. And the man brought the men to Joseph’s house. That this signifies initiation to conjunction with the internal, is evident from the signification of "bringing the men to Joseph‘s house," as being to adjoin to the internal the truths belonging to the natural (n. 5648). That initiation to conjunction is signified, is clear from what follows--that they ate there, and that Joseph did not then manifest himself to them; by which is signified a general influx, which is now described, and which also is initiation.
. And gave waters. That this signifies a general influx of truth from the internal, is evident from the signification of "waters," as being truth (n. 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976), and indeed truth in general. Hence "giving waters" signifies a general influx of truth. That it is from the internal, is because it was in Joseph’s house (n. 5667). A general influx of truth is the enlightenment which gives the capacity of apprehending and understanding truth. This enlightenment is from the light of heaven that is from the Lord, which light is nothing else than the Divine truth (n. 2776, 3138, 3167, 3195, 3223, 3339, 3485, 3636, 3643, 3993, 4302, 4413, 4415, 5400).
. And they washed their feet. That this signifies a consequent purifying of the natural, is evident from the signification of "washing the feet," as being the purifying of the natural (n. 3147).
. And he face their asses provender. That this signifies instruction concerning good, is evident from the signification of "giving provender," as being to instruct in good; for by "provender" is signified the good of the truths of memory-knowledges (n. 3114); and by "giving provender," which is "feeding," is signified to instruct in this good. "Feeding" is instructing, (n. 5201); and by "asses" are signified memory-knowledges, (n. 5492). From this it is plain that by "giving asses provender" is signified instruction about the good of memory-knowledges. The good of memory-knowledges is the delight from the truths of these knowledges. The truths of memory-knowledges are most general truths, which appear in the natural light which is from the light of the world; but in order that they may appear (that is, as being truths), there must be a general influx from the internal (n. 5668). This is the enlightenment from the light of heaven.
. And they made ready the present. That this signifies insinuation, is evident from the signification of a "present," as being to obtain favor (n. 5619); thus "to make ready the present" is insinuation.
. Against Joseph came at noon. That this signifies until the internal should be present with light, is evident from the signification of" against he came," as being when it should be present; from the representation of Joseph, as being the internal (n. 5648); and from the signification of "noon," as being a state of light (n. 1458, 3195, 3708). That "noon" denotes a state of light is because the times of day, as morning, noon, and evening, correspond to the enlightenments in the other life, and the enlightenments there are those of intelligence and wisdom, for in the light of heaven there is intelligence and wisdom. There are alternations of enlightenment there, like morning, noon, and evening on earth. The states of shade, like those of evening, do not arise from the sun there, that is, the Lord, who is always giving light, but from the angels‘ own, for in so far as they are let into their own they come into a state of shade or evening, and in so far as they are lifted out of their own into a heavenly own, they come into a state of light. From this it is plain why noon corresponds to a state of light.
. For they heard that they should eat bread there. That this signifies a noticing that good would be adjoined to truths, is evident from the signification of "hearing," as being a noticing (n. 5017); from the signification of "eating," as being to be appropriated and conjoined (n. 2187, 3168, 3513, 3596, 3832, 5643); and from the signification of "bread," as being the good of love (n. 2165, 2177, 2187, 3464, 3478, 3735, 3813, 4211, 4217, 4735, 4976).
. And Joseph came to the house. That this signifies the presence of the internal, is evident from the signification of "coming to the house," as being to be at hand, or presence (n. 5672); and from the representation of Joseph, as being the internal (n. 5648).
. And they brought him the present which was in their hand to the house. That this signifies insinuation as far as possible, is evident from the signification of the "present" that was given to kings and priests, as being to obtain favor; thus also insinuation (n. 5671); and from the signification of being "in their hands," as being as far as possible (n. 5624, 5659).
. And bowed down themselves to him to the earth. That this signifies humiliation, is evident from the signification of "bowing down to the earth," as being to humble one’s self (n. 2153, 5682).
. And he asked them to peace. That this signifies perception that it is well, is evident from the signification of "asking," as being to perceive another‘s thought (n. 5597); and from the signification of "peace," as being to be well (n. 5662).
. And said, Is there peace to your father, the old man of whom ye spake? That this signifies also with spiritual good, is evident from the signification of "peace," as being to be well (n. 5677); and from the representation of Israel, who is the "father" here, as being spiritual good (n. 3654, 4286, 4598).
. And they said, There is peace to thy servant our father. That this signifies a noticing therefrom of the natural that it is well with the good from which it comes, is evident from the signification of "saying," as being to perceive (n. 1898, 1919, 2080, 2619, 2862, 3395, 3509); from the signification of "peace," as being to be well (n. 5662, 5677); and from the representation of Israel, as being spiritual good (n. 5678). This good is called "father," because from it as from a father are the truths and goods in the natural which are represented by his ten sons; and because the truths and goods in the natural are represented by them, the natural also is signified by them; for the natural is the containant, and the truths and goods therein are the contents, which make a one. From this it is plain that by their saying "there is peace to thy servant our father," is signified a noticing therefrom of the natural that it is well with the good from which it comes. It is called a noticing therefrom, namely, from the internal, which is represented by Joseph (n. 5648), because all the perception of the natural comes from the spiritual, and because from the spiritual, it comes from the internal, that is, through the internal from the Lord. The natural never has any perception, nor even any life of thought and affection, except what comes from the spiritual; for in the natural all things are of themselves dead, but they are vivified by influx from the spiritual world, that is, through the spiritual world from the Lord. In the spiritual world all things live from the light which is from the Lord; for in this light is wisdom and intelligence. That here there is signified a noticing therefrom, or from the internal in the natural, follows also from what has been said above (n. 5677).
. And they bent themselves and bowed themselves down. That this signifies outward and inward humiliation, is evident from the signification of "bending themselves," as being outward humiliation; and from the signification of "bowing themselves down," as being inward humiliation; for bending is a less degree of bowing down, and therefore it denotes outward humiliation; and bowing down is a greater degree, and therefore it denotes inward humiliation. Moreover, "bending" denotes the humiliation of truth, that is, of those who are in truth, thus of the spiritual; and "bowing down" denotes the humiliation of good, that is, of those who are in good, thus of the celestial. In this case also "bending" is outward humiliation, and "bowing down" inward; for they who are in good are more interior men than those who are in truth. These things are what are contained in the internal sense of this period. Most of them have been unfolded simply as to the significations of the words, for the reason that they are such as have been previously unfolded.
GENESIS 43:24-28previous
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