8398. 'And all the assembly of the children of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin' means arriving at another state of temptation. This is clear from the meaning of 'coming' as a point in the further stage that is meant in 8397 by 'travelling on'; from the meaning of 'the assembly of the children of Israel' as those who belong to the spiritual Church, dealt with in 7843; from the meaning of 'the wilderness' as a state when temptations have to be undergone, dealt with in 8098; and from the meaning of 'Sin' as the essential nature of the state since names hold within them the entire nature of the state of whatever thing they refer to, as has been shown in various places above. As temptation is meant by the grumbling over the lack of bread and flesh, and as the comfort received after that is meant by the manna and selav, the meaning of 'Sin' is clear, namely good that is the product of truth. In the contrary sense therefore 'Sin', a city in Egypt from which the wilderness of Sin took its name, means evil that is a product of falsity. In Ezekiel,

I will pour out My wrath onto Sin, the strength of Egypt, and I will cut off the multitude of No; and I will send fire on Egypt. Sin will suffer great pain, and No will be breached, and Noph by enemies daily. The young men of Aven and Pi Beseth will fall by the sword, and those [cities] will go away into captivity. And in Tehaphnehes the day will be darkened, when I break the yokes of Egypt there. Ezekiel 30:15-18.

[2] The subject here is those in possession of known facts, who use them to hatch falsities that give rise to evils. 'Egypt' here is factual knowledge, 'Sin' is evil that arises from falsity, and 'No' is falsity that gives rise to evil. Anyone may recognize, solely from the consideration that it is the Divine Word, that a deeper meaning lies here than that visible in the letter. Without the deeper meaning within it, it would contain scarcely any intelligible meaning, never mind a meaning with a holy content. From this it is plainly evident that the names appearing in it are descriptive of real things, and that these provide a general meaning that befits the Word which comes from Jehovah. Anyone who accepts that the Word is Divine cannot possibly deny this, so long as he is willing to think rationally or to draw conclusions with an understanding that has been somewhat enlightened.

2272. 'And said, Perhaps forty will be found there' means people who have undergone temptations. This is clear from the meaning of the number 'forty' as temptations, dealt with in Volume One, in 730. How these details follow on in the train of thought is seen from what temptations are. Temptations arise not only so that a person may be confirmed in truths but also so that truths may be joined more closely to goods; for in times of temptation he fights for truths against falsities. And because during temptations he suffers inward distress and suffers torment, the delights of life belonging to evil desires and their attendant pleasures cease to exist. Goods from the Lord flow in, and at the same time evils are regarded as abominable. As a consequence of this new thoughts contrary to those that he had previously now arise. Towards these his mind is then able to be turned, and so it is able to be turned from evils to goods, which are then joined to truths. And because it is through temptations that good becomes joined to truth, and because in the previous verse it was said that those would be saved with whom goods are able to be joined to truths, what occurs in this verse to the effect that goods and truths are able to be joined through temptations therefore follows. This is the sequence of ideas seen by those who know the internal sense.