8646. 'That Jehovah had brought Israel out of Egypt' means that they had been delivered by the Lord from molestations. This is clear from the meaning of 'bringing out' as delivering; from the representation of 'Israel' as those belonging to the spiritual kingdom, as immediately above in 8645; and from the meaning of 'Egypt' as molestations by falsities, dealt with in 7278. The reason why 'Egypt' means molestations is that 'the Egyptians' and 'Pharaoh' mean those who in the next life used falsities to molest those who belonged to the spiritual Church, 7097, 7107, 7110, 7126, 7142, 7220, 7228, 7317, 8148.

7107. 'And Pharaoh said' means the will of those who molest the Church's truths. This is clear from the meaning of 'saying' as the will, dealt with below; and from the representation of 'Pharaoh' as those who molest the Church's truths, dealt with in 6651, 6679, 6683, thus who molest those who belong to the spiritual Church, for the latter are said to be in possession of the Church's truths. The reason why the word 'saying' means the will or act of willing is that that word also includes what follows it; for when anyone wills something he verbalizes it. Since the word 'says' includes what follows it, it has various meanings, for example, a command, 7036; an urgent demand or an admonition, 5012, 7073, 7090; communication, 3060, 4131, 6228; thought, 7094; or perception, which is its proper meaning, 1791, 1815, 1819, 1822, 1898, 1919, 2080, 2862, 3509, 5687.