Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 5363

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5363. 'And in all the land of Egypt there was bread' means the remnants of the truths from good that have been multiplied. This is clear from the fact that 'bread in all the land of Egypt' is used to mean the grain which was gathered together in the seven years of abundance of corn and stored in the cities. This grain, as stated and shown in various places above, means the remnants stored away in the interior parts of the natural mind, and therefore 'bread in all the land of Egypt' means the remnants of the truths from good that have been multiplied. That remnants are meant here by 'bread in the land of Egypt' is in addition evident from the fact that the years of famine had already begun, years in which the land of Egypt suffered just as much as the rest of the earth did (except that it had grain laid aside, whereas the rest of the world did not), on account of which the statement 'And all the land of Egypt suffered famine' immediately follows.


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