Arcana Coelestia volume 7 - Swedenborg Foundation

ARCANA COELESTIA 3572of the correspondences of the natural world with the spiritualworld, and of the representatives of spiritual and celestial things inthings natural and earthly. Such were the memory-knowledges ofthose who were in the ancient church.[2] Egypt was one of those countries and kingdoms where theancient church was (n. 1238, 2385); but as in Egypt it was chieflymemory-knowledges that were handed down to posterity, thereforesuch knowledge in general is signified by “Egypt”; and it is for thisreason also that Egypt is so often treated of in the prophetic Word,and by it such knowledge is specifically meant. The very magic ofthe Egyptians also had its origin thence; for they were acquaintedwith the correspondences of the natural world with the spiritual,and afterward, when the church among them was at an end, thesecorrespondences were abused by being turned to magical things.Now because they had such knowledges (that taughtcorrespondences, and also representatives and significatives) and asthese knowledges were of service to the doctrinal things of thechurch, especially to the understanding of those things which weresaid in their Word (that the ancient church had a Word bothprophetic and historic, similar to the present Word, but yet adifferent one, can be seen in n. 2686); therefore by “being broughtdown to Egypt” is signified to the memory-knowledges of thechurch.[3] As the Lord is represented by Joseph, its being here said thatJoseph was “brought down to Egypt” signifies that when the Lordglorified his internal man, that is made it Divine, he was firstimbued with the memory-knowledges of the church, and from andby them advanced to things more and more interior, and at lasteven to those which are Divine. For it pleased him to glorifyhimself, that is, to make himself Divine, according to the sameorder as that in which he regenerates man, that is, makes himspiritual (n. 3138, 3212, 3296, 3490, 4402), namely, from externalthings, which are memory-knowledges and the truths of faith,successively to internal things, which are of charity toward theneighbor and of love to him. From this it is plain what is signifiedby the following words in Hosea: