Spiritual Meaning of GENESIS 46:8-27
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AC 6024. Verses 8-27. And these are the names of the sons of Israel, who came into Egypt, of Jacob and of his sons: Reuben, Jacob‘s firstborn. And the sons of Reuben; Hanoch, and Pallu, and Hezron, and Carmi. And the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman. And the sons of Levi; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari. And the sons of Judah; Er, and Onan, and Shelah, and Perez, and Zerah; but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul. And the sons of Issachar; Tola, and Puvah, and Iob, and Shimron. And the sons of Zebulun; Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel. These are the sons of Leah, whom she bare unto Jacob in Paddan-aram, and his daughter Dinah: all the souls of his sons and of his daughters were thirty and three. And the sons of Gad; Ziphion, and Haggi, Shuni, and Ezbon, Eri, and Arodi, and Areli. And the sons of Asher; Imnah, and Ishvah, and Ishvi, and Beriah, and Serah their sister; and the sons of Beriah; Heber, and Malchiel. These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter, and these she bare to Jacob: sixteen souls. The sons of Rachel Jacob’s wife;Joseph and Benjamin. And to Joseph were born in the land of Egypt, whom Asenath the daughter of Potiphera priest of On bare unto him, Manasseh and Ephraim. And the sons of Benjamin; Bela, and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard. These are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob: all the souls were fourteen. And the sons of Dan; Hushim. And the sons of Naphtali; Jahzeel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shillem. These are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave unto Rachel his daughter, and these she bare to Jacob.‘ all the souls were seven. All the soul that came with Jacob into Egypt, that came out of his thigh, besides Jacob’s sons‘ women, all the souls were sixty and six. And the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two souls. All the souls of the house of Jacob, that came into Egypt, were seventy.

[2] "And these are the names of the sons of Israel, who came into Egypt," signifies the quality of truths from the spiritual in order, which were brought into the memory-knowledges of the church; "of Jacob and his sons," signifies the truth of the natural in general, and the truths of the natural in particular; "Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn," signifies faith in the understanding, which is apparently in the first place. "And the sons of Reuben; Hanoch, and Pallu, and Hezron, and Carmi," signifies the doctrinals of faith in general. "And the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar," signifies faith in the will and its doctrinals in general; "and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman," signifies a doctrinal not from a genuine origin. "And the sons of Levi;Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari," signifies spiritual love and its doctrinals in general.

[3] "And the sons of Judah; Er, and Onan, and Shelah, and Perez, and Zerah," signifies celestial love and its doctrinals; "but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan,"signifies that falsity and evil were extirpated. "And the sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul," signifies the truths of that good, which are goods of charity. "And the sons of Issachar; Tola, and Puvah, and Iob, and Shimron," signifies celestial conjugial love and its doctrinals. "And the sons of Zebulun; Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel," signifies the heavenly marriage and its doctrinals. "These are the sons of Leah, whom she bare unto Jacob in Paddan-aram," signifies that these doctrinals were from spiritual affection in the natural through the knowledges of good and truth; "and his daughter Dinah," signifies the church;"all the souls of his sons and of his daughters were thirty and three," signifies the state of spiritual life and its quality.

[4] "And the sons of Gad; Ziphion, and Haggi, Shuni, and Ezbon, Eri, and Arodi, and Areli," signifies the good of faith and the derivative works and their doctrinals. "And the sons of Asher;Imnah, and Ishvah, and Ishvi, and Beriah, and Serah their sister:and the sons of Beriah; Heber, and Malchiel," signifies the happiness of eternal life and the delight of the affections and their doctrinals. "These are the sons of Zilpah," signifies that these are of the external church; "whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter," signifies from the affection of external good; "and these she bare to Jacob," signifies that they were from the natural; "sixteen souls," signifies their state and quality.

[5] "The sons of Rachel Jacob‘s wife," signifies which were from celestial affection; "Joseph and Benjamin," signifies the internal of the church, "Joseph" its good and "Benjamin" the truth thence derived. "And to Joseph were born in the land of Egypt," signifies internal celestial and spiritual things in the natural; "whom Asenath the daughter of Potiphera priest of On bare unto him," signifies from the marriage of good with truth and of truth with good; "Manasseh and Ephraim," signifies the new will and its intellectual, which are of the church. "And the sons of Benjamin; Bela, and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard," signifies the spiritual internal and its doctrinals. "These are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob," signifies that they were from celestial affection; "all the souls were fourteen," signifies their state and quality.

[6] "And the sons of Dan; Hushim," signifies the holy of faith and good of life, and the doctrinal of these. "And the sons of Naphtali; Jahzeel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shillem," signifies temptations in which is victory and the doctrinals about them. "These are the sons of Bilhah,"signifies that these are of the internal church; "whom Laban gave unto Rachel his daughter," signifies from the affection of internal good; "all the souls were seven," signifies their state and quality.

[7] "All the soul that came with Jacob into Egypt," signifies all the truths and goods initiated into the memory-knowledges of the church; "that came out of his thigh,"signifies that were from the marriage; "besides Jacob’s sons‘ women," signifies except the affections of those things which were not from this marriage; "all the souls were sixty and six," signifies their state and quality; "and the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt," signifies things celestial and spiritual in the natural; "were two souls," signifies the will and the intellectual thence derived, which are of the church; "all the souls of the house of Jacob, that came into Egypt, were seventy," signifies what is full in order.

AC 6025. The further explication of these words will be omitted, because they are mere names. What they signify may be seen from the general explication given just above (n. 6024). And what the sons of Jacob themselves signify may be seen in the explication where their birth is treated of. This is worthy of note: that no son was born to the sons of Jacob in Egypt, whither they came, although they were still young; but their sons were all born in the land of Canaan, while they themselves were born in Paddan-aram, except Benjamin. This was of the Lord’s special Divine providence, in order that the things of the church might be represented by them from their very birth. The sons of Jacob being born in Paddan-aram represented that the man of the church must be born anew or regenerated by means of the knowledges of good and truth; for "Paddan-aram" signifies the knowledges of good and truth (n. 3664, 3680, 4107), and their birth represented the new birth through faith and charity (n. 4668, 5160, 5598),thus at first through the knowledges of these. But that their sons were all born in the land of Canaan represented that from thence are such things as are of the church, for the "land of Canaan" denotes the church (n. 3686, 3705, 4447, 4454, 4516, 5136, 5757). But that to Joseph were born sons in Egypt, was in order that there might be represented the dominion of the internal man in the external, especially the dominion of the celestial spiritual in the natural, "Manasseh" being the will, and "Ephraim" the intellectual, of the church, in the natural.