9373. Come up unto Jehovah. That this signifies conjunction with the Lord, is evident from the signification of “coming up,” as being to be raised toward interior things (see n. 3084, 4539, 4969, 5406, 5817, 6007), consequently also to be conjoined (n. 8760). That it denotes conjunction with the Lord, is because by “Jehovah” in the Word is meant the the Lord, (n. 1343, 1736, 1793, 2004, 2005, 2018, 2025, 2921, 3023, 3035, 5663, 6280, 6303, 6905, 8274, 8864, 9315). A secret which also lies hidden in the internal sense of these words, is that the sons of Jacob, over whom Moses was the head, were not called and chosen; but they themselves insisted that Divine worship should be instituted among them (according to wh at has been said in n. 4290, 4293); and therefore it is here said, “and He said unto Moses, Come up unto Jehovah,” as if not Jehovah, but another, had said that he should come up. For the same reason in what follows it is said that “the people should not go up” (verse 2); and that “Jehovah sent not His hand unto the sons of Israel who were set apart” (verse 11); and that “the appearance of the glory of Jehovah was like devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the sons of Israel” (verse 17); and lastly that Moses, being called the seventh day, “entered into the midst of the cloud.” For by “the cloud” is meant the Word in the letter (n. 5922, 6343, 6752, 6832, 8106, 8443, 8781); and with the sons of Jacob the Word was separated from its internal sense, because they were in external worship without internal, as can be clearly seen from the fact that now, as before, they said, “all the words which Jehovah hath spoken we will do” (verse 3); and yet scarcely forty days afterward they worshiped a golden calf instead of Jehovah; which shows that this was hidden in their hearts while they were saying with their lips that they would serve Jehovah alone. But nevertheless those who are meant by “the called and the chosen” are those who are in internal worship, and who from internal worship are in external; that is, those who are in love to and faith in the Lord, and from this in love toward the neighbor.

5223. 'And he sent and called all the magi of Egypt, and its wise men means in consulting factual knowledge, interior as well as exterior. This is clear from the meaning of 'the magi' in the good sense as interior factual knowledge, dealt with below, and from the meaning of 'wise men' as exterior factual knowledge, also dealt with below. The reason 'the magi and wise men of Egypt' means factual knowledge is that Egypt had been one of the kingdoms where the representative Ancient Church existed, 1278, 2385. But in Egypt the facts known to that Church were the particular objects of care and attention, being knowledge about correspondences, representatives, and meaningful signs. For that knowledge was used to explain what had been written in the books of the Church, and to explain the things that were done in their sacred worship, 4749, 4964, 4966. This was how it came about that 'Egypt' meant factual knowledge in general, 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462, as did 'Pharaoh' its king too. The leading people among them who were well-versed in and imparted that knowledge were called magi and wise men. The magi were those well-versed in mystical knowledge, the wise men those well-versed in non-mystical, so that the facts known to the magi were interior ones, while those known to the wise men were exterior. This explains why such factual knowledge is meant in the Word by those two kinds of men. But after they began to misuse the Church's interior factual knowledge and to turn it into magic, Egypt', and likewise 'the magi of Egypt and its wise men', began to mean factual knowledge that led to perversions.

[2] The magi in those times had a knowledge of the kinds of things that belong to the spiritual world, and in their teaching about these they employed the correspondences and the representatives known to the Church. For this reason many of those magi also communicated with spirits and learned the arts of illusion which they used to perform miracles that involved magic. But those who were called the wise men had no interest in anything like this. Instead they provided the answers to hard questions and taught about the causes lying behind natural things. It was primarily in arts such as these that the wisdom of those times consisted, and the ability to practise them was called wisdom. This becomes clear from what is recorded about Solomon in the first Book of Kings,

Solomon's wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the sons of the east, and all the wisdom of the Egyptians, so much so that he was wiser than all people - than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol. He spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs were one thousand and five. In addition he spoke about trees, from the cedars which are in Lebanon even to the hyssop which comes out of the wall. He also spoke about beasts, and about birds, and about creeping things, and about fish. Therefore they came from all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth who had heard about his wisdom. 1 Kings 4:30-34.

Also there is what is recorded about the queen of Sheba in the same book,

She came to test him with hard questions; and Solomon gave her an explanation for every matter she mentioned. ¹ There was not a matter ² hidden from the king for which he could not give her an explanation. 1 Kings 10:1 and following verses.

[3] From this one may see what was described in those times as wisdom and who exactly those people were who were called wise men, not only in Egypt but also elsewhere - in Syria, Arabia, and Babel. But in the internal sense 'the wisdom of Egypt' means nothing else than knowledge about natural things, while 'that of the magi' means knowledge about spiritual realities, so that exterior factual knowledge is meant by 'the wise men', and interior factual knowledge by 'the magi', 'Egypt' meaning knowledge in general, 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462, 4749, 4964, 4966.

Egypt and its wise men had no other meaning in Isaiah,

The princes of Zoan are foolish, the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh has become brutish. How does one say to Pharaoh, I am a son of the wise, a son of the kings of old? Where are your wise men now? Isaiah 19:11-12.

[4] The fact that the term 'magi' was applied to those who had a knowledge of spiritual realities, and who also for that reason received revelations, is clear from the magi who came from the east to Jerusalem, asking where the King of the Jews was to be born and saying that they had seen His star in the east and had come to worship Him, Matthew 2:1-2. The same is also clear from Daniel, who is called the chief of the magi in Daniel 4:9. And in another place,

The queen said to King Belshazzar, There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods. And in the days of your father, light and intelligence and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, were found in him. Therefore King Nebuchadnezzar your father set him up as chief of the magi, diviners, Chaldeans, and determiners. Daniel 5:11.

And in yet another place,

Among them all none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; for when they were to stand before the king, every matter of wisdom [and] understanding which the king asked of them exceeded ten times [that of] all the magi, the diviners who were in his kingdom. Daniel 1:19-20.

[5] It is well known that in the contrary sense 'magi' ³ is used to mean those who pervert spiritual realities and thereby practise magic, like those mentioned in Exodus 7:9-12; 8:7, 19; 9:11. For magic is nothing else than a perversion, being the perverted use of those kinds of things that constitute true order in the spiritual world, a perverted use that gives rise to magic. But at the present day such magic is called natural, for the reason that no recognition exists any longer of anything above or beyond the natural order. People refuse to accept the existence of anything spiritual unless one means by this an interior dimension of what is natural.

Footnotes:

6343. Thou art my strength. That this signifies power in good by means of faith, is evident from the representation of Reuben, who here is “thou,” as being faith in the understanding (see n. 6342); and from the signification of “strength,” as being the power that is in good. As regards power, namely, the power of thinking and willing, of perceiving, of doing what is good, of believing, and of dissipating falsities and evils, it is all from good through truth; good is the principal, and truth is only the instrumental (see n. 3563, 4931, 5623). That there is signified the power that is in good, is because “strength” signifies this power, whereas “forces” signify the power of truth; hence it is that by “the beginning of my forces,” as presently follows, is signified the first power in truth; for the word by which “forces” are expressed in the original, is in the Word predicated of truth; but the word by which “strength” is expressed, is predicated of good.

[2] That the Word is holy, and in its interiors most holy, is very evident from the fact that in every detail of the Word there is the heavenly marriage, that is, the marriage of good and truth, thus heaven; and that in every detail of the inmost sense there is the marriage of the Lord’s Divine Human with His kingdom and church; nay, in the supreme sense there is the union of the Divine Itself and the Divine Human in the Lord. These most holy things are in every detail of the Word-a manifest proof that the Word has descended from the Divine. That this is so may be seen from the fact that where mention is made of good, mention is made of truth also; and where the internal is spoken of, the external also is spoken of. There are also words which constantly signify good, and words which constantly signify truth, and words which signify both good and truth; and if they do not signify them, still they are predicated of them, or involve them. From the predication and signification of these words it is plain that, as before said, in every detail there is the marriage of good and truth, that is, the heavenly marriage, and in the inmost and supreme sense the Divine marriage which is in the Lord, thus the Lord Himself.

[3] This appears everywhere, but not evidently except in passages where there are repetitions of the same thing, with only a change of words, as in this chapter, where it is said of Reuben, “Thou art my strength, and the beginning of my forces;” also, “excellent in eminence, and excellent in power.” Here “strength” relates to good, and “forces” to truth; and “excellent in eminence” to truth, and “excellent in power” to good. So in the following verse, of Reuben: “Thou wentest up on thy father’s bed; then thou profanedst it; he went up on my couch.” So in what follows with respect to Simeon and Levi: “Cursed be their anger, for it was vehement, and their wrath, for it was hard; I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel” (verse 7); where “anger” signifies a turning away from good, and “wrath” a turning away from truth; and “Jacob” is the external of the church, and “Israel” is its internal. Also with respect to Judah: “Thy brethren shall celebrate thee; thy father’s sons shall bow down to thee” (verse 8). Again: “He binds his young ass unto the vine, and his ass’s colt unto the choice vine; he washes his clothing in wine, and his covering in the blood of grapes” (verse 11). With respect to Zebulun: “He shall dwell at the haven of the seas, and he shall be at the haven of ships” (verse 13). With respect to Dan: “He shall be a serpent upon the way, an arrow-snake upon the path” (verse 17).

[4] Like things frequently occur in the Psalms and in the prophets, as in Isaiah:

Babel shall not be inhabited to eternity, neither shall it be inhabited even to generation and generation. Her time is near, and it shall come, and her days shall not be prolonged” (Isaiah 13:20, 22).

Seek ye from above in the book of Jehovah, and read ye; no one of these shall be missing, the one shall not long for the other; for with the mouth He hath commanded, and His spirit it hath gathered them. And the same hath cast the lot for them, and the hand hath distributed to them by rule. They shall possess it even eternally, to generation and generation shall they dwell therein” (Isaiah 34:16-17);

and so in a thousand other passages. He who does not know that the expressions in the Word are significative of spiritual and celestial things, and that some are said of good, and some of truth, cannot but believe that such expressions are mere repetitions, said merely to fill up, and therefore in themselves useless; and from this it is that they who think wrongly about the Word, regard such expressions as ground for contempt; when yet the veriest Divine things are stored therein, namely, the heavenly marriage, which is heaven itself; and the Divine marriage, which is the Lord Himself. This sense is the “glory” in which the Lord is, and the literal sense is the “cloud” in which is this glory (Matthew 24:30; Luke 21:27 nesis 18, and also n. 5922)