Spiritual Meaning of GENESIS 43:15-17
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AC 5633. Verses 15-17. And the men took this present, and they took double silver in their hand, and Benjamin; and rose up, and went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph. And Joseph saw Benjamin with them, and he said to him that was over his house, Bring the men to the house, and slaying slay, and make ready; for the men shall eat with me at noon. And the man did as Joseph said; and the man brought the men to Joseph’s house. "And the men took this present," signifies that truths had with them the means for obtaining favor; "and they took double silver in their hand," signifies also truth received in the ability; "and Benjamin," signifies and the intermediate also; "and rose up and went down to Egypt," signifies elevation to life to be gained by them from the interior things of memory-knowledges; "and stood before Joseph," signifies the presence of the celestial of the spiritual there; "and Joseph saw Benjamin with them," signifies the perception by the celestial of the spiritual of a spiritual intermediate with truths; "and he said to him that was over his house," signifies to that which is of the external church; "Bring the men to the house," signifies that the truths in the natural were to be introduced thither; "and slaying slay and make ready," signifies through the goods of the exterior natural; "for the men shall eat with me at noon," signifies that they will be conjoined when with the intermediate; "and the man did as Joseph said," signifies bringing it about; "and the man brought the men to Joseph‘s house," signifies first introduction into the good which is from the celestial of the spiritual.

AC 5634. And the men took this present. That this signifies that truths had with them the means for obtaining favor, is evident from the signification of "men," as being truths (n. 3134); and from the signification of a "present," which was given on approaching kings and priests, as being something to obtain favor (n. 5619).

AC 5635. And they took double silver in their hand. That this signifies also truth received in the ability, is evident from what was said above (n. 5623), where the same words occur. It may also be seen there what is meant by truth received in the ability.

AC 5636. And Benjamin. That this signifies and the intermediate also, is evident from the representation of Benjamin, as being the intermediate (n. 5411, 5413, 5443).

AC 5637. And rose up, and went down to Egypt. That this signifies elevation to life to be gained by them from the interior things of memory-knowledges, is evident from the signification of "rising up," as being elevation to the things of spiritual life (n. 2401, 2785, 2912, 2927, 3171, 4103, 4881); and from the signification of "going down," as being to life to be gained by them, for "going down" here involves the same as was meant before by the words, "Send the boy with me, and we will arise and go, and we will live, and not die" (verse 8), by which is signified spiritual life according to degrees (n. 5605); and from the signification of "Egypt," as being memory-knowledges (n. 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462, 4749, 4964, 4966), here the interior things of memory-knowledges, because the celestial of the spiritual which is represented by Joseph was there; wherefore it is presently said that they "stood before Joseph." The interior things of memory-knowledges are spiritual things in the natural mind, and spiritual things are there when the memory-knowledges there are enlightened by the light of heaven, and they are so enlightened when the man has faith in the doctrinal things that are from the Word, and he has this faith when he is in the good of charity; for then truths and thereby memory-knowledges are enlightened by the good of charity as by a flame. From this they have their spiritual light. Hence it may be seen what is meant by the interior things of memory-knowledges.

AC 5638. And stood before Joseph. That this signifies the presence of the celestial of the spiritual there, is evident from the signification of "standing before" anyone, as being presence; and from the representation of Joseph, as being the celestial of the spiritual. That the celestial of the spiritual was present in both naturals was represented by Joseph’s being made lord over all Egypt. This is what is meant by the presence of the celestial of the spiritual in the interior things of memory-knowledges; for these knowledges are in the natural (n. 5316, 5324, 5326-5328, 5333, 5337, 5373). The truths represented by Jacob‘s ten sons are truths in the natural.

AC 5639. And Joseph saw Benjamin with them. That this signifies the perception by the celestial of the spiritual of a spiritual intermediate with truths, is evident from the signification of "seeing," as being to understand and perceive (n. 2150, 2807, 3764, 4567, 4723, 5400); and from the representation of Jacob’s ten sons (who are meant by "with them," that is, with whom Joseph saw Benjamin), as being truths in the natural (n. 5403, 5419, 5427, 5458, 5512); and from the representation of Benjamin, as being the intermediate (n. 5411, 5413, 5443). That this is here called a spiritual intermediate is because the truths represented by Jacob‘s ten sons were now to be conjoined with the truth from the Divine which is "Joseph," and this conjunction is not effected without an intermediate which is spiritual; and therefore when this intermediate was perceived, it immediately follows that "Joseph said to him that was over his house, Bring the men to the house, and slaying slay, and make ready; for the men shall eat with me at noon, by which is signified that they would be introduced and conjoined because with the intermediate.

[2] What the spiritual is relatively to the natural must be further told in a few words, because most of those who are in the Christian world are so ignorant of what the spiritual is that when they hear the term they hesitate, and say to themselves that no one knows what it is. In its essence with man the spiritual is the very affection of good and truth for the sake of good and truth, and not for the sake of self, and also the affection of what is just and fair for the sake of what is just and fair, and not for the sake of self. When a man feels in himself delight and pleasantness, and still more if he feels happiness and blessedness, from these affections, this is the spiritual in him, which comes not from the natural, but from the spiritual world or from heaven, that is, through heaven from the Lord. This then is the spiritual, which when it reigns in a man, affects and as it were tinges all that he thinks, wills, and does, and causes the thoughts and the acts of his will to partake of the spiritual, until at last these also become spiritual in him, as when he passes out of the natural into the spiritual world. In a word, the affection of charity and faith, that is, of good and truth, and the delight and pleasantness, and still more the happiness and blessedness thence derived, which are felt inwardly in man and make him a man truly Christian, are the spiritual.

[3] That most men in the Christian world are ignorant of what the spiritual is, is because they make faith and not charity the essential of the church. Consequently as those few who are concerned about faith think little if at all about charity or know what it is, therefore as there is no knowledge, there is no perception of the affection which is of charity; and he who is not in the affection of charity cannot possibly know what the spiritual is. Especially is this true at the present day, when scarcely anyone has any charity, because it is the last time of the church But be it known that in a general sense the "spiritual" means the affection both of good and of truth, and therefore heaven is called the spiritual world, and the internal sense of the Word the spiritual sense; but specifically that which is of the affection of good is called the celestial, and that which is of the affection of truth is called the spiritual.

AC 5640. And he said to him that was over his house. That this signifies to that which is of the external church, is evident from the representation of him that was over the house, as being the external church, when he who is in the house is the internal church (n. 1795). And as in the internal sense the thing, and not the person, is regarded (n. 5225, 5287, 5434), therefore by "him that was over the house" is signified that which is of the external church.

AC 5641. Bring the men to the house. That this signifies that the truths in the natural mind were to be introduced thither, is evident from the signification of "Jacob’s sons," as being the truths of the church in the natural (n. 5403, 5419, 5427, 5458, 5512). Their being introduced there is signified by "bringing the men to the house."

AC 5642. And slaying slay and make ready. That this signifies through the goods of the exterior natural, is evident from the signification of "slaying," as involving that which is slain - an ox, a bullock, a he-goat, or other cattle as being the goods of the natural. An "ox" and a "bullock" are the goods of the natural, (n. 2180, 2566, 2781, 2830); here the goods of the exterior natural, because through these they were now first introduced to conjunction; for his "bringing the men to Joseph‘s house" signifies the first introduction into the good which is from the celestial of the spiritual (n. 5645). As the "bullock" and "ox" signified the goods of the natural, everything done in regard to them also signified this good, for the one involved the other.

AC 5643. For the men shall eat with me at noon. That this signifies that they will be conjoined when with the intermediate, is evident from the signification of "eating with," as being to be communicated, conjoined and appropriated (n. 2187, 2343, 3168, 3513, 3596, 3832). And because they were with the spiritual intermediate, which is "Benjamin" (n. 5639), it is said "at noon;" for "noon" signifies a state of light, thus the spiritual state which comes through the intermediate (n. 1458, 3708).

AC 5644. And the man did as Joseph said. That this signifies bringing it about, is evident without explication.

AC 5645. And the man brought the men to Joseph’s house. That this signifies the first introduction into the good which is from the celestial of the spiritual, is evident from the signification of "bringing," as being introduction (n. 5641); from the signification of "Jacob‘s sons," as being the truths of the church in the natural (n. 5403, 5419, 5427, 5428, 5512); from the signification of a "house," as being good (n. 3652, 3720, 4982), and hence also the church (n. 3720), for the church is the church from good; and from the representation of Joseph, as being the celestial of the spiritual. From this it is plain that by "the man’s bringing the men to Joseph‘s house" is signified that the truths in the natural were to be introduced into the good which is from the celestial of the spiritual. That the first introduction is what is signified, is because they now only ate with Joseph, and did not know him. By this is signified a general conjunction, which is the first introduction; for truth from the Divine then flows in generally, and is not discerned. But when the truth which flows in is observed, there is then a second conjunction, which is signified by Joseph’s manifesting himself to his brethren related in chapter 45.

Author:  E. Swedenborg (1688-1772).

Design:  I.J. Thompson, Feb 2002.

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