6728. Verses 5-9 And the daughter of Pharaoh went down to wash at the river; and her maidservants were going along the side of the river. And she saw the box in the middle of the weed, and sent her servant-girl; and she took it. And she opened it, and saw him, the child; and behold, the boy was crying. And she took pity on him, and said, This is one of the children of the Hebrews. And his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, Shall I go and call you a woman, a wet nurse, from the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you? And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go. And the girl went and called the child's mother. And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Take to yourself this child and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages. And the woman took the child and nursed him.

'And the daughter of Pharaoh went down' means the kind of religion practised there. 'To wash at the river' means worship involving the use of falsity. 'And her maidservants were going along the side of the river' means things which minister to this kind of religion involving the use of falsity. 'And she saw the box in the middle of the weed' means a discernment of the crude form of truth among false factual knowledge. 'And sent her servant-girl' means that which was of service. 'And she took it' means an eagerness to know. 'And she opened it, and saw him, the child' means an investigation to find out what it was like, and the discernment that it was truth originating in the Divine. 'And behold, the boy was crying' means sadness. 'And she took pity on him' means being alerted by the Divine. 'And said, This is one of the children of the Hebrews' means that it belonged to the true Church. 'And his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter' means the Church's truth alongside the kind of religion there. 'Shall I go and call you a woman, a wet nurse, from the Hebrew women?' means a perception that good from the true Church should be instilled into it. 'And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go' means consent given by the kind of religion there. 'And the girl went and called the child's mother' means that the Church's truth of good linked things of the Church to it. 'And Pharaoh's daughter said to her' means consent given by the kind of religion there. 'Take to yourself this child' means that she should link him to herself. 'And nurse him for me' means that she should instill into him good compatible with that kind of religion. 'And I will give you your wages' means the reward. 'And the woman took the child and nursed him' means that good from the Church was instilled into him.

7852. 'Roasted with fire' means good that is the product of love. This is clear from the meaning of 'what is roasted with fire' as the good of love; for 'fire' means love, 934, 4906, 5215, 6314, 6832, 6834, 6849, 7324, and 'what is roasted' that which has been infused with love, consequently good. In the Word what has been roasted is distinguished from what has been boiled. 'What has been roasted' means good, because it has been cooked by means of fire, while 'what has been boiled' is used to mean truth, because it has been cooked by means of water. A similar distinction is made here, for it says in verse 9, Do not eat any of it raw, nor boiled at all in water, but roasted indeed with fire. The reason for this is that 'the Passover lamb' means the good of innocence, which is the good of love to the Lord.

[2] All this shows what 'the roasted fish', in Luke 24:42-43, means in the spiritual sense, and also 'the fish placed over the fire of coals' when the Lord appeared to the disciples, described in John as follows,

After the disciples got down onto the land they saw a fire of coals that had been set, and a small fish lying over it, and bread. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the small fish. John 21:9, 13.

'A fish' means truth in the natural, 991, while 'a fire of coals' means good. Thus 'a small fish lying over it' means the truth of spiritual good within the natural. A person who does not believe in the existence of the internal sense within the Word inevitably thinks that the presence of the fish over the coal fire, when the Lord appeared to the disciples, and its being given them by the Lord to eat lack any deeper, hidden meaning.

[3] Since 'roasted with fire' means good that is the product of celestial and spiritual love, evil that is the product of selfish and worldly love is meant in the contrary sense by 'roasted with fire' in Isaiah,

He burnt part of it with fire, over part of it he ate flesh, he roasted a roast, in order that he might be satiated; also he was made warm. And he said, O brother, ¹ I have been made warm, I have seen the fire. I have burned part of it with fire, and also I have baked bread over its coals, I have roasted flesh and am eating it. Isaiah 44:16, 19.

This refers to worshippers of a carved image. 'A carved image' means falsity of evil, which is portrayed by such an image. 'Roasting a roast' and 'roasting flesh' are working evil under the influence of a filthy love. With regard to 'fire', that it is in the contrary sense the evil of self-love and love of the world, or the desires belonging to those kinds of love, see 1297, 1861, 2446, 5071, 5215, 6314, 6832, 7324, 7575.

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