Spiritual Meaning of GENESIS 47:7-10
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AC 6088. Verses 7-10. And Joseph brought Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh; and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How many are the days of the years of thy life? And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my sojournings are a hundred and thirty years; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojournings. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh. "And Joseph brought Jacob his father," signifies the presence of general truth from the internal; "and set him before Pharaoh," signifies insinuation into what is general of memory-knowledges; "and Jacob blessed Pharaoh," signifies a devout wish for conjunction, and the consequent fructification; "and Pharaoh said unto Jacob," signifies perception in the natural where memory-knowledges are, concerning the general truth of the church; "How many are the days of the years of thy life?" signifies concerning the state of life of the natural from the spiritual; "and Jacob said unto Pharaoh," signifies the answer; "The days of the years of my sojournings," signifies concerning what is successive of life; "are a hundred and thirty years," signifies the state and quality; "few and evil have been the days of the years of my life," signifies that the state of life of the natural has been full of temptations; "and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers," signifies that it has not been uplifted to the state of life of those who were before; "in the days of their sojournings," signifies in respect to the state of their life; "and Jacob blessed Pharaoh," signifies as before, a devout wish for conjunction and the consequent fructification; "and he went out from before Pharaoh," signifies separation in respect to time.

AC 6089. And Joseph brought Jacob his father. That this signifies the presence of general truth from the internal, is evident from the signification of "causing to come," or "bringing," as being to make present, and of "coming unto" anyone, as being presence (n. 5934, 6063); and from the representation of Jacob, as being the doctrine of natural truth, and also natural truth (n. 3305, 3509, 3525, 3546, 4538), here truth in general, because his sons represent truths in particular. That it is from the internal, is because "Joseph" is the internal, from which is truth in the natural. General truth is called the "father" of Joseph, because general truth is insinuated with man first of all. This is afterward enriched with particular truths, and lastly there comes forth the view of them from the internal, that is, there come forth reason and understanding. This is very manifest in the case of man, for his judgment increases from infancy. It is the same with spiritual truths and goods, when a man is being born anew, or is being regenerated. But after the internal has come forth from general truth in the natural, the state is changed, and the internal no longer acknowledges truth in the natural as father, but as servant. That it becomes a servant is declared by Joseph‘s dream about his father: that the sun and the moon and eleven stars made obeisance to him; wherefore his father said, "What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?" (Gen. 37:9, 10); and therefore also his father is so often called by his sons, in the presence of Joseph, his "servant" (Gen. 43:28; 44:24, 27, 30, 31); and moreover Joseph was lord in all the land of Egypt, thus also over his father.

AC 6090. And set him before Pharaoh. That this signifies insinuation into what is general of memory-knowledges, is evident from the things unfolded above (n. 6071).

AC 6091. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh. That this signifies a devout wish for conjunction and the consequent fructification, is evident from the signification of "to bless," as here being a devout wish for conjunction, namely, of truth with memory-knowledge in the natural, for this conjunction is here treated of. "To bless" signifies many things: in the spiritual sense it involves all things that are good and also all that are prosperous; and from this it signifies to be gifted with the good of love and of charity (n. 3185, 4981); and it also signifies conjunction (n. 3504, 3514, 3530, 3565, 3584); and likewise fructification from the affection of truth (n. 2846); also a devout wish for prosperity (n. 3185); here therefore a devout wish for that which is here treated of, namely, for conjunction, and thus for fructification. For fructification follows from conjunction, because when conjunction has been effected, good increases and truth is multiplied, for there is then a marriage of good and truth, from which such effects are produced. This cannot be effected before, except as from whoredom; but the good from this source is spurious, and also the truth, the good having regard to self, and the truth deriving its savor from this good.

AC 6092. And Pharaoh said unto Jacob. That this signifies perception in the natural where memory-knowledges are, concerning the general truth of the church, is evident from the signification of "saying," as being perception (n. 6063); from the representation of Pharaoh, as being the natural where memory-knowledges are (n. 5799, 6015); and from the representation of Jacob, as being the general truth of the church (n. 6089).

AC 6093. How many are the days of the years of thy life? That this signifies concerning the state of life of the natural from the spiritual, is evident from the signification of "days," and also of "years," as being states (n. 23, 487, 488, 493, 893, 2788, 3462, 3785, 4850); and from the signification of "life," as being spiritual life (n. 5407, 5890), here spiritual life in the natural, that is, the natural from the spiritual.

AC 6094. And Jacob said unto Pharaoh. That this signifies the answer, is evident without explication.

AC 6095. The days of the years of my sojournings. That this signifies concerning what is successive of life, is evident from the signification of "days" and "years," as being states (n. 6093); and from the signification of "sojournings," as being life and instruction (n. 1463, 2025, 3672), thus the successive state of life.

AC 6096. Are a hundred and thirty years. That this signifies the state and quality, is evident from the fact that all numbers in the Word signify things (n. 575, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1963, 2075, 2252, 3252, 4264, 4495, 4670, 5265), thus the state and quality of the thing which is being treated of. Wherefore this number specifically signifies the state and quality of the life which had appertained to Jacob hitherto, that is, the state and quality of the spiritual life which the natural at this time had from the spiritual.

AC 6097. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life. That this signifies that the state of life of the natural has been full of temptations, is evident from the signification of "days" and "years," as being states (n. 6093, 6095); and from the signification of the "life of Jacob," as being spiritual life in the natural (n. 6093). Temptations in this state are signified by the days having been "evil." All temptations appear evil, for the reason that they are interior anxieties and griefs, and as it were damnations; for the man is then let into the state of his evils, consequently among evil spirits, who accuse him, and thus torment the conscience; nevertheless the angels defend him, that is, the Lord through angels, for the Lord keeps him in hope and trust, which are the forces of combat from within whereby he resists. Especially is the natural let into temptations when it is receiving the spiritual, because in the natural reside evils of life and falsities of doctrine. For this reason Jacob says this of himself, because by him is here represented the natural as to truth.

AC 6098. And they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers. That this signifies that it has not been uplifted to the state of their life, is evident from the signification of "attaining to," as here being to be uplifted (of which in what follows) and from the signification of "days" and of "years of life," as being states of spiritual life (n. 6093, 6095, 6097). That "attaining to" is here to be uplifted, is because his fathers Isaac and Abraham represented more uplifted, that is, more interior things, than he; for in the supreme sense Abraham represented the Lord’s Divine Itself, Isaac the Lord‘s Divine rational, and Jacob His Divine natural. That Abraham represented the Lord’s Divine Itself, see (n. 1965, 1989, 2011, 3245, 3251, 3305, 3439, 3703, 4615); that Isaac represented the Divine rational, (n. 1893, 2066, 2072, 2083, 2630, 2774, 3012, 3194, 3210, 4615); and that Jacob represented the Divine natural as to truth and as to good, (n. 3305, 3509, 3525, 3546, 3576, 3599, 4286, 4538, 4570, 4615). Therefore also by Abraham is represented the celestial with man, by Isaac the spiritual, and by Jacob the natural, for the reason that the regeneration of man is an image of the glorification of the Lord (n. 3138, 3212, 3296, 3490, 4402, 5688). From all this it is now plain that by the words "and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers" is signified that it has not been uplifted to the state of their life.

AC 6099. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, signifies a devout wish for conjunction and the consequent fructification (n. 6091).

AC 6100. And he went out from before Pharaoh. That this signifies separation in respect to time, is evident from the signification of "going out," as being to be separated, here to be separated in respect to time from the natural where memory-knowledges are, which are represented by Pharaoh. In regard to this, that by "going out" is signified separation in respect to time, the case is this. In the foregoing pages the subject treated of has been the conjunction of spiritual good from the natural, which is "Israel," and also of the truths of the church in the natural, which are his "sons," with the internal celestial, which is "Joseph;" but conjunction with the natural has not yet been treated of, but only insinuation. But in what now follows this conjunction is treated of, from verse thirteen to verse twenty-seven of this chapter (n. 6059, 6060). Hence it is that by "Jacob went out from before Pharaoh" is signified separation in respect to time.

GENESIS 47:7-10    previous  -  next  -  text  -  summary  -  Genesis  -  Full Page

Author:  E. Swedenborg (1688-1772). Design:  I.J. Thompson, Feb 2002. www.BibleMeanings.info