6915. 'And so it will be when you go, that you will not go empty-handed' means a life no more destitute so far as the contents of the natural mind are concerned. This is clear from the meaning of 'going' as leading a life, dealt with in 3335, 4882, 5493, 5605, 6904; and from the meaning of 'you will not go empty-handed' as a life no more destitute, 'empty' meaning where there is no truth, see 4744, thus where there is spiritual destitution. The fact that it is destitution so far as the contents of the natural mind are concerned is evident from what has gone before, where it describes how those who belonged to the spiritual Church, represented by 'the children of Israel', were molested by those in possession of false factual knowledge, meant by 'the Egyptians.' It was therefore molestation so far as the contents of the natural mind are concerned, since what is contained in the natural mind is called factual knowledge. Factual knowledge is also what above all molests those who are spiritual, for their thinking takes place within factual knowledge and little at all on a level above it, see 6865.

4745. 'And they sat down to eat bread' means making evil that was a product of falsity their own. This is clear from the meaning of 'eating' as making one's own, dealt with in 3168, 3513 (end), 3596; 3832; and from the meaning of 'bread' as the good of love, dealt with in 276, 680, 2165, 2177, 3464, 3478, 3735, 3813, 4211, 4217, 4735, as well as all food in general, 2165. Here however 'bread' means the opposite of that good, namely evil, for it is well known that those who eat bread in the Holy Supper in an unworthy manner do not make good but evil their own. From this it is evident that in the contrary sense 'eating bread' means making evil their own. It was a practice among the ancients to eat together when they reached an important decision that was endorsed by everyone else. By eating together they were indicating that they approved the decision and so had made it their own, as in Ezekiel,

Behold, the princes of Israel, each according to his power, ¹ have been among you and have shed blood. Men of intrigue have been among you, [ready] to shed blood, and have eaten on the mountains. Ezekiel 22:6, 9.

What is more, it should be recognized that generally evil has two sources, the first being life and the second doctrine. That which has its origin in false doctrine is called evil that is a product of falsity; and it is this kind of evil that is meant here.

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