6650. Verses 8-14 And a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are many and numerous, more than ourselves. Come, let us use prudence with them; perhaps they will multiply, and it will be when wars occur, that they also will join themselves to our enemies and fight against us, and go up out of the land. And they set princes of tributes ¹ over them, to afflict them with burdens. And they built cities of store-houses for Pharaoh - Pithom and Raamses. And according as they afflicted them, so they multiplied and so they grew; and they were filled with loathing because of the children of Israel. And the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigour. And they made their life bitter with hard service, in clay and in bricks, and in all [manner of] service in the field, with all their [other] service in which they made them serve with rigour.

'And a new king arose over Egypt' means separated factual knowledge, which is opposed to the Church's truths. 'Who did not know Joseph' means which is completely alienated from the internal. 'And he said to his people' means subordinated factual knowledge. 'Behold, the people of the children of Israel are many and numerous, more than ourselves' means that the Church's truths are prevailing over alienated factual knowledge. 'Come, let us use prudence with them' means guile. 'Perhaps they will multiply, and it will be when wars occur' means superior strength if they increase. 'That they also will join themselves to our enemies and fight against us' means that in that way allied forces who inflict harm will be made stronger. 'And go up out of the land' means that the Church will have thereby been established. ' And they set princes of tributes over them' means falsities which would compel them to serve. 'To afflict them with burdens' means increasing distress caused by forms of hard service. 'And they built cities of store-houses for Pharaoh' means teachings composed of falsified truths in the natural where alienated factual knowledge resides. 'Pithom and Raamses' means the essential nature of those teachings. 'And according as they afflicted them, so they multiplied' means that in the measure that there were molestations, so the truths increased. 'And so they grew' means that they became strong. 'And they were filled with loathing because of the children of Israel' means greater aversion. 'And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve' means the aim to bring them under their control. 'With rigour means without showing any mercy. 'And they made their life bitter with hard service' means to such an extent that the aim to bring them under their control became vexatious. 'In clay and in bricks' means on account of the evils which they devised and the falsities which they fabricated. 'And in all [manner of] service in the field' means the aim to bring things of the Church under their control. 'With all their [other] service in which they made them serve with rigour' means the aim to bring them under their control by the use of many methods, without showing them any mercy.

Poznámky pod čarou:

6068. 'And behold, they are in the land of Goshen' means that they are in the middle of the natural where factual knowledge resides. This is clear from the meaning of 'Goshen' as the middle or inmost part of the natural, dealt with in 5910, 6028, 6031. What is meant by their being in the middle of the natural is this: Once the Church's forms of good and its truths - that is, those which it has received from the Lord's Word - have been acknowledged and with faith accepted in the natural, they occupy the middle there. For things that are immediate objects of attention are in the middle, and those that are not immediate objects of attention are to the sides; consequently the ones in the middle are seen clearly, those to the sides vaguely.

[2] It is the same as it is with the sight of the eye. The objects on which the eye is directly focused are in the middle, that is, in the centre and are seen clearly; but those on which it is not directly focused are to the sides, away from the middle, and are seen vaguely. For the inner eye, which is the intellectual power of the mind and which depends for its vision on the light of heaven, sees things outside itself in the natural, which are known facts, just as the physical eye sees objects or a whole range of objects outside itself. Inward sight is directed towards the things that give the greatest delight and are close to the heart, and it fixes its attention directly on them, in the same way as outward sight focuses on things similarly delightful in whole ranges of objects. Inward sight accordingly focuses on those known facts that are in close agreement with the truth and good that govern a person. These facts are then, for that person, in the middle. The reason why inward sight sees factual knowledge is that such sight is spiritual and therefore directs its attention towards spiritual matters, thus towards known facts, for these are the appropriate objects of spiritual attention.