6728. Verses 5-9 And the daughter of Pharaoh went down to wash at the river; and her maidservants were going along the side of the river. And she saw the box in the middle of the weed, and sent her servant-girl; and she took it. And she opened it, and saw him, the child; and behold, the boy was crying. And she took pity on him, and said, This is one of the children of the Hebrews. And his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, Shall I go and call you a woman, a wet nurse, from the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you? And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go. And the girl went and called the child's mother. And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Take to yourself this child and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages. And the woman took the child and nursed him.

'And the daughter of Pharaoh went down' means the kind of religion practised there. 'To wash at the river' means worship involving the use of falsity. 'And her maidservants were going along the side of the river' means things which minister to this kind of religion involving the use of falsity. 'And she saw the box in the middle of the weed' means a discernment of the crude form of truth among false factual knowledge. 'And sent her servant-girl' means that which was of service. 'And she took it' means an eagerness to know. 'And she opened it, and saw him, the child' means an investigation to find out what it was like, and the discernment that it was truth originating in the Divine. 'And behold, the boy was crying' means sadness. 'And she took pity on him' means being alerted by the Divine. 'And said, This is one of the children of the Hebrews' means that it belonged to the true Church. 'And his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter' means the Church's truth alongside the kind of religion there. 'Shall I go and call you a woman, a wet nurse, from the Hebrew women?' means a perception that good from the true Church should be instilled into it. 'And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go' means consent given by the kind of religion there. 'And the girl went and called the child's mother' means that the Church's truth of good linked things of the Church to it. 'And Pharaoh's daughter said to her' means consent given by the kind of religion there. 'Take to yourself this child' means that she should link him to herself. 'And nurse him for me' means that she should instill into him good compatible with that kind of religion. 'And I will give you your wages' means the reward. 'And the woman took the child and nursed him' means that good from the Church was instilled into him.

8994. 'She shall not go out as the male slaves do' means a state unlike truth devoid of affection. This is clear from the meaning of 'going out' - out of servitude - as a state after conflict or labour, dealt with above in 8980, 8984; and from the meaning of 'the male slaves' as those imbued with truths and not complementary good, dealt with in 8974, thus those imbued with truth devoid of affection. From all this it is evident that 'she shall not go out as the male slaves do' means a state unlike truth devoid of affection.

[2] The implications of this must be stated briefly. There are those who are imbued with truth and no affection for it, and there are those who are imbued with an affection. The former were represented by male slaves from the children of Israel, the latter by female slaves, also from the children of Israel. But 'female slaves' did not represent those with a genuine affection for truth, only those with an affection that is not genuine, as may be seen from what has been shown immediately above in 8993.

[3] The difference between those imbued with truth devoid of affection, who were represented by the male slaves, and those imbued with an affection for truth, who were represented by the female slaves, is akin to the difference between knowing truth and willing truth. Knowing truth belongs solely to the understanding part of the mind, whereas willing truth belongs to the will part; consequently the difference is akin to that between knowledge and affection. Those imbued with a knowledge of truth and good, meant by male slaves or the men in the representative sense, have no affection for truth and good, only for the knowledge of them; consequently they are delighted with truths for the sake of knowing them. But those imbued with an affection for truth and good, meant by female slaves or the women in the representative sense, have no affection for the knowledge of truth and good, only for truths and forms of good themselves, as they hear and perceive them from others. This kind of affection exists generally with good women, but the affection for knowledge of truth exists generally with men.

[4] So it is that those who are spiritually perceptive have a liking for women with an affection for truths, but not for women who concentrate on gaining knowledge. For it is in keeping with Divine order for men to know things and for women purely to have an affection for them, so the women do not love themselves because of their knowledge but love men; and from this springs the desire for marriage. This also is why those of old said that women must keep silent in the Church. All this being so, factual and religious knowledge are represented by men, but affections by women; at this point affection for truth that pours out of the delights belonging to natural kinds of love is represented by female slaves. And because people with this kind of affection are of an entirely different disposition from those with an affection for knowledge, the situation with female slaves is entirely different from that with male slaves. So this is what is meant by 'a female slave shall not go out as the male slaves do'. It should be recognized however that this is the situation among those who belong to the Lord's spiritual kingdom, whereas among those who belong to His celestial kingdom the reverse applies. There husbands are the ones with affection, and wives are the ones with knowledge of good and truth; and this is what the desire for marriage springs from among them.