8876. 'Visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the sons' means the consequent propagation of falsity from evil. This is clear from the meaning of 'visiting the iniquity of the fathers' as the propagation of evils, the reason why 'visiting' means propagating being that the subject is the state of those who completely reject the Divine, therefore who are receptive no longer of good but of evil, and constantly so since evil is constantly increasing with such people, which is the propagation of it (for the meaning of 'father' as good and in the contrary sense as evil, see 3703, 5902, 6050, 7833, 7834); and from the meaning of 'the sons' as truths, dealt with in 1147, 2623, 3373, and therefore in the contrary sense as falsities In the proximate sense 'visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the sons' does not mean that sons pay the penalty for the iniquity of their fathers, for that is contrary to the Divine, Deuteronomy 24:16. Rather the meaning in that sense is that evil increases with the fathers and so is passed on by heredity to their children, and that consequently the evil mounts up over successive generations, 2910, 3701, 4317, 8550, 8551. In the spiritual sense however 'the fathers' does not mean fathers but evils, and 'the sons' does not mean sons but falsities; therefore those words mean the constant propagation of falsity from evil.

8226. 'And the sea returned, as morning was breaking, to its normal strength' means that the falsities arising from evil flowed back onto them, at the presence of the Lord. This is clear from the meaning of 'returning' - when said of the falsities arising from evil, which are meant by 'the waters of the Sea Suph' - as flowing back or recoiling on them, dealt with just above in 8223; from the meaning of 'the sea', at this point the waters of the sea, as the falsities arising from evil that exist in hell, dealt with in 6346, 7307, 8137; from the meaning of 'as morning was breaking' as the Lord's presence, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'to its normal strength' as in accordance with the normal state and order existing in hell. For order exists in the hells no less than in the heavens; in the hells spirits live in association with one another according to different types of evil, just as angels do so according to different forms of good. But in the hells an association is like that of a band of robbers. The meaning of 'as morning was breaking' as the presence of the Lord may be seen from what has been shown above in 8211 regarding 'morning', which is that 'morning' is a state of thick darkness and perdition for the evil and a state of enlightenment and salvation for the good, states brought about simply by the presence of the Lord, 7989, 8137, 8138, 8188 - by the presence of His Divine Human, 8159.

[2] Exodus 2 Something similar to what is stated here in reference to the Egyptians is said of Babel in Jeremiah,

He is the One who formed all things, especially the rod of His inheritance; Jehovah Zebaoth is His name. You are to me a hammer, weapons of war, and through You I will scatter the nations, and through You I will destroy the kingdoms, and through You I will scatter the horse and its chariot, and through you I will scatter the chariot and him who rides in it. I will repay Babel and all the inhabitants of Chaldea for all their evil which they have done in Zion before your eyes. Jeremiah 51:19-21, 24.

'Babel' here means those who belonged to the Church and rendered good profane, and 'Chaldea' those who belonged to the Church and rendered truth so. Their understanding of things, and consequently their doctrinal teachings and reasonings, are meant in these verses also by 'horse, chariot, and him who rides in it', and being laid waste by their being 'scattered'. The Lord in respect of His Divine Human, at whose presence they are scattered, is meant by the words 'He is the One who formed all things, especially the rod of His inheritance; Jehovah Zebaoth is His name. You are to me a hammer, weapons of war; through You I will scatter the nations, and through You I will destroy the kingdoms', 'the nations' meaning evils and 'the kingdoms' falsities. From all this too it is evident that the evils which they do to others flow back or recoil on themselves; for it says that they will be repaid their evil, and also in various other places that on the day of visitation vengeance will be taken and retribution exacted.