Arcana Coelestia # 1840
1840. Verse 13 And He said to Abram, Know for sure that your seed will be strangers in a land not theirs. And they will serve them, 1 and these will afflict them for four hundred years.
'He said to Abram' means perception. 'Know for sure' means that it is a certainty. 'Your seed will be strangers' means that charity and faith will be scarce. 'In a land that is not theirs' means where there will be a Church which does not so to speak consist of people in whom faith and charity are present. 'And they will serve them' 1 means oppression. 'And these will afflict them' means their grievous temptations. 'For four hundred years' means the duration and state [of those temptations].
Фусноте:
1. i.e. as slaves