7988. 'That all the hosts of Jehovah went out of the land of Egypt' means that those with whom truth and good were present but who had been held back until then were released. This is clear from the meaning of 'going out of the land of Egypt' as being released and delivered from molestations, 'going out' self-evidently meaning being released, while 'the land of Egypt' means molestations, see 7278; and from the meaning of 'the hosts of Jehovah' as the truths and forms of good that the spiritual Church possesses, and so those with whom truth and good are present, dealt with in 3448, 7236. The fact that truths and forms of good are meant by 'the hosts of Jehovah' is clear in Daniel,

There came out one small-sized horn of the he-goat, and it grew exceedingly towards the south, and towards the east, and towards the glorious [land]. And it grew even towards the hosts of heaven, and cast down to the earth some of the host, and of the stars, and trampled on them. It drew itself up even towards the prince of the host. And the host was set over the continual [burnt offering] on account of the transgression, because it cast down truth to the earth. At that point I heard a holy one speaking, How long is both the sanctuary and the host being trodden down? He said to me, Up to the evening and morning, two thousand three hundred times; then the sanctuary will be made correct. Daniel 8:9-14.

Here it is plainly evident that 'the hosts' means truths and forms of good, for it says that [the hem] cast down to the earth some of the host and of the stars, and after this that it cast down truth to the earth, and that the host was to be trodden down up to the evening and morning, which is the Lord's Coming.

[2] Since truths and forms of good make up 'the hosts of Jehovah', angels are therefore called His 'hosts' in the first Book of Kings,

Micah the prophet said, I saw Jehovah sitting on His throne, and the entire host of heaven standing beside Him. 1 Kings 22:19.

And in David,

Bless Jehovah, His angels, powerful with strength; bless Jehovah, all His hosts, His ministers. Psalms 103:20-21.

Angels are called 'hosts' by virtue of the truths and forms of good present with them. Not only angels used to be referred to as the hosts of Jehovah but also the lights in the sky - the sun, moon, and stars. And they were referred to as such because 'the sun' was a sign of the good of love, 'the moon' a sign of the good of faith, and 'the stars' a sign of cognitions of goodness and truth. Reference to those lights as 'hosts' is evident in the Book of Genesis,

The heavens and the earth were finished, and all their hosts. Genesis 1:1.

Here 'hosts' is used to mean all the lights in the sky; but in the internal sense, in which the subject at that point is the new creation of a person, 'hosts' is used to mean truths and forms of good.

[3] Likewise in David,

Praise Jehovah, all His angels, praise Him, all His hosts; praise Him, sun and moon, praise Him, all stars of light. Psalms 148:1, 3.

'Sun' means the good of love, and 'moon' the good of faith, see 1529, 1530, 2441, 2495, 4060, 4696, 5377, 7083; and 'stars' means cognitions of good and truth, 1808, 2120, 2495, 2849, 4697.

[4] One reason why 'sun, moon, and stars' means forms of good and truths is that in heaven the Lord is a Sun to those who are celestial and a Moon to those who are spiritual, 1521, 1529-1531, 3636, 3643, 4300, 4721 (end), 5097, 7078, 7083, 7171, 7173; and another reason is that angelic dwelling-places shine like stars, in keeping with the following in Daniel,

Then those who have intelligence will shine like the brightness of the expanse, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and into eternity. Daniel 12:9.

[5] Since angels, by virtue of truths and forms of good, are spoken of as 'the hosts of Jehovah', and also the sun, moon, and stars are called such, and since all truth and good come from the Lord, the Word refers to the Lord as Jehovah Zebaoth, that is, Jehovah of Hosts, 3448. And another reason why it refers to Him in this way is that He fights on a person's behalf against the hells.

From all this one may now see what 'the hosts of Jehovah' is used to mean in the internal sense. The children of Jacob who went out of Egypt were not such, though they represented them. This is evident from their life in Egypt, where they were unacquainted with Jehovah, even with His name before it was made known to Moses from the bramble bush, Exodus 3:13-16; and also they were calf-worshippers no less than the Egyptians were, as may be deduced from Exodus 32. And their life in the wilderness too shows that their character was such that they could not be led into the land of Canaan. Thus they were anything but the hosts of Jehovah.

4720. 'And the man said, They have travelled on from here, for I heard them saying, Let us go to Dothan' means that they moved on from the general aspects to the specific details of doctrine. This is clear from the meaning of 'travelled on' as moving on; from the meaning of 'from Shechem', to which 'from here' refers here, as from the general aspects of doctrine, 4707, 4716; and from the meaning of 'Dothan' as the specific details of doctrine. This meaning of 'Dothan' - the specific details of doctrine - cannot be easily demonstrated from other places in the Word because no other mention is made of it apart from that in 2 Kings 6:13, where the narrative states that the king of Syria sent chariots and horsemen and a large army to Dothan to seize Elisha, and that they were struck with blindness and were led by Elisha to Samaria.

[2] Since all historical details in the Word are representative of the celestial and spiritual things of the Lord's kingdom, so too are these. 'The king of Syria' represents people who possess cognitions of truth, 1232, 1234, 3249, 3664, 3680, 4112, though at this point in the contrary sense he represents those who possess cognitions which have no connection with truth. 'Elisha' represents the Word of the Lord, 2762. 'Dothan' means matters of doctrine drawn from the Word. 'Chariots and horsemen and the large army which the king of Syria sent' means falsities of doctrine. 'The mountain full of horses and chariots of fire surrounding Elisha that were seen by his servant' means goods and truths taught by doctrine drawn from the Word, 2762. 'The blindness' with which those were struck whom the king of Syria sent there means utter falsities, 2383. 'Their being led by Elisha to Samaria', where their eyes were opened, means instruction given through the Word. These are the kinds of things implied in the historical narrative here, 'Dothan', where Elisha was, meaning matters of doctrine drawn from the Word concerning goodness and truth. The historical details here in Genesis are much the same in meaning, for specific details of doctrine are not anything different. Yet at this particular point the specific details of false assumptions are meant, for the subject is a Church which begins with faith and so right from the start separates it from charity. Matters of doctrine which are formulated after that all smack of the general assumption made initially, and so of faith devoid of charity. Consequently those matters of doctrine are falsities which are the specific details belonging to false assumptions.

[3] When it first begins every Church knows only the general aspects of doctrine, for at that time it is in a state of simplicity and so to speak in childhood. With the passage of time it adds particular aspects, which in part are confirmations of general aspects, in part are additions which do not however conflict with what is general, and also explanations which resolve manifest contradictions but do not in any way offend the dictates of common sense. But in the present instance all the specific details belong to false assumptions, for all aspects of any kind of doctrine are interrelated like members within a community, and are linked to one another as in blood relationships and relationships by marriage, acknowledging a general assumption made initially as their father. From this it is evident that everything smacks of falsity when the general assumption made initially is false.