6784. 'And they said, An Egyptian man delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds' means because true factual knowledge that was attached to the Church prevailed over the power of the teachings that presented falsity arising from evil. This is clear from the meaning of 'an Egyptian man' as true factual knowledge, for 'a man' means truth, 3134, and 'an Egyptian' factual knowledge, 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462, 4749, 4964, 4966, 4967, 5700, 6004, 6692 (the reason why Moses is called 'an Egyptian man' here is that at this point 'Moses' represents the kind of truth which those guided by the truth that goes with simple good possess, which is meant by 'the daughters of the priest of Midian'; and they are guided by that kind of truth because they are members of the external Church, 6775, which also accounts for the description 'true factual knowledge that was attached to the Church'); and from the meaning of 'delivering out of the hand of the shepherds' as its prevailing over the power of falsity from evil. 'Delivering' is prevailing over because he who delivers someone from the hand of others prevails over them. 'Hand' means power, 878, 3387, 4931-4937, 5327, 5328, 5544, and 'shepherds' those who teach, here those who teach falsity arising from evil, 6779; and since teachers are meant their kind of teaching is meant also.

[2] The reason why true factual knowledge prevails over the power of the teaching of falsity from evil is that the Divine is present in all truth that springs from good. But in falsity springing from evil the opposite is present, and what is the opposite of the Divine is totally unable to prevail. In the next life therefore a thousand under the influence of falsity springing from evil are totally unable to prevail against a single one governed by truth springing from good. At the presence of this single one the thousand flee; or if they do not flee they suffer pain and torment. The expression falsity from evil is used because that kind of falsity really is falsity, whereas falsity that does not spring from evil but from ignorance of the truth is not really such. Evil is what stands opposed to heaven, not falsity due to ignorance. Indeed if this ignorance has some measure of innocence within it, that falsity is accepted by the Lord as if it were truth, for those subject to that kind of falsity accept the truth.

6779. 'And the shepherds came and drove them away' means that teachers steeped in evils set themselves against them. This is clear from the meaning of 'the shepherds' as those who teach and lead to the good of charity, dealt with in 343, 3795, 6044, here those who teach but, being steeped in evils, do not lead to the good of charity, dealt with below; from the meaning of 'driving away' as setting themselves against; and from the meaning of the daughters, the ones whom they drove away, as things belonging to the Church, dealt with above in 6775. Here 'shepherds' does indeed mean those who teach, but they are those who do not lead to the good of charity because they are steeped in evils. For those steeped in evils never acknowledge that charity and its works contribute to salvation, because they are incapable of acknowledging things contrary to the life they lead. To do so would be to go against themselves. Being steeped in evils they are not even aware of what charity is, or thus of what the works of charity are. Faith is what they teach, saying that faith is what makes people righteous and what holds the promise of heaven. These are the ones who set themselves against the teachings about charity drawn from the Word, and therefore against people guided by the truth that goes with simple good - the people meant by the daughters of the priest of Midian who, after they had drawn water and filled the troughs to water the flock, were driven away by the shepherds from the well.