7429. And the magicians said unto Pharaoh. That this signifies perception and communication with those who were in evils, is evident from the signification of “saying,” as being perception (see n. 1791, 1815, 1819, 1822, 1898, 1919, 2080, 2619, 2862, 3509, 5743), and also communication (n. 3060, 4131, 6228, 7291, 7381); from the signification of “magicians,” as being those who pervert Divine order and portray the like in the external form (of which just above, n. 7426); and from the representation of Pharaoh, as being those who are in falsities and infest (n. 6651, 6679, 6683, 7107, 7110, 7126, 7142, 7317), here those who are in evils, because they are now in a state of evil, after false reasonings have been taken away, as is plain from what goes before.

2862. And it was told Abraham, saying. That this signifies the Lord’s perception, is evident from the signification of “telling,” as being to think and reflect; and of “saying” as being to perceive-explained often before. The Lord’s reflecting and perceiving, treated of in the internal sense of the Word, cannot be expressed in the historical form in any other way than by “telling and saying.” In itself also reflection and perception is an internal telling and saying.