10692. 'And Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses' means what is discerned by those whose interest lies in things of the Church, worship, and the Word on an outward level devoid of those on the inward level. This is clear from the meaning of 'seeing' as discerning, dealt with in 2150, 3764, 4567, 4723, 5400; and from the representation of 'Aaron and the children of Israel', in this and the two previous chapters, as those interested solely in things of the Church, worship, and the Word on an outward level and not in those on an inward one.

For this representation of Aaron, see 10397.

For this representation of the children of Israel, see in the places referred to in 9380, 10396; and in addition what is said in 10430, 10453-10457, 10461-10466, 10492, 10498, 10500, 10526, 10531, 10533, 10535, 10549-10551, 10566, 10570, 10575, 10603, 10629, 10632.

10498. 'That Moses said to the people, You have committed a great sin' means a total alienation and turning away. This is clear from the meaning of 'sin' as a turning away and alienation from the Divine, dealt with in 5229, 5474, 5841, 7589, 9346, at this point a total turning away and alienation, since the expression 'a great sin' is used. A total turning away and alienation from the Divine is the situation when no truth or good at all from heaven is received any longer, for truth and good from heaven constitute the Divine with a person. The fact that there was no reception of truth and good from heaven by that nation and that a total turning away from the Divine was consequently the situation with them is described by the following words in Isaiah,

Say to this people, Hearing, hear - but do not understand; and seeing, see - but do not comprehend. Make the heart of this people fat and their ears heavy, and plaster over their eyes, lest perhaps they see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and their heart understands, and they turn again, so that they are healed. Isaiah 6:9-10; John 12:37-40.

The words 'lest they turn again, so that they are healed' are used to mean that if they had an understanding of the internal things of the Word, the Church, and worship they would render them profane, in accord with what has been stated above in 10490.