NEUOFFENBARUNG← Secrets of Heaven · Volume 7 · Contents
5354. And the name of the second called he Ephraim. That this signifies a new understanding in the natural, and its quality, is evident from the signification of a “name” and “calling a name,” as being the quality (see n. 144, 145, 1754, 1896, 2009, 2724, 3006, 3421); and from the representation of Ephraim, as being the understanding in the natural (of which in what follows). But first must be told what is meant by the new understanding and the new will signified by “Ephraim and Manasseh.” In the church it is indeed known that man must be born again (that is, must be regenerated) in order that he may enter the kingdom of God; for the Lord has plainly declared this in John 3:3, 5. But what it is to be born again is known only to few, for the reason that few know what good and evil are, and this because they do not know what charity toward the neighbor is; if they knew this, they would also know what good is, and from good what evil is; for all that is good which comes from genuine charity toward the neighbor.
[2] But no one can be in this good from himself, because it is the celestial itself which flows in from the Lord. This celestial flows in continually, but evils and falsities stand in the way of its being received; and therefore in order that it may be received it is necessary for man to remove evils, and as far as he is able falsities also, and thus dispose himself to receive the influx. When after evils have been removed the man receives the influx, he at the same time receives a new will and a new understanding; and from the new will he feels delight in doing good to the neighbor from no selfish end, and from the new understanding he perceives delight in learning what is good and true for its own sake and for the sake of the life. Inasmuch as this new understanding and new will come into existence through influx from the Lord, the man who has been regenerated acknowledges and believes that the good and truth with which he is affected are not from himself but from the Lord, and also that whatever is from himself, or of his own, is nothing but evil.
[3] From all this it is plain what it is to be born again, and also what the new will and new understanding are. But the regeneration through which come the new understanding and the new will is not accomplished in a moment, but goes on from earliest infancy even to the close of life, and afterward in the other life to eternity, and this by Divine means, innumerable and unspeakable; for man of himself is nothing but evil, which continually exhales as from a furnace, and continually endeavors to extinguish the nascent good. The removal of such evil, and the inrooting of good in its place, cannot be effected short of the whole course of life, and through Divine means numberless and unspeakable. Of these means scarcely any are known at the present day, for the reason that man does not suffer himself to be regenerated, nor does he believe regeneration to be anything, because he does not believe in a life after death. The process of regeneration, which includes indescribable things, makes up the main part of angelic wisdom, and is of such a nature that it cannot be fully exhausted by any angel to eternity. Hence it is that this is the chief subject treated of in the internal sense of the Word.
[4] That “Ephraim” is the new understanding in the natural, is plain from very many passages in the Word, especially in the prophet Hosea, which treats much of “Ephraim,” and in which we read as follows:
I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from Me, in that thou hast wholly committed whoredom, O Ephraim, Israel is defiled. Israel and Ephraim shall go to ruin by their iniquity; Judah shall also go to ruin with them. Ephraim shall become a solitude in the day of reproof. And I am as a moth to Ephraim, and as a boring-worm to the house of Judah. And Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound, and Ephraim went to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb; and this one could not heal you (Hos. 5:3, 5, 9, 12-13).
Again in the same prophet:
When I healed Israel, then was the iniquity of Ephraim unveiled, and the evils of Samaria; for they have wrought a lie; and a thief cometh, and a troop spreadeth itself abroad. And Ephraim was like a silly dove without heart; they called Egypt, they went to Assyria. When they shall go I will spread my net over them (Hos. 7:1, 11-12).
[5] Again:
Israel is swallowed up; now shall they be among the nations as a vessel wherein is no desire; when they went up to Assyria, a wild ass alone; Ephraim winneth him loves with a harlot’s hire (Hos. 8:8-9);
Israel shall not dwell in the land of Jehovah, and Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and they shall eat what is unclean in Assyria (Hos. 9:3);
Ephraim hath compassed me about with a lie, and the house of Israel with deceit; and Judah yet ruleth with God, and is faithful with the saints; Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind; every day he multiplieth a lie and wasting, and they make a covenant with the Assyrian, and oil is carried down into Egypt (Hos. 11:12; 12:1);
besides many other passages in the same prophet concerning Ephraim (as chap. 4:17-19; 5:3, 5, 9, 11-14; 7:8, 9; 9:8, 11, 13, 16; 10:6, 11; 11:3, 8, 9; 12:8, 14; 13:1, 12; 14:8).
[6] In all these passages by “Ephraim” is meant the intellectual of the church, by “Israel” its spiritual, and by “Judah” its celestial; and it is because the intellectual of the church is signified by “Ephraim” that it is so often said of him that he “goes away into Egypt,” and “into Assyria;” for by “Egypt” are signified memory-knowledges, and by “Assyria” reasonings from these; both being predicated of the understanding. (That “Egypt” signifies memory-knowledge may be seen above, n. 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462, 2588, 3325, 4749, 4964, 4966; and also that “Assyria” signifies reason and reasoning, n. 119, 1186.)
[7] In like manner in the following passages by “Ephraim” is signified the understanding of the church:
Exult greatly, O daughter of Zion; sound, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold thy King cometh to thee. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and I will cut off the battle bow; He shall speak peace against the nations; and His dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth. I will bend Judah for Me, I will fill Ephraim with the bow, and I will stir up thy sons, O Zion, with thy sons, O Javan (Zech. 9:9-10, 13);
said of the coming of the Lord and of the church of the Gentiles. “To cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem” denotes to cut off all the understanding of the church; “to fill Ephraim with the bow” denotes to give a new understanding. That a “chariot” signifies what is of doctrine may be seen above (n. 5321), a “horse,” what is of the understanding (n. 2760-2762, 3217, 5321); and a “bow” also what is of doctrine (2685, 2686, 2709); for what is of doctrine depends on what is of the understanding, for it is believed as it is understood, the understanding of the doctrine determining the quality of the faith.
[8] Hence also the sons of Ephraim are called “shooters with the bow,” in David:
The sons of Ephraim, who were armed and shooters with the bow, turned back in the day of battle (Ps. 78:9).
In Ezekiel:
Son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the sons of Israel his companions; then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and of all the house of Israel his companions; afterward join them for thee one to another into one stick, that the two may become one in my hand. Behold I will take the stick of Joseph that is in the hands of Ephraim and of the tribes of Israel his companions, and will add those who are upon it with the stick of Judah, and I will make them one stick, that they may be one in My hand (Ezek. 37:16-17, 19);
where also by “Judah” is meant the celestial of the church, by “Israel” its spiritual, and by “Ephraim” its intellectual. That these are made one through the good of charity, is signified by one stick being made out of two. (That a “stick of wood” is the good of charity and consequently the good of works, may be seen above, n. 1110, 2784, 2812, 3720, 4943.)
[9] In Jeremiah:
There shall be a day that the watchman from the mountain of Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, let us go up to Zion unto Jehovah our God. I will be a father to Israel, and Ephraim My firstborn is he (Jer. 31:6, 9).
In the same:
I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself, Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a calf unaccustomed; turn Thou me, that I may be turned. Is not Ephraim a precious son to Me? Is he not a child of delights? For after I have spoken against him, I will surely remember him again (Jer. 31:18, 20).
I will bring back Israel to his habitation, that he may feed in Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be sated in the mountain of Ephraim and in Gilead (Jer. 50:19).
In Isaiah:
Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading flower and to the glory of his adornment, which are upon the head of the valley of the fat ones that are troubled with wine (Isa. 28:1).
[10] In these passages also by “Ephraim” is signified the understanding of the church. The understanding of the church is the understanding the men of the Church have of truths and goods, that is, of the doctrinal things of faith and charity; thus their notion, concept, or idea about them. Truth itself is the spiritual of the church, and good is its celestial; but truth and good are understood differently by different men; such therefore as is the understanding of truth, such is the truth with everyone. It is similar with the understanding of good.
[11] What the will of the church is that is signified by “Manasseh,” may be known from its understanding, which is “Ephraim.” It is with the will of the church as with its understanding, namely, that it is varied with each person. “Manasseh” signifies this will in Isaiah:
In the wrath of Jehovah Zebaoth the land is darkened, and the people is become like food for the fire; no man shall spare his brother; they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm: Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh: they together are against Judah (Isa. 9:19-21);
where “every man eating the flesh of his own arm, Manasseh, Ephraim, and Ephraim, Manasseh” denotes that the will of the man of the church will be against his understanding, and his understanding against his will.
[12] In David:
God hath spoken by His holiness: I will exult, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth. Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine; and Ephraim is the strength of My head (Ps. 60:6-7).
Again:
Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; Thou that sittest upon the cherubim, shine forth. Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up Thy might (Ps. 80:1-2);
where also “Ephraim” denotes the understanding of the church, and “Manasseh” its will. The same is plain also from the blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh by Jacob before his death (Gen. 48:13-20); and also from Jacob’s accepting Ephraim in place of Reuben, and Manasseh in place of Simeon (Gen. 48:3, 5); for by Reuben was represented the understanding of the church, or faith in the understanding and in doctrine (see n. 3861, 3866), and by Simeon, faith in act, or obedience and will to do the truth, from which and by which is charity, and thus truth in act, which is the good of the new will (n. 3869-3872).
[13] The reason why Jacob, then Israel, blessed Ephraim in preference to Manasseh, by putting his right hand upon the former and his left upon the latter (Gen. 48:13-20), was the same that Jacob had for diverting to himself the birthright of Esau, and the same as in the case of Perez and Zerah the sons of Judah by Tamar, when Zerah, who was the firstborn, came forth after Perez (Gen. 38:28-30). This reason was that the truth of faith, which is of the understanding, is apparently in the first place during man’s regeneration, and then the good of charity, which is of the will, is apparently in the second place; and yet good is actually in the first place, and is manifestly so when the man has been regenerated (as may be seen above, n. 3324, 3539, 3548, 3556, 3563, 3570, 3576, 3603, 3701, 4243, 4244, 4247, 4337, 4925, 4926, 4928, 4930, 4977).
5355. For God hath made me fruitful. That this signifies the consequent multiplication of truth from good, is evident from the signification of “making fruitful,” as being multiplication, namely, of truth from good; for “fruitfulness” is predicated of good, and “multiplication” of truth (n. 43, 55, 913, 983, 1940, 2846, 2847). Hence in the original language “Ephraim” was named from fruitfulness, and his quality is contained in the words, “for God hath made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.” This quality is that truth from good was multiplied in the natural after the temptations suffered there. What the multiplication of truth from good is shall be briefly stated. When man is in good, that is, in love toward the neighbor, he is also in the love of truth; consequently insofar as he is in this good, so far he is affected by truth, for good is in truth as the soul in its body. As therefore good multiplies truth, so it propagates itself; and if it is the good of genuine charity, it propagates itself in truth and by truth indefinitely; for there is no limit to good or to truth. The Infinite is in all things in general and in particular, because they are all from the Infinite; but still the indefinite can never in any way reach the Infinite, because there is no ratio between the finite and the Infinite. In the church today there is rarely any multiplication of truth, for the reason that at this day there is no good of genuine charity. It is believed to be sufficient to know the dogmas of faith of the church in which the man is born, and to confirm them by various means. But one who is in the good of genuine charity, and thence in the affection of truth, is not content with this, but desires to be enlightened from the Word as to what truth is, and to see the truth before he confirms it. Moreover, he sees it from good, because the perception of truth is from good; for the Lord is in good, and gives the perception. When a man receives truth in this way, it increases indefinitely. In this respect it is like a little seed, which grows into a tree, and produces other little seeds, which in turn produce a garden, and so on.
5356. In the land of my affliction. That this signifies where temptations were suffered, is evident from the signification of the “land,” here the land of Egypt, as being the natural (see n. 5276, 5278, 5280, 5288, 5301); and from the signification of “affliction,” as being temptation (n. 1846). From this it is plain that by “in the land of my affliction” is signified in the natural where temptations were suffered, and consequently that truth from good was multiplied therein. As this fruitfulness or multiplication of truth from good is effected chiefly by means of temptations, it was thus expressed. The reasons why this fruitfulness is effected chiefly by means of temptations, are these. Temptations remove the loves of self and of the world, thus evils; on the removal of which the affection of good and truth flows in from the Lord (see just above, n. 5354). Temptations also give quality to the perception of good and truth, by means of the opposite things which evil spirits then infuse; and it is by perceiving opposites that we get relatives, from which comes all quality; for no one knows what is good without also knowing what is not good, nor what is true without knowing what is not true. Temptations also confirm goods and truths, for the man then fights against evils and falsities, and by conquering comes into a stronger affirmative. Moreover, by means of temptations evils and falsities are subdued, so that they no longer venture to rise up; and in this way evils with falsities are rejected to the sides, and there hang, but drooping downward; while goods with truths are in the midst, and according to the zeal of affection are lifted upward, thus to heaven toward the Lord, by whom they are lifted up.
5357. Verses 53-57. And the seven years of abundance of produce that was in the land of Egypt were ended. And the seven years of famine began to come, as Joseph had said; and there was famine in all lands; and in all the land of Egypt there was bread. And all the land of Egypt was famished, and the people cried unto Pharaoh for bread; and Pharaoh said to all Egypt, Go unto Joseph; what he saith unto you, do. And the famine was over all the faces of the land, and Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold to Egypt; and the famine was strengthened in the land of Egypt. And all the earth came into Egypt to buy, to Joseph; because the famine was strengthened in all the earth. “And the seven years of abundance of produce were ended,” signifies after the states of the multiplication of truth; “that was in the land of Egypt,” signifies in the natural; “and the seven years of famine began to come,” signifies the following states of desolation; “as Joseph had said,” signifies as had been foreseen by the celestial of the spiritual; “and there was famine in all lands,” signifies desolation everywhere in the natural; “and in all the land of Egypt there was bread,” signifies remains in consequence of truths from good having been multiplied; “and all the land of Egypt was famished,” signifies desolation in both naturals; “and the people cried unto Pharaoh for bread,” signifies the need of good for truth; “and Pharaoh said to all Egypt,” signifies perception; “Go unto Joseph,” signifies that it was from the celestial of the spiritual; “what he saith to you, do,” signifies provided there is obedience; “and the famine was over all the faces of the land,” signifies that there was desolation even to despair; “and Joseph opened all the storehouses,” signifies communication from remains; “and sold to Egypt,” signifies appropriation; “and the famine was strengthened in the land of Egypt,” signifies increasing severity; “and all the earth came into Egypt,” signifies that truths and goods were brought into the memory knowledges of the church; “to buy,” signifies appropriation therefrom; “to Joseph,” signifies where the celestial of the spiritual was; “because the famine was strengthened in all the earth,” signifies that everywhere, except there, was there desolation in the natural.
5358. And the seven years of abundance of produce were ended. That this signifies after the states of the multiplication of truth, is evident from what was unfolded above (n. 5276, 5292, 5339), where similar words occur.
5359. That was in the land of Egypt. That this signifies in the natural, is evident from the signification of the “land of Egypt,” as being the natural (see n. 5080, 5095, 5276, 5278, 5280, 5288).
5360. And the seven years of famine began to come. That this signifies the following states of desolation, is evident from the signification of “years,” as being states (see n. 482, 487, 488, 493, 893); and from the signification of “famine,” as being a lack of the knowledges of truth and good (n. 1460, 3364), consequently desolation. That a famine denotes such a lack, or desolation, is because celestial and spiritual food are nothing else than good and truth. These are what angels and spirits are nourished by, and what they hunger for when hungry, and thirst for when thirsty; and therefore also material food corresponds thereto-as bread to celestial love, and wine to spiritual love, as well as everything that pertains to bread or food, and to wine or drink. When therefore there is a lack of such things, there is a “famine,” and in the Word this is called “desolation” and “vastation” – “desolation” when truths fail, and “vastation” when goods fail. This desolation and vastation is treated of in many passages of the Word, and is there described by the desolation of the earth, of kingdoms, of cities, of nations, and of peoples, and is also termed a “pouring out,” a “cutting off,” a “consummation,” a “desert,” and a “void;” and the state itself is called the “great day of Jehovah,” the “day of His wrath” and “vengeance,” a “day of darkness,” and “thick darkness,” of “cloud” and of “obscurity,” a “day of visitation,” also the “day when the earth shall perish,” thus the “last day” and the “day of judgment;” and because men have not understood the internal sense of the Word, they have hitherto supposed that it meant a day when the earth will perish, and that then for the first time will there be a resurrection and a judgment, not being aware that by a “day” in such passages is signified a state, and by the “earth” the church, and thus by a “day when the earth will perish,” a state when the church will come to its end; therefore when this perishing is described in the Word, a “new earth” is also described, by which is meant a new church. (In regard to the “new earth” and “new heaven,” see what is said above, n. 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 3355, 4535.) That last state of a church which precedes the state of a new church, is properly meant and described in the Word by “vastation” and “desolation.” By the same words is described also the state that precedes man’s regeneration, which state is here signified by the seven years of famine.
5361. As Joseph had said. That this signifies as had been foreseen by the celestial of the spiritual, is evident from the signification of “saying” in the historicals of the Word, as being to perceive (as often shown above), and therefore when predicated of the Lord, who here is “Joseph,” to perceive from Himself, thus to foresee; and from the representation of Joseph, as being the celestial of the spiritual (n. 5249, 5307, 5331, 5332).
5362. And there was famine in all lands. That this signifies desolation everywhere in the natural, is evident from the signification of “famine,” as being desolation (see above, n. 5360); and from the signification of “all lands,” as being everywhere in the natural. (That “land” denotes the natural mind, thus the natural, may also be seen above, n. 5276, 5278, 5280, 5288, 5301.)
5363. But in all the land of Egypt there was bread. That this signifies remains in consequence of truths from good having been multiplied, is evident from the fact that by the “bread in all the land of Egypt” is meant the corn gathered in the seven years of abundance of produce, and laid up in the cities, by which are signified the remains stored up in the interiors of the natural mind, as has frequently been stated and shown above. Hence by the “bread in all the land of Egypt” are signified the remains in consequence of truths from good having been multiplied. That remains are here meant by the “bread in the land of Egypt,” is evident also from the fact that the years of famine had already begun, in which the land of Egypt suffered famine equally with the other lands, except that it had stores laid up which the other lands had not, and therefore these words now follow, “and all the land of Egypt was famished.”
5364. And all the land of Egypt was famished. That this signifies desolation in both naturals, is evident from the signification of “famine,” as being desolation (of which above, n. 5360, 5362); and from the signification of “all the land,” as being both naturals (n. 5276).
5365. And the people cried unto Pharaoh for bread. That this signifies the need of good for truth, is evident from the signification of “crying,” as being the act of a person in grief and mourning, thus being that of a person in need; from the signification of “people,” as being truth (see n. 1259, 1260, 3295, 3581); from the representation of Pharaoh, as being the natural (n. 5079, 5080, 5095, 5160); and from the signification of “bread,” as being the celestial of love, thus good (n. 276, 680, 2165, 2177, 3464, 3478, 3735, 3813, 4211, 4217, 4735, 4976). From this it follows that by “the people cried unto Pharaoh for bread” is signified the need in the natural of good for truth. This meaning indeed appears remote from the historic sense of the letter; but still when they who are in the internal sense understand by “crying,” by “people,” by “Pharaoh,” and by “bread,” nothing else than what has been said, it follows that this meaning results therefrom.
[2] How the case is in regard to the need of good for truth, must be told. Truth has need of good, and good has need of truth; and when truth has need of good, truth is conjoined with good, and when good has need of truth, good is conjoined with truth; for the reciprocal conjunction of good and truth, namely of truth with good and of good with truth, is the heavenly marriage. In the early stages of man’s regeneration, truth is multiplied, but not good; and as truth has then no good with which to be conjoined, it is drawn in and stored up in the interiors of the natural mind, that it may be called forth thence according to the increasings of good. In this state truth is in need of good, and moreover conjunction of truth with good takes place according to the inflow of good into the natural; but still no fruitfulness is effected by this conjunction. But when man has been regenerated, then good increases; and as it increases it is in need of truth, and also procures truth for itself with which it may be conjoined, and thereupon there is a conjunction of good with truth. When this takes place, truth is made fruitful from good, and good from truth.
[3] That this is the case is entirely unknown in the world, but is very well known in heaven; and yet were it known in the world (not only by knowledge but also by perception) what celestial love or love to the Lord is, and what spiritual love or charity toward the neighbor is, it would also be known what good is, for all good is of these loves; and moreover it would be known that good desires truth, and truth good, and that they are conjoined according to the desire and its quality. This might be plain from the fact that when truth is thought of, the good adjoined to it is presented at the same time; and when good is stirred, the truth adjoined to it is presented at the present time-in both cases with affection, desire, delight, or holy aspiration; and from this the quality of the conjunction might be known. But as it is not known from any inward sensation or perception what good is, such things cannot come to knowledge; for that about which nothing is known is not understood, even when it comes to view.
[4] And as it is not known what spiritual good is, and that it is charity toward the neighbor, therefore it is a matter of dispute in the world, especially among the learned, what is the highest good; and scarcely anyone has maintained that it is that delight, satisfaction, blessedness, and happiness which is perceived from mutual love devoid of any selfish or worldly end, and which makes heaven itself. From this also it is plain that in the world at this day it is not at all known what spiritual good is, and still less that good and truth form a marriage together, and that heaven is in this marriage, and that those who are in it are in wisdom and intelligence and have satisfactions and happinesses with unlimited and inexpressible variety, not one of which is known by the world, nor is its existence even recognized and believed; when in fact it is heaven itself, or that very heavenly joy of which so much is said in the church.
5366. And Pharaoh said to all Egypt. That this signifies perception, is evident from the signification of “saying” in the historicals of the Word, as being to perceive (n. 1791, 1815, 1819, 1822, 1898, 1919, 2061, 2080, 2862, 3395, 3509); from the representation of Pharaoh, as being the natural in general (n. 5160); and from the signification of “all Egypt,” as being both naturals (n. 5276, 5364). From this it is plain that by “Pharaoh said to all Egypt” is signified perception in both naturals, in general and in particular.
5367. Go unto Joseph. That this signifies that it was from the celestial of the spiritual, is evident from the representation of Joseph, as being the celestial of the spiritual (of which often above). “To go unto him” signifies that it was from him, namely, the good for truth which is signified by the “bread for which the people cried unto Pharaoh” (see n. 5365).
5368. What he saith to you, do. That this signifies provided there is obedience, is evident from the signification of “doing what anyone says,” as being to obey. By this is signified that good is adjoined to truth in the natural, provided the natural applies itself and obeys. Something must be said about the natural’s applying itself and obeying. They who are in worldly things only, and yet more they who are in bodily things, and still more they who are in earthly ones, cannot apprehend what is meant by saying that the natural ought to apply itself and obey. They suppose that there is only one thing that acts in man, and therefore that there is not one thing in him to command, and another to obey; and yet it is the internal man that should command, and the external that should obey, and that does obey when the man has not the world as the end, but heaven, and not self but the neighbor, consequently when he regards bodily and worldly things as means and not as the end; and he so regards them when he loves his neighbor more than himself, and the things of heaven more than those of the world. When this is the case, the natural obeys; the natural is the same as the external man.
5369. And the famine was over all the faces of the earth. That this signifies when there was desolation even to despair, is evident from the signification of “famine,” as being desolation (of which above, n. 5360, 5362, 5364); and from the signification of the “earth,” as being the natural. When famine is said to be “over all the faces” of this, despair is signified, because the desolation is then everywhere; for the height and extremity of desolation is despair (see n. 5279, 5280).
5370. And Joseph opened all the storehouses.* That this signifies communication from remains, is evident from the signification of “opening,” as here being to communicate. “All the storehouses” are the repositories in which the corn was stored, and by which are signified remains, as has been repeatedly shown above. (That remains are goods and truths stored up by the Lord in the interiors, may be seen above, n. 468, 530, 560, 561, 660, 661, 798, 1050, 1738, 1906, 2284, 5135, 5342, 5344.)
* Literally, “all in which.”
5371. And sold to Egypt. That this signifies appropriation, is evident from the signification of “selling,” as being to appropriate to anyone; for what is sold becomes his who buys it. (That “selling” and “buying” signify appropriation, will be seen below, n. 5374.)
5372. And the famine was strengthened in the land of Egypt. That this signifies increasing severity, that is, of the desolation, is evident from the signification of “famine” and of the “land of Egypt,” as being desolation in the natural, the increasing severity of which is signified by its “being strengthened.”
5373. And all the earth came into Egypt. That this signifies that goods and truths were brought into the memory-knowledges of the church, is evident from the signification of the “earth.” The signification of “earth” or “land” in the Word is various: in general it signifies the church, and hence the things belonging to the church, which are goods and truths; and because it signifies the church, it signifies also the man of the church, for he is the church in particular; and because it signifies the man of the church, it signifies that in him which is the man, namely, the mind. Hence it is that by the “land of Egypt” is occasionally above signified the natural mind. In this passage, however, the land of Egypt is not meant, but the earth in general, consequently the things of the church, which are goods and truths. (That the signification of “land” or “earth” is various may be seen above, n. 620, 636, 2571; and that in general it signifies the church, n. 566, 662, 1068, 1262, 1413, 1607, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 2928, 3355, 3404, 4447, 4535.)
[2] That by “all the earth coming to Egypt” is signified that goods and truths were brought into memory-knowledges is evident from the signification of “Egypt” in the proper sense, as being memory-knowledge, consequently matters of memory-knowledge (see n. 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462); and that the memory-knowledges signified in a good sense by “Egypt” are those of the church (n. 4749, 4964, 4966). That this is the internal sense of these words is plain not only from the signification of the word “earth” or “land” when the land of Egypt is not meant, and from that of “Egypt” in the proper sense, and from its being said, “all the earth came” [venerunt] in the plural, but also from the very connection of things in the internal sense; for in this connection it now follows that the truths and goods of remains are brought into memory-knowledges.
[3] For the case is this: during man’s regeneration as to the natural, goods and truths are one and all brought together into memory-knowledges. Those which are not in the memory-knowledges there, are not in the natural; for the natural mind, as regards that part of it which is subject to the understanding, consists solely of memory-knowledges. The memory-knowledges that belong to the natural are the ultimates of order, and things prior must be in ultimates in order to come into existence and to appear in that sphere; and besides this all prior things tend to ultimates as to their boundaries or ends, and come into existence together therein as causes do in their effects, or as higher things do in lower as in their vessels. The memory-knowledges of the natural are such ultimates. Hence it is that the spiritual world is terminated in man’s natural, in which the things of the spiritual world are representatively presented. Unless spiritual things were presented representatively in the natural, thus by such things as are in the world, they would not be apprehended at all. From all this it is evident that during the regeneration of the natural all interior truths and goods, which are from the spiritual world, are brought into memory-knowledges, in order that they may appear.
5374. To buy. That this signifies appropriation therefrom, is evident from the signification of “buying,” as being to procure for one’s self, thus to appropriate. Procuring and appropriating spiritually are effected by means of good and truth. To this corresponds the procuring and appropriating that in the world are effected by means of silver and gold; for in the spiritual sense “silver” is truth, and “gold” is good. Hence “buying” signifies appropriation, as also in the following passages in the Word:
Everyone that thirsteth come ye to the waters, and he that hath no silver; come ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without silver and without price (Isa. 55:1); and also in Jeremiah (Jer. 13:1-2, 11).
In Matthew:
The kingdom of the heavens is like unto treasure hid in the field; which when a man hath found, he hideth, and in his joy he goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like unto a merchantman, seeking goodly pearls, and he went and sold all that he had, and bought it (Matt. 13:44-46).
Again:
The prudent virgins said to the foolish ones, Go ye to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came (Matt. 25:9-10).
[2] As “buying” signifies appropriation, therefore in the Word the things bought with silver are well distinguished from those otherwise obtained. Moreover, the servants bought with silver were as one’s own, and in a lower degree like those born in the house; and therefore they are often mentioned together, as in Genesis:
Circumcising he shall be circumcised that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy silver (Gen. 17:13);
and in Leviticus:
If a priest buy any soul with the purchase of silver, he and one that is born in his house, they shall eat of his bread (Lev. 22:11).
Hence it is evident what is signified by the “redeemed (or those bought back) of Jehovah,” in the Word, namely, those who have received good and truth, and thus those to whom the things of the Lord have been appropriated.
5375. To Joseph. That this signifies where the celestial of the spiritual was, is evident from the representation of Joseph, as being the celestial of the spiritual, as often shown above. The celestial of the spiritual is the good of truth from the Divine.
5376. Because the famine was strengthened in all the earth. That this signifies that everywhere, except there, was there desolation in the natural, is evident from the signification of “famine,” as being desolation (of which above); and from the signification of “earth,” as being the natural (of which also above). Its being everywhere except there, namely, in the memory-knowledges where the celestial of the spiritual was, follows from what goes before. How the case is with the desolation of the natural, or the deprivation of truth there, has already been told; but as the same subject is continued in what follows, it must be told again. The man who is born within the church, from earliest childhood learns from the Word and from the doctrinal things of the church what the truth of faith is, and also what the good of charity is. But when he grows up to manhood he begins either to confirm or to deny in himself the truths of faith that he has learned; for he then looks at these truths with his own sight, and thereby causes them either to be made his own or else to be rejected; for nothing can become one’s own that is not acknowledged of one’s own insight, that is, which the man does not know to be so from himself, and not from somebody else; and therefore the truths learned from childhood enter no further into the man’s life than the first entrance, from which they can either be admitted more interiorly, or else be cast out.
[2] With those who are being regenerated, that is, who the Lord foresees will suffer themselves to be regenerated, these truths are greatly multiplied, for these persons are in the affection of knowing truths; but when they come nearer to the very act of regeneration, they are as it were deprived of these truths, for these are drawn inward, and then the man appears to be in desolation; nevertheless as regeneration goes on these truths are successively let back into the natural, and are there conjoined with good. But with those who are not being regenerated, that is, who the Lord foresees will not suffer themselves to be regenerated, truths are indeed usually multiplied, for these persons are in the affection of knowing such things for the sake of reputation, honor, and gain; yet when they advance in years and submit these truths to their own sight, they then either do not believe them, or they deny them, or they turn them into falsities; thus with them truths are not withdrawn inward, but are cast forth, although they still remain in the memory for the sake of ends in the world, though without life. This state also is called in the Word “desolation” or “vastation,” but differs from the former state in the desolation of the former being apparent, while the desolation of this state is absolute; for in the former state man is not deprived of truths, while in this state he is entirely deprived of them. The desolation of the former state has been treated of in the internal sense in this chapter, and is still further treated of in the following one, and is what is signified by the “famine of seven years.”
[3] This same desolation is often treated of in other parts of the Word, as in Isaiah:
Awake, awake, O Jerusalem, who hast drunk at the hand of Jehovah the cup of His anger; two things are befallen thee, who shall bemoan thee? Wasting and breaking, famine and the sword; how shall I comfort thee? Thy sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets. Therefore hear, do this, thou afflicted and drunken one, but not with wine, behold I have taken out of thy hand the cup of trembling, the dregs of the cup of My wrath; thou shalt no more drink it again, but I will put it into the hand of them that make thee sad (Isa. 51:17-23);
in this passage is described the state of desolation in which is the man of the church who is becoming a church, or who is being regenerated. This desolation is called “wasting,” “breaking,” “famine,” “sword,” and also the “cup of the anger and wrath of Jehovah,” and the “cup of trembling.” The truths of which he is then deprived are the “sons who faint, and lie at the head of all the streets.” That “sons” are truths may be seen above (n. 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623, 2803, 2813, 3373), and that “streets” are where truths are (n. 2336); hence “to lie at the head of all the streets” means that truths appear to be dispersed. It is evident that this desolation is apparent, and that by it as by temptations regeneration is effected, for it is said that she “shall no more drink,” but that “He will put the cup into the hand of them that make her sad.”
[4] In Ezekiel:
Thus hath said the Lord Jehovih, Because they lay waste and swallow you up on every side, that ye be an inheritance unto the remains of the nations, therefore ye mountains of Israel hear the word of the Lord Jehovih: thus hath said the Lord Jehovih to the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys, and to the desolate wastes and to the cities that are forsaken, which became a prey and derision to the remains of the nations that are round about; I have spoken in My zeal and in My wrath, because ye have borne the reproach of the nations. Surely the nations that are round about you, these shall bear their reproach; but ye mountains of Israel shall put forth your branch and yield your fruit to My people Israel. For behold I am with you, and I will have regard unto you, that ye may be tilled and sown; and I will multiply man upon you, the whole house of Israel, and the cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes builded. I will cause you to dwell according to your times of old, and will do better to you than at your beginnings (Ezek. 36:3-12);
here also the subject treated of is the desolation that precedes regeneration, the desolation being signified by the “desolate wastes,” and the “cities that are forsaken, which became a prey and derision”; but regeneration being signified by “putting forth branch and yielding fruit,” by “having regard unto them that they may be tilled and sown, that man may be multiplied, the cities inhabited, and the wastes built,” and by “causing them to dwell according to their times of old,” and “doing better to them than at their beginning.”
[5] How the case is in regard to desolation is plain from those who are in desolation in the other life. They who are in desolation there are harassed by evil spirits and genii, who pour in persuasions of evil and falsity until they are almost overwhelmed, the result being that truths do not appear; but as the time of desolation draws to a close they are enlightened by light from heaven, and in this way the evil spirits and genii are driven away, everyone into his own hell, where they undergo punishments. These are the things signified by “the cities becoming a prey and derision to the remains of the nations that are round about,” and by “the nations that are round about bearing their reproach”; and above in Isaiah by “the cup being put into the hand of them that make her sad”; and also in other passages in Isaiah by the “waster being laid waste” (Isa. 33:1). Also in Jeremiah:
I will visit upon the wasters, and will make them everlasting desolations (Jer. 25:12).
In Isaiah:
Thy destroyers will hasten thy sons, and thy wasters shall go forth from thee. Lift up thine eyes round about and see; all gather together, they come to thee. For as to thy wastes and the land of thy destruction, thou shalt be too straitened for an inhabitant, they that swallow thee up shall be far away (Isa. 49:17-19);
[6] here again, and in this whole chapter, the subject treated of is the desolation of those who are being regenerated, and their regeneration and fruitfulness after desolation, and lastly the punishment of those who oppressed them (verse 26). In the same:
Woe to thee that layeth waste when thou art not laid waste! When thou hast ceased to lay waste, thou shalt be laid waste (Isa. 33:1);
meaning that they who vastate are punished, as above. In the same:
Let mine outcasts tarry in thee; Moab, be thou a covert to them before the waster; for the oppressor hath ceased, the wasting is ended (Isa. 16:4).
Again:
The day of Jehovah is near, it shall come as a wasting from Shaddai (Isa. 13:6);
“a wasting from Shaddai” denotes vastation in temptations; that God as to temptations was by the ancients called Shaddai, may be seen above (n. 1992, 3667, 4572).
[7] Again:
Then they shall not thirst; He shall lead them in wastes, He shall cause the waters to flow out of the rock for them; and He will cleave the rock that the waters flow out (Isa. 48:21);
speaking of the state after desolation. Again:
Jehovah will comfort Zion, He will comfort all the wastes thereof, so as to make the wilderness thereof as Eden, and the solitude thereof as the garden of Jehovah; gladness and joy shall be found therein, confession and the voice of a song (Isa. 51:3).
Where the subject treated of is the same, for as before said desolation is for the sake of the end that the man may be regenerated, that is, that after evils and falsities are separated, truths may be conjoined with goods, and goods with truths. The regenerate man as to good is what is compared to “Eden,” and as to truths to the “garden of Jehovah.” In David:
Jehovah hath made me come up out of the pit of devastation, out of the mire of clay, and hath set my feet upon a rock (Ps. 40:2).
[8] The vastation and desolation of the man of the church, or of the church in man, was represented by the captivity of the Jewish people in Babylon; and the raising up of the church by the return from that captivity, as occasionally described in Jeremiah, especially in chapter 32, verse 37 to the end; for desolation is captivity, the man then being kept as it were bound, and therefore by “those bound,” “in prison,” and “in the pit,” are signified those who are in desolation (see n. 4728, 4744, 5037, 5038, 5085, 5096).
[9] The state of desolation and vastation with those who are not being regenerated is also occasionally treated of in the Word. In this state are they who deny truths, or turn them into falsities: this is the state of the church toward its end, when there is no longer any faith or charity. Thus in Isaiah:
I will make known to you what I will do to My vineyard, in removing the hedge thereof so that it shall be eaten up, in breaking through the fence thereof that it may be trodden down. I will then make it a desolation; it shall not be pruned nor hoed, that there may come up brier and shrub; nay, I will command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it (Isa. 5:5-6).
In the same:
Tell this people, Hearing hear ye, but understand not; and seeing see ye, but know not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and smear over their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and their heart should understand, and they should be converted, and be healed. Then said I, Lord, how long? And he said, Until the cities be devastated that they be without inhabitant, and the houses that there be no man in them, and the land be reduced into a solitude; Jehovah will remove man. And the desert shall be multiplied in the midst of the land; scarcely a tenth part shall be in it any more, and yet it shall be banished (Isa. 6:9-13).
[10] In the same:
Remains shall return, the remains of Jacob, unto the mighty God; for a consummation is decreed, overflowing with righteousness; for a consummation and a decree shall the Lord Jehovih Zebaoth make in all the earth (Isa. 10:21-23).
Jehovah maketh the earth void, and maketh it empty, and will overturn the faces thereof. The earth shall be utterly void, the habitable earth shall mourn, shall be confounded, the world shall languish and be confounded, a curse shall devour the earth; the new wine shall mourn, the vine shall languish; that which is left in the city shall be a waste, the gate shall be smitten even to devastation; breaking, the earth is broken; breaking, the earth is broken in pieces; moving, the earth is moved; reeling, the earth reeleth like a drunkard (Isa. 24:1-23).
The paths are devastated, the wayfaring man ceaseth, the land mourneth and languisheth, Lebanon is ashamed and withered away, Sharon is become like a desert (Isa. 33:8-9).
I will make desolate and swallow up together, I will make waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herb (Isa. 42:14-15).
[11] In Jeremiah:
I will give to the curse all the nations round about, and will make them a desolation, and a derision, and perpetual wastes; I will take from them the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of the millstones and the light of the candle; that the whole land may be a desolation and a devastation. It shall come to pass when seventy years are fulfilled, that I will visit their iniquity upon the king of Babylon, and upon this nation, and upon the land of the Chaldees, and will make it everlasting desolations (Jer. 25:9-12 seq.).
Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities thereof shall become perpetual wastes; Edom shall be a desolation, everyone that goeth by it shall be amazed, and shall hiss over all the plagues thereof (Jer. 49:13-18).
In Ezekiel:
Thus saith the Lord to the inhabitants of Jerusalem concerning the land of Israel, They shall eat their bread with solicitude, and drink their waters with amazement; that her land may be devastated from its fullness, because of the violence of all them that dwell therein; the cities that are inhabited shall be devastated, and the land shall be made desolate (Ezek. 12:19-20).
[12] Again:
When I shall make thee a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited; when I shall make the deep come up against thee, and many waters shall cover thee, and I shall make thee go down with them that descend into the pit, to the people of old time, and shall make thee to dwell in the earth of the lower things, for a desolation from eternity with them that go down into the pit (Ezek. 26:19-21);
speaking of Tyre. In Joel:
A day of darkness and of thick darkness, a day of cloud and of obscurity; a fire devoureth before him and behind him a flame burneth; the land is as the garden of Eden before him, but behind him a wilderness of waste (Joel 2:2-3).
In Zephaniah:
The day of Jehovah is near, a day of wrath is this day, a day of distress and of cramping, a day of wasteness and devastation, a day of darkness and thick darkness, a day of cloud and shade; the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of the zeal of Jehovah, for I will make a consummation, yea, a speedy one, with all the inhabitants of the land (Zeph. 1:14-18).
In Matthew:
When ye shall see the abomination of desolation, foretold by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, then let them that are in Judea flee into the mountains (Matt. 24:15-16; Mark 13:14; Dan. 9:27; 12:10-12).
From these passages it is evident that desolation is the apparent deprivation of truth with those who are being regenerated, but is the absolute deprivation of it with those who are not being regenerated.
5377. Continuation concerning the correspondence with the Grand Man; here concerning the correspondence of the interior viscera therewith.
The subject treated of at the close of the preceding chapter was the correspondence of some of the interior viscera of the body with the Grand Man, namely, of the liver, the pancreas, the stomach, and some others. The subject is now continued with the correspondence therewith of the peritoneum, the kidneys, the ureters, the bladder, and also of the intestines; for whatever is in man, both what is in the external man and what is in the internal, has a correspondence with the Grand Man. Without correspondence therewith (that is, with heaven, or what is the same, with the spiritual world) nothing would ever come into existence and subsist, for the reason that it would have no connection with what is prior to itself, nor consequently with the First, that is, with the Lord. What is unconnected, and thus independent, cannot subsist for a single moment; for its subsistence is from its connection with that from which is all existence, and its dependence upon it, because subsistence is a perpetual coming into existence.
[2] Hence it is that not only all things in general and particular in man correspond, but also all and each in the universe. The sun itself corresponds, and also the moon; for in heaven the Lord is the Sun, and also the Moon. The sun’s flame and heat, and also its light, correspond; for it is the Lord’s love toward the whole human race to which the flame and heat correspond, and the Divine truth to which the light corresponds. The very stars correspond, the societies of heaven and their habitations being what they have correspondence with; not that they are in the stars, but that they are in a similar order. Whatever appears under the sun corresponds, as all and each of the subjects in the animal kingdom, and also all and each of the subjects in the vegetable kingdom; and unless there were an influx from the spiritual world into all and each, they would instantly sink down and shrivel away. This has been granted me to know by much experience; for I have been shown with what things in the spiritual world many things in the animal kingdom, and many more in the vegetable kingdom, correspond, and also that without influx they would by no means subsist; for when that which is prior is taken away, that which is posterior necessarily falls, and the same is the case when what is prior is separated from what is posterior. As there is an especial correspondence of man with heaven, and through heaven with the Lord, a man appears in the other life in the light of heaven according to the quality of his correspondence. Hence the angels appear in ineffable brightness and beauty, but the infernals in inexpressible blackness and deformity.
5378. Some spirits came to me, but were silent. After a while, however, they spoke, yet not as many, but all as one. I noticed from their speech that they were such that they desired to know everything, and were eager to explain everything, and in this way to confirm themselves that a thing is so. They were modest, and said that they do nothing of themselves, but from others, although it appears to be from them. They were then infested by others, who were said to be those who constitute the province of the kidneys, ureters, and bladder, and whom they answered modestly; yet these continued to infest and assail them, for such is the nature of the kidney spirits. And as they could not prevail against them by their modesty, they resorted to what was according to their nature, namely, to enlarging themselves, and thereby causing terror. Thereupon they seemed to become great, but only as a one, who so swelled in stature, that like Atlas he seemed to reach to heaven; a spear appeared in his hand, but still he did not wish to do any harm beyond exciting terror. In consequence of this the kidney spirits fled away, and then there appeared one who pursued them in their flight, and another who flew in front between the feet of that great one; moreover, that great one seemed to have wooden shoes, which he threw at the kidney spirits.
[2] Angels told me that those modest spirits who made themselves great were those who bear relation to the peritoneum. The peritoneum is the common membrane that surrounds and encloses all the viscera of the abdomen, as the pleura does all the viscera of the chest; and as it is so extensive, and relatively large, and also expansible, the spirits who belong to this province, when infested by others, are allowed to present themselves great in appearance, and at the same time to strike with terror, especially in the case of those who constitute the province of the kidneys, ureters, and bladder; for these viscera or vessels lie in the folds of the peritoneum, and are constrained by it. The wooden shoes represented the lowest natural things, such as the kidneys, ureters, and bladder absorb and carry off. (That shoes are the lowest natural things may be seen n. 259, 4938-4952.) And in saying that they do nothing of themselves, but from others, in this respect also these spirits bear relation to the peritoneum, which is also of such a nature.
5379. It was also representatively shown what happens when they who constitute the colon intestine infest those who are in the province of the peritoneum. They who constitute the colon intestine become puffed up, like the colon with its wind, and when they desired to assail those of the peritoneum, it appeared as if a wall were thrown in the way; and when they attempted to overturn the wall, there always rose up a new wall. In this manner they were kept away from them.
5380. It is known that there are secretions and excretions, in a series, from the kidneys down to the bladder. In the first of the series are the kidneys, in the middle of it are the ureters, and in the last is the bladder. They who constitute these provinces in the Grand Man are in like manner in a series; and although they are of one genus, they differ as do the species of this genus. They speak with a raucous voice as if cracked, and desire to introduce themselves into the body; but this is only an endeavor. Their situation in respect to the human body is as follows. They who relate to the kidneys are on the left side close to the body under the elbow; they who relate to the ureters are to the left farther off from the body; and they who relate to the bladder are still farther away. Together they form almost a parabola from the left side toward the front; for in this way they project themselves from the left toward the front; thus in a rather long course. This is one common way to the hells, the other is through the intestines, for both these ways end in the hells; for they who are in the hells correspond to such things as are excreted by the intestines and the bladder, the falsities and evils in which they are being nothing but urine and excrement in a spiritual sense.
5381. They who constitute the province of the kidneys, ureters, and bladder in the Grand Man, are of such a disposition that they desire nothing more than to explore and to search out the quality of others; and there are some of them who are eager to chastise and to punish, provided there is some justice in the case. The functions of the kidneys, ureters, and bladder are of this kind; for they explore the blood thrown into them to see whether there is any useless and hurtful serum in it, which they separate from what is useful, and then correct it; for they drive it down toward lower positions, and on the way and afterward they agitate it in various ways. These are the functions of those who constitute the province of the parts in question. But the spirits and societies of spirits to which the urine itself, especially fetid urine, corresponds, are infernal; for as soon as the urine is separated from the blood, although it is in the little tubes of the kidneys or within the bladder, still it is out of the body; for what has been separated no longer circulates in the body, and therefore does not contribute anything to the coming into existence and subsistence of its parts.
5382. I have often observed that they who constitute the province of the kidneys and ureters are quick to explore or search out the quality of others-what they think and what they will-and that they are in the cupidity of finding occasions, and making out others to be guilty of some fault, chiefly in order to be able to chastise them, and I have talked with them about this cupidity and this intention. Many of this kind in the world had been judges, who rejoiced at heart when they found an occasion which they believed just, to fine, chastise, and punish. The operation of such is felt in the region at the back where are the kidneys, ureters, and bladder. They who belong to the bladder stretch out toward gehenna, where some of them sit as it were in judgment.
5383. The methods by which they explore or search out the dispositions of others are very numerous; but I may adduce only the following one. They lead other spirits to speak (which in the other life is done by an influx that cannot be intelligibly described), and if the speech they have thus led follows readily they judge thereby of the character of the spirits. They also lead into a state of affection. But they who explore in this way are among the grosser of them. Others use other methods. There are some of them who on approaching at once perceive another’s thoughts, desires, and acts, and also anything he has done that pains him to think of: this they seize upon, and also condemn, if they think there is just cause. It is one of the wonders of the other life-incredible to almost all in this world-that as soon as any spirit comes to another, and especially when he comes to a man, he instantly knows the other’s thoughts and affections and what he has been doing, thus all his present state, just as if he had been a long time with him-so perfect is the communication. But there are differences in these perceptions, some spirits perceiving interior things, and others perceiving only exterior ones. These latter, if they are in the cupidity of knowing, explore the interiors of others by various methods.
5384. The methods by which those chastise who constitute the province of the kidneys, ureters, and bladder in the Grand Man, are also various; for the most part they take away joyous and glad things, and induce such as are joyless and sad. By this cupidity these spirits communicate with the hells; but by the justness of the cause, which they inquire into before chastising, they communicate with heaven. For this reason they are kept in this province.
5385. From all this it is evident what is signified by its being said in the Word, that “Jehovah tries and searches the reins and the heart,” and that the “reins chasten,” as in Jeremiah:
Jehovah trieth the reins and the heart (Jer. 11:20).
In the same:
Jehovah that trieth the righteous, and seeth the reins and the heart (Jer. 20:12).
In David:
The just God trieth the hearts and reins (Ps. 7:9).
Again:
O Jehovah explore my reins and my heart (Ps. 26:2).
Again:
Jehovah Thou hast possessed my reins (Ps. 139:13).
In Revelation:
I am He that searcheth the reins and the heart (Rev. 2:23).
In these passages spiritual things are signified by the “reins” [or “kidneys”] and celestial things by the “heart;” that is, the things which are of truth are signified by the “reins,” and those which are of good by the “heart.” The reason of this is that the kidneys purify the serum, and the heart purifies the blood itself; hence by “trying, exploring, and searching the reins,” is signified to try, explore, and search out the quantity and quality of truth, or the quantity and quality of faith, in man. That this is the signification is plain also in Jeremiah:
Jehovah Thou art near in their mouth, but far from their reins (Jer. 12:2);
and in David:
Jehovah, behold Thou desirest truth in the reins (Ps. 51:6).
That “chastening” is attributed to the kidneys is clear also in David:
My reins chasten me in the night seasons (Ps. 16:7).
5386. There are also secretories and excretories in other parts of the body: in the brain there are ventricles and mammillary processes which carry off the phlegmy substances there; and there are also little glands everywhere, as the mucous and salivary glands in the head, and very many others in the body, and myriads next the cuticles, by which the sweat and more subtle used-up matters are thrown off. To these correspond in the spiritual world-to speak generally-tenacities of opinions, and also conscientious scruples in unimportant matters. Some of these spirits appear at a moderate distance above the head, and are such that they raise scruples in matters where there need be none; hence because they burden the consciences of the simple, they are called conscience-mongers. What true conscience is, they know not, because they make everything that comes up a matter of conscience; for when any scruple or doubt is suggested, if the mind is anxious and dwells on it, there are never wanting things to strengthen the doubt and make it burdensome. When such spirits are present they also induce a sensible anxiety in the part of the abdomen immediately under the diaphragm. They are also present with man in temptations. I have talked with them, and noticed that they have not enough extension of thought to acquiesce in the more useful and necessary things; for they were unable to give attention to reasons, being tenaciously set in their own opinion.
5387. They who correspond to the urine itself however are infernal; for as before said the urine is out of the body, because already separated from the blood, and in itself is nothing but unclean and used-up serum, which is thrown down. I may relate the following things concerning them. A certain spirit was perceived at first as if within the body, but presently below at the right; and when he stood there, he was invisible, having the power to render himself so by art. When he was questioned, he made no reply whatever. It was said by others that in the life of the body he had been engaged in piratical pursuits; for in the other life it is plainly perceived, from the sphere of the life’s affections and thoughts, who and of what quality everyone has been, because his life remains.
[2] He changed his place, appearing now at the right, and now at the left. I saw that he did this for fear of its being known who he was, and of being forced to make some confession. It was said by other spirits that such are most timorous at the least sign of danger, and most courageous when there is nothing to fear; and that they are the opposite of those to whom the discharge of the urine corresponds, and strive in every way to injure this. And that I might have no doubt, it was shown me by experience. When they who correspond to the discharge of the urine withdrew a little, and that pirate stood by, the discharge was completely stopped, and effort was attended with danger; but when they were recalled, the emission of the urine was intensified according to their presence.
[3] He afterward confessed that he had been a pirate, and said that he could then artfully hide himself, and by cunning and activity elude his pursuers; and that he now loves urinous filth much more than any clear water, and that the fetid smell of urine is what most delights him, so much so that he wishes to have his abode in pools, or even in casks, of fetid urine. It was shown also what sort of face he had; it was not really a face, but something with a black beard in place of one.
[4] Afterward other pirates also, who were not so active, were sent for, who also spoke but little, and strange to say gnashed their teeth. They too said that they love urine more than all other liquids, and feculent urine the most. These, however, had not something bearded for a face, as the first had, but a kind of dreadful grate of teeth; for the beard and teeth signify the lowest natural things. Their being without a face signifies that they have no rational life, because when no face appears it is a sign that there is no correspondence of the interiors with the Grand Man; for in the other life everyone appears in the light of heaven in accordance with his correspondence, and hence the infernals appear in horrible deformity.
5388. A certain spirit was with me, talking with me, who in the life of the body had had no faith, and had not believed in any life after death; he also had been one of the dexterous. He could captivate the minds of others by flattery and by giving assent, on which account his quality was not apparent at first from his discourse; he could also talk with volubility, like a stream, and like a good spirit. But his quality was first known by his not liking to speak about matters of faith and charity, for then he could not follow in thought, but drew back; and it was afterward perceived from several indications that he had been an assentor for the purpose of deceiving. For assentations are according to ends; if the end is friendship, or the pleasure of conversation, or the like, or even rightful gain, there is not so much harm in it; but if the end is to elicit secrets, and thereby bind another to evil services-in general if the end is to do harm-it is evil. Such was the end this spirit had in view, and he was also in opposition to those who are in the province of the kidneys and ureters. He too said that he loved the smell of urine above all other odors; and he caused a painful contraction or cramp in the lower region of the belly.
5389. There are troops of spirits who wander about, and by turns come back to the same places. Evil spirits greatly fear them, for they torment them with a certain kind of torture. I was informed that they correspond to the fundus or upper part of the bladder in general, and to the muscular ligaments converging therefrom toward the sphincter, where the urine is driven out by a kind of contortion. These spirits apply themselves to the part of the back where is the cauda equina. Their mode of operating is by quick movements to and fro which no one can stop. It is a method of constriction and restriction directed upward, and pointed in the form of a cone. The evil spirits who are thrown within this cone, especially at the upper part, are miserably tormented by being twisted to and fro.
5390. There are other spirits also who correspond to unclean excretions, namely, such as in the world have been tenacious of revenge: these appeared to me in front to the left. To these unclean excretions also correspond those who debase spiritual things to unclean earthly ones. Such spirits came to me and brought with them filthy thoughts, from which they spoke filthy things, and also warped clean things to unclean things, and turned them into such. Many of this kind had belonged to the lowest orders, and some to people of higher station in the world, who during their bodily life had not indeed so spoken in company, but still had so thought; for they had refrained from speaking as they thought, lest they should come to shame, and lose friendship, gain, and honor. Nevertheless, among their like, when in freedom, their conversation had been like that of the lowest orders, and even fouler, because they possessed a certain intellectual capacity which they misused to defile even the holy things of the Word and of doctrine.
5391. There are also kidneys called the subsidiary kidneys, or renal capsules. Their function is to secrete not so much the serum as the blood itself, and to transmit the purer blood toward the heart by a short circuit, and thus prevent the spermatic vessels, which are near, from carrying off all the purer blood. But these organs perform their main work in embryos, and also in newborn infants. It is chaste virgins who constitute this province in the Grand Man: prone to anxieties, and fearful of being disturbed, they lie quiet at the lower left side of the body. If there is any thought about heaven, or about a change of their state, they become anxious and sigh, as I have several times been given plainly to feel. When my thoughts were led to infants, they felt great comfort and inward joy, which they frankly confessed; and when there was any thought that had nothing heavenly in it, they were distressed. Their anxiety comes chiefly from their being of such a nature that they keep their thoughts fixed on one subject, and do not dispel anxious feelings by variety. The reason why they belong to this province is that in this way they keep another’s lower mind fixed on certain thoughts, the result being that such things arise and show themselves as cohere in a series, and as are to be drawn away, or from which the man is to be purified. In this way also interior things lie in plainer view to the angels; for when such things as obscure and turn away the thoughts are removed, there results a clearer insight and influx.
5392. Who they are that constitute the province of the intestines in the Grand Man, may be seen to some extent from those who relate to the stomach; for the intestines are continued from the stomach, and the functions of the stomach become there more vigorous and harsh down to the last intestines, which are the colon and rectum; for which reason they who are in these are near the hells which are called excremental. In the region of the stomach and intestines are they who are in the earth of lower things, who, because they have brought with them from the world unclean things that cling to their thoughts and affections, are kept there for some time, until such things have been wiped away, that is, cast to the sides; after this is done, they can be taken up into heaven. They who are there are not as yet in the Grand Man; for they are like food taken into the stomach, which is not admitted into the blood, and thus into the body, until it has been cleared of dregs. They who have been defiled with more earthly dregs are under these in the region of the intestines; but the excrements themselves that are discharged correspond to the hells called the excremental hells.
5393. It is well known that the colon intestine spreads out wide, and so do those who are in this province. They spread out in front toward the left in a curved line, leading to a hell. In that hell are they who have been merciless, and who without conscience have desired to destroy mankind, namely, to kill and to plunder them without respect or distinction of persons, whether they resist or not, and whether they are men or women. Of such a ferocious disposition are a great part of the soldiery and their officers, who, not in battle but after it, rage ferociously against the conquered and unarmed, and kill and despoil them in their fury. I have conversed with angels about such men, as to what they are when left to themselves and permitted to act without law and with freedom, how they are much more savage than the worst wild beasts, which do not so rush to the destruction of their own species, but merely defend themselves and appease their hunger with what is allotted them for food, and when sated do no such things. It is otherwise with the man who acts thus from cruelty and ferocity. The angels were horrified that mankind should be of such a nature as to first begin to rejoice at heart and be elated in mind when they see the whole field strewn with fallen troops, and reeking with blood-not rejoicing that their country has been freed, but only in being themselves lauded as great men and heroes. And yet they call themselves Christians, and even believe that they will come into heaven, where there is nothing but peace, mercy, and charity. Such are in the hell of the colon and rectum. But those of them in whom there had been any humanity appear in front to the left in a curved line, within a kind of wall; yet there is still much of the love of self in them. If any of these have a regard for what is good, this is sometimes represented by little stars almost fiery, but not of white light. A wall appeared to me as it were of plaster with molded figures, near the left elbow, which wall became more extended and at the same time higher, the upper part verging in color to sky-blue; and I was told that this was a representative of some spirits of this kind who were better.
5394. They who have been cruel and adulterers, in the other life love nothing so well as filth and excrements, the stenches from such things being most sweet and delightful to them, and being preferred by them to all other delights. The reason is that these things correspond. These hells are partly under the buttocks, partly under the right foot, and partly deep down in front. These are the hells into which the way by the rectum intestine leads. A certain spirit being conveyed thither, and speaking with me therefrom, said that nothing but privies were to be seen there. They who were in the place spoke to him, and led him to various privies, which were very numerous there. He was afterward led to another place a little to the left; and when he was there, he said that a most dreadful stench exhaled from the caverns there, and that he could not stir a step without almost falling into some cavern. A cadaverous stench also was exhaled from the caverns, and the reason was that they who were there were cruel and deceitful, to whom a cadaverous stench is most delightful. But these will be described in the following pages, when I come to speak of the hells, and specifically of the excremental and cadaverous hells.
5395. There are some who live not for the sake of any use to their country or to its communities, but with a view to live for themselves, taking no delight in public employments, but only in being honored and courted (to which end they indeed seek office); and also in eating, drinking, making merry and conversing with no other end than pleasure. Such in the other life cannot possibly be in the company of good spirits, still less in that of angels; for with these the use causes the delight, and according to the uses is the amount and quality of the delight. For the Lord’s kingdom is nothing but a kingdom of uses; and if in an earthly kingdom everyone is valued and honored according to his use, how much more is this the case in the heavenly kingdom! They who have lived solely for themselves and pleasure, without any useful end, are also under the buttocks, and pass their time in things unclean in accordance with the kinds of their pleasures and their ends.
5396. By way of Appendix I may relate what follows. There was a numerous crowd of spirits about me that was heard like something devoid of order flowing. They were complaining that everything was going to destruction; for in that crowd nothing appeared consociated, and this made them fear destruction. They also supposed that it would be total, as is the case when such things happen. But in the midst of them I perceived a soft sound, angelically sweet, having nothing in it that was out of order. Angelic choirs were there within, and the crowd of spirits devoid of order was without. This angelic strain continued a long time; and I was told that by it was represented how the Lord rules confused and disorderly things which are without from what is peaceful in the midst, by which the disorderly things in the circumference are brought back into order, each from the error of its own nature.
Genesis 42
1. And Jacob saw that there was produce in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, Why do ye look at one another?
2. And he said, Behold I have heard that there is produce in Egypt; get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; and we shall live, and not die.
3. And Joseph’s ten brethren went down to buy corn from Egypt.
4. And Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Peradventure mischief may befall him.
5. And the sons of Israel came to buy in the midst of those that came; for the famine was in the land of Canaan.
6. And Joseph he was the governor over the land; he it was that sold to all the people of the land; and Joseph’s brethren came, and bowed down themselves to him with their faces to the earth.
7. And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spoke hard things with them; and he said unto them, Whence came ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.
8. And Joseph knew his brethren; but they knew not him.
9. And Joseph remembered the dreams that he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.
10. And they said unto him, Nay my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come.
11. We are all one man’s sons; we are upright; thy servants are no spies.
12. And he said unto them, Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.
13. And they said, We thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not.
14. And Joseph said unto them, This is it that I spoke unto you, saying, ye are spies.
15. Hereby ye shall be proved; by the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither.
16. Send one of you, and let him get your brother, and ye shall be bound, and your words shall be proved, whether there be truth with you; or else by the life of Pharaoh surely ye are spies.
17. And he shut them up in custody three days.
18. And Joseph said unto them in the third day, This do, and live; I fear God.
19. If ye be upright, let one of your brethren be bound in the house of your custody; and go ye, bring produce for the famine of your houses.
20. And bring your youngest brother unto me; and your words shall be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so.
21. And they said a man to his brother, We are surely guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come unto us.
22. And Reuben answered them, saying, Spoke I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hearken? Moreover, behold his blood is searched for.
23. And they knew not that Joseph heard them; for there was an interpreter between them.
24. And he turned about from upon them, and wept; and he returned to them, and spoke unto them, and took Simeon from them, and bound him before their eyes.
25. And Joseph commanded, and they filled their vessels with corn, and to restore their silver everyone’s into his sack, and to give them provision for the way; and he did thus to them.
26. And they lifted their produce upon their asses, and went thence.
27. And one opened his sack to give his ass provender in the inn, and he saw his silver; and behold it was in the mouth of his bag.
28. And he said unto his brethren, My silver is restored, and lo it is even in my bag; and their heart went forth, and they trembled a man to his brother, saying, What is this that God hath done to us?
29. And they came unto Jacob their father to the land of Canaan, and told him all that had befallen them, saying,
30. The man, the lord of the land, spoke hard things with us, and took us for spies of the land.
31. And we said unto him, We are upright; we are no spies.
32. We are twelve brethren, sons of our father; one is not, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.
33. And the man, the lord of the land, said unto us, Hereby shall I know that ye are upright; let one of your brethren remain with me, and take for the famine of your houses, and go.
34. And bring your youngest brother unto me, then shall I know that ye are no spies, but that ye are upright; I will give you your brother, and ye shall go about trading in the land.
35. And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, and behold everyone’s bundle of silver was in his sack; and they saw the bundles of their silver, they and their father, and they were afraid.
36. And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved, Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin; all these things be come upon me.
37. And Reuben spoke unto his father, saying, Slay my two sons if I bring him not to thee; give him upon my hand, and I will bring him unto thee again.
38. And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he only is left; and mischief will befall him in the way wherein ye shall go, and ye will make my gray hairs go down in sorrow to the grave.
5396a. The Contents.
In the latter part of the last chapter the subject treated of was the influx and conjunction of the celestial of the spiritual with the memory-knowledges in the natural; and now the subject treated of is the influx and conjunction of the celestial of the spiritual with the truths of faith therein which are of the church.
5397. First is described the endeavor to appropriate these truths by means of the memory-knowledges of the church, which are “Egypt,” and without the intermediate, which is “Benjamin,” together with truth from the Divine, which is “Joseph;” but in vain, wherefore they were sent back and some good of natural truth was given freely.
5398. The Internal Sense.
In this chapter and in those which follow about Joseph and the sons of Jacob, in the internal sense is described the regeneration of the natural as to the truths and goods of the church-that this is not effected by means of memory-knowledges, but by influx from the Divine. At the present day they who are of the church know so little about regeneration that it is scarcely anything. They do not even know that regeneration goes on through the whole course of life of one who is being regenerated, and that it is continued in the other life; or that the arcana of regeneration are so innumerable that scarcely a ten thousandth part of them can be known by the angels, and that those they do know are what effect their intelligence and wisdom. The reason why they who are of the church at this day know so little about regeneration is that they talk so much about remission of sins and about justification, and believe that sins are remitted in a moment, and some that they are wiped away like filth from the body by water, and that man is justified by faith alone or by the confidence of a single moment. The reason why the men of the church so believe is that they do not know what sin or evil is. If they knew this, they would know that sins can by no means be wiped away from anyone, but that when the man is kept in good by the Lord they are separated or rejected to the sides so as not to rise up, and that this cannot be effected unless evil is continually cast out, and this by means which are unlimited in number, and for the most part unutterable.
[2] Those in the other life who have brought with them the opinion that man is justified in a moment by faith, and wholly cleansed from sins, are astounded when they see that regeneration is effected by means unlimited in number and unutterable, and they then laugh at and call insane the ignorance in which they had been in the world in regard to the instantaneous remission of sins and justification. They are sometimes told that the Lord remits the sins of those who desire it from the heart; yet still they are not thereby separated from the diabolical crew, to whom they are held fast by the evils that attend their life, which they have with them complete. They then learn by experience that to be separated from the hells is to be separated from sins, and that this cannot be done except by thousands upon thousands of ways known to the Lord only, and this-if you will believe it-in a continual succession to eternity. For man is so evil that he cannot to eternity be fully delivered from even one sin, but can only by the mercy of the Lord (if he has received it) be withheld from sin, and kept in good.
[3] In what manner therefore man receives new life and is regenerated, is contained in the sanctuary of the Word, that is, in its internal sense, chiefly to the end that when the Word is being read by man the angels may thereby be in their happiness of wisdom, and also be at the same time in the delight of serving as means. In this and the following chapters about Joseph’s brethren, the subject treated of in the supreme internal sense is the glorification of the Lord’s natural, and in the representative sense, the regeneration of the natural in man by the Lord, here as to the truths of the church therein.
5399. Verses 1-5. And Jacob saw that there was produce in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, Why do ye look at one another? And he said, Behold I have heard that there is produce in Egypt; get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; and we shall live, and not die. And Joseph’s ten brethren went down to buy corn from Egypt. And Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Peradventure mischief may befall him. And the sons of Israel came to buy in the midst of those that came; for the famine was in the land of Canaan. “And Jacob saw,” signifies the things which are of faith (“Jacob” signifies the natural as to the truth which is of the church); “that there was produce in Egypt,” signifies a disposition to procure truths by means of memory-knowledges, which are “Egypt;” “and Jacob said to his sons,” signifies perception regarding truths in general; “Why do ye look at one another?” signifies why did they hesitate; “and he said, Behold I have heard that there is produce in Egypt,” signifies that truths can be procured by means of memory-knowledges; “get you down thither, and buy for us from thence,” signifies appropriation by means of them; “and we shall live, and not die,” signifies spiritual life thereby; “and they went down,” signifies endeavor and act; “Joseph’s ten brethren,” signifies such truths of the church as corresponded; “to buy corn from Egypt,” signifies to appropriate to themselves the good of truth by means of memory-knowledges; “but Benjamin, Joseph’s brother,” signifies the spiritual of the celestial, which is the intermediate; “Jacob sent not with his brethren,” signifies that they were without this intermediate; “for he said, Peradventure mischief may befall him,” signifies that without the celestial of the spiritual, which is “Joseph,” it would perish; “and the sons of Israel came to buy in the midst of those that came,” signifies that it desired that spiritual truths, like all others, should be procured by means of memory-knowledges; “for the famine was in the land of Canaan,” signifies that there was desolation as to the things of the church in the natural.
5400. And he saw. That this signifies the things which are of faith, is evident from the signification of “seeing,” as being the things which are of faith (see n. 897, 2325, 2807, 3863, 3869, 4403-4421). For spiritual sight abstracted from such things as are of the world is nothing else than a perception of truth, or of the things of faith; and therefore in the internal sense nothing else is signified by “seeing.” For the internal sense comes forth when the things of the world are removed, because the internal sense relates to such things as are of heaven. The light of heaven, by which is sight there, is Divine truth from the Lord, which appears before the eyes of the angels as light, a thousand times brighter than the midday light in the world; and as this light has life in it, therefore at the same time that it illumines the eyesight of the angels, it illumines also the sight of their understanding, and causes a perception of truth in accordance with the amount and quality of the good in which they are. As in the internal sense of this chapter are described the things of faith, or the truths of the church, therefore at the very beginning of the chapter it is said that “he saw;” and by his “seeing” are signified the things of faith.
5401. Jacob. That this signifies the natural as to the truth which is of the church, is evident from the representation of Jacob, as being the doctrine of truth in the natural, and in the supreme sense the Lord’s natural as to truth (see n. 3305, 3509, 3525, 3546, 3599, 4009, 4538).
5402. That there was produce in Egypt. That this signifies a disposition to procure truths by means of memory-knowledges which are “Egypt,” is evident from the signification of “produce,” as being the truths of the church, or the truths which are of faith (that “abundance of produce” denotes the multiplication of truth may be seen above, n. 5276, 5280, 5292); and from the signification of “Egypt,” as being memory-knowledges (n. 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462), and in the genuine sense the memory-knowledges of the church (see n. 4749, 4964, 4966). That a disposition to procure these things is involved, is plain from what presently follows. By the memory-knowledges of the church, which here are “Egypt,” are meant all knowledges of truth and good, before they have been conjoined with the interior man, or through the interior man with heaven, and thus through heaven with the Lord. The doctrinals of the church and its rituals, as also the knowledges of what spiritual things these represent and how, and the like, are nothing but memory-knowledges until the man has seen from the Word whether they are true, and in this way has made them his own.
[2] There are two ways of procuring the truths which are of faith-by means of doctrinal things, and by means of the Word. When man procures them only by doctrinal things, he then has faith in those who have drawn them from the Word, and he confirms them in himself to be true because others have said so; thus he does not believe them from his own faith, but from that of others. But when he procures them for himself from the Word, and thereby confirms them in himself to be true, he then believes them because they are from the Divine, and thus believes them from faith given from the Divine. Everyone who is within the church first procures the truths which are of faith from doctrinal things, and also must so procure them, because he has not yet sufficient strength of judgment to enable him to see them himself from the Word; but in this case these truths are to him nothing but memory-knowledges. But when he is able to view them from his own judgment, if he then does not consult the Word in order to see from it whether they are true, they remain in him as memory-knowledges; while if he does consult the Word from the affection and end of knowing truths, he then, when he has found them, procures for himself the things of faith from the genuine fountain, and they are appropriated to him from the Divine. These and other like things are what are here treated of in the internal sense; for “Egypt” denotes these memory-knowledges, and “Joseph” is truth from the Divine, thus truth from the Word.
5403. And Jacob said to his sons. That this signifies perception regarding truths in general, is evident from the signification of “saying,” in the historicals of the Word, as being perception (see n. 1791, 1815, 1819, 1822, 1898, 1919, 2080, 2619, 2862, 3395, 3509); and from the signification of “sons,” as being the truths of faith (n. 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623, 3373, 4257); and because they were the sons of Jacob, truths in general are signified; for by Jacob’s twelve sons, as by the twelve tribes, were signified all things of faith, thus truths in general (n. 2129, 2130, 3858, 3862, 3926, 3939, 4060).
5404. Why do ye look at one another? That this signifies why did they hesitate, may be seen without explication.
5405. And he said, Behold I have heard that there is produce in Egypt. That this signifies that truths can be procured by means of memory-knowledges, may be seen from what was unfolded just above (n. 5402), where it was shown that by there being “produce in Egypt” is signified a disposition to procure truths by means of memory-knowledges, which are “Egypt,” and also what is meant by the memory-knowledges, which are “Egypt.” “Produce” is here expressed in the original language by a word that means “breaking,” and by a similar word are also meant “buying” and “selling” where it is said that Jacob’s sons “bought” it in Egypt, and that Joseph “sold” it there. The reason of this is that in the Ancient Church bread was broken when it was given to another, and by this was signified to communicate good from one’s own, and [at the same time] to appropriate it from one’s own, thus to make love mutual. For when bread is broken and given to another it is communicated from one’s own; or when bread is broken among several, then the one piece of bread becomes a mutual possession, and consequently there is conjunction through charity. From this it is plain that the breaking of bread was significative of mutual love.
[2] As this rite was accepted and customary in the Ancient Church, therefore the “breaking” itself meant produce that was made common. (That “bread” is the good of love may be seen above, n. 276, 680, 1798, 2165, 2177, 3464, 3478, 3735, 3813, 4211, 4217, 4735, 4976.) It was for this reason that the Lord brake the bread when He gave it, as in Matthew:
Jesus took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and brake and gave the bread to the disciples (Matt. 14:19; Mark 6:41; Luke 9:16).
In the same:
Jesus took the seven loaves and the fishes; and He gave thanks and brake, and gave to His disciples, and the disciples to the multitude (Matt. 15:36; Mark 8:6).
Again:
Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and He gave to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is My body (Matt. 26:26; Mark 14:22; Luke 22:19).
In Luke:
It came to pass when the Lord was reclining with them, He took the bread, and blessed it and brake and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew Him. And the disciples told how the Lord was known of them in the breaking of the bread (Luke 24:30-31, 35).
In Isaiah:
This is the fast that I choose, to break thy bread to the hungry (Isa. 58:6-7).
5406. Get you down thither, and buy for us from thence. That this signifies appropriation by means of them, is evident from the signification of “going down,” as being said of going toward exterior things (of which in what follows); and from the signification of “buying,” as being appropriation (n. 4397, 5374); that this is effected by means of memory-knowledges is signified by “from thence,” that is, from Egypt (that “Egypt” denotes memory-knowledges has been shown above). In the Word we often read of “going up” and “going down,” when going from one place to another is spoken of-not because one place was more elevated than the other, but because “going up” is predicated of going toward what is interior or higher, and “going down” of going toward what is exterior or lower; that is to say “going up” is predicated of going toward spiritual and celestial things, for these are interior, and are also believed to be higher, and “going down” is predicated of going toward natural and earthly things, for these are exterior and are also in appearance lower. For this reason it is that not only here but also everywhere else in the Word, we read of “going down” from the land of Canaan to Egypt, and of “going up” from Egypt to the land of Canaan; for by the “land of Canaan” is signified what is heavenly, and by “Egypt” what is natural. For the land of Canaan in the representative sense is the heavenly kingdom, and consequently celestial and spiritual goods and truths, which also are interiorly in the man who is a kingdom of the Lord; while Egypt in the representative sense is the natural kingdom, and consequently the goods and truths which are of the external church, and are for the most part memory-knowledges. (That “going up” is predicated of going toward interior things may be seen above, n. 4539.)
5407. And we shall live, and not die. That this signifies spiritual life, is evident from the signification of “living and not dying,” as being spiritual life, because nothing else is signified in the internal sense by “living and not dying.” For in the other world by “life” is signified in general heaven, and in particular eternal happiness; and by “death” is signified in general hell, and in particular eternal unhappiness there, as is plain from many passages in the Word. That heaven in general and eternal happiness in particular is called “life,” is because the wisdom of good and the intelligence of truth are there; and in the wisdom of good and the intelligence of truth is life from the Lord, from whom is the all of life. But because in hell there is the contrary-evil in place of good and falsity in place of truth, thus the extinction of spiritual life-therefore in hell relatively there is death; for spiritual death is evil and falsity, and in man it is to will evil, and thence to think falsity. Evil genii and spirits are unwilling to hear it said of them that they do not live, or that they are dead; for they say that they have life because they are able to will and to think. But they are told that as life is in good and truth, it cannot possibly be in evil and falsity, for these are contrary.
5408. And they went down. That this signifies endeavor and act, namely to procure and appropriate truths to themselves by means of memory-knowledges, is plain from the signification of “going down,” namely, to Egypt, as being both the endeavor and the act.
5409. Joseph’s ten brethren. That this signifies such truths of the church as corresponded, is evident from the signification of “brethren,” as being the truths which are of the church. It is from the correspondence that these are called the “brethren” of Joseph, who is truth from the Divine; for the correspondence causes them to be conjoined as brother with brother. By the “sons of Jacob” are signified all things of faith, or the truths of the church in general (see n. 5403); and the same are signified by “Joseph’s brethren,” but from the correspondence. By the ten sons of Jacob by Leah are signified the truths of the external church, and by the two sons of Jacob by Rachel are signified the truths of the internal church, as is plain from what has been shown concerning Leah and Rachel, that “Leah” is the affection of exterior truth, and “Rachel” the affection of interior truth (n. 3758, 3782, 3793, 3819). That the internal and the external of the church are “brothers,” may be seen above (n. 1222). The Lord Himself calls “brethren” the derivative truths and goods in correspondence through charity and faith, that is, those who are in truths and the derivative good; as in Matthew:
The King shall say unto them, Verily I say unto you, insofar as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me (Matt. 25:40).
And in another passage:
Jesus answered them, saying, Who is My mother, or My brethren? And looking round about He said, Behold My mother and My brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is My brother, and My sister, and My mother (Mark 3:33-35; Matt. 12:49; Luke 8:21).
5410. To buy corn from Egypt. That this signifies to appropriate to themselves the good of truth by means of memory-knowledges, is evident from the signification of “buying,” as being to appropriate (see n. 4397, 5374, 5406); from the signification of “corn,” as being the good of truth (n. 5295); and from the signification of “Egypt,” as being memory-knowledges (of which above, n. 5402).
5411. And Benjamin, Joseph’s brother. That this signifies the spiritual of the celestial, which is the intermediate,* is evident from the representation of Benjamin, as being the spiritual of the celestial (as may be seen above, n. 4592; and also that the spiritual of the celestial is the intermediate). In general it should be known that the internal cannot have communication with the external, and the converse, unless there is an intermediate; consequently that truth from the Divine, which is “Joseph,” cannot have communication with truths in general in the natural, which are the “sons of Jacob,” without the intermediate represented by Benjamin, and called the “spiritual of the celestial.” An intermediate, to be such, must partake of both the internal and the external. The reason why there must be an intermediate is that the internal and the external are most distinct from each other, and so distinct that they can be separated, just as man’s ultimate external, which is the body, is separated when he dies from his internal, which is his spirit. The external dies when the intermediate is sundered, and the external lives when the intermediate is between; and just so far and in such a way does the external live, as is the intermediate between. As Jacob’s sons were without Benjamin (that is, without the intermediate), therefore Joseph could not manifest himself to his brethren; and for the same reason spoke hardly to them, calling them spies, and putting them in custody; and for the same reason also they did not know Joseph.
[2] But what is the nature of this intermediate represented by Benjamin and called the spiritual of the celestial, cannot be described so as to be apprehended, for there is a want of knowledge about the celestial of the spiritual, which is “Joseph,” and about the truths of the church insofar as they are only memory-knowledges, which are the “sons of Jacob;” hence also about the spiritual of the celestial, which is “Benjamin.” But in heaven the nature of this intermediate appears as in clear day, being there shown in the light of heaven, in which at the same time is perception by means of unutterable representatives; for the light of heaven is intelligence itself from the Divine, and from it there is perceptive power in regard to everything that is represented by means of this light. This is not the case with the world’s light, which has nothing of intelligence in it; but by its means understanding is induced by the influx of the light of heaven into it, and at the same time by the influx of the perception that is in the light of heaven. Hence it is that man is so far in the light of heaven as he is in intelligence, and that he is so far in intelligence as he is in the truths of faith, and that he is so far in the truths of faith as he is in the good of love; consequently that man is so far in the light of heaven as he is in the good of love.
* See Arcana Coelestia n. 4585: 2, 5, and 6; n. 9421. [Reviser.]
5412. Jacob sent not with his brethren. That this signifies that they were without this intermediate, may be seen from what has just now been said.
5413. For he said, Peradventure mischief may befall him. That this signifies that without the celestial of the spiritual which is “Joseph,” it would perish, is evident from the signification of “mischief befalling,” as here being to perish. This was said by the father because he loved him, and feared lest he should perish among his brethren, like Joseph; but these same words were adduced and received in the Word on account of the internal sense, which is, that with its externals only, without the internal, the intermediate would perish; for the intermediate is “Benjamin,” the externals are the “sons of Jacob,” and the internal is “Joseph.” Every intermediate perishes when it has only the external things without the internal, because it comes into existence from the internal, and hence also subsists from it; for it comes into existence by the internal’s looking into the external from the affection and end of associating the external with itself. Thus the intermediate is conjoined with the internal, and from the internal with the external, but not with the external without the internal. From this it is plain that the intermediate would perish if it were with the external alone without the internal. Moreover, it is a general law, as well of the things of the spiritual world as of those of the natural world, that a thing can subsist with its prior, but not without this with its posterior, and that it would perish if it were with this alone. The reason is that everything without connection with what is prior to itself is without connection with the First, from whom is all coming into existence, and subsistence.
5414. And the sons of Israel came to buy among those that came. That this signifies that it desired that like all other truths, spiritual truths should be procured by means of memory-knowledges, is evident from the signification of the “sons of Israel,” as being spiritual truths (for “sons” are truths, as may be seen above, n. 5403; and “Israel” is the celestial spiritual man from the natural, n. 4286, 4570, 4598; thus the “sons of Israel” are spiritual truths in the natural); from the signification of “buying,” as being to be procured; and from the signification of “in the midst of those that came,” as being like all other truths, that is, in that they are procured by means of memory-knowledges.
5415. For the famine was in the land of Canaan. That this signifies that there was desolation as to the things of the church in the natural, is evident from the signification of “famine,” as being a lack of knowledges, and the consequent desolation (see n. 3364, 5277, 5279, 5281, 5300, 5349, 5360, 5376); and from the signification of the “land of Canaan,” as being the church (n. 3686, 3705, 4447); and because it is the church, it is also that which is of the church. Hence it is that by the “famine being in the land of Canaan” is signified desolation as to the things of the church. That the desolation was in the natural, is because these things are predicated of the sons of Jacob, by whom are signified the things of the external church (n. 5409), consequently those of the church in the natural.
5416. Verses 6-8. And Joseph he was the governor over the land; he it was that sold to all the people of the land; and Joseph’s brethren came, and bowed down themselves to him with their faces to the earth. And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spoke hard things with them; and he said unto them, Whence came ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food. And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him. “And Joseph he was the governor over the land,” signifies that the celestial of the spiritual, or truth from the Divine, reigned in the natural where memory-knowledges were; “he it was that sold to all the people of the land,” signifies that from this was all appropriation; “and Joseph’s brethren came,” signifies the general truths of the church without mediation; “and bowed down themselves to him with their faces to the earth,” signifies humiliation; “and Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them,” signifies perception and acknowledgment by the celestial of the spiritual; “but made himself strange unto them,” signifies non-conjunction because without an intermediate; “and spoke hard things with them,” signifies hence also non-correspondence; “and he said unto them, Whence came ye?” signifies exploration; “and they said, From the land of Canaan,” signifies that they were of the church; “to buy food,” signifies to appropriate the truth of good; “and Joseph knew his brethren,” signifies that these truths of the church appeared to the celestial of the spiritual from its light; “but they knew not him,” signifies that truth from the Divine did not appear in natural light not yet illumined by heavenly light.
5417. And Joseph he was the governor over the land. That this signifies that the celestial of the spiritual, or truth from the Divine, reigned in the natural where memory-knowledges were, is evident from the representation of Joseph, as being the celestial of the spiritual (see n. 4286, 4963, 5249, 5307, 5331, 5332; that the celestial of the spiritual is truth from the Divine will be seen below); from the signification of a “governor,” as being one who reigns; and from the signification of “land,” here the land of Egypt, as being the natural mind, thus the natural (n. 5276, 5278, 5280, 5288, 5301). (That the celestial of the spiritual reigned in the natural where memory-knowledges were, may be seen above, n. 5313; and also that “Egypt” in the internal sense is memory-knowledge, n. 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462, 4749, 4964, 4966.) That the celestial of the spiritual is truth from the Divine, is because the Lord’s internal Human, before it was fully glorified, being the receptacle of the Divine Itself, was the celestial of the spiritual, which must be so called because it cannot be expressed in any other words or forms of thought. This receptacle or recipient of the Divine is the same as truth from the Divine (that “Joseph” is this truth may be seen above, n. 4723, 4727).
5418. He it was that sold to all the people of the land. That this signifies that all appropriation is from him, is evident from the signification of “selling,” as being appropriation (see n. 5371, 5374); and from the signification of the “people of the land,” as being the truths of the church (n. 2928), here in the natural (n. 5409).
5419. And Joseph’s brethren came. That this signifies the general truths of the church without mediation, is evident from the signification of “Joseph’s brethren,” as being the general truths of the church (of which above, n. 5409). They were “without mediation” because they were without Benjamin, who is the intermediate (as may be seen above, n. 5411, 5413).
5420. And bowed down themselves to him with their faces to the earth. That this signifies humiliation, is evident from the signification of “bowing down themselves,” as being humiliation (see n. 2153), and of “with their faces to the earth,” as being the humiliation of adoration (n. 1999). By humiliation here is not meant humiliation from acknowledgment, thus internal humiliation, but external humiliation, because it was in the presence of the governor of the land in accordance with established custom. That not internal but external humiliation is meant, is because there was not yet correspondence, and through correspondence conjunction. When the natural is in this state it can indeed humble itself, even to the last degree, but only from acquired habit. It is a gesture without the genuine affection that produces it, thus it is of the body without its soul. Such is the humiliation here meant.
5421. And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them. That this signifies perception and acknowledgment by the celestial of the spiritual, is evident from the signification of “seeing,” as being perception (see n. 2150, 3764, 4567, 4723); from the representation of Joseph, as being the celestial of the spiritual (n. 5417); from the signification of “his brethren, “as being the general truths of the church (also spoken of above, n. 5419); and from the signification of “knowing,” as being acknowledgment from perception. In regard to this acknowledgment on the part of Joseph, and non-acknowledgment on the part of his brethren, see below (n. 5422, 5427, 5428).
5422. But made himself strange unto them. That this signifies non-conjunction because without an intermediate, is evident from the signification of “making himself strange,” as here being non-conjunction because without an intermediate; for one who is not in reciprocal conjunction, because without an intermediate, appears strange, just as internal truth, or truth immediately from the Divine, appears strange to those who are in external truths. For this reason it is that Joseph made himself strange to his brethren, not because he was estranged, for he loved them, so that he turned from them and wept (verse 24); but the strangeness on their part, because of non-conjunction, is represented by his so bearing himself. As for example, where it is said in the Word that Jehovah or the Lord “makes Himself strange” to the people, “opposes” them, “rejects” them, “condemns,” “casts into hell,” “punishes,” and “delights” in such things, in the internal sense is meant that the people make themselves strange to Jehovah or the Lord, oppose Him, are in evils which reject them from His face, and which condemn them, cast them into hell, and punish them, and that such things never proceed from Jehovah or the Lord. But it is so stated in the Word on account of the appearance; for so it appears to the simple. The case is similar with internal truths when they are viewed by external truths without conjunction by what is intermediate; for then these truths appear altogether strange to external truths, and even sometimes opposite; when in fact the opposition is not in the internal, but in the external truths; for these without conjunction by what is intermediate cannot view the former except from the light of the world separate from the light of heaven, and consequently as strange to them. But in regard to this matter more will be said in what follows.
5423. And spoke hard things with them. That this signifies hence also non-correspondence, is evident from the same explication that was given above of his “making himself strange” to them. To “make one’s self strange” has regard to the affection of the will, and to “speak hardly” has regard to the thought of the understanding, for in the internal sense “to speak” is to think (see n. 2271, 2287, 2619); and the internal appears strange to the external when there is no affection, and the internal appears to speak hard things when there is no correspondence. Correspondence is the appearing of the internal in the external, and its representation therein; wherefore when there is no correspondence, there is no appearing of the internal in the external, and therefore no representation of it therein. Hence comes the hardness.
5424. And he said unto them, Whence came ye? That this signifies exploration, is evident without explication.
5425. And they said, From the land of Canaan. That this signifies that they were of the church, is evident from the signification of the “land of Canaan,” as being the church (see n. 3686, 3705, 4447).
5426. To buy food. That this signifies to appropriate the truth of good, is evident from the signification of “buying,” as being to appropriate to themselves (see n. 4397, 5374, 5406, 5410); and from the signification of “food,” as being the truth of good (n. 5293, 5340, 5342).
5427. And Joseph knew his brethren. That this signifies that these truths of the church appeared to the celestial of the spiritual from its light, is evident from the signification of “knowing,” as being to perceive, to see, and thus to appear; from the representation of Joseph, as being the celestial of the spiritual (of which above); and from the signification of “his brethren,” as being the general truths of the church (of which also above, n. 5409, 5419). And because by “Joseph’s knowing his brethren” is signified that the general truths of the church appeared to the celestial of the spiritual, it follows that they appeared from the light in which the celestial of the spiritual was, thus from the celestial light of the spiritual. From this light, which is truth from the Divine (n. 5417), appear all and each of the truths that are below, or that are in the natural; but not the converse unless there is an intermediate, still less unless there is correspondence and through correspondence conjunction. This may be seen from the fact that the angels who are in the heavens, and thus in the light of heaven, can see everything that is taking place in the world of spirits, which world is next beneath the heavens, and also everything that is taking place in the lower earth, and even in hell; but not the converse.
[2] It is also the case that the angels of a higher heaven can see all that is going on below them in a lower heaven; but not the converse, unless there is an intermediate. There are also intermediate spirits through whom the communication is effected to and fro. When therefore they who are below and have no intermediate, and still more if they have no correspondence, look into the light of heaven, they see nothing at all, but everything there appears in darkness; when yet they who are there are in the clearest day. This may be illustrated by this single experience. There appeared to me a great city in which were thousands upon thousands of various objects, all pleasing and beautiful. I saw them because an intermediate was given me, but the spirits who were with me, being without an intermediate, could not see the least thing there; and it was said that they who are not in correspondence, even if they are in the city, do not perceive a single thing therein.
[3] Such also is the case with the interior man, or man’s spirit, which is also called the soul, and which can see everything that exists and takes place in the exterior man; but not the converse, unless there is a correspondence and an intermediate. Consequently, to the exterior man not in correspondence the interior appears as nothing, so much so that when anything is said about the interior man, it appears to the exterior either so obscure that he is unwilling even to look in that direction, or else it appears as naught and not to be credited. But when there is correspondence, then the exterior man sees through an intermediate what is going on in the interior; for the light which the interior man has flows through the intermediate into the light which the exterior has, that is, heavenly light flows into natural light, and illumines it; from which illumining appears that which takes place in the interior man. Hence come intelligence and wisdom to the exterior or natural man. But if there is no intermediate, and especially if there is no correspondence, the interior man sees and perceives what is going on in the exterior, and in a measure leads it; but not the converse. If however there is contrariety, that is to say, if the exterior man entirely perverts or extinguishes what flows in through the interior, the interior man is then deprived of his light which is from heaven, and communication heavenward is closed to him; but communication from hell is opened toward the exterior man. On this subject more will be seen in what now follows.
5428. But they knew not him. That this signifies that truth from the Divine did not appear in natural light not yet illumined by heavenly light, is evident from what immediately precedes; for as by “Joseph’s knowing his brethren” is signified that the general truths of the church appeared to the celestial of the spiritual from its light, it follows that by “their not knowing him” is signified that the celestial of the spiritual, or truth from the Divine, did not appear to the general truths of the church in natural light not yet illumined by heavenly light. How this matter stands is indeed plain from what was said just above; but as it is a mystery it may be illustrated by examples-as for instance by the glory of heaven. They who think about the glory of heaven from natural light unillumined by the light of heaven, being without an intermediate, and much more if there is no correspondence, can form no other idea of it than such as they may have of the glory of the world; as when they read the prophetic revelations, especially those of John in the Revelation, that all things in heaven are most magnificent. And if they are told that the glory of heaven so far surpasses all the magnificence of the world that the latter can scarcely be compared with it, and yet that this is not the glory of heaven, but the glory of heaven is the Divine that shines forth from everything that appears there, and is the perception of Divine things, and the consequent wisdom; but that this glory is possessed only by those in heaven who regard the magnificence there as nothing in comparison with wisdom, and attribute all wisdom to the Lord and none at all to themselves-when this glory of heaven is viewed by natural light without an intermediate, and much more if there is no correspondence, it is not at all acknowledged.
[2] Let us take as another example, angelic power. They who think about angelic power, especially about the power of the archangels mentioned in the Word, from natural light not illumined by the light of heaven, because without an intermediate, and much more so if there is no correspondence, cannot form any other idea of it than as of the power of the mighty in the world, namely, that they have thousands upon thousands of inferiors over whom they rule, and that eminence in heaven consists in such rule. And if they are told that angelic power indeed surpasses all the power of the mighty in the world, and that it is so great that one of the lesser angels can drive away myriads of the infernals and thrust them down into their hells, and that this is the reason why in the Word they are called “powers” and also “dominions;” while nevertheless the least of them is the greatest, that is, he is most powerful who believes, wills, and perceives that all power is from the Lord and none from himself, and thus they who are powers in heaven are utterly averse to all self-derived power-this too, when viewed by natural light without an intermediate, and much more if there is no correspondence, is not acknowledged.
[3] Let us take another example. He who looks at freedom from what is natural without an intermediate, and much more if there is no correspondence, cannot know otherwise than that freedom consists in thinking and willing from himself, and in being able to act without check as he thinks and wills. Wherefore the natural man, in order that he may have whatever he thinks and wills, desires to be the richest; and in order that he may be able to do whatever he thinks and wills, desires to be the most powerful; and he believes that he would then be in the height of freedom, and hence in happiness itself. But if he is told that real freedom, which is called heavenly freedom, is not at all like this, but consists in willing nothing from self, but from the Lord, and also in thinking nothing from self, but from heaven, and hence that the angels are overwhelmed with sorrow and grief if permitted to think and to will from themselves-this is not acknowledged. From these examples it will to some extent be seen how it is that truth from the Divine does not appear in natural light not yet illumined by heavenly light, which is signified by Joseph’s brethren “not knowing him.”
5429. Verses 9-16. And Joseph remembered the dreams that he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come. And they said unto him, Nay my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come. We are all one man’s sons; we are upright; thy servants are no spies. And he said unto them, Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land ye are come. And they said, we thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not. And Joseph said unto them, This is it that I spoke unto you, saying, ye are spies; hereby ye shall be proved; by the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither. Send one of you, and let him get your brother, and ye shall be bound, and your words shall be verified whether there be truth with you; or else by the life of Pharaoh surely ye are spies. “And Joseph remembered the dreams that he dreamed of them,” signifies that the celestial of the spiritual foresaw what would happen in regard to the general truths of the church in the natural; “and said unto them” signifies perception thence; “Ye are spies” signifies that they came only to seek gain; “to see the nakedness of the land ye are come,” signifies that they would like nothing better than to know in themselves that there are no truths; “and they said unto him, Nay my lord, we are upright,” signifies that they are truths in themselves; “but to buy food are thy servants come,” signifies that they are to be appropriated to the natural by means of good; “we are all one man’s sons,” signifies that these truths are from one origin; “we are upright,” signifies that thus they are truths in themselves; “thy servants are no spies,” signifies that therefore it was not for the sake of gain; “and he said unto them, Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land ye are come” signifies that they do not care whether there are truths; “and they said, We thy servants are twelve brethren,” signifies that all things of faith were thus conjoined together; “the sons of one man,” signifies from one origin; “in the land of Canaan,” signifies in the church; “and behold the youngest is this day with our father,” signifies that there was also conjunction with spiritual good; “and one is not” signifies that the Divine spiritual from which it is does not appear; and Joseph said unto them,” signifies perception concerning that matter; “This is it that I spoke unto you” signifies that the truth is as I thought; “saying, ye are spies,” signifies that they are in the truths of the church for the sake of gain; “hereby ye shall be proved,” signifies it will be seen whether it is so; “by the life of Pharaoh,” signifies of a certainty; “ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither,” signifies that it must needs be that the truths with you are such, unless they are conjoined with spiritual good; “send one of you, and let him get your brother,” signifies if only there is some conjunction with that good; “and ye shall be bound,” signifies even though there is separation in all other respects; “and your words shall be verified, whether there be truth with you,” signifies that it will then be so; “or else by the life of Pharaoh surely ye are spies,” signifies otherwise it is certain that you have truths only for the sake of gain.
5430. And Joseph remembered the dreams that he dreamed of them. That this signifies that the celestial of the spiritual foresaw what would happen in regard to the general truths of the church in the natural, is evident from the signification of “remembering,” as being presence, for the thing which is remembered becomes present (that “to be remembered” is predicated of foresight may be seen above, n. 3966); from the representation of Joseph, as being the celestial of the spiritual (of which often above); and from the signification of “dreams,” as being foresight, prediction, and the event (see n. 3698, 5091, 5092, 5104); here therefore foresight of what would happen to the general truths of the church in the natural because these truths are signified by the “sons of Jacob” (n. 5409, 5419). Wherefore also it is said “that he dreamed of them.”
5431. And said unto them. That this signifies perception thence, is manifest from the signification of “saying,” as being perception (see n. 1791, 1815, 1819, 1822, 1898, 1919, 2080, 2619, 2862, 3509).
5432. Ye are spies. That this signifies only to seek gain, is evident from the signification of “spies,” as being to seek gain. That nothing else is signified in the internal sense by “spies,” is evident from the series, for in the internal sense the truths of the church are treated of, that they are to be appropriated to the natural, and that they cannot be appropriated to it except by means of influx from the celestial of the spiritual through an intermediate. These truths of the church are the “sons of Jacob,” or “Joseph’s brethren;” the celestial of the spiritual is “Joseph;” and the intermediate is “Benjamin.” How the case herein is has been told above (n. 5402), that the truths of faith of the church, which are called doctrinal things, when learned in early life, are taken into the mind and committed to memory just like any other memory-knowledges, and remain as such until the man begins to view them with his own eyes, and see whether they are true, and after seeing that they are true, wills to act according to them. This viewing of them, and this will, make them no longer memory-knowledges, but precepts of life, and finally life; for in this way they enter into the life to which they are appropriated.
[2] They who have arrived at maturity, and still more they who have arrived at old age, and have not viewed with their own eyes the truths of the church, which are called doctrinal things, and seen whether they are true, and then been willing to live according to them, retain them merely as they do all other memory-knowledges; they are in their natural memory only, and thence on their lips; and when they utter them, they utter them not from their interior man or from the heart, but only from the exterior man and from the mouth. When a man is in this state he cannot possibly believe that the truths of the church are true, although it seems to him that he so believes. The reason why it seems to him that he believes them to be true, is that he relies on others, and has confirmed in himself the teachings of others. It is very easy to confirm things taken from others, whether true or false; for this needs nothing but ingenuity.
[3] These truths of the church, or they who are in this manner in the truths of the church, are signified by “spies coming to see the nakedness of the land.” For they do not believe the doctrinal things of their church from any affection of truth, but from an affection of winning honors or getting gain; wherefore in themselves they believe scarcely anything, for the most part denying at heart, and regarding these doctrinal things as a merchant does his merchandise; and they appear to themselves learned and wise when from themselves they see that truths are not truths, and yet can persuade the common people that they are truths. That many of the church dignitaries are of this character, is very manifest from them in the other life; for wherever they go there, they are in the sphere of their affections and derivative thoughts, which sphere is plainly perceived by others, and it causes the quality of their affection of truth, and the quality of their faith, to be known to the very senses. In the world this is not made manifest, for there is not there any spiritual perception of such things; and this being so they do not expose themselves, for they would lose their gain.
[4] That they are spies may be evident enough from the fact that such persons seek nothing but faults in those who are in truths from good, in order that they may accuse and condemn them. Are such persons anything but spies, whether they belong to the so called Papists, or the Reformed, Quakers, Socinians, or Jews, when they have once confirmed in themselves the doctrinals of their church? They ridicule and condemn the veriest truths, if any such are to be found; for they do not comprehend that truths are true. The reason of this is that they have no affection of truth for its own sake, still less for the sake of life, but only for the sake of gain. Moreover, when such men read the Word they search it with the sole end of confirming doctrinal memory-knowledges for the sake of gain; and many of them search the Word that they may see the nakedness of the land, that is, may see that the truths of the church are not truths, but only serviceable for persuading others that they are truths, for the sake of gain.
[5] But they who are in the affection of truth for the sake of truth and of life, consequently for the sake of the Lord’s kingdom, have indeed faith in the doctrinal things of the church; but still they search the Word for no other end than the truth, from which their faith and their conscience are formed. If anyone tells them that they ought to stay in the doctrinal things of the church in which they were born, they reflect that if they had been born in Judaism, Socinianism, Quakerism, Christian Gentilism, or even out of the church, the same would have been told them; and that it is everywhere said, Here is the church! Here is the church! Here are truths and nowhere else! And this being the case the Word should be searched with devout prayer to the Lord for enlightenment. Such do not disturb anyone within the church, nor do they ever condemn others, knowing that everyone who is a church lives from his faith.
5433. To see the nakedness of the land ye are come. That this signifies that they would like nothing better than to know in themselves that there are no truths, is evident from the signification of “coming to see,” as being to desire to know that it is so, thus that they would like nothing better than to know; from the signification of “nakedness,” as being to be without truths, thus that there are no truths (of which in what follows); and from the signification of “land,” as being the church (see n. 566, 662, 1067, 1262, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 3355, 4447, 4535); here therefore the “nakedness of the land” denotes no truths in the church. That “nakedness” signifies deprived of truths, or without truths, is because “garments” in general signify truths, and each specific garment signifies some particular truth (see n. 2576, 3301, 4545, 4677, 4741, 4742, 4763, 5248, 5319). Hence “nakedness” signifies being without truths, as will also be seen below from passages taken from the Word.
[2] How the case herein is, is plain from what was said just above (n. 5432), that they who learn truths not for the sake of truth and of life, but for the sake of gain, cannot but think within themselves that the truths of the church are not truths. The reason is that the affection of gain is an earthly affection, and the affection of truth is a spiritual affection. One or the other must have the dominion, for no man can serve two masters. Therefore where one affection is, the other is not; thus where there is the affection of truth, there is not the affection of gain; and where there is the affection of gain, there is not the affection of truth. Consequently, if the affection of gain has dominion, it must needs be that nothing is more desired than that truths should not be truths, and also that they should be believed to be truths by others; for if the internal man looks downward to earthly things, and vests everything in them, it is impossible for him to look upward, and to vest anything in heavenly things, because the earthly things completely absorb and stifle the heavenly things. The reason is that the angels of heaven cannot be with man in earthly things, and therefore they draw back, and the infernal spirits then come near, who cannot be with man in heavenly things. The result is that heavenly things are naught to him, and earthly things are everything; and when earthly things are everything to him, he believes himself to be more learned and wise than anyone else, in that to himself he denies the truths of the church, saying at heart that they are for the simple. Man must therefore be either in earthly affection or in heavenly affection, for he cannot be at the same time with the angels of heaven and with the infernals; because he would then hang between heaven and hell. But when he is in the affection of truth for the sake of truth, that is, for the sake of the Lord’s kingdom, where the Divine truth is, thus for the sake of the Lord Himself, he is then among angels, nor does he then despise gain so far as it is useful for his life in the world; but he has as the end, not gain, but uses therefrom, which he looks upon as mediate ends to the final heavenly end; thus by no means does he set his heart upon gain.
[3] That “nakedness” signifies to be without truths, may be seen from other passages in the Word, as in the Revelation:
To the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, Because thou sayest I am rich, and have been enriched, so that I have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable and needy and blind and naked (Rev. 3:17);
where “naked” denotes penury of truth. In the same:
I counsel thee to buy of Me gold purified in the fire, that thou mayest be rich, and white garments, that thou mayest be clothed, and the shame of thy nakedness be not made manifest (Rev. 3:18);
“to buy gold” denotes to procure and appropriate good to one’s self; “that thou mayest be rich,” denotes being in celestial and spiritual good; “white garments” denote spiritual truths; the “shame of thy nakedness” denotes being without goods and truths. (That “to buy” is to procure and to appropriate to one’s self may be seen above, n. 5374; also that “gold” is celestial and spiritual good, n. 1551, 1552; that “garments” are truths, n. 1073, 2576, 4545, 4763, 5248, 5319; and that “white” is predicated of truth, because from the light of heaven, n. 3301, 3993, 4007, 5319.)
[4] Again:
Behold I come as a thief, blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked (Rev. 16:15);
“he that keepeth his garments” denotes him that keepeth truths; “lest he walk naked,” denotes being without truths. In Matthew:
The King shall say unto them on His right hand, I was naked, and ye clothed Me; and to them on His left, I was naked, and ye clothed Me not (Matt. 25:36, 43);
where “naked” denotes the good who acknowledge that there is nothing of good and truth in themselves (n. 4958).
[5] In Isaiah:
Is not this the fast, to break thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the afflicted that are cast out into thy house? When thou seest the naked that thou cover him? (Isa. 58:7);
where the meaning is similar. In Jeremiah:
Jerusalem hath sinned a sin; therefore she hath become a menstruous woman; all that honored her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness (Lam. 1:8);
where “nakedness” denotes without truths. In Ezekiel:
Thou hast come into comelinesses of comelinesses, the paps have been made firm, and thy hair was grown, yet thou wast naked and bare. I spread My skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness. Thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare (Ezek. 16:7-8, 22);
[6] this is said of Jerusalem, by which is meant the Ancient Church, as it was when set up, and as it afterward became, namely, that at first it was without truths, but afterward was instructed in them, and at last rejected them. Again:
If a just man who hath done judgment and justice give his bread to the hungry, and cover the naked with a garment (Ezek. 18:5, 7);
where “to cover the naked with a garment” denotes to instruct in truths those who desire them. In Hosea:
Lest I strip her naked, and show her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a land of drought, and slay her with thirst (Hos. 2:3);
where “stripping naked” denotes to deprive of truths. In Nahum:
I will show the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame (Nah. 3:5);
where “showing the nations the nakedness” denotes to show the ugliness; for all ugliness is from want of truths, and all beauty is from truths (n. 4985, 5199).
Emanuel Swedenborg · Clowes / Potts English edition · Source edition · German edition.