Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 6673

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6673. 'And the king of Egypt said to the midwives of the Hebrew women. means an influx from separated factual knowledge into the natural where the Church's true factual knowledge resided. This is clear from the meaning of 'saying' as an influx, dealt with in 5743, 6291; from the meaning of 'the king of Egypt' as separated factual knowledge which is opposed to the Church's truths, dealt with in 6651; from the meaning of 'the midwives' as the natural, dealt with in 4588, 4921; and from the meaning of 'the Hebrew women as things belonging to the Church, dealt with in 5136, 5236, and so also as the Church's true factual knowledge. The reason why the natural is meant by 'the midwives' is that the natural receives what flows in from the internal and in so doing acts like a midwife.


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