1481. Verse 15 And Pharaoh's princes saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken to Pharaoh's house.

'Pharaoh's princes saw' means the first and foremost commandments, which are 'pharaoh's princes'. 'And they praised her to Pharaoh' means that they were pleasing. 'And the woman was taken to Pharaoh's house' means that they sought to capture the mind (animus).

9412. 'And ate and drank' means being told about the good and truth of worship. This is clear from the meaning of 'eating' as being joined to and making good their own, dealt with in 2187, 2343, 3168, 3513 (end), 3596, 3832, 4745, 5643; and from the meaning of 'drinking' as being joined to and making truth their own, dealt with in 3089, 3168, 4017, 4018, 5709, 8562. The reason why being told about is also meant - that is to say, being told about good is meant by 'eating', and being told about truth by 'drinking' - is that spiritual food consists in every good of faith that is a source of wisdom, while spiritual drink consists in every truth of faith that is a source of intelligence, 56-58, 681, 1480, 3069, 3114, 3168, 3772, 4792, 5147, 5293, 5340, 5342, 5410, 5426, 5487, 5576, 5579, 5582, 5588, 5655, 5915, 8562, 9003. This explains why feasts, banquets, midday meals, and suppers were instituted among the ancients, to the end that such good and truth belonging to wisdom and intelligence might bind them into fellowship with one another, 3596, 3832, 5161, 7836, 7996, 7997.

[2] It also explains why banquets, midday meals, and suppers in the Word mean instances of being bound together in faith and love, as in Matthew,

Many will come from the east and the west and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 8:11.

In Luke,

Jesus said to the disciples, You will eat and drink at My table in My kingdom. Luke 22:30.

In the same gospel,

Blessed are the servants whom the Lord comes and finds watching. Truly, I say to you that He will gird Himself and make them sit down, and He Himself will come and minister to them. Luke 12:37.

In John,

The disciples asked Jesus, saying, Master, eat. But He said to them, I have food to eat of which you do not know. John 4:31-32.

In the same gospel,

Jesus said, I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread he will live forever. John 6:51.

Heavenly bread is plainly meant here. Heavenly bread consists in all the good of love and faith which comes from the Lord, 2165, 2177, 3464, 3478, 3735, 3813, 4211, 4217, 4735, 4976, 5915, 6118, 9323.

[3] The fact that being told about the good and truth of faith is meant by 'eating and drinking' is clear from the following places: In Luke,

Then you will begin to say, We ate in Your presence and we drank; and You taught in our streets. But He will say, I say to you, I do not know where you come from; depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity. Luke 13:26-27.

'Eating and drinking in the Lord's presence' stands for giving instruction from the Word regarding forms of the good and the truths of faith. 'Teaching in the streets' stands for preaching truths from the Lord's Word, for in former times preaching took place in the streets, because truths composing the teachings of the Church are meant by 'the streets', 2336.

[4] In Isaiah,

Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend money on that which is not bread, and your labour on that which does not satisfy? Pay thorough attention to Me and eat what is good, that your soul may delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear and come to Me; hear, that your soul may live. Lo, I have given Him as a witness to the peoples, a Prince and Lawgiver to the peoples. ¹ Isaiah 55:1-5.

Here it is evident that 'drinking' and 'eating' mean being told things by the Lord, and that 'the waters', 'wine', 'milk', 'bread', and 'fatness' are forms of the truth and the good of faith which come from Him, for it says, 'Incline your ear, come to Me; hear, that your soul may live. Lo, I have given Him as a witness to the peoples, a Prince and a Lawgiver to the peoples'.

[5] In Ezekiel,

Behold, I am breaking the rod of bread in Jerusalem, so that they may eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and drink water by measure and with dismay, and may be in want of bread and water, and waste away on account of their iniquity. Ezekiel 4:16-17.

'Eating bread' and 'drinking water' stand for receiving instruction in forms of the good and the truths of faith, 9323. Something similar occurs in Amos,

Behold, the days are going to come, in which I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but for hearing the words of Jehovah. Amos 8:11.

'A famine of bread' and 'a thirst for water' are a scarcity and lack of the cognitions or knowledge of goodness and truth, see 3364, 4958, 5277, 5279, 5281, 5300, 5360, 5376, 5415, 5568, 5579, 5893, 6110, 8576. All this now makes clear what the meaning is of the words which say that the disciples' eyes were opened and they recognized the Lord when the Lord broke the bread and gave it to them, Luke 24:29-31. For in the spiritual world 'breaking the bread and giving it to them' means instructing them in the good and truth of faith, by means of which the Lord is seen. It also makes clear what the meaning is of 'the bread and wine' and 'eating and drinking' in the Holy Supper, and what the meaning is of the Lord's words to the disciples, after He had instituted that Supper, that He would not drink of that fruit of the vine until the day when He would drink it new with them in the Father's kingdom, Matthew 26:26-29. The reason why 'eating and drinking' means being told about the good and truth of worship is that after they had offered sacrifices they also ate and drank from them, and sacrifices represented all worship in general, 9391.

Voetnoten:

6692. 'And Pharaoh commanded all his people' means a general influx into factual knowledge opposed to the Church's truths. This is clear from the meaning of 'commanding' as an influx, dealt with in 5486, 5732, here a general influx since the command came from Pharaoh, who represents factual knowledge in general, 6015; and from the meaning of 'his people' as factual knowledge opposed to the Church's truths. The meaning of the Egyptians, to whom 'people' refers here, as factual knowledge has been demonstrated often, see 6638. The reason why factual knowledge opposed to the Church's truths is meant by 'the Egyptians' is that the representative forms and meaningful signs of the Ancient Church, a Church which had existed also among them, had been turned there into magic. For through the Church's representative forms and meaningful signs there was contact at that time with heaven. This contact existed among those who led lives filled with the good of charity, and among many it was open contact. Among those however who did not lead a good charitable life but acted in ways contrary to it, open contact sometimes existed with evil spirits who perverted all the Church's truths, and along with them destroyed all that was good, from which magic arose. This may also be recognized from the hieroglyphics among the Egyptians, who also used them in their sacred rituals. They used them as signs of spiritual things, and they used them to pervert Divine order.

[2] Magic is nothing else than the perversion of order; in particular it is the misuse of correspondences. If true order is to exist, goodness and truth as they emanate from the Lord must find acceptance in a person. When they do, true order is present in every particular aspect of the person's intentions and thoughts. But when they do not find acceptance in him as true order originating in the Lord requires and he instead believes that everything is a purposeless stream of events, or if anything does have purpose, that it is attributable to his own prudence, he perverts true order. For he makes use of what belongs to order solely for his own interests and not those of his neighbour, except insofar as his neighbour is favourably disposed towards him. This accounts for the astonishing fact that all who have become firmly convinced that everything is attributable to their own prudence and nothing at all to Divine providence are very much inclined towards magic in the next life, and also involve themselves in it as much as they can. This is especially so with those who, trusting in themselves and ascribing everything to their own prudence, have worked out many sly and cunning ways of gaining superiority over others. Once people like this have undergone judgement in the next life they are sent off to the hells of those who work magic. These hells are on the right on a level with the soles of the feet, a little way out in front and extending to a considerable distance; and the Egyptians are in the deepest ones. Here then is why 'Pharaoh', 'the Egyptians', and 'Egypt' mean factual knowledge opposed to the Church's truths.

[3] To prevent therefore any further perversion of the Church's representative forms and meaningful signs into forms of magic, the Israelite people were selected, and among them the Church's representative forms and meaningful signs were to be re-established. The nature of this people was such that it could not create magic out of them, for they were interested solely in external things and had no belief in anything internal, let alone anything spiritual. Among people like this no magic can arise such as existed among the Egyptians.