1472、“埃及人看见你”表示由知识、认知或宗教概念构成的记忆知识，当人们看到属天的知识、认知或概念时，其性质就是所描述的样子。这从“埃及”的含义清楚可知，“埃及”是指由知识、认知或宗教概念构成的记忆知识，如前所示（1164-1165，1194-1195，1462节）。由此明显可知“埃及人看见你”这句话表示什么，即：这记忆知识就是本节所描述的样子。由知识、认知或宗教概念构成的记忆知识就具有这种特征；它还有某种属世之物或世俗元素在里面，这一点在孩子刚开始学习时就表现出来了，也就是说，事物越高级，他们就越渴望它们；当他们听说这些事物是属天和神性的时，更是如此。但这种快乐是属世的，是由属于外在人的一种强烈渴望产生的。对其他人来说，这种强烈渴望使他们唯独以由宗教知识或认知构成的记忆知识为乐，却没有任何进一步的目的。而事实上，这种记忆知识，或说对这种知识的研究无非是一种旨在实现某种功用的工具。具体地说，知识或认知可以充当属天和属灵事物的器皿；当服务于这个目的时，它们首先进入功用，并从这功用中获得自己的快乐。
稍加注意，谁都能清楚看出，由知识或认知构成的记忆知识，或宗教知识的储存本身无非是用来使一个人变得理性，然后变得属灵，最后变得属天的一种手段；他的外在人可以通过这些知识或认知与他的内在人联结。当到达这一点时，他就到达功用本身，而内在人只关注功用。出于同样的原因，主也灌输儿童和青少年在记忆知识或学习东西中所体验的快乐。然而，当一个人开始唯独以记忆知识为乐时，一种身体的欲望就会把他带走；他被如此带走，也就是唯独以记忆知识为乐到何等程度，就远离属天之物到何等程度，并且记忆知识或事实也在何等程度上向主关闭自己，并变得物质化。相反，学习记忆知识或事实越是以功用为目的，如为了人类社会，为了主在地上的教会和祂在天上的国度，尤其为了主自己，它们就越向主打开。出于这些原因，天使虽拥有由一切知识或认知构成的记忆知识，或说拥有一切宗教知识，并且他们的知识如此广泛，以至于世人几乎无法理解其万分之一，但与功用相比，他们却视知识为毫无价值，如同虚无。
综上所述，可以看出“埃及人看见你必说，这是他的妻子，他们就要杀我，却叫你存活”这些话表示什么。说这些事是因为，主还是个孩子时就知道这一点，并以这种方式思想，即：如果祂只对由知识、认知或宗教概念构成的记忆知识有一种强烈渴望，并被这种渴望带走，那么这种记忆知识就会具有这种特征：祂不再关心属天事物，只关心知识或认知本身；这时，祂会因获得知识的渴望而被剥夺这知识。我将在下文详细说说这些问题。
注：当从事内在知识的学术研究的人看到知识时，他们往往以亚伯兰所预测的此处埃及人的方式来对待它；他们认识到知识是“妻子” （属天真理），却想杀“亚伯兰”（沉迷于知识是为了知识本身的缘故，而不是为了某种功用）。
New Century Edition
Cooper(2008,2013)
[NCE]1472. And it will happen when the Egyptians see you symbolizes the study of religious concepts; what is being depicted is the turn that study takes when the people who engage in it see heavenly concepts. This is evident from the symbolism of Egypt as the study of religious concepts, which has been demonstrated already [搂搂1164-1165, 1194-1195, 1462]. From this you can tell what "if the Egyptians see" means: that the character of this study is depicted in the present verse.{*1} Such a characteristic is inherent in the knowledge of religious concepts and is an earthly element of it. It asserts itself in young people when they are just starting to learn; the loftier a subject is, the more they want to know about it. When they hear that a subject has heavenly or divine implications, they are still more eager. But the thrill involved is an earthly one and rises out of a craving that belongs to the outer self.
In people other [than the Lord], this craving causes them to find pleasure only in the bare study of religious knowledge, without any other goal. The reality is that the study of such knowledge is merely a kind of tool designed to fulfill a use. To be specific, the knowledge is intended to serve as a vessel for heavenly and spiritual entities. When it serves this purpose, then it first comes into use, and all the pleasure it provides comes from the use of it.
[2] Anyone who pays attention can see that in itself a store of religious knowledge is just a means for becoming rational, then spiritual, and at last heavenly. The knowledge can then bring our outer being into contact with our inner being, and when this happens, our study of it has served its true purpose. The inner self, after all, concerns itself only with that which is useful. For the same reason, the Lord imparts the pleasure that youth and early adulthood discovers in learning things. When we start to put our delight in bare learning, however, it is a bodily desire that carries us away. Insofar as it carries us away 钬?insofar as we find pleasure in mere learning 钬?so far we remove ourselves from heaven, and so far the facts we know shut themselves off from the Lord, to partake of the material world. On the other hand, insofar as we acquire facts for some useful purpose 钬?for the sake of human society, of the Lord's church on earth, of the Lord's kingdom in the heavens, or (most especially) of the Lord himself 钬?so much more do they open up. Angels possess all religious knowledge, and their knowledge is so broad that hardly one part in ten thousand can be passed on to people on earth in an entirely comprehensible way. Yet knowledge itself counts for nothing with angels, compared to the use it can serve.
[3] These considerations indicate what is meant by the words "When the Egyptians see you, they will say, 钬楾his is his wife,' and kill me and keep you alive."
The Lord realized all this when he was young and thought along these lines, which is why I explain the phrase as I do: knowledge is inherently such that if the Lord had been carried away by the naked desire for learning religious concepts, he would have grown indifferent to any heavenly dimensions and cared only for the knowledge itself. And he would then have been robbed of this knowledge by the craving to acquire it.
I will have more to say on this below.{*2}
Footnotes:
{*1} Apparently the reference is to the meaning expounded in 搂搂1471-1474: when people who engage in academic study of inner knowledge "see," they tend to act the way Abram predicts the Egyptians will here; they recognize the knowledge as a "wife" (heavenly truth) and desire it but want to "kill Abram" (indulge in it for its own sake rather than for some useful purpose). [LHC]
{*2} The role of knowledge in the early life of the Lord is discussed throughout the rest of this chapter. [LHC]
Potts(1905-1910) 1472
1472. And it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee. That this signifies the memory-knowledge of knowledges, which is described as to what it is when they see celestial knowledges, is evident from the signification of "Egypt," which is the memory-knowledge of knowledges, as before shown; and from this it is evident what is signified by the words "when the Egyptians see," namely, that this memory-knowledge is such as is described in this verse. The memory-knowledge of knowledges is attended with this, and it is something natural in it, as is manifested in children when they first begin to learn, namely, that the higher things are, the more they desire them; and still more when they hear that they are celestial and Divine. But this delight is natural, and arises from a desire that is of the external man. With other men this desire causes them to feel delight in the mere memory-knowledge of knowledges, without any further end; when yet the memory-knowledge of knowledges is nothing but an instrumental agency having for its end a use, namely, that the knowledges may serve celestial and spiritual things as vessels; and when they are thus serving, they are then for the first time in their use, and receive from the use their delight. Anyone can see, if he pays attention, that in itself the memory-knowledge of knowledges is nothing but a means whereby a man may become rational, and thence spiritual, and at last celestial; and that by means of the knowledges his external man may be adjoined to his internal; and when this is done, he is in the use itself. The internal man regards nothing but the use. For the sake of this end also, the Lord insinuates the delight that childhood and youth perceives in memory-knowledges. But when a man begins to make his delight consist in memory-knowledge alone, it is a bodily cupidity which carries him away, and in proportion as he is thus carried away (that is, makes his delight consist in mere memory-knowledge), in the same proportion he removes himself from what is celestial, and in the same proportion do the memory-knowledges close themselves toward the Lord, and become material. But in proportion as the memory-knowledges are learned with the end of use,-as for the sake of human society, for the sake of the Lord's church on earth, for the sake of the Lord's kingdom in the heavens, and still more for the Lord's own sake,-the more are they opened toward Him. On this account also the angels, who are in the memory-knowledge of all knowledges, and indeed to such a degree that scarcely one part in ten thousand can be presented to the full apprehension of man, yet esteem such knowledge as nothing in comparison with use. From what has been said it may be seen what is signified by the words, "When the Egyptians shall see thee, they will say, This is his wife; and they will kill me, and will make thee to live." These things were said because the Lord when a child knew this and thought in this way, namely, that if He should be carried away by a mere desire for the memory-knowledge of knowledges, this memory-knowledge is of such a character that it would care no more for celestial things, but only for the knowledges [cognitiones] which the desire for memory-knowledge would carry away. On these subjects more follows.
Elliott(1983-1999) 1472
1472. That 'it will be, when the Egyptians see you' means knowledge comprised of cognitions, it being the nature of that knowledge when celestial cognitions are seen that is described, becomes clear from the meaning of 'Egypt' as knowledge comprised of cognitions, as shown already And from this what the words 'if the Egyptians see you' mean may become clear, namely that this knowledge is such as is described in the present verse Such is the case with knowledge comprised of cognitions; and it has also a certain naturalness within it, as is manifested in children when they first start to learn - that is to say, the higher things are, the more they desire them; and all the more so when they hear that these things are celestial and Divine. But this delight is natural and arises from a strong desire that belongs to the external man With others that strong desire causes them to take delight solely in knowledge comprised of cognitions, without any other end in view; yet that knowledge is nothing else than a certain means that exists to achieve an end, which is use. That is to say, cognitions exist to serve as vessels for celestial and spiritual things, and when they are performing that service, for the first time they have a use, and from that use receive their delight. It may become clear to anyone, if he pays the matter any attention, that in itself the knowledge comprised of cognitions exists for no other reason than that a person should become rational, and from that become spiritual, and at length celestial, and that by means of those cognitions his external man may be allied to his internal. When this point is reached he has arrived at the use itself, the internal man having nothing else than uses in view. For the sake of the same end also the Lord instills the delight that childhood and youth experience in forms of knowledge. When however a person begins to take delight in knowledge alone, it is a bodily desire that carries him away; and to the extent it carries him away, that is, to the extent he takes delight in knowledge alone, to the same extent does he move away from what is celestial, and to the same extent do the facts he knows close themselves up in the Lord's direction and become materially inclined. But insofar as facts are learned with a view to use - such as for the sake of human society, for the sake of the Lord's Church on earth, for the sake of the Lord's kingdom in heaven, and still more for the sake of the Lord Himself - the more they are opened out towards Him. For these reasons also the angels, who possess the knowledge that is comprised of all cognitions - having so full a possession of it that scarcely one ten thousandth part of what they know can be presented to man's entire mental grasp - nevertheless place no value at all in knowledge when compared with use. These considerations show what is meant by the words, 'when the Egyptians see you they will say, This is his wife, and they will slay me and let you live'. It is because the Lord when He was a boy knew this and thought in this way, that these things have been stated, namely that if He were to be carried away by a strong desire for nothing else than the knowledge that is comprised of cognitions, this knowledge would be such that He would have no interest any more in celestial things but only in the cognitions which that strong desire for knowledge would seize upon. More regarding these matters follows below.
Latin(1748-1756) 1472
1472. 'Et erit, cum viderint te Aegyptii': quod significet scientiam cognitionum, quae describitur qualis est cum cognitiones caelestes vident, constare potest a significatione 'Aegypti' quod sit scientia cognitionum, ut prius ostensum; et inde quid significet 'si viderint Aegyptii,' quod nempe talis sit qualis describitur in hoc versu; scientia cognitionum hoc secum habet; et est quoddam naturale quod inest; etiam manifestatur apud pueros cum primum incipiunt discere; nempe quo altiora sunt eo magis (x)cupiunt, cumque audiunt quod caelestia et Divina, adhuc magis; sed hoc jucundum est naturale, et oritur a cupidine quae est externi hominis: haec cupido facit apud homines alios quod jucundum modo ponant in scientia cognitionum absque alio fine, cum tamen scientia cognitionum non aliud sit quam quoddam instrumentale, ob finem usus ut nempe inserviant caelestibus et spiritualibus pro vasis, et tunc primum cum inserviunt, sunt in usu, et jucundum suum ab usu accipiunt: unicuique constare potest si attendit, quod scientia cognitionum in se nihil aliud sit quam ut homo fiat rationalis, et inde spiritualis, et tandem caelestis, et per illas externus ejus homo adjungatur interno, quod cum fit, est in ipso usu; internus homo nihil spectat nisi usus; ob illum finem etiam insinuat Dominus jucundum quod percipit pueritia et adolescentia in scientiis; cum autem homo incipit jucundum ponere sola scientia, est cupiditas corporea quae aufert, et in quantum aufert seu ponit in sola scientia, in tantum removet se a caelesti et in tantum scientifica se claudunt versus Dominum et fiunt materialia; quantum vero scientifica addiscuntur ob finem usus, ut propter societatem humanam, propter Ecclesiam Domini in terris, propter regnum Domini in caelis, et magis propter Dominum, eo magis aperiuntur; quare etiam angeli, qui in scientia omnium cognitionum sunt, et quidem tali ut vix una pars myriadis possit tradi ad plenum captum hominis, usque scientias pro nihilo aestimant respective ad usum. Ex his constare potest quid significatur per haec, 'cum viderint te Aegyptii, et dicent, Uxor illius haec, et occident me, et te vivificabunt: hoc quia novit Dominus cum Puer et ita cogitavit, haec dicta sunt, nempe si a sola cupidine scientiae cognitionum auferretur, quod tunc scientia talis sit, ut caelestia non magis curet, sed modo cognitiones, quas cupido scientiae auferret: de his sequuntur plura.