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.

6072. 'And Pharaoh said to his brothers' means perception regarding the truths of the Church within the natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'saying' as perception, dealt with above in 6063; from the representation of 'Pharaoh' as the natural, and factual knowledge in general, also dealt with above in 6063; and from the representation of the sons of Jacob, to whom 'brothers' refers here, as the truths of the Church within the natural, dealt with above in 6064. From all this it is evident that 'Pharaoh said to his brothers' means the perception of the natural regarding the truths of the Church there.