7998. 'And every man's slave' means the natural man up to now. This is clear from the meaning of 'slave' or 'servant' as the natural, dealt with in 3019, 3020, 3191, 3192, 3204, 3206, 3209, 5305, and so the natural man. The reason why the natural man is called 'a slave' is that it was made to minister to the spiritual, and also to obey it, as a slave obeys his master.

5406. 'Go down there, and buy for us from there' means making them its own through that knowledge. This is clear from the meaning of 'going down' as an expression used to describe movement towards things that are more external, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'buying' as making one's own, dealt with in 4397, 5374. The accomplishment of this through that knowledge, factual knowledge, is meant by 'from there', that is to say, from Egypt; for 'Egypt' means factual knowledge, as shown above. Various places in the Word contain the expression to go up or to go down when a movement from one place to another is described. The reason for this usage is not that one place was higher than another but that going up describes a movement towards things that are more internal or superior, while going down describes a movement towards things that are more external or inferior. That is, 'going up' refers to movement towards things that are spiritual and heavenly since these are more internal and are believed to be superior, whereas 'going down' refers to a movement towards natural and earthly things as these are more external and also to outward appearance inferior. This explains why not only here but also everywhere else in the Word one is said to go down from the land of Canaan to Egypt and to come up from Egypt to the land of Canaan. 'The land of Canaan' means that which is heavenly, and 'Egypt' that which is natural; for in the representative sense the land of Canaan is the heavenly kingdom, and consequently celestial and spiritual forms of good and truth, which also reside more internally in a person who is the Lord's kingdom, whereas 'Egypt' in the representative sense is the natural kingdom, and consequently the forms of good and truth which belong to the external Church and exist for the most part as factual knowledge. For the use of 'going up' to describe a movement towards things that are more internal, see 4539.