7770. 'And let them ask, a man from his companion and a woman from her companion, vessels of silver and vessels of gold' means that factual knowledge of truth and of good must be removed from the evil who have belonged to the Church and be assigned to the good who belong to it. This is clear from the meaning of 'vessels of silver and vessels of gold' as factual knowledge of truth and of good, 'silver' being truth and 'gold' good, see 1551, 1552, 2954, 5658, 6112, and 'vessels' factual knowledge, 3068, 3079. That knowledge is referred to as vessels of truth and good because it contains them. The assumption is made that the facts which people know about truth or about good are the truths of faith themselves or the forms of the good of faith themselves. But they are not. Affections for truth and good are what compose faith; those affections flow into known facts, which are the appropriate vessels for them. Asking them from the Egyptians is, it is self-evident, taking them away and assigning them to oneself. This is why previously in Chapter 3:22 it says that they were to plunder the Egyptians, and subsequently in Chapter 12:36 that they despoiled them. The reason why it says that 'a man was to ask from his companion and a woman from her companion' is that 'a man' has reference to and also means truth and 'a woman' has reference to and also means good.

[2] The implications of all this may be seen at the explanation of Exodus 3:21-22 in 6914, 6917. That explanation shows that the factual knowledge itself of truth and of good which have been in the possession of those belonging to the Church who have been acquainted with the arcana of faith and yet have led a life of evil are transferred to those who belong to the spiritual Church. How the transfer is effected, see 6914. These things are meant by the Lord's words in Matthew,

The Lord said to him who went away and hid the talent in the earth, Take the talent from him and give it to him who has ten talents, for to everyone who has, it will be given, so that he may have in abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. Cast the useless servant into outer darkness. Matthew 25:25, 28-30; Luke 19:24-26.

And similar words in the same gospel,

To him who has, it will be given, so that he may have abundantly; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. Matthew 13:12; Mark 4:24-25.

[3] The reason for the transfer is that the knowledge or cognitions of goodness and truth which the evil possess are applied to evil purposes, whereas the cognitions of goodness and truth that the good possess are applied to good purposes. The cognitions are the same, but the purposes to which any one person applies them gives them their specific character. Such cognitions may be compared to worldly wealth, which one person devotes to good purposes, and another to bad ones, so that the character of any one person's wealth depends on the purposes to which he devotes it. This also shows that the same cognitions, like the same wealth, which the evil have possessed can pass into the possession of the good and serve good purposes. From all this one may now recognize what is represented when it says that the children of Israel were commanded to ask from the Egyptians vessels of silver and vessels of gold, and in so doing to despoil and plunder them. Such a despoilment or plundering would never have been commanded by Jehovah if such things had not been represented in the spiritual world.

[4] Things like these are what are meant in Isaiah,

At length the merchandise of Tyre and its harlot's wages will be holy to Jehovah, it will not be hoarded or held back; but its merchandise will be for those that dwell before Jehovah to eat to their satiety, and for him who covers himself with what is ancient. Isaiah 23:18.

This refers to 'Tyre', which means cognitions of goodness and truth, 1201. 'Merchandise' and 'harlot's wages' are cognitions applied to evil purposes. Their being given to the good who will apply them to good purposes is meant by 'its merchandise will be for those that dwell before Jehovah to eat to satiety, [and] for him who covers himself with what is ancient'.

[5] Also in Micah,

Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion, for I will make your horn iron, and I will make your hoofs bronze, in order that you may crush many peoples. And I devoted their gain to Jehovah, and their riches to the Lord of the whole earth. Micah 4:13.

'Crushing many peoples' stands for devastating them. 'The gain' which was devoted to Jehovah and the Lord of the whole earth is cognitions of truth and goodness. Something similar is implied in 2 Samuel 8:11-12, where it says that David consecrated to Jehovah the silver and gold which he had taken from the nations he had subdued, from the Syrians, from Moab, from the children of Ammon, from the Philistines, from Amalek, and from the spoil of Hadad Ezer; and in 1 Kings 7:51, that Solomon put among the treasures of Jehovah's house the things consecrated by his father.

6917. 'Vessels of silver' means factual knowledge of what is true, 'and vessels of gold' means factual knowledge of what is good. This is clear from the meaning of 'vessels' as known facts, dealt with in 3068, 3079 (known facts are called 'vessels' because they are general and can contain within them countless truths and manifold forms of good); from the meaning of 'silver' as truth, and of 'gold' as good, dealt with in 1551, 1552, 2954, 5658, 'the silver of Egypt' being factual knowledge that held truth in it and was appropriate, see 6112. As regards the vessels of silver and the vessels of gold in the hands of the Egyptians - that they mean factual knowledge of what is true and factual knowledge of what is good, even though here and in what has gone before, as well as in what follows, false factual knowledge is meant by 'the Egyptians - it should be recognized that in themselves known facts are neither true nor false. Rather, they become true in the hands of those who are guided by truths, and false in the hands of those who are steeped in falsities. What use they are put to and then made to serve is what determines which of these they become. The facts a person knows are like the wealth and riches he possesses. Wealth and riches in the hands of those governed by evil are ruinous because they put them to evil kinds of use, whereas wealth and riches in the hands of those governed by good are advantageous because they put them to good kinds of use. Therefore if wealth and riches in the hands of evil people are handed over to those who are good they become good. So too with factual knowledge.

[2] Among the Egyptians, for example, there remained a large number of the representatives that belonged to the Ancient Church, as is clear from their hieroglyphics. But because they applied them to magical practices and therefore made them serve an evil use, these things were for them not true factual knowledge but false. Yet in the Ancient Church the same knowledge had held what was true since people had put it to its correct use - to Divine worship. Take sacrifices on altars as another example. Among the Hebrew nation, and subsequently among the Jewish and Israelite nation, they were ritual acts that were true because they were put to use in the worship of Jehovah. But among the nations in the land of Canaan they were false ritual acts because they were put to use in the worship of their idols. This was why the command was also given to destroy those nations' altars wherever they were. The same holds true with a very large number of other things. For this reason many known facts can be learned from those who are steeped in evils and falsities, and put to good kinds of use, thus becoming good. Similar things were also meant by plundering the nations in the land of Canaan - by the wealth, large cattle, small cattle, houses, and vineyards which the children of Israel plundered there. The same thing is still further evident from the gold and silver plundered from the nations. This too was devoted to a sacred use, as is clear from the second Book of Samuel,

There were in his hand vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and vessels of bronze. King David consecrated these also to Jehovah, along with the silver and gold that he had consecrated from all the nations which he had subdued - from the Syrians, [and] from Moab, and from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines, and from Amalek, and from the plunder of Hadad Ezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah. 2 Samuel 8:10-12.

And in Isaiah,

At length the merchandise of Tyre and her harlot's wages will be holy to Jehovah, they will not be hoarded or held back; but her merchandise will be for those that dwell before Jehovah to eat to their satiety and for one covering himself with what is ancient. Isaiah 23:18.

And also the objects which the women of the children of Israel asked of the Egyptians, thereby plundering them, were later on put to use in the making of the Ark, and to many other sacred objects in their worship.