5886.“就是你们所卖到埃及的”表他们所疏远的内在。这从约瑟的代表和“卖”的含义清楚可知：约瑟，即他们所卖的那个人，是指内在（参看5805，5826，5827节）；“卖”是指疏远（4752，4758节）。“埃及”在此表示最低部分，如下文所述（5889节）。因为在记忆知识中间讲述某个主题，却没有对它的任何承认，就是将它抛到边缘，因而抛到心智的最后或最低部分。这也是当今人之内在的情形。诚然，这个主题存在于记忆知识中间，因为宗教教义提供内在人存在的知识。然而，这种知识却被抛到心智的最低部分，因为它得不到承认和相信；因此，它被疏远了，虽没有与记忆疏远，却与信仰疏远了。就内义而言，“卖”是指疏远信与仁的事物，因而疏远使得一个人成为内在教会成员的事物；这一点从以下事实可以看出来：灵界没有诸如世上那样的买卖。相反，在那里，“买”表示将良善与真理变成人自己的，“卖”表示对它们的疏远。“买”也表示良善与真理的知识或认知的交流，因为“买卖或交易”表示对这些知识或认知的获得和交流（2967，4453节）；但在这种情况下，卖可以说是通过“银子”来完成的。
“卖”表示疏远，这层含义从以下圣言经文明显可知。以赛亚书：
耶和华如此说，我休你们的母亲，休书在哪里呢？我将你们卖给我哪一个债主呢？看哪，你们被卖，是因你们的罪孽；你们的母亲被休，是因你们的过犯。（以赛亚书50:1）
“母亲”表示教会；“卖”疏远。以西结书：
时候到了，日子近了，买主不可欢喜，卖主不可愁烦，因为烈怒已经临到他们众人身上。卖主的生命虽在活人中间，却不能得回所卖的。（以西结书7:12，13）
这论及“以色列地”，就是属灵教会；“卖主”表示疏远真理，巧妙引入虚假的人。
约珥书：
你们
将犹大人和耶路撒冷人卖给希腊人，使他们远离自己的境界。看哪，必激动他们离开你们把他们卖去的地方，我必将你们的儿女卖在犹大人的手中，犹大人必将他们卖给示巴人，卖给远方的人民。（约珥书3:6-8）
这论及推罗和西顿；“卖”在此也表示疏远。摩西五经：
若不是他们的磐石卖了他们，若不是耶和华使他们闭嘴。（申命记32:30）
“卖”明显表示疏远；“磐石”在至高意义上是指真理方面的主，在代表意义上是指信仰；“耶和华”是指良善方面的主。
由于“买”在灵义上是指为自己获得，“卖”是指疏远，所以在马太福音中，主将天国比作买卖人：
天国好像宝贝藏在田地里，人遇见了就把它藏起来，欢欢喜喜地去变卖一切所有的，买这块田地。天国又好像买卖人寻找好珠子，遇见一颗极贵重的珠子，就去变卖他一切所有的，把它买下来。（马太福音13:44-46）
“天国”表示与人同在的良善与真理，因而表示与他同在的天堂；“田地”表示良善；“珠子”表示真理；“买”表示获得这些，并把它们变成人自己的；“变卖他一切所有的”表示疏远以前人自己的东西，因而疏远邪恶与虚假，因为这些是人自己的。
路加福音：
耶稣对年轻的官说，你还缺少一件：要变卖你一切所有的，分给穷人，就必有财宝在天上；你还要来跟从我。（路加福音18:22）
就内义而言，这些话表示人自己的一切无非是邪恶与虚假，必须疏远，因为这些事物，或说这类欲望和观念就是他“一切所有的”；然后，他将从主领受良善和真理，也就是“天上的财宝”。
这话与路加福音中别处所说的相似：
你们要变卖资财来施舍，为自己预备永不坏的钱囊，用不尽的财宝在天上。（路加福音12:33）
谁都能看出，除了字义外，这些话另有含义，因为“变卖资财”会使自己沦为乞丐，使自己丧失进一步实践仁爱的任何机会，更何况人不可避免地将功德置于其中；而且天堂里既有穷人，也有富人，这也是一个不不变的事实。除了字义外，包含在这些里的其它含义如刚才所述。
由于“卖”表示疏远教会的事物，故规定了以下律法：
从被掳的女子中所娶的妻若不讨人喜悦，就要由她随意出去，决不可为银钱卖她，从她获利，因为你玷污了她。（申命记21:14）
“从被掳的女子中所娶的妻”表示外来的，而非来自正统的真理，然而这真理能以某种方式与存在于人里面的教会良善联结；然而，这真理若在许多方面不一致，就会被移除或分离，但不会被疏远，因为它已在某种程度上与那良善联结。这就是该律法的灵义。
还有这条律法：
若发现人拐带以色列人中的一个弟兄的灵魂，在他身上谋利，卖了他，那贼就必处死。这样，便将那恶从你们中间除掉。（申命记24:7）
“拐带以色列人的贼”表示那些为自己获得教会真理，不是以照之生活，因而发自内心教导它们为目的，而是心怀利用这些真理为自己谋取私利的意图之人；经上说“他就必处死”表示这样一个盗贼会受到诅咒。
Potts(1905-1910) 5886
5886. Whom ye sold into Egypt. That this signifies the internal which they had alienated, is evident from the representation of Joseph, who is "he whom they sold," as being the internal (see n. 5805, 5826, 5827); and from the signification of "selling," as being to alienate (n. 4752, 4758). By "Egypt" is here signified things lowest (as below, n. 5889); for to account anything among memory-knowledges without acknowledgment is to cast it out to the sides, thus to ultimate or lowest things. This also is the case with man's internal at this day. This is indeed one of the memory-knowledges, because it is known from doctrine that there is an internal man, but it has been rejected to lowest things, because it is not acknowledged and believed; so that it has been alienated, not indeed from the memory, but from faith. That in the internal sense "to sell" is to alienate the things of faith and charity, consequently those which make a man of the internal church, may be seen from the fact that in the spiritual world there is no buying or selling such as there is on earth, but the appropriation of good and truth which is signified by "buying," and the alienation of them which is signified by "selling." By "selling" is also signified the communication of the knowledges of good and of truth, for the reason that by "trading" is signified the procuring and communication of these knowledges (n. 2967, 4453), but in this case the selling is said to be "not by silver." [2] That "to sell" denotes alienation is evident from the following passages in the Word. In Isaiah:
Thus hath said Jehovah, Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have sent away? or who is there of My usurers to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your sins ye have been sold, and for your transgressions has your mother been sent away (Isa. 50:1);
"mother" denotes the church; and "selling," to alienate. In Ezekiel:
The time is come, the day is come near; let not the buyer be glad, and let not the seller mourn; for wrath is upon all the multitude thereof. For the seller shall not return to the thing that is sold, though their life be yet among the living (Ezek. 7:12, 13);
speaking of the "land of Israel," which is the spiritual church; the "seller" denotes him who had alienated truths and had insinuated falsities. [3] In Joel:
The sons of Judah and the sons of Jerusalem have ye sold to the sons of the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their borders. Behold I will stir them up out of the place whither ye have sold them, and I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the sons of Judah, who shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off (Joel 3:6-8);
speaking of Tyre and Sidon; "to sell" here also denotes to alienate. In Moses:
Their Rock hath sold them, and Jehovah hath shut them up (Deut. 32:30);
"to sell" plainly denotes to alienate; "rock" in the supreme sense is the Lord as to truth, in the representative sense it is faith; "Jehovah" is the Lord as to good. [4] As in the spiritual sense "to buy" is to procure for oneself, and "to sell" is to alienate, therefore the kingdom of heaven is compared by the Lord to one who sells and buys, in Matthew:
The kingdom of the heavens is like unto a treasure hidden in the field; which when found, a man hideth, and in his joy he goeth away and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like unto a merchant man seeking beauteous pearls; who when he had found one precious pearl, went away and sold all that he had, and bought it (Matt. 13:44-46);
"the kingdom of the heavens" denotes the good and the truth with man, thus heaven with him; "field" denotes good; and "pearl," truth; "to buy" denotes to procure and appropriate these to himself; "to sell all that he hath," denotes to alienate his own which he had before, thus evils and falsities, for these are of one's own. [5] In Luke:
Jesus said unto the young prince, Yet lackest thou one thing; sell all that thou hast, and distribute to the poor, then wilt thou have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me (Luke 18:22);
in the internal sense by these words is meant that all things of his own, which are nothing but evils and falsities, must be alienated, for these things are "all that he hath;" and that he should then receive goods and truths from the Lord, which are "treasure in heaven." [6] In like manner what is said in the same:
Sell your means, and give alms; make you purses that wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not (Luke 12:33); everyone sees that there is another sense in these words, because for anyone to sell his means would be at this day to make himself a beggar, and to deprive himself of all capacity any longer to exercise charity, besides being unable to avoid placing merit therein; and it is an established truth that there are rich in heaven as well as poor. The other sense which is within these words is that which was told just above. [7] As "to sell" signified to alienate the things of the church, it was therefore the law that:
A wife married from the female captives, if she did not please, should be sent away whither she would, but should not in any case be sold for silver, and no profit be made of her, because he had afflicted her (Deut. 21:14);
a "wife from the female captives" denotes alien truth not from a genuine stock, but which may be adjoined in some way with the good of the church appertaining to man; yet this truth if in some respects not in agreement may be removed, but not alienated, because it has been in some measure conjoined. This is the spiritual meaning of this law. [8] So with the following law:
If a man be found who hath stolen a soul of his brethren of the sons of Israel, and hath made gain therein, and hath sold him, the thief shall be killed, that thou mayest put away the evil from the midst of thee (Deut. 24:7);
"thieves of the sons of Israel" denote those who acquire for themselves the truths of the church, not with the end of living according to them, and thus teaching them from the heart, but of making profit for themselves thereby: that such a thief is damned is signified by its being said that "he shall die."
Elliott(1983-1999) 5886
5886. 'Whom you sold into Egypt' means the internal which they had alienated. This is clear from the representation of Joseph, the one whom they had 'sold', as the internal, dealt with in 5805, 5826, 5827; from the meaning of 'selling' as alienating, dealt with in 4752, 4758, while 'Egypt' here means the lowest parts, as it does below in 5889. For placing some subject among the facts one knows without any acknowledgement of it is casting it to the sides, thus to the last or lowest parts of the mind. This is also how it is at the present day with the subject of the internal in the human being. The subject exists, it is true, among known facts because religious teaching provides knowledge of the existence of the internal man. Yet it is cast away to the lowest parts of the mind because there is no acknowledgement of it or belief in its existence, as a result of which it is alienated, not, it is true, from the memory but from faith. In the internal sense 'selling' is alienating matters of faith and charity, consequently the things that make a person a member of the internal Church, as may be recognized from the fact that in the spiritual world no buying or selling like that on earth takes place. Instead there is the making one's own of goodness and truth, meant by 'buying', and the alienation of them, meant by 'selling'. 'Buying' also means a communication of cognitions of goodness and truth, for the reason that 'trade' means the acquisition and communication of such cognitions, 2967, 4453; but in this case selling is said to be done 'not by silver'.
[2] The meaning of 'selling' as alienating is also evident from the following places in the Word: In Isaiah,
Thus said Jehovah, Where is your mother's bill of divorce, whom I have put away? Or who of My usurers is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, because of your sins you have been sold, and because of your transgressions your mother has been put away. Isa 50:1.
'Mother' stands for the Church, 'selling' for alienating. In Ezekiel,
The time has come, the day has arrived. Do not let the buyer rejoice, and do not let the seller mourn, because wrath is on the whole multitude of it. For the seller will not return to the thing that has been sold, though his life may still be among the living ones. Ezek 7:12, 13.
This refers to the land of Israel, which is the spiritual Church. 'The seller stands for one who has alienated truths and subtly introduced falsities.
[3] In Joel,
You have sold the sons of Judah and the sons of Jerusalem to the sons of the Greeks, so that you might remove them far away from their borders. Behold, I will raise them up out of the place to which you have sold them. And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hands of the sons of Judah, who will sell them to the Sabeans,a a people far off. Joel 3:6-8.
In this reference to Tyre and Sidon 'selling' again stands for alienating. In Moses,
Their rock sold them, and Jehovah shut them up. Deut 32:30.
'Selling' plainly stands for alienating. In the highest sense 'rock' is the Lord as regards truth, and in the representative sense faith, while Jehovah' is the Lord as regards good.
[4] Since 'buying' in the spiritual sense is acquiring to oneself and 'selling' is alienating, the Lord compares the kingdom of heaven to one selling and buying, in Matthew,
The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man (homo) finds and hides, and in his joy he goes and sells whatever he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a trader seeking fine pearls, who, when he has found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. Matt 13:44-46.
'The kingdom of heaven' stands for the good and truth present with a person, and so for heaven present with him. 'Field' stands for good and 'pearl' for truth, while 'buying' stands for acquiring these and making them one's own. 'Selling all that one has' stands for alienating that which previously was properly one's own, thus alienating evil desires and false ideas, for these are properly one's own.
[5] In Luke,
Jesus said to the young ruler, You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, then you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me. Luke 18:22.
In the internal sense these words mean that everything completely a person's own, which consists of nothing but evil desires and false ideas, ought to be alienated from him, for such desires and ideas are meant by 'all that he has', and then he will receive from the Lord good desires and true ideas, which are 'treasure in heaven'.
[6] This is similar to what is said elsewhere in the same gospel,
Sell your resources and give alms; make for yourselves money bags that do not grow old, a treasure that does not fail in heaven. Luke 12:33.
Anyone can see that this verse holds a meaning other than the literal one. For at the present day 'selling one's resources' would be making oneself a beggar, and depriving oneself of any further opportunity to exercise charity, quite apart from the fact that one would inevitably regard such a course of action as being meritorious. Also it is an invariable truth that there are rich people in heaven as well as poor ones. The meaning other than the literal one contained in this verse is what was stated just above.
[7] Since 'selling' meant alienating what belonged to the Church the following law was therefore laid down,
If a man was not pleased with a wife he had taken from among women captives, she was to be set apart from him. She should certainly not however be sold for silver; no gain was to be made out of her, because he had caused her distress. Deut 21:14.
'A wife taken from among women captives' stands for truth that is foreign, not from a genuine stock, yet can be linked in some way to the good of the Church present in a person. If however that truth proves to, be in many respects incompatible it can be separated; but it cannot be alienated since it has been joined in some way to that good. This is the spiritual meaning of that law.
[8] There was also this law,
If there is found a man who has stolen a soul from his brothers, from the children of Israel, and has made profit on him, and has sold him, that thief shall be killed, so that you remove evil from the midst of you. Deut 24:7.
'Those who steal the children of Israel' stands for those who acquire the truths of the Church, not with the intention of living according to them and thus teaching them from their hearts, but with the intention of using those truths for personal profit. The damnation of such a person is meant by 'he shall be killed'.
Latin(1748-1756) 5886
5886. `Quem vendidistis me Aegyptum': quod significet internum quod abalienaverint, constat a repraesentatione `Josephi' qui est `quem vendiderunt', quod sit internum, de qua n. 5805, 5826, 5827; a significatione `vendere' quod sit abalienare, de qua n. 4752, 4758; per `Aegyptum' hic significantur infima, ut infra n. 5889, nam referre aliquid inter scientifica absque agnitione, est ejicere ad latera, ita ad ultima seu infima; ita quoque se habet cum interno hominis hodie; hoc inter scientifica quidem est quia scitur ex doctrinali quod internus homo sit, sed rejectum est ad infima quia non agnoscitur et creditur, ita ut abalienatum {1}sit, non quidem e memoria, sed a fide. Quod vendere in sensu {2}interno sit abalienare illa quae fidei et charitatis sunt, proinde illa quae faciunt internae (t)Ecclesiae hominem, constare potest ex eo quod in mundo spirituali non sit emptio et venditio {3}qualis in terra, sed appropriatio boni et veri {4}quae per `emptionem', et abalienatio eorum quae per `venditionem', significatur; per `venditionem' etiam significatur communicatio cognitionum boni et veri, ex causa quia per `negotiationem' significatur cognitionum illorum comparatio et communicatio, n. 2967, 4453, sed tunc venditio dicitur non per argentum. [2] Quod `vendere' sit abalienatio, patet etiam ab his locis in Verbo: apud Esaiam, Sic dixit Jehovah, Ubi libellus repudii matris vestrae, quam dimiserim? aut quis est de usurariis Meis, cui vendiderim vos? ecce ob peccata vestra venditi estis, et ob praevaricationes vestras dimissa est mater vestra, 1 I;`mater' pro Ecclesia, `vendere' pro abalienare: apud Ezechielem, Venit tempus, advenit dies, emptor ne laetetur, et non venditor lugeat; quia excandescentia super omni multitudine ejus; nam venditor ad rem venditam non redibit, licet inter vivos adhuc vita illorum, vii 12, 13;
de terra Israelis, {5}quae est Ecclesia spiritualis; `venditor' pro qui abalienaverat vera et insinuaverat falsa: [3] apud Joelem, Filios Jehudae et filios Hierosolymae vendidistis filiis Graecorum, ut longe removeretis eos a terminis eorum. Ecce Ego excitabo illos e loco quo vendidistis illos; . . . et vendam filios vestros, et filias vestras in manum filiorum Jehudae, qui vendent eos Sebaitis, populo longinquo, iv [A.V. iii] 6-8;
de Tyro et Sidone, `vendere' etiam pro abalienare: apud Mosen, Petra eorum vendidit illos, et Jehovah conclusit illos, [Deut.] xxxii 30;
`vendere' manifeste pro abalienare; `petra' in (t)supremo sensu est Dominus quoad verum, in repraesentativo est fides; Jehovah est Dominus quoad bonum. [4] Quia `emere' est sibi comparare et `vendere' est abalienare in sensu spirituali, ideo a Domino regnum caelorum comparatur (t)vendenti et ementi, apud Matthaeum, Simile est regnum caelorum thesauro abscondito in agro, quem repertum homo abscondit, et prae gaudio suo abit, et omnia quaecumque habet, vendit, et emit agrum illum. Rursus simile est Regnum caelorum homini negotiatori quaerenti pulchras margaritas; qui cum invenisset unam pretiosam margaritam, abiit, et vendidit omnia quae habuit, et emit illam, xiii 44-46; regnum caelorum pro bono et vero apud hominem, ita pro caelo apud illum, `ager' pro bono et `margarita' pro vero; `emere{6}' pro comparare et appropriare sibi illa, `vendere omnia quae habet' pro abalienare proprium quod illi prius, ita mala et falsa, nam haec proprii sunt: [5] apud Lucam, Jesus ad juvenem principem: Adhuc unum tibi deest, omnia quae habes, vende, et distribue pauperibus; tunc habebis thesaurum in caelo; et veni, sequere Me, xviii 22;
in sensu interno per illa verba intelligitur quod {7}omnia propria sua, quae non sunt nisi quam mala et falsa, abalienari debeant, nam illa sunt `omnia quae habet', et quod tunc bona et vera accepturus sit a Domino, quae sunt `thesaurus in caelo': [6] similiter quae apud eundem, Vendite facultates vestras, et date eleemosynam; facite vobis crumenas non veterascentes, thesaurum non deficientem in caelis, xii 33;
quisque videt quod alius sensus his inest, {8}quia `vendere suas facultates' foret hodie mendicantem se facere, deprivare se omni facultate amplius charitatem exercendi, praeter quod non possit quin meritum ponatur in eo, et constans veritas est quod tam divites in caelo sint quam pauperes; sensus ille alius qui inest, est qui mox supra dictus. [7] Quia `vendere' significabat abalienare illa quae Ecclesiae, ideo lex quod Uxor e feminis captivis ducta, si non placuerit, dimitteretur sibi ipsi, vendendo autem non venderetur pro argento, non lucrum fieret ex illa, pro eo quod afflixerit illam, Deut. xxi 14; `uxor ex feminis captivis{9}' pro vero alieno non ex genuina stirpe, quod tamen adjungi aliquo modo potest cum bono Ecclesiae apud illum, hoc tamen si in pluribus non congruit, potest removeri, non autem abalienari, quia aliquo modo conjunctum fuit; hoc spirituale hujus legis est: [8] etiam haec lex, Si invenietur vir qui furatus animam de fratribus suis, de filiis Israelis, et quaestum fecerit in eo, et vendiderit illum, occidetur fur hic, ut removeas malum e medio tui, Deut. xxiv 7; `fures filiorum Israelis' pro illis qui acquirunt sibi vera Ecclesiae, non fine vivendi secundum illa et ex corde sic docendi illa, sed quaestum sibi faciendi per illa; quod is damnatus sit, significatur per quod `occidetur'. @1 est$ @2 spirituali$ @3 sicut$ @4 quod$ @5 hoc est, Ecclesiae spiritualis vastatione$ @6 i illa$ @7 omnia sua seu propria$ @8 quoniam (?) vendere omnia sua et dare pauperibus, quia hoc non est via ad salutem, qui hoc facit, nec potest, quin meritum ponat in eo et quia se deprivat omni facultate charitatem exercendi, praeter quod mendicaret, et forte fame periret, nam$ @9 i ducta$