8156. 'All Pharaoh's chariot-horses, and his horsemen, and his army' means everything composing the falsity belonging to a perverted understanding. This is clear from the meaning of 'horses' as the power of understanding, dealt with in 2761, 2762, 3217, 5321, 7024, 8029, at this point a perverted understanding, such as that which exists in people who are steeped in evil, and in falsity arising from it; from the meaning of 'chariots' as doctrinal teachings, dealt with in 2760, 5321, 5945, 8146; from the meaning of 'horsemen' as things connected with the understanding, dealt with in 6534, at this point false reasonings belonging to a perverted understanding; and from the meaning of 'army' as falsities, dealt with above in 8138. From all these meanings it is evident that 'Pharaoh's chariot-horses, and his horsemen, and his army' means the factual knowledge, reasonings, and falsities belonging to a perverted understanding, thus everything composing the falsity there.

5945. 'Take for yourselves from the land of Egypt carts' means matters of doctrine belonging to factual knowledge. This is clear from the meaning of 'the land of Egypt' as factual knowledge, dealt with already; and from the meaning of 'carts' as matters of doctrine. Chariots and horses are mentioned in various places in the Word where Egypt is the subject. There 'chariots' is used to mean matters of doctrine, sometimes false, at other times true ones, while 'horses' is used to mean intellectual concepts, likewise true or false ones. (For the meaning of 'chariots' as matters of doctrine, see 5721.) It is similar with 'carts' there, but matters of doctrine belonging to factual knowledge are meant by them. Matters of doctrine belonging to factual knowledge are religious teachings drawn from the literal sense of the Word, which serve especially those people who are being introduced for the first time to interior truths that the Church possesses, such as the teaching that good should be done above all to widows, to orphans, and to the poor in the streets. Other such religious teachings are contained in the ten commandments. These and many other teachings are matters of doctrine belonging to factual knowledge and are meant by 'carts belonging to Egypt'. Because such matters of doctrine are the first to be learned by a person they also serve him subsequently as a groundwork; for when progress is made towards more internal teachings those learned first become the last and lowest. Moreover celestial and spiritual realities actually terminate in them, for they stand and rest so to speak on the matters of doctrine learned first. Indeed the spiritual world has so to speak its feet and the soles of its feet planted on the natural world; and so far as his spiritual life is concerned a person has his feet planted on matters of doctrine that belong to factual knowledge. The internal sense of the Word rests in a similar way on its literal sense. The particular word for 'carts', by which those matters of doctrine are meant, occurs in only a few places in the Word. It is used in the original language where it is said that the Ark was placed on one, 1 Samuel 6:7; 2 Samuel 6:3; and also when the tabernacle was consecrated, Numbers 7:3. The reason for the use of the word is that 'the Ark' represented heaven, 3478, which stands and rests, as has been stated, on matters of doctrine belonging to factual knowledge.