses:--

and in the book of Judges:

[3] Because Gilead was a boundary, it signified in the spiritual sense the first good, which is that of the senses of the body; for it is the good or the pleasure of these into which the man who is being regenerated is first of all initiated. In this sense is Gilead taken in the Prophets, as in (Jer. 8:20, 22; 22:6; 46:11; 50:19; Ezek. 47:18; Obad. 1:19; Micah 7:14; Zech. 10:10; Ps. 60:7); and in the opposite sense in (Hos. 6:8; 12:12).

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