6672. Verses 15-21. And the king of Egypt said to the midwives of the Hebrew women, of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah; and he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him; and if it be a daughter, then she shall live. And the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt spoke to them, and they kept the boys alive. And the king of Egypt called the midwives, and said to them, Wherefore do ye this word, and keep the boys alive? And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are living, and they have brought forth before the midwife comes unto them. And God did well to the midwives; and the people was multiplied and became very numerous. And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that He made them houses. “And the king of Egypt said to the midwives of the Hebrew women,” signifies influx from the separated memory-knowledges into the natural, where the true memory-knowledges of the church are; “of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah,” signifies the quality and state of the natural where memory-knowledges are; “and he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools,” signifies a discernment of the truth and good flowing in from the internal into memory-knowledges; “if it be a son, then ye shall kill him,” signifies if it is truth, that they should destroy it in any way they could; “and if it be a daughter, then she shall live,” signifies that they should not do so if it is good; “and the midwives feared God,” signifies that true memory-knowledges were guarded because by the Divine; “and did not as the king of Egypt spoke to them,” signifies that it was not done as they who were in falsities intended; “and they kept the boys alive,” signifies that truths being of good were preserved; “and the king of Egypt called the midwives,” signifies that they who were in falsities conspired against those who were in true memory-knowledges in the natural; “and said unto them, Wherefore do ye this word, and keep the boys alive?” signifies anger because truths were not destroyed; “and the midwives said unto Pharaoh,” signifies a discernment of these true memory-knowledges in the natural; “Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women,” signifies that the memory-knowledges of the church are not like the memory-knowledges opposed to them; “for they are living,” signifies that spiritual life is in them; “and they have brought forth before the midwife comes unto them,” signifies that the natural has no knowledge before they have life; “and God did well to the midwives,” signifies that the natural was blessed by the Divine; “and the people was multiplied and became very numerous,” signifies that truths therein were brought forth continually, and so increased; “and it came to pass, because the midwives feared God,” signifies because true memory-knowledges were guarded by the Divine; “that He made them houses,” signifies that they were disposed into the heavenly form.

5136. Out of the land of the Hebrews. That this signifies from the church, namely, that celestial things were alienated from it through evil, is evident from the signification of the “land of the Hebrews,” as being the church. The “land of the Hebrews” here, is the land of Canaan; for Joseph was taken away from there. The reason why the land of Canaan in the Word signifies the church, is that the church has been there from the most ancient time: first the Most Ancient Church, which was before the flood; next the Ancient Church, which was after the flood; afterward the Second Ancient Church, which was called the Hebrew Church; and at last the Jewish Church. And in order that the Jewish Church might be instituted there, Abram was commanded to betake himself thither out of Syria, and it was there promised him that this land should be given to his posterity for an inheritance. This is the reason why “land” or “earth” in the Word signifies the church, and the “whole earth,” as sometimes occurs, the universal church; and also the “new heaven and new earth,” a new church internal and external.

[2] The reason why the church was continued there from the most ancient time, is that the man of the Most Ancient Church, who was celestial, was of such a character that in each and all things in the world and upon the earth he saw a representative of the Lord’s kingdom; the objects of the world and the earth being to him the means of thinking about heavenly things. This was the origin of all the representatives and significatives that were afterward known in the Ancient Church, for they were collected by those who are meant by “Enoch,” and were preserved for the use of posterity (n. 519, 521, 2896). From this it came to pass that every place, and also every mountain and river, in the land of Canaan, where the most ancient people dwelt, and likewise all the kingdoms round about, became representative; and as the Word could not be written except by representatives and significatives, even of places, therefore for the sake of this end the church was successively preserved in the land of Canaan; but after the coming of the Lord it was transferred elsewhere, because representatives were then abolished.

[3] From the foregoing it is plain that by the land of Canaan, which is here called the “land of the Hebrews,” is signified the church; but see what has been previously adduced on these subjects; namely, that the Most Ancient Church, which was before the flood, was in the land of Canaan (n. 567, 3686, 4447, 4454); that part of the Ancient Church, which was after the flood, was there (see n. 3686, 4447); also that a second Ancient Church, which was called the Hebrew Church, was there (n. 4516, 4517); that for the same reason Abram was commanded to go there, and that land was given to his posterity (n. 3686, 4447); that from this the land of Canaan represented the Lord’s kingdom (n. 1607, 3038, 3481, 3705, 4240, 4447); and that it is for this reason that by “earth” or “land” in the Word is signified the church (see n. 566, 662, 1066, 1068, 1262, 1413, 1607, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 3355, 4447, 4535).