In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt swear to Jehovah of Hosts. In that day shall there be an altar to Jehovah in the midst of the land of Egypt; then shall Jehovah be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know Jehovah in that day (Isa. 19:18-21). In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt into Assyria, that Assyria may come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, and the Egyptians may serve with Assyria. In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the land; whom Jehovah of Hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel Mine inheritance (Isa. 19:23-25). Egypt there is the natural, Assyria is the rational, and Israel is the spiritual; these three make the man of the church. Hence the king of Egypt was called "the son of the wise," "the son of the kings of antiquity"; and Egypt was called "the cornerstone of the tribes" (Isaiah 19:11, 13); and it is said of Solomon that:

His wisdom excelled the wisdom of the Egyptians (1 Kings 4:30). And that he took pharaoh's daughter to wife, and brought her into the city of David (1 Kings 3:1). And that he built Pharaoh's daughter a house near the porch (1 Kings 7:8). [2] For the same reason also:

Joseph was carried into Egypt, and was there made the ruler over all the land (Gen. 41:37-57). Since "Egypt" signified the natural man as to the affection of truth and thence science and intelligence, therefore:

Joseph, the husband of Mary, being warned of an angel, departed into Egypt with the infant Lord (Matt. 2:14, 15). According to the prediction:

When Israel was a boy then I loved him, and called My son out of Egypt (Hos. 11:1). Thou hast caused a vine to come out of Egypt, Thou hast planted it, and didst cause it to take deep root (Ps. 80:8, 9). For man is born natural, becomes rational, and afterwards spiritual, thus the vine out of Egypt is planted and takes root. For the sake of this representation also:

Abraham journeyed into Egypt (Gen. 12:10, and following verses). And Jacob was commanded to go with his sons into Egypt, and also abode there (Gen. 46 and following chapters). Thence, also, the land of Canaan, by which the church is signified, is described as to its extent:

As far as the river of Egypt (Gen. 15:18; 1 Kings 4:21; Micah 7:12). And Egypt is compared:

To the garden of Eden, the garden of God (Ezek. 31:2, 8; Gen. 13:10). And the sciences of the natural man are called:

The desirable things of Egypt (Dan. 11:43). And fine linen in needlework from Egypt (Ezek. 27:7; besides other passages, where Egypt is favorably spoken of; as in Isa. 27:12-13; Ezek. 29:13-16; 31:1-18; Hos. 11:11; Zech. 10:10-11; 14:16-18; Ps. 68:31-32; Isa. 19:23-24). [3] But "Egypt" in the opposite sense signifies the natural man separated from the spiritual, and then the pride of his own intelligence, and thence insanity in spiritual things, in these passages:

Because the heart of Pharaoh is lifted up in his height, and he hath put his top among the thick boughs, strangers shall cut him off, and cast him down. In the day that thou shalt go down into hell, I will cover the deep over him, and thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised (Ezek. 31:10, 18). The foundations of Egypt shall be overturned; the pride of his strength shall come down; and his cities shall be devastated in the midst of the desolate cities. I will give fire in Egypt, and I will disperse Egypt among the nations, and scatter them in the lands (Ezek. 30:1 to the end). Woe to them that go down into Egypt for help, and look not to the Holy One of Israel; for Egypt is man, and not God; and its horses are flesh and not spirit (Isa. 31:1, 3). Egypt ascendeth as a river; it saith, I will ascend, I will cover the earth, and I will destroy: come up, ye horses; rage, ye chariots; the sword shall devour you, and shall be made drunk with blood; there is no healing to thee (Jer. 46:2, 8-11). How say ye to Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, and the son of the kings of antiquity? where now are thy wise men? let them know: the princes of Zoan have become foolish; they have seduced Egypt, the cornerstone of the tribes; there shall be no work for Egypt, that it may make the head and the tail (Isa. 19:1-17). Prophesy against Egypt: O great whale, that liest in the midst of thy rivers; because he hath said, The river is mine, and I have made it myself; therefore I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will make the fish of thy rivers to stick to thy scales, and I will leave thee in the wilderness: and therefore shall the land of Egypt become a desert and a waste (Ezek. 29:1-12). Besides other places, as Isa. 30:2, 7; Jer. 2:17, 28, 36; 42:13-18; Ezek. 16:26, 28-29; 23:2-33; Hos. 7:11, 13, 16; 9:1, 3, 6; 11:5; 12:1; Joel 3:19; Lam. 5:2, 4, 6, 8; Deut. 17:16; 1 Kings 14:25, 26; 2 Kings 18:21. [4] Because the Egyptians had become such, therefore they were devastated as to all the goods and truths of the church. Their devastations are described by the miracles performed there, which were plagues, and signified so many lusts of the natural man separated from the spiritual, which acts solely from one's own intelligence and the pride thereof. The plagues significative of his lusts were that:

The waters in the river were turned into blood, insomuch that the fish died, and the river stank (Exod. 7:17-18). That from the rivers and pools frogs were produced over the land of Egypt; that the dust of the earth was turned into lice; that swarms of noxious flies were sent (Exod. 8:3-4, 17-18). That boils breaking forth with pustules were brought upon man and beast; that it rained hail mingled with fire (Exod. 9:8-10). That locusts were sent; that there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt (Exod. 10:4-6, 13-15). That all the first-born in the land of Egypt died (Rev. 11:4-6). And, finally, that the Egyptians were drowned in the Red Sea (Exod. 14:28). By these hell is signified. What these things specifically signify, may be seen in The Arcana Coelestia, where they are explained. Hence it is evident, what is meant by "the plagues and diseases of Egypt" (Deut. 7:15; 28:60); what by "being drowned by the river of Egypt" (Amos 8:8; 9:5); and whence it is that Egypt is called "the land of bondage" (Micah 6:4); "the land of Ham" (Ps. 106:22); also "the iron furnace" (Deut. 4:20; 1 Kings 8:51). [5] The reason why "Egypt" signifies not only intelligence but also insanity in spiritual things, is because the Ancient Church, which extended through many kingdoms of Asia, was also in Egypt, at which time the Egyptians excelled all others in cultivating the science of correspondences between spiritual things and natural, as appears from their hieroglyphics. But when that science was turned by them into magic, and became idolatrous, then their intelligence in things spiritual became insanity; for which reason, "Egypt," in the opposite sense, signifies such insanity. From what has been said, it may now be seen, what is meant by "the great city which is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt."