ACV8 S21 6286-6306

Click to Print Reading 6286. Verses 17-20. And Joseph saw that his father put his right hand, upon the head of Ephraim, and it was evil in his eyes; and he laid hold of the hand of his father to remove it from upon Ephraim's head upon Manasseh's head. And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father; for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head. And his father refused, and said, I know, my son, I know; he also shall be for a people, and he also shall become great; and nevertheless his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall be the fullness of the nations. And he blessed them in this day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God set thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh; and he set Ephraim before Manasseh. "And Joseph saw that his father put his right hand upon the head of Ephraim," signifies a perception that he accounted truth as being in the first place; "and it was evil in his eyes," signifies displeasure; "and he laid hold of the hand of his father," signifies influx into the power of his obscure perception; "to remove it from upon Ephraim's head upon Manasseh's head," signifies to turn him away from error; "and Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father, for this is the firstborn" signifies perceptible influx with respect to good that it has priority; "put thy right hand upon his head," signifies that thus it should be in the first place; "and his father refused," signifies no consent; "and said, I know, my son, I know," signifies that so it is, but that it appears otherwise; "he also shall be for a people, and he also shall become great," signifies that truth from good also shall be increased, thus the celestial man; "and nevertheless his younger brother shall be greater than he," signifies that good from truth shall receive more increase, thus the spiritual man; "and his seed shall be the fullness of the nations," signifies that the truth of faith shall reign; "and he blessed them in this day," signifies foresight and providence eternally; "saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God set thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh," signifies that his own spiritual may be in the truth of the intellectual and in the good of the will; "and he set Ephraim before Manasseh," signifies that he accounted truth as being in the first place, because he was spiritual. 6287. And Joseph saw that his father put his right hand upon the head of Ephraim. That this signifies a perception that he accounted truth as being in the first place, is evident from the signification of "saying," as being to understand and perceive (see n. 2150, 2807, 3764, 4567, 4723, 5400); from the representation of Joseph, as being the internal celestial (n. 5869, 5877, 6224); from the representation of Israel, who here is the "father," as being spiritual good from the natural; from the signification of "putting the right hand on the head," as being to account in the first place (n. 6269); and from the representation of Ephraim, as being the truth of the intellectual in the natural (n. 6234, 6238, 6267). From this it is plain that by "Joseph saw that his father put his right hand on the head of Ephraim," is signified a perception of the internal celestial that spiritual good from the natural accounted truth as being in the first place. (See what was said and shown above, n. 6256, 6269, 6272, 6273.) 6288. And it was evil in his eyes. That this signifies displeasure, is evident without explication. The reason why it displeased Joseph was that by him is represented the internal celestial, which is above the spiritual good that is represented by Israel. What is higher can perceive how the case is with what is done in what is lower, thus also whether it is truth that is being thought there, or not. For as what is higher sees from the light of heaven, it sees the things that are below; thus the internal celestial which is "Joseph," saw that the spiritual good from the natural which is "Israel," was in error, and therefore it displeased him. 6289. And he laid hold of the hand of his father. That this signifies influx into the power of his obscure perception, is evident from the signification of "laying hold of the hand," as being influx into the power of perception; for when the internal desires by means of influx to compel the external to think and will something, it as it were takes hold of it, here of the power of perception that is signified by the "hand." (That the "hand" is power may be seen above, n. 878, 3387, 4931-4937.) That the perception is called obscure, is because relatively to the celestial, who are represented by Joseph, the spiritual, who are represented by Israel, are in obscurity. (That the spiritual are relatively in obscurity, may be seen above, n. 2708, 2715, 2716, 2718, 2831, 2849, 2935, 2937, 3833, 4402.) That the spiritual are in obscurity, is very evident from the fact that before they have been regenerated they are altogether in thick darkness with respect to truth and good, and that while they are being regenerated, it is such truth as is in the doctrine of their church that they acknowledge, and in which truth they have faith, whether it is true or not. Nevertheless it is this truth that becomes good with them when it becomes of the will and thence of the life, and then it is that good which is called the good of truth, and also the good of faith, and likewise spiritual good, or the good of the spiritual church. The quality of the good that is from such an origin may be known to everyone who considers the matter. Nevertheless the good from such truth, even with the Gentiles, is accepted by the Lord, provided it has for a principle or starting point charity toward the neighbor, and that in this charity there is innocence. 6290. To remove it from upon Ephraim's head upon Manasseh's head. That this signifies to turn him away from error, is evident from the signification of "removing," as being to turn away; and from the signification of "from upon Ephraim's head upon Manasseh's head," as being from error; for it was an error for him to account truth as being in the first place and good in the second, as has been shown above. 6291. And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father; for this is the firstborn. That this signifies perceptible influx with respect to good, that it has the priority, is evident from the signification of "saying," when predicated of the internal celestial, which here is "Joseph," as being influx (see n. 6152); here perceptible influx, because he not only took hold of his hand, but also said, "Not so, my father, for this is the firstborn." 6292. Put thy right hand upon his head. That this signifies that thus it should be in the first place, is evident from the signification of "putting the right hand on the head," as being to account in the first place (see n. 6269, 6287). That when he was blessing, Israel placed his hand on the head, was from a ritual received from the ancients; for in the head are the very intellectual and will of man, but in the body are acts according thereto, and compliance; thus putting the hand on the head was a representative that a blessing was being communicated to the intellectual and the will, thus to the man himself. From that ancient time the same ritual remains even to this day, and is in use in inaugurations, and also in the act of blessing. 6293. And his father refused. That this signifies no consent, is evident without explication. 6294. And said, I know, my son, I know. That this signifies that so it is, but that it appears otherwise, is evident from the signification of "knowing," as here being to know that it is so, but that it appears otherwise. That spiritual good which is "Israel" now perceived this, was from the influx of the internal celestial, which is "Joseph" (which influx has been treated of above, n. 6289, 6291). When spiritual good is in enlightenment from such an influx, it perceives that it is so, that is, that good is in the prior place, and truth in the posterior, and also that it appears otherwise; but at this time it makes the priority consist in the fact that truth should reign over good (as said below), and for this reason he retains the right hand on the head of the younger son, and the left on the head of the firstborn. 6295. He also shall be for a people, and he also shall become great. That this signifies that truth from good also shall be increased, thus the celestial man, is evident from the signification of "people," as being truth (see n. 1259, 1260, 3581, 4619); from the signification of "becoming great," as being to be increased; and from the representation of Manasseh, of whom this is said, as being the good of the will in the natural, born from the internal (see n. 6234, 6238, 6267). That truth from good is of the celestial man, is evident from what has already been frequently said and shown with respect to the celestial man, namely, that the celestial man is one who is in good from the will, and from this in truth; and that he is distinguished from the spiritual man by the fact that the latter is in truth from the intellectual, and from this in good. And because "Manasseh" is the good of the will, therefore by him is represented the celestial man, but the external celestial man, or the man of the external celestial church; for "Manasseh" is the good of the will in the natural, thus in the external man; whereas "Joseph" is the man of the internal celestial church, because he is the good of the will in the rational, thus in the internal man. [2] In a few words something must be said of the truth of good which is of the celestial man. This truth is indeed called truth, but it is good. With the celestial man there is the good of love to the Lord and the good of love toward the neighbor. The good of love to the Lord is his internal, and the good of love toward the neighbor is his external. Therefore as regards the men who are of the celestial church,...