7772. 'Also the man Moses was exceedingly great in the land of Egypt' means respect for God's truth now. This is clear from the representation of 'Moses' as God's truth, dealt with often; from the meaning of 'exceedingly great as respect, at this point respect as a result of fear since the evil in hell have no respect for the Divine apart from that due to fear (the words 'in the eyes of the servants and in the eyes of the people' show that respect is meant by 'exceedingly great'); and from the meaning of 'the land of Egypt' as the natural mind, dealt with in 5276, 5278, 5280, 5288, 5301, 6147, 6152. From this it is evident that 'the man Moses was exceedingly great in the land of Egypt' means respect for God's truth in the mind - in the mind of the molesting ones.

5278. 'And all the abundance of corn in the land of Egypt will be thrust into oblivion' means the removal of truth and the seeming deprivation of it in both parts of the natural. This is clear from the meaning of forgetting or 'being thrust into oblivion' as a removal and the seeming deprivation that results from this; from the meaning of 'the abundance of corn' as the multiplication of truth, that is, truth that has been multiplied, dealt with just above in 5276; and from the meaning of 'the land of Egypt' as the natural mind or a person's natural, both parts of it in this case, as just above in 5276.

[2] The reason forgetting or 'being thrust into oblivion' means a removal and seeming deprivation is that something akin to this happens to the memory and to thought that relies on it. The actual matters that a person is thinking about are immediately beneath his attention, while related matters spread out in order around them, extending to unrelated ones furthest away, which at that time are in oblivion. Matters of a contrary nature are separated from these, hanging downwards and revealing themselves underneath, where they serve to counterbalance what is above them. This ordered arrangement is effected by means of good flowing in. Such is the way in which the whole of a person's thought is ordered. The truth of this can be seen from people's thoughts in the next life. There in the light of heaven it is quite normal for people's thoughts to be presented sometimes in a visual manner, at which times the form in which those thoughts are arranged is demonstrated. From this it may be seen that 'forgetting' in the internal sense means nothing else than a removal and seeming deprivation.