Spiritual Meaning of GENESIS 30:22-24
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AC 3965. Verses 22-24. And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb. And she conceived, and bare a son, and said, God hath gathered my reproach. And she called his name Joseph, saying, Let Jehovah add to me another son. "And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her," signifies foresight and providence; "and opened her womb," signifies the capacity to receive and acknowledge; "and she conceived, and bare a son," signifies reception and acknowledgment; "and said, God hath gathered my reproach; and she called his name Joseph, saying, Let Jehovah add to me another son," signifies in the supreme sense the Lord as to the Divine spiritual; in the internal sense, the spiritual kingdom, or the good of faith; and in the external sense, salvation, also fructification and multiplication.

AC 3966. And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her. That this signifies foresight and providence, is evident from the signification of " remembering," when as here predicated of God, as being foresight, for "remembering" is looking toward anyone and that in the supreme sense to see" is foresight may be seen above (n. 3863) and from the signification of " hearkening to" anyone, when predicated of God, as being providence (n. 3869).

AC 3967. And opened her womb. That this signifies the capacity to receive and acknowledge, is evident from the signification of "opening the womb," as being to give capacity to conceive and bring forth; thus in the internal sense the capacity to receive and acknowledge, namely, the goods of truth and the truths of good. That "conceiving and bringing forth" denote reception and acknowledgment, has been repeatedly shown above.

AC 3968. And she conceived, and bare a son. That this signifies reception and acknowledgment, may be seen above (n. 3919, 3925, 3955, 3959).

AC 3969. And said, God hath gathered my reproach. And she called his name Joseph, saying, Let Jehovah add to me another son. That this signifies in the supreme sense the Lord as to the Divine spiritual; in the internal sense, the spiritual kingdom, or the good of faith; and in the external sense, salvation, also fructification and multiplication, is evident from the representation of Joseph in the Word; and from the signification of " God hath gathered my reproach," and also of " Let Jehovah add to me another son;" for he was named "Joseph" from "gathering" and "adding." "God hath gathered my reproach," signifies that Rachel was now no longer barren, and thus was not "dead," as she said of herself to Jacob (verse 1), (n. 3908). For by Rachel is represented the affection of interior truth, or the interior man as to truth (n. 3758, 3782, 3793, 3819). The interior man is as it were dead as to truth and good, if the exterior or natural man does not correspond to it in respect to goods and truths (n. 3493, 3620, 3623).

[2] These must be conjoined with each other, so as to be not two, but together one man. This conjunction cannot come forth until the natural or external man has been prepared, that is, until it has received and acknowledged the general truths signified by the ten sons of Jacob by Leah and the handmaids; and until the good of the natural man has been conjoined with the truths therein, which conjunction is signified by the last son of Jacob by Leah, namely, by Zebulun, who was so called from "dwelling together" (n. 3960, 3961). After this conjunction has been effected, the interior man and the exterior enter into the heavenly marriage, spoken of above (n. 3952). The reason why they do not enter into it before, is a great secret for it is the good of the interior man which then conjoins itself with the good of the exterior, and by means of this with the truth therein; and likewise the good of the interior man by means of the affection of the truth therein, conjoins itself with the good of the exterior man, and also with the truth therein; thus immediately and mediately. Concerning immediate and mediate conjunction, (n. 3314, 3573, 3616). As the interior man is then first conjoined with the exterior, and as before this conjunction has been effected the interior man is as it were null, and thus is as it were dead, it is therefore said, "God hath gathered my reproach." This then is what is signified by the "reproach" which God is said to have "gathered," that is, to have taken away, or from which He is said to have delivered her.

[3] But by the words which follow: "Let Jehovah add to another son," from which Joseph was named, another arcanum is signified, which is this. By Joseph there is represented the Lord’s spiritual kingdom, thus the spiritual man for this kingdom is in every spiritual man. There are two things that constitute the spiritual man, namely, charity and faith; or what is the same, good and truth. The charity from which is faith, or the good from which is truth, is that which is represented by Joseph; and the faith in which is charity, or the truth in which is good, is that which is signified by "another son," and is represented by Benjamin, concerning whom in (Gen. 35:16-18). Thus "Joseph" is the celestial spiritual man; and "Benjamin" the spiritual celestial. What is the difference between these two may be seen from what has been very frequently said before concerning the good from which is truth, and the truth in which is good. This then is what is signified by Rachel‘s other words: "Let Jehovah add to me another son." But these arcana cannot be seen except by those who are in the charity of faith; for these are as to their interiors in the light of heaven, in which light there is also intelligence. But they cannot be seen by those who are only in the light of the world, for in this light there is not intelligence, except in so far as the light of heaven is within it. To the angels, who are in the light of heaven, these are among the most common things.

[4] From all this we can now see that by these words, "God hath gathered my reproach," and "Let Jehovah add to me another son," in the supreme sense is signified the Lord as to the Divine spiritual; and in the internal sense, the Lord’s spiritual kingdom, or the good of faith; for this is the spiritual in that kingdom. But that in the external sense by these words is signified salvation, also fructification and multiplication, is because this follows (n. 3971). The Lord‘s spiritual kingdom as already repeatedly stated and shown, consists of those who are in charity and thereby in faith. It is distinct from the Lord’s celestial kingdom, for this contains those who are in love to the Lord, and thereby in charity. These constitute the third or inmost heaven; but those who are spiritual constitute the second or interior heaven.

[5] The reason why "God" is first mentioned "God hath gathered my reproach," and then "Jehovah" - "Let Jehovah add to me another son," is that the former name regards the ascent from truth to good, but the latter the descent from good to truth; for the spiritual man is in the good of faith (that is, in good from which there is truth); but before he becomes spiritual he is in the truth of faith (that is, in truth in which there is good); for "God" is used when the subject is truth; but "Jehovah" when it is good (n. 2586, 2807, 2822, 3921).

[6] That by Joseph is represented the Lord‘s spiritual kingdom, or the spiritual man, and thus the good of faith, may also be seen from the passages in the Word where he is mentioned; as in the prophecy of Jacob, then Israel:--

In these prophetic words there is contained in the supreme sense a description of the Lord’s Divine Spiritual; and in the internal sense, of His spiritual kingdom. What each particular involves shall of the Lord‘s Divine mercy be stated in the explication of that chapter.

[7] So in the prophecy of Moses:--

[8] As Israel represented the Lord’s spiritual church (n. 3305, 3654), therefore Jacob, then Israel, before his death said to Joseph:--

For there are two things that constitute the spiritual church-the understanding and the will, of which the understanding is represented by Ephraim, and the will by Manasseh. From this it is evident why Joseph‘s two sons were adopted by Jacob, then Israel, and were acknowledged as his own. "Ephraim" is also frequently mentioned in the Word, especially the prophetic Word, and by him is there signified the intellectual of truth and good, which belongs to the spiritual church.

[9] In Ezekiel:--

The Lord’s celestial and spiritual kingdoms are here treated of. The celestial kingdom is "Judah" (n. 3654, 3881, 3921) the spiritual kingdom is "Joseph;" and it is said that these kingdoms shall not be two, but one. They were also made into one by the coming of the Lord into the world.

[10] The spiritual were saved by the Lord‘s coming, (n. 2661, 2716, 2833, 2834). It is the spiritual of whom the Lord speaks in John:--

This is what is signified by the "two sticks, of Judah and Joseph, which shall be joined together into one, and shall be one in the Lord’s hand." For the celestial constitute the third heaven, which is the inmost; but the spiritual the second heaven, which is the interior; and they are there one, because the one flows into the other (that is, the celestial into the spiritual), the spiritual kingdom being as a plane to the celestial, and in this way they have been firmly co-established. For the Divine celestial in "the third or inmost heaven is love to the Lord; and the celestial spiritual there is charity. This charity is the chief thing in the second or interior heaven, where the spiritual are. This shows what is the nature of the influx, and also of the co-establishment by means of the influx. "Wood" signifies good, both the good of love to the Lord, and the good of charity toward the neighbor (n. 2784, 2812, 3720). For this reason it was commanded that Judah and Joseph should be "written upon sticks of wood," which should "become one."

[11] So in Zechariah:--

here again the subject is the two kingdoms, the celestial and the spiritual (the celestial being "Judah," and the spiritual "Joseph"), and the salvation of the spiritual.

[12] In Amos:--

where also the spiritual are signified by " Joseph;" the "house of Israel" is the spiritual church (n. 3305, 3654); "Joseph" is the good of this church, and it is therefore said, "Jehovah said unto the house of Israel, Seek ye Me, and ye shall live, lest He break out like fire in the house of Joseph."

[13] In David:--

here also in like manner "Joseph" is the spiritual man; "Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh" are the three constituents of that church.

[14] Again:--

that "Joseph" here is the spiritual church, or the spiritual man, is manifest from every word and expression; for in the Word there are terms that express spiritual things, and others that express celestial things, and this with uniformity throughout. In this passage there are words that express spiritual things; as "song," "timbrel," the ""harp with the psaltery," "blowing the trumpet in the new moon, in the festival on the day of our feast." From this also it is manifest that the subject is the spiritual church, which is "Joseph."

[15] In Ezekiel:--

where the subject is the Lord‘s spiritual kingdom; and it is therefore said, "the lines shall be to Joseph" The Lord’s Divine Spiritual is that which is also called His "royalty;" for the Lord‘s "royalty" is His Divine truth; and His "priesthood" is His Divine good (n. 2015, 3009, 3670). The Lord’s royalty itself is that which is represented by Joseph, in his being made king in the land of Egypt, which representation shall of the Lord‘s Divine mercy be treated of in its place.

[16] As regards the Lord’s Divine Spiritual, or the Divine truth, which in the supreme sense is represented by Joseph, it is not in the Lord, but is from the Lord; for the Lord is nothing but Divine good; but the Divine truth proceeds from the Divine good. To speak comparatively, this is like the sun and its light; the light is not in the sun, but proceeds from it; or it is like a fire, the light of which is not in the fire, but proceeds from the fire. The Divine good itself is also compared in the Word to the "sun," and to "fire," and is likewise called the "sun" and "fire." The Lord‘s celestial kingdom lives from the good which proceeds from the Lord; but His spiritual kingdom from the truth thence derived; and therefore in the other life the Lord appears to the celestial as a sun; but to the spiritual as a moon (n. 1053, 1521, 1529-1531, 3636, 3643). Both heat and light proceed from the sun, the heat being - to speak comparatively the good of love, which is also called celestial and spiritual heat; and the light, the truth thence derived, which is also called spiritual light (n. 3636, 3643). But within the celestial heat and spiritual light that in the other life proceed from the Lord as a sun, there are the good of love and the truth of faith, thus wisdom and intelligence (n. 1521-1523, 1542, 1619-1632, 2776, 3138, 3190, 3195, 3222, 3223, 3339, 3485, 3636, 3643, 3862); for all that which proceeds from the Lord is living.

[17] From this we can see what the Divine Spiritual is; and whence comes the spiritual kingdom, and the celestial kingdom; and that the spiritual kingdom is the good of faith, that is, charity, which flows in from the Lord immediately, and also mediately through the celestial kingdom. The Divine Spiritual that proceeds from the Lord is called in the Word the "spirit of truth," and is holy truth; not being of any spirit, but of the Lord through a spirit sent by Him; as may be seen from the words of the Lord Himself in John:--

Author:  E. Swedenborg (1688-1772).

Design:  I.J. Thompson, Feb 2002.

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