Spiritual Meaning of EXODUS 5:10-13
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AC 7123. Verses 10-13. And the taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spake to the people, saying, Thus said Pharaoh, I will by no means give you straw. Go ye yourselves, get you straw where ye can find it; for nothing whatever shall be taken away from your service. And the people scattered into all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. And the taskmasters were urgent, saying, Complete ye your works, the word of a day in its day, as when there was straw. "And the taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers," signifies the sending forth and presence of those who most closely infest, and of those who most closely receive; "and they spake to the people, saying," signifies perception; "Thus said Pharaoh," signifies about the infestations; "I will by no means give you straw," signifies no longer thence the most general memory-knowledges; "Go ye yourselves, get you straw where ye can find it," signifies that they should procure these for themselves elsewhere, wherever they could; "for nothing whatever shall be taken away from your service," signifies injections of falsities without diminution; "and the people scattered into all the land of Egypt," signifies that they overspread the natural mind on every side; "to gather stubble for straw," signifies to find some truth of memory-knowledge; "and the taskmasters were urgent," signifies that they who most closely infested were insistent; "saying, Complete ye your works, the word of a day in its day," signifies that they should serve falsities so called in every state; "as when there was straw," signifies just as they served their truths so called.

AC 7124. And the taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers. That this signifies the sending forth and presence of those who most closely infest, and of those who most closely receive, is evident from the signification of "going out," as being a sending forth, because they who are signified by "taskmasters" are sent forth in order to serve as a means of communication, as can be seen from what was said above (n. 7111); moreover that "to go out" denotes to present one‘s self before another in a form accommodated to him, (n. 5337); therefore it also denotes presence; from the signification of "taskmasters," as being those who most closely infest; and from the signification of "officers," as being those who most closely receive and communicate the infestations (n. 7111).

AC 7125. And they spake to the people, saying. That this signifies perception, is evident from the signification of "saying," in the historicals of the Word, as being perception (n. 1791, 1815, 1819, 1822, 1898, 1919, 2080, 2862, 3509, 5687).

AC 7126. Thus said Pharaoh. That this signifies about the infestations, is evident from the representation of Pharaoh, as being those who infest such as are of the spiritual church, thus it denotes infestation.

AC 7127. I will by no means give you straw. That this signifies no longer thence the most general memory-knowledges, is evident from the signification of "by no means giving," as being no longer to furnish; and from the signification of "straw," as being the most general memory-knowledges of all (n. 7112). How the case herein is has already been told. But it must be told further, that in the other life those who have been of the church, and have persuaded themselves that faith alone saves, yet have not lived the life of faith, but a life of evil, especially put straw (that is, the most general memory-knowledges of all) before the upright whom they are infesting. These men are of the same character there as they had been in the world; they are acquainted with confirming arguments in favor of faith alone, by which they say that man is saved no matter how he had lived; but these confirming arguments are nothing but reasonings that agree with the given proposition; for everything, even what is most false, can be confirmed by reasonings, and can also be presented to the simple as true, by means of the arts of eloquence and of inference.

[2] For this purpose they especially employ such things from the Word as are the most general of all, and which without the internal sense of the Word can be drawn to favor any opinion whatever. Such are the things which they put before those who are of the spiritual church; and by means of which they infest them; although they are nothing but chaff or straw for making bricks, for they exclude the most essential thing of all, namely, charity. They indeed say that works of charity are the fruits of faith, but still they make these works of no account, and persuade their hearers that man is saved by faith alone no matter what his life has been, even in life’s last moments; thus by faith without its fruits, consequently without the life of faith and charity.

[3] So long as such things are put before the upright in the other life, these wield fighting arguments, and are able to defend themselves, for they see that reasonings are fallacious when the essential, which is charity, is thus excluded, and also when they see that no regard is paid to the life. From everything in the other life, both in general and in particular, they see these things as in clear day. Such then is what is meant by the memory-knowledges the lowest and most general of all, which are signified by "straw." They who have persuaded themselves that faith alone saves, and yet have lived a life of evil, are in hell at a considerable depth toward the tight, a little in front; and I have heard them from thence infesting the upright with reasonings; but these, being led of the Lord by the angels, rejected the reasonings as being empty, and they also exposed the fallacies which were in the confirmations and arguments from the general things of the Word.

AC 7128. Go ye yourselves, get you straw where ye can find it. That this signifies that they should procure these for themselves elsewhere, wherever they could, is evident from the signification of "getting wherever they could find," as being to procure for themselves elsewhere, wherever they could; and from the signification of "straw," as being memory-knowledges, the lowest and most general of all (n. 7112, 7127).

AC 7129. For nothing whatever shall be taken away from your service. That this signifies injections of falsities without diminution, is evident from the signification of "nothing whatever being taken away," as being without diminution; and from the signification of "service," as being an assault by falsities (n. 7120), thus also infestation.

AC 7130. And the people scattered into all the land of Egypt. That this signifies that they overspread the natural mind on every side, is evident from the signification of "scattering themselves," as being to overspread; and from the signification of the "land of Egypt," as being the natural mind (n. 5276, 5278, 5280, 5288, 5301). There are two minds in man; one is the natural, and the other the rational mind; the natural mind is the mind of the external man, but the rational mind is the mind of the internal man. The things of the natural mind are called memory-knowledges, but those of the rational mind are called intellectual reasons; they are also distinguished from each other by the fact that the things of the natural mind are for the most part in the light of the world, which is called the light of nature; whereas the things of the rational mind are in the light of heaven, which light is spiritual light.

AC 7131. To gather stubble for straw. That this signifies to find some truth of memory-knowledge, is evident from the signification of "stubble for straw," as being the truth of memory-knowledge, for "stubble" denotes such truth as is accommodated to the memory-knowledge that is signified by "straw." That "stubble" denotes such truth is because it is the stalk in the top of which is the seed, and by "seeds" in the word are signified truths and goods; thus by the stalk which is beneath them is signified the general vessel of truth, consequently the truth of memory-knowledge; for the memory-knowledges of faith and charity are indeed truths, but general truths, thus are the recipient vessels of particular and singular truths, as can also be seen by everyone. For example: it is a truth of memory-knowledge that charity toward the neighbor is the essential of the church; also that faith cannot be except where charity is; and likewise that truth and good can be conjoined, but not truth and evil, nor good and falsity; besides many similar truths, which are truths of memory-knowledge. That these can be enriched with innumerable things, can be seen from the fact that volumes can be written about them, and yet the singular truths, which are the interior things of faith, can never be described, for these can only be seen in the light of heaven, and do not fall into natural words. These truths are like charity, which is spiritual affection, and which for the most part cannot be expressed by words, except its most general things, namely, those which put on a natural dress, and which can be compared with such things as are in the world. These things have been said in order that it may be known what general memory-knowledges are.

AC 7132. And the taskmasters were urgent. That this signifies that they who most closely infest were insistent, is evident from the signification of "taskmasters," as being those who most closely infest (n. 7111); and from the signification of "urging," as being to insist.

AC 7133. Saying, Complete ye your works, the word of a day in its day. That this signifies that they should serve falsities so called in every state, is evident from the signification of "completing your works," as being to serve falsities; for by "making bricks" are signified things fictitious and false that are injected (n. 7113), and as these are the works which they were to complete, it signifies that they should serve these; it is said "falsities so called," because the evil do not acknowledge the falsities which they speak as being falsities, but as being truths; and from the signification of "the word of a day in its day," as being in every state. A "day" denotes state, (n. 23, 487, 488, 493, 893, 2788, 3462, 3785, 4850).

AC 7134. As when there was straw. That this signifies just as they served their truths so called, is evident from the signification of "straw;" as being general memory-knowledge, which is the vessel of truth (n. 7112, 7131). It is said "truths so called," because these words are spoken by the evil, who do not acknowledge truths to be truths.

EXODUS 5:10-13    previous  -  next  -  text  -  summary  -  Exodus  -  Full Page

Author:  E. Swedenborg (1688-1772). Design:  I.J. Thompson, Feb 2002. www.BibleMeanings.info