3882. 'And she left off bearing' means the ascent up a stairway from earth even to Jehovah or the Lord. This is clear from the meaning of 'bearing' or birth as truth and good, for these are births in the spiritual sense, in that a person is regenerated or born anew by means of truth and good. Such truth and good is also what were meant by Leah's four who were born to her - Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah. 'Reuben' meant truth as this exists on the first step in regeneration or rebirth - truth which is no more than knowledge, and so merely a knowledge of truth. 'Simeon' meant truth as this exists on the second step in regeneration or rebirth - truth present in the will, and so a will desiring truth. 'Levi' meant truth as it exists on the third step in regeneration or rebirth - truth for which one feels an affection, and so an affection for truth, which is the same as charity. But 'Judah' meant good which exists on the fourth step in regeneration or rebirth - good which is the celestial form of love. When a person who has been regenerated or born anew has come this far the Lord manifests Himself to him, for he has by now risen up from the lowest step, as if by a stairway, to the one where the Lord is.

[2] This stepping up is also meant by the stairway seen in a dream by Jacob which was set up on the earth, a stairway whose top reached to heaven, and on which the angels of God were going up and coming down, with Jehovah or the Lord standing above it, described in Chapter 28:12. From this it is evident that 'she left off bearing' has the meaning that has been stated. For explanations that the four conceptions and births spoken of meant an advance from what is external to what is internal, or from truth to good, that is, from earth to heaven, see 3860, 3868, 3874, 3879. Coming down is subsequent to this, for no one is able to come down before he has gone up. Coming down however is nothing else than surveying truth from good, as when one climbs a mountain and then regards the things that lie below. From that position he can, in a single survey of the scene, take in an incalculably greater number of things than people standing below or in the valley, as is evident to anyone. It is exactly the same with those who are governed by good, that is, by love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour. These can see incalculably more than those governed merely by truth, that is, by faith alone.

7097. 'I do not know Jehovah' means that they have no interest in the Lord. This is clear from the meaning of 'not knowing' as having no interest in, for a person who has no interest in something says that he knows nothing about it; and 'Jehovah' is used to mean the Lord, see above in 7091. The implications of this, of Pharaoh's saying that he does not know Jehovah, are as follows: The Egyptians had known Jehovah since ancient times, the reason being that the Ancient Church had existed in Egypt also, as may be plainly recognized from the fact that they were in possession of the representatives and meaningful signs of that Church. Egyptian hieroglyphics are nothing else, for these served to denote spiritual realities; and people knew that they did in actual fact correspond to those realities. But because they began to use such representatives and signs in their sacred worship, to treat them as objects of worship and also at length to turn them into magic, and in so doing to become linked to the devil's crew in hell, they completely destroyed the Ancient Church among themselves. This is why in the Word 'the Egyptians' means facts known to the Church that have been perverted, and also falsities that are opposed to the truths of the Church.

[2] Once the worship of God had become perverted in this way in Egypt, then they were no longer allowed to worship Jehovah either, or at length even to know that Jehovah had been the God of the Ancient Church; and the reason why this happened was to prevent them from profaning the name of Jehovah. The fact that the name of Jehovah was also known at that time, before it was revealed once again to Abraham's descendants through Moses on Mount Horeb, is plainly evident from Balaam, who was from Syria. He not only knew Jehovah but also worshipped Him and offered sacrifice to Him, Numbers 22-24. From all this one may now see why Pharaoh said, 'Who is Jehovah whose voice I am to hear, [telling me] to send the people away? I do not know Jehovah.'

[3] But since 'Pharaoh' represents those in hell who are steeped in falsities and molest those belonging to the spiritual Church, what is involved in all this needs to be stated. Those in hell who molest members of the spiritual Church consist for the most part of the kind of people who have said that faith alone saves and yet have led a life contrary to faith. And since the life they have led, thus the evil which they have contemplated, planned, and carried out, remains after death of the body, therefore to defend the evils assimilated into their life they either employ the things which they have said were matters of faith or else reject them altogether. But to prevent them from misusing the truths of faith, these are taken away from them. And when those truths have been taken they seize on falsities, which are completely contrary to the truths of faith, and then use the falsities to molest those guided by truths. Doing this is then for them the delight of life. Quite a number of them, to acquire power, also learn magic. This is done by those who used various tricks which they devised in the world to deceive their neighbour, and being successful then attributed everything to their own prudence.

[4] Those who have become like this acknowledge the Father as the Creator of all things, but they do not acknowledge the Lord. Regarding the Lord they use similar words to Pharaoh's here regarding Jehovah, 'Who is Jehovah? I do not know Jehovah'. Indeed just as the whole sphere pervading heaven is full of an acknowledgement of and love for the Lord, so the whole sphere pervading the hells is full of a denial of the Lord and of hatred towards Him. Nor can they bear to hear His name mentioned. Those in hell are by nature such that admonitions and threats do not make them leave off, so great is the delight of their life to molest the upright and draw them away from their acknowledgement of the Lord and faith in Him. That delight is intensified by the admonitions they receive to leave off, for they lead them to imagine that those whom they molest will shortly be done for. These are the ones whom 'Pharaoh' and 'the Egyptians' are used to mean specifically.