8398. And all the assemblage of the sons of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin. That this signifies unto another state of temptation, is evident from the signification of "coming," as being the abode of the successive that is signified by "journeying" (see n. 8397); from the signification of "the assemblage of the sons of Israel," as being those who are of the spiritual church (n. 7843); from the signification of "the wilderness," as being a state of undergoing temptations (see n. 8098); and from the signification of "Sin," as being the quality of this state; for names include the whole quality of the state of the thing treated of, as has been abundantly shown above. From the temptation which is signified by the murmuring on account of the lack of bread and flesh, and from the consolation afterward which is signified by the manna and the quail, it is evident what "Sin" signifies, namely, the good which is from truth. Consequently "Sin," which was a city of Egypt, and from which the wilderness of Sin took its name, in the opposite sense signifies the evil which is from falsity, in Ezekiel:
I will pour out My wrath upon Sin, the strength of Egypt; and I will cut off the multitude of No; and I will set a fire in Egypt, grieving Sin shall grieve, and No shall be for a breaking through, and Noph for the enemies daily; the young men of Aven and of Pi-beseth shall fall by the sword, and these shall go into captivity; and in Tehaphnehes the day shall be darkened, when I shall break there the yokes of Egypt (30:15-18);
[2] here are treated of those who are in memory-knowledges, and hatch therefrom falsities from which are evils; "Egypt" here denotes memory-knowledge; "Sin," the evil which is from falsity; and "No," the falsity from which is evil. That a deeper sense lies concealed here than that which stands forth in the letter, can be seen by everyone from this consideration alone-that the Word is Divine, and that, unless a deeper sense were in it, there would be scarcely any sense that can be apprehended, still less a sense containing what is holy. Hence it is very manifest that the names in the Word denote things, and that from them there results a general sense that is worthy of the Word which is from Jehovah. He who acknowledges the Word to be Divine cannot possibly deny this, provided he is willing to think from reason, or to form conclusions from an understanding that is for a while enlightened.
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