10458. And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp. That this signifies hell, in which that nation then was, is evident from the signification of “the camp of the sons of Israel,” as being heaven and the church (see n. 4236, 10038); consequently when they were in idolatrous worship, adoring a calf instead of Jehovah, by their “camp” is signified hell; for what is representative of heaven and of the church is turned into what is representative of hell when the people turn themselves from Divine worship to diabolical worship, such as was the worship of the calf. The like is signified by “camp” in Amos:

I have sent among you the pestilence in the way of Egypt; your young men have I slain with the sword, with the captivity of your horses; so that I have made the stink of your camp to come up even into your nose (Amos 4:10).

The vastation of truth is here treated of, and when this is vastated, the “camp” signifies hell. That the vastation of truth is treated of is evident from the details of the passage as viewed in the internal sense; for “pestilence” denotes vastation (n. 7102, 7505); “way” denotes truth, and in the opposite sense falsity (n. 10422); “Egypt” denotes what is external, and also hell (see the places cited in n. 10437); “a sword” denotes falsity fighting against truth (see n. 2799, 4499, 6353, 7102, 8294); “young men” denote the truths of the church (n. 7668); “to be slain” denotes to perish spiritually (see n. 6767, 8902); “captivity” denotes the privation of truth (see n. 7990); “horses” denote an understanding which is enlightened (n. 2760-2762, 3217, 5321, 6125, 6534); and “a stink” denotes what is abominable exhaling from hell (n. 7161). From this it is evident that in this sense a “camp” denotes hell. Hell is also signified by the “camp” of the enemies who were against Jerusalem, and in general against the sons of Israel, in the historicals of the Word.

6125. [In exchange] for the horses. That this signifies memory-knowledges from the intellectual, is evident from the signification of “horses,” as being things intellectual (n. 2760-2762, 3217, 5321); and because they are predicated of Egypt, by which are signified memory-knowledges, “horses” here denote memory-knowledges from the intellectual. It is here necessary to state what these memory-knowledges from the intellectual are. Man has an intellectual, and he has a will, and this not only in his internal man, but also in his external. The intellectual in a man grows and increases from his infancy to his maturity, and consists in viewing things from what belongs to experience and to memory-knowledge; and also in viewing causes from effects; and in viewing consequences in connection with their causes. Thus the intellectual consists in the comprehension and perception of such things as are of civic and moral life. It comes into existence from the influx of light from heaven; and therefore every man can be perfected in respect to the intellectual. The intellectual is given to everyone according to his application, according to his life, and according to his nature; nor is it lacking in anyone, provided he is of sound mind. It is given to man to the end that he may be in freedom and in choice, that is, in the freedom of choosing good or evil. Unless man has such an intellectual as has been described, he cannot do this of himself, thus neither could anything be appropriated to him.

[2] Be it known further, that it is man’s intellectual which receives what is spiritual, so as to be a recipient of spiritual truth and good. For nothing of good, that is, of charity, and nothing of truth, that is, of faith, can be insinuated into anyone who has not an intellectual, but they are insinuated according to his intellectual; and therefore also man is not regenerated by the Lord until in adult age and possessed of an intellectual, before which period the good of love and truth of faith fall as seed into ground that is quite barren. But when a man has been regenerated, his intellectual performs the use of seeing and perceiving what is good, and thereby what is true; for the intellectual carries over those things which are of the light of heaven into those which are of the light of nature, whereby the former appear in the latter as do the interior affections of man in a face free from pretence; and as the intellectual performs this use, therefore in the Word, in many passages where the spiritual of the church is treated of, its intellectual also is treated of, as of the Lord’s Divine mercy shall be shown elsewhere.

[3] From all this it is now evident what is meant by memory-knowledges from the intellectual, namely, that they are memory-knowledges which confirm those things that a man intellectually apprehends and perceives, whether these are evil or good. These memory-knowledges are signified in the Word by “horses from Egypt;” as in Isaiah:

Woe to them that go down into Egypt for help, and lean on horses; and trust on the chariot, because they are many, and upon the horsemen, because they are very strong; and they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, and seek not Jehovah. For Egypt is man, and not God; and his horses flesh, and not spirit (Isaiah 31:1, 3); where “horses from Egypt” denote memory-knowledges from a perverted intellectual.

[4] In Ezekiel:

He rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that it might give him horses and much people. Shall he prosper? shall he escape that doeth this? (Ezekiel 17:15); where also “horses from Egypt” denote memory-knowledges from a perverted intellectual, which are consulted in matters of faith, while the Word, that is, the Lord, is not believed except from these; thus it is not believed at all, for denial reigns in a perverted intellectual.

[5] That such memory-knowledges were destroyed is represented by the horses and chariots of Pharaoh being drowned in the sea Suph; and because these knowledges are signified by “horses,” and false doctrinal things by “chariots,” therefore “horses and chariots” are so often mentioned in the Word (see Exodus 14:17-18, 23, 2 14:26, 28; and thereafter in the Song of Moses and Miriam):

The horse of Pharaoh went in, and also his chariot, and also his horsemen, into the sea; but Jehovah caused the waters of the sea to return upon them. Sing ye to Jehovah, for exalting He hath exalted Himself; the horse and his rider hath He cast into the sea (Exodus 15:19, 21).

[6] Similar memory-knowledges are also signified by what was prescribed in Moses for the king over Israel:

If they desire a king, a king from the midst of the brethren shall be set over them; only he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor bring back the people into Egypt in order that he may multiply horses (Deuteronomy 17:15-16);

a king represented the Lord as to Divine truth (n. 1672, 1728, 2015, 2069, 3009, 3670, 4575, 4581, 4789, 4966, 5044, 5068), thus as to intelligence, for this when genuine is from Divine truth. That intelligence ought to be procured by means of the Word, which is Divine truth, and not by means of memory-knowledges from one’s own intellectual, is signified by the injunction that the king “should not multiply horses, and should not bring back the people into Egypt in order that he may multiply horses.”