10408. And they said, These are thy gods, O Israel. That this signifies which is to be worshiped above all things, is evident from the signification of “gods,” as being those things which are worshiped. In the genuine sense by “strange gods” are signified falsities, here both falsities and evils, because by a “graven image,” which is meant by Aaron forming the gold with a graving tool, is signified falsity, and by a “molten image” is signified the evil of this falsity. (That “strange gods” denote falsities and the consequent evils in worship, see n. 4402, 4544, 7873, 8867, 8941)

7873. And on all the gods of Egypt I will do judgments. That this signifies their falsities, which are to be damned, is evident from the signification of “gods,” as being falsities (of which presently); and from the signification of “doing judgments,” as being to be damned; for to judge, or do judgments, is either for life or for death; for life it denotes salvation, for death it denotes damnation. In the Word “gods” are often mentioned. When the angels are so called, truths are signified (see n. 4295, 4402, 7268); hence in the opposite sense by “the gods of the nations,” are signified falsities (n. 4402, 4544). That truths are called “gods” is because truth proceeds from the Divine Itself, and in itself is Divine; consequently they who receive it are called “gods”—not that they are gods, but that the truth which is with them is Divine. Hence it is that in the original tongue God is called “Elohim,” in the plural. The Divine Itself is the Divine good, but that which proceeds from it is the Divine truth, which fills the universal heaven. As then “god” denotes truth, therefore in the opposite sense it denotes falsity.