Arcana Coelestia, Volume 7

Emanuel Swedenborg, John Faulkner Potts

• Publisher: Jazzybee Verlag
• Year: 2013
• eBook ISBN: 9783849640590
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Criticism & Interpretation

This is an exposition of the internal or spiritual sense of the books of Genesis and Exodus, according to the law of correspondences. It unfolds the spiritual significance of the creation; of the stories of Adam and Eve, and of the deluge; of the lives of the patriarchs; of the captivity of the chosen people in Egypt and of their deliverance therefrom, and of their subsequent history; of the ritual of the Jewish religion, its sacrifices and observances: —and in general, traces the foreshadowing through both books of the incarnation and glorification of the Lord Jesus Christ. Many passages from other parts of the Word are also fully explained.Relations of things heard and seen in the spiritual world are interspersed, explaining the process of dying, and of man's resuscitation and conscious entrance into the interior life; the nature of the soul; of heaven and heavenly joy;and of hell, its nature and its miseries. It also treats of the Grand Man, or the whole angelic heaven, and the correspondence of the societies therein with the different organs and senses of the body; the origin and correspondence of diseases; the spirits and inhabitants of the various planets, and of other earths in the starry heavens. All of which are related to a true understanding of the Divine Word.This is book #7 out of 12 and covers Genesis 39 - 43.

Arcana Coelestia, Volume 7

Genesis 39.

In the prefatory remarks to the preceding chapter, the Lord's words in Matthew 25, verses 31 to 33, concerning the Judgment upon the good and the evil were unfolded (see n. 4807-4810). There now come to be unfolded the words which there follow in order, namely: Then shall the king say to them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of My Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry, and ye gave Me to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and ye gathered Me; naked, and ye clothed Me; I was sick, and ye visited Me; I was in prison, and ye came unto Me (Matt. 25:34-36).

4955.

What these words involve in the internal sense will appear from what follows. Be it known in the first place that the works here enumerated are the very works of charity in their order. This no one can see who is not acquainted with the internal sense of the Word, that is, who does not know what is meant by giving the hungry to eat, giving the thirsty to drink, gathering the stranger, clothing the naked, visiting the sick, and coming unto those who are in prison. He who thinks of these acts from the sense of the letter only, infers that they mean good works in the external form, and that there is nothing secret in them beyond this; and yet there is something secret in each of them, which is Divine, because from the Lord. But the secret is not at this day understood, because at this day there are no doctrinals of charity; for ever since men have separated charity from faith, these doctrinals have perished, and in place of them the doctrinals of faith have been invented and received, which do not at all teach what charity is and what the neighbor. The doctrinals existing among the ancients taught all the genera and all the species of charity, and also who the neighbor is toward whom charity is to be exercised, and how one is the neighbor in a different degree and in a different respect from another, and consequently how the exercise of charity varies in its application toward different persons. They also grouped the neighbor together into classes, and assigned them names, calling some the poor, needy, miserable, afflicted; some the blind, lame, halt, and also fatherless and widows; and others the hungry, thirsty, strangers, naked, sick, bound, and so on; thus knowing what duty they owed toward one and toward another. But as before said these doctrinals perished, and with them the understanding of the Word, insomuch that no one at this day knows otherwise than that by the "poor," the "widows," and the "fatherless," in the Word, none other are meant than they who are so called; in like manner here by the "hungry," the "thirsty," the "strangers," the "naked," the "sick," and those who are "in prison;" when yet by these charity is described such as it is in its essence, and the exercise of it such as it must be in its life.

4956.

The essence of charity toward the neighbor is the affection of good and truth, and the acknowledgment of self as being evil and false; yea, the neighbor is good and truth itself, and to be affected by these is to have charity. The opposite to the neighbor is evil and falsity, which are held in aversion by one who has charity. He therefore who has charity toward the neighbor is affected by good and truth, because they are from the Lord, and holds in aversion what is evil and what is false because these are from self; and when he does this, he is in humiliation from self-acknowledgment, and when he is in humiliation, he is in a state of reception of good and truth from the Lord. These are the characteristics of charity which in the internal sense are involved in these words of the Lord: "I was hungry, and ye gave Me to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and ye gathered Me; naked, and ye clothed Me; I was sick, and ye visited Me; I was in prison, and ye came unto Me." That these words involve such things, no one can know except from the internal sense. The ancients, who had the doctrinals of charity, knew these things; but at this day they appear so remote that everyone will wonder at its being said that these things are within. Moreover, the angels who are with man perceive these words no otherwise, for by the "hungry" they perceive those who from affection desire good; by the "thirsty," those who from affection desire truth; by a "stranger," those who are willing to be instructed; by the "naked," those who acknowledge that there is nothing of good and of truth in themselves; by the "sick," those who acknowledge that in themselves there is nothing but evil; and by the "bound," or those who are "in prison," those who acknowledge that in themselves there is nothing but falsity. If these things are reduced into one meaning, they signify what has been stated just above.

4957.

From all this it is evident that there were Divine things within everything the Lord said, although to those who are in merely worldly things, and especially to those who are in bodily things, His words appear to be such as any man might say. Nay, they who are in bodily things will say of these and all other words of the Lord, that they have not so much grace, and therefore not so much weight, as the discourse and preaching of those of the present age who speak with eloquence and learning; when yet their discourse and preaching are like the husk and chaff in comparison with the kernel and grain.

4958.

That "to hunger" is from affection to desire good, is because "bread" in the internal sense is the good of love and of charity, and "food" in general is good (n. 2165, 2177, 3478, 4211, 4217, 4735). That "to thirst" is from affection to desire truth, is because "wine" and also "water" denote the truth of faith (that it is so with "wine," see above n. 1071, 1798; and with "water," n. 2702). That a "stranger" is one who is willing to be instructed, may also be seen above (n. 1463, 4444). That the "naked" means one who acknowledges that there is nothing of good or truth in himself, the "sick" one who acknowledges that he is in evil, and the "bound," or he that is "in prison," one who acknowledges that he is in falsity, is plain from the many passages in the Word in which they are mentioned.

4959.

The reason why the Lord says these things of Himself is that He is in those who are such, and therefore He also says: Verily I say unto you, Insofar as ye have done it to one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it to Me (Matt. 25:40). GENESIS 39 1. And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar bought him, Pharaoh's chamberlain, prince of the guards, an Egyptian man, of the hand of the Ishmaelites, who had brought him down thither. 2. And Jehovah was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his lord the Egyptian. 3. And his lord saw that Jehovah was with him, and that Jehovah made all that he did to prosper in his hand. 4. And Joseph found grace in his eyes, and he ministered to him; and he set him over his house, and all that he had he gave into his hand. 5. And it came to pass from the time that he set him over in his house, and over all that he had, that Jehovah blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of Jehovah was in all that he had, in the house and in the field. 6. And he left all that he had in Joseph's hand; and he knew not aught that was with him, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was beautiful in form, and beautiful in look. 7. And it came to pass after these words that his lord's wife lifted up her eyes to Joseph, and she said, Lie with me. 8. And he refused, and said unto his lord's wife, Behold, my lord knoweth not what is with me in the house, and all that he hath he hath given into my hand. 9. He is not greater in this house than I; and he hath not withheld from me anything but thee, because thou art his wife; and how shall I do this great evil, and sin to God? 10. And it came to pass as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, to be with her. 11. And it came to pass on a certain day when he went into the house to do his work; and no man of the men of the house was there in the house. 12. And she caught hold of him in his garment, saying, Lie with me; and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out. 13. And it came to pass when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and was fled forth, 14. That she cried unto the men of her house, and spake unto them, saying, See, he hath brought us a Hebrew man to mock us; he came to me to lie with me, and I cried with a great voice; 15. And it came to pass when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment by me, and fled, and got him out. 16. And she laid up his garment by her, until his lord came to his house. 17. And she spake unto him according to these words, saying, The Hebrew servant whom thou hast brought unto us, came unto me to mock me; 18. And it came to pass, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment by me, and fled out. 19. And it came to pass when his lord heard the words of his wife, which she spake unto him, saying, According to these words did thy servant to me; that his anger was kindled. 20. And Joseph's lord took him, and put him into the prison house, the place where the king's bound ones were bound; and he was there in the prison house. 21. And Jehovah was with Joseph, and inclined mercy unto him, and gave him grace in the eyes of the prince of the prison house. 22. And the prince of the prison house gave into Joseph's hand all the bound ones that were in the prison house; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer. 23. The prince of the prison house saw naught of anything that was in his hand, because Jehovah was with him; and that which he did, Jehovah made it to prosper.

4960.

THE CONTENTS. In the internal sense here the subject treated of is the Lord, how He made His internal man Divine. "Jacob" was the external man, as described in the preceding chapters; "Joseph" is the internal man, as described in this and the following chapters.

4961.

And because this was done according to Divine order, this order is here described; and also temptation, which is the means of conjunction.

4962.

THE INTERNAL SENSE. Verse 1. And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar bought him, Pharaoh's chamberlain, prince of the guards, an Egyptian man, of the hand of the Ishmaelites, who had brought him down thither. "And Joseph," signifies the celestial of the spiritual from the rational; "was brought down to Egypt," signifies to the memory-knowledges of the church; "and Potiphar bought him, Pharaoh's chamberlain," signifies that it was among the interior things of memory-knowledges; "prince of the guards," signifies those which are primary for interpretation; "an Egyptian man," signifies natural truth; "of the hand of the Ishmaelites," signifies from simple good; "who had brought him down thither," signifies the descent from that good to these memory-knowledges.

4963.

And Joseph. That this signifies the celestial of the spiritual from the rational, is evident from the representation of Joseph, as being the celestial spiritual man that is from the rational (n. 4286); here therefore, because it treats of the Lord, Joseph represents the Lord's internal man. Everyone who is born a man is external and internal; his external is that which is seen with the eyes, and by which he is in company with men, and by which the things proper to the natural world are done; and the internal is that which is not seen with the eyes, and by which man is in company with spirits and angels, and by which the things proper to the spiritual world are done. The reason why every man has an internal and an external, or is an internal and an external man, is that through man there may be a conjunction of heaven with the world; for heaven flows in through the internal man into the external, and thereby perceives what is in the world; and the external man which is in the world thence perceives what is in heaven. It is to this end that man has been so created. In respect to His Human the Lord also had an external and an internal, because it pleased Him to be born like other men. The external (that is, His external man) was represented by Jacob, and afterward by Israel; but His internal man is represented by Joseph. This internal man is what is called the celestial spiritual from the rational; or what is the same thing, the Lord's internal, which was human, was the celestial of the spiritual from the rational. This, and the glorification of it, are treated of in the internal sense of this and the following chapters wherein Joseph is treated of. But what the celestial of the spiritual from t...

Table of contents

• Emanuel Swedenborg – A Biographical Primer
• Arcana Coelestia, Volume 7