7716. 'No man could see his brother' means that they could not perceive the truth of any good. This is clear from the meaning of 'seeing' as understanding and perceiving, dealt with in 2150, 2325, 2807, 3764, 3863, 4407-4421, 4567, 4723, 5400; from the meaning of 'man' as truth, dealt with in 3134; and from the meaning of 'brother' as good, dealt with in 2360, 3303, 3803, 3815, 4121, 5409, 5686, 5692, 6756, and a man linked to his brother as the good of truth, 3459. From these meanings it is evident that 'no man could see his brother' means that they could not perceive the truth of any good.

6757. 'And saw their burdens' means a discernment that they were being molested by falsities. This is clear from the meaning of 'seeing' as a discernment, dealt with above in 6772; and from the meaning of 'burdens' as molestations by falsities, for in the spiritual sense the burdens laid by Pharaoh on the children of Israel are nothing else. 'Pharaoh' is false factual knowledge, 6651, 6679, 6683; and molestations by falsities are nothing other than 'burdens' to those who are guided by truths. As for the nature of molestations by falsities, which are 'burdens' to those guided by truths, that cannot be known by anyone while he lives in the world, for he does not suffer that kind of molestation then. While he is in the world his mind either clings to falsities or dispels them, without any conscious feeling of molestation. But in the next life when those guided by truths suffer molestation by falsities they are held by evil spirits in the grip of those falsities like people in bonds. But the Lord holds the interior parts of their minds in truths, which are used to dispel the falsities. A state of molestation by falsities such as is experienced in the next life is what is meant here in the internal sense, as are many other things; for the Word has been written not only for man but also for spirits and angels.