1165. In the Word 'Mizraim' or Egypt means knowledge, that is, various facts, by which people wish to probe into the arcana of faith and so confirm the false assumptions acquired in that way. 'Mizraim' also means simply knowledge, and so knowledge that is useful. This is clear not only from the places just quoted but also from very many others which would fill up page after page if they were all included. See Isaiah 19:1-end; Isaiah 30:1-3; 31:1-3; Jeremiah 2:18, 36; Jeremiah 42:14-end; Jeremiah 46:1-end; Ezekiel 16:26; 23:3; Ezekiel 29:1-end; Ezekiel 30:1-end; Hosea 7:11; 9:3, 6; 11:1, 5, 11; Micah 7:12 [NCBS: 7:15]; Zechariah 10:10-11; Psalms 80:8 and following verses.

3651. Anyone may see that these statements contain arcana and that until those arcana are disclosed no one can possibly know what is meant by those who are in Judea being told to flee into the mountains, what is meant by him who is on the roof of the house being forbidden to go down to take anything out of the house, and by him who is in the field being forbidden to turn back to get his clothing. Without the internal sense to teach what these things mean and imply, those who study the Word and those who explain it might be drawn towards and slide into opinions that are totally alien to the truth. More than this, people who at heart deny the sacredness of the Word may therefore conclude that no more is described by such words than flight and escape from an approaching enemy and that consequently nothing more sacred than this lies within them. But in fact these words spoken by the Lord give a full description of that state when the Church has been vastated as regards goods of love and as regards truths of faith, as may become clear from the explanation of these words that follows below.