8834. 'And Moses said to Jehovah' means thought engaged in by the truth from God. This is clear from the meaning of 'saying' - when done by the truth from God, represented by 'Moses' - as thought, as also in 3395, 7107, 7244, 7937. The expression 'thought engaged in by the truth from God' is used, but by this is meant the thought present with him who represents the truth from God. The reason why such an expression is used is that it is the truth present with a person that engages in thinking, and when thought takes place in a person, he employs truth to think with. For the Lord flows by way of good into truth, and in so doing imparts life to the person. This life seems to the person to be his own, but it is the Lord's in the truth springing from good present with him. Because this is so angels speak in that kind of way; for they ascribe thought to truth springing from good, without reference to any specific person, and so at the same time they perceive where such thought engaged in by truth comes from. All this shows what the angelic way of speaking is like, and that it is the language of wisdom.

7244. 'And Moses said before Jehovah' means the thought regarding the law of God that those steeped in falsities entertained. This is clear from the meaning of 'said' as thought, dealt with in 7094; and from the representation of 'Moses' as the law of God, dealt with in 6723, 6752. The meaning here, the thought regarding the law of God that those steeped in falsities entertained, is evident from the train of thought as it continues into the words that come next. For when the word said is used, and thought is meant by it, it includes that which follows it, at this point that the law of God is impure to those who are steeped in falsities.