8186. 'And I, behold, I am hardening the hearts of the Egyptians' means obstinate resistance by falsity arising from evil. This is clear from the meaning of 'hardening the heart' as obstinacy, dealt with in 7272, 7300, 7305, 7616; and from the representation of 'the Egyptians' as those steeped in falsities arising from evil, dealt with in 8132, 8135, 8148. When the Word says that Jehovah hardens the heart and also that He is responsible for something ill, the meaning in the internal sense, where the truth itself exists unclothed, is that people ruled by falsity and evil are themselves the ones to harden their hearts and to be responsible for the ill that happens to them, see 2447, 6071, 6991, 6997, 7533, 7632, 7877, 7926.

6070. 'And from his brothers' party he took five men' means some of the truths of the Church. This is clear from the representation of Jacob's sons, to whom 'brothers' refers here, as the truths of the Church, dealt with in 5403, 5419, 5427, 5458, 5512; and from the meaning of 'five' as some, dealt with in 4638, 5291.