10398. And they said unto him. That this signifies exhortation, is evident from the signification of "saying," when said of something of a religious nature to which the people were inclining, as being exhortation. (That "saying" also denotes exhortation, see n. 5012, 7090, 7215, 8178.) The religious inclination of this people was to worship what is external without what is internal.