Spiritual Meaning of GENESIS 46:28-30
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AC 6026. Verses 28-30. And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to show before him unto Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen. And Joseph harnessed his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen; and he was seen of him, and fell upon his necks, and wept upon his necks a long while. And Israel said unto Joseph, Let me die this time, after that I have seen thy faces, that thou art yet alive. "And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph," signifies the communication of the good of the church with the internal celestial; "to show before him unto Goshen," signifies with respect to the midst in the natural; "and they came into the land of Goshen," signifies the residence of life there; "and Joseph harnessed his chariot," signifies doctrine from the internal; "and went up to meet Israel his father," signifies influx; "to Goshen," signifies into the midst in the natural; "and he was seen of him," signifies perception;"and fell upon his necks," signifies conjunction; "and wept upon his necks a long while," signifies mercy; "and Israel said unto Joseph," signifies the perception of spiritual good; "Let me die this time," signifies new life; "after that I have seen thy faces," signifies after the noticing of mercy; "that thou art yet alive," signifies the noticing of the consequent life in himself.

AC 6027. And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph. That this signifies the communication of the good of the church with the internal celestial, is evident from the representation of Judah, as being the good of the church (n. 5583, 5603, 5782, 5794, 5833); and from the representation of Joseph, as being the internal celestial (n. 5869, 5877); that "to send before him" denotes to communicate, is plain. The reason why Judah was sent, and not another, was that there might be signified the communication of good with good, which is immediate; namely, the communication of external good, which Judah represents, with internal good, which Joseph represents. For the good which is of love to the Lord and of charity toward the neighbor flows in from the Lord through the internal into the external; and so much is received in the external as there is of good there. But if in the man‘s external there is only the truth of faith, and not good, then the influx of good from the Lord through the internal is not received in the external; for immediate communication with truth is not possible, but only mediate communication through good. This is the reason why no other than Judah was sent by Jacob unto Joseph.

AC 6028. To show before him unto Goshen. That this signifies with respect to the midst in the natural, namely, that there was communication, is evident from the signification of "Goshen," as being the midst (that is, the inmost) in the natural (n. 5910). By the midst or the inmost in the natural is signified the lest therein, for what is best is in the midst, that is, in the center or inmost, and round about it on all sides are goods, arranged in the heavenly form, nearer and more remote according to the gradations of goodness from the best in the midst. Such is the arrangement in order of goods in the regenerate. But with the wicked the most evil things are in the midst, and goods are relegated to the extremes, where they are continually being pushed outside. This is the form with the wicked individually, and in the hells in general. Thus it is the infernal form. From what has been said about the best in the midst and about goods being arranged in order toward the sides, it is evident what is meant by the communication of the good of the church with the internal celestial, with respect to the midst in the natural.

AC 6029. And Joseph harnessed his chariot. That this signifies doctrine from the internal, is evident from the representation of Joseph, as being the internal; and from the signification of "chariot," as being doctrine (n. 5321).

AC 6030. And went up to meet Israel his father. That this signifies influx, namely, from the internal celestial into spiritual good from the natural, is evident from the representation of Joseph, who "goes up to meet," as being the internal celestial (n. 5869, 5877); and from the representation of Israel, as being spiritual good (n. 5801, 5803, 5806, 5812, 5817, 5819, 5826, 5833). Thus it follows that "to go up to meet him" denotes influx, for "to go up to meet," here, is to betake himself and come unto him.

AC 6031. To Goshen. That this signifies into the midst in the natural, is evident from what has been said just above about Goshen (n. 6028).

AC 6032. And he was seen of him. That this signifies perception, is evident from the signification of "to see," as being to understand and to perceive (n. 2150, 3764, 4567, 4723, 5400), and also to have faith (n. 2325, 2807, 3863, 3869, 4403, 4421, 5400). In regard to "seeing" as denoting understand and thence to perceive and also to have faith, be it known that there are two things with man which make his life, namely, SPIRITUAL LIGHT and SPIRITUAL HEAT. Spiritual light makes the life of his understanding, and spiritual heat the life of his will. Spiritual light is from its first origin Divine truth from the Divine good of the Lord, and hence is the truth of faith from the good of charity. And spiritual heat is from its first origin the Divine good of the Divine love of the Lord, and hence is the good of celestial love, which is love to the Lord, and the good of spiritual love, which is love toward the neighbor. These two, as before said, constitute the whole life of man.

[2] As regards spiritual light, it is with this in the understanding of man as it is with natural light in his external sight; namely, in order that the eye may see, it is necessary that there be light to illumine, and then the eye sees in the light all things which are round about outside of it. So the intellectual mind, which is man internal eye - in order that this eye may see, it is necessary for the light of heaven, which is from the Lord, to illumine it; and when this eye is illumined by this light, it then sees the things which are round about outside of itself; but the objects which it sees are spiritual, namely, memory-knowledges and truths. But when this light does not illumine, the intellectual mind or internal eye of man, like the external or bodily eye, is in darkness and sees nothing, that is, from memory-knowledges nothing of truth, and from truths nothing of good. The light which illumines the intellectual mind is in very truth light, and such light that it a thousand times surpasses the midday light of the world, which I bear witness to because I have seen it. By this light all the angels in the heavens see the things which are round about outside of themselves, and also by the same light they see and perceive the truths which are of faith, and their quality. Hence then it is that by "seeing" is signified in the spiritual sense not only the understanding, but also whatever is of the understanding, as thought, reflection, observation, prudence, and many such things; likewise not only faith, but also whatever is of faith, as truth, doctrine from the Word, and the like.

[3] But as regards spiritual heat, it is with this in the will of man as it is with natural heat in the body, in that it vivifies. But in its first origin, which origin is from the Lord, spiritual heat is nothing else than the Divine love toward the universal human race, and from this the reciprocal love of man to Him and also toward the neighbor. And this spiritual heat is in very truth heat, which gladdens the bodies of the angels with heat, and at the same time their interiors with love. Hence it is that by "heat," "flame," and "fire" in the Word are signified in the genuine sense those things which are of love, as the affections of good and of truth, and also good itself.

AC 6033. And fell upon his necks. That this signifies conjunction, is evident from the signification of "falling upon the necks," as being conjunction close and intimate (n. 5926). That "to fall upon the necks" signifies conjunction is because the neck joins together the head and the body, and by the "head" are signified the interiors, and by the "body" the exteriors. Hence the "neck" denotes the conjunction of the interiors with the exteriors (n. 3542, 5320, 5328), and thus the communication of the interiors with the exteriors, and also of celestial things with spiritual things, which communication is by virtue of conjunction also signified by these same words, for"Joseph" is the internal, and "Israel" is relatively the external.

AC 6034. And wept upon his necks a long while. That this signifies mercy, is evident from the signification of "weeping," as being mercy (n. 5480, 5873, 5927). It is said "upon his necks a long while," because the beginning and also the continuance of conjunction is mercy, namely, the mercy of the Lord who in the supreme sense is "Joseph."

AC 6035. And Israel said unto Joseph. That this signifies the perception of spiritual good, namely, from the internal celestial, is evident from the signification of "saying," in the historicals of the Word, as being perception; from the representation of Israel, upon whose necks Joseph wept, as being spiritual good; and from the representation of Joseph, as being the internal celestial; all of which have been frequently spoken of above.

AC 6036. Let me die this time. That this signifies new life, is evident from the signification of "dying," as being resurrection into life, thus new life (n. 3326, 3498, 3505, 4618, 4621, 6008). The reason why "dying" signifies newness of life, has also been shown in the sections just quoted; namely, that when a man dies, there immediately begins a newness of his life; for he is raised up into life, the material body being cast off which had served him for use in the world. New life is here signified by "dying," because it comes from influx by the internal, which is signified by Joseph’s going up to meet Israel his father, (n. 6030), and from conjunction, which is signified by Joseph‘s falling on the necks of Israel (n. 6033).

AC 6037. After that I have seen thy faces. That this signifies after the noticing of mercy, is evident from the signification of "to see," as being a noticing (n. 6032); and from the signification of the "faces," when predicated of the Lord, as being mercy (n. 222, 223, 5585, 5816).

AC 6038. That thou art yet alive. That this signifies the perception of the consequent life in himself, is evident from the signification of "being alive," as in the internal sense being spiritual life (n. 5890). That the perception of this life in himself is signified, follows from what goes before; that he had new life from influx and conjunction, (n. 6036), and from the affection of joy at seeing him. This affection gives the perception of life in himself.

Author:  E. Swedenborg (1688-1772).

Design:  I.J. Thompson, Feb 2002.

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