6673. 'And the king of Egypt said to the midwives of the Hebrew women. means an influx from separated factual knowledge into the natural where the Church's true factual knowledge resided. This is clear from the meaning of 'saying' as an influx, dealt with in 5743, 6291; from the meaning of 'the king of Egypt' as separated factual knowledge which is opposed to the Church's truths, dealt with in 6651; from the meaning of 'the midwives' as the natural, dealt with in 4588, 4921; and from the meaning of 'the Hebrew women as things belonging to the Church, dealt with in 5136, 5236, and so also as the Church's true factual knowledge. The reason why the natural is meant by 'the midwives' is that the natural receives what flows in from the internal and in so doing acts like a midwife.

1896. 'Her name was Hagar' means the life of the exterior or natural man. This becomes clear from what has been stated already, and also from the meaning of Hagar' as a foreign woman or one living in foreign parts. 'Foreigners' represented people who were to receive instruction, and living in foreign parts represented instruction, and also rules of life, as shown already in 1463. When it is stated in the Word what a person's name is, as here, that 'her name was Hagar', it means that the name embodies something to which attention should be paid, for 'calling by name' is knowing a person's character, as shown already in 144, 145, 340. Not one particle exists in the Word without a reason and without meaning some real thing in the internal sense.