. And Israel saw the sons of Joseph. That this signifies a perception about the intellectual and the will of the church, is evident from the signification of "seeing," as being perception (n. 2150, 3764, 4403-4421, 4567, 4723, 5400); and from the representation of Ephraim and Manasseh, as being the intellectual and the will of the church, born from the internal, which is "Joseph" (n. 5354, 6222).
. And said, Whose are these? That this signifies, and about their origin, namely, a perception, is evident from the signification of "saying," as being perception (n. 6220); and from the signification of "whose are these?" as being about their origin; for in the internal sense an interrogation denotes knowledge from perception (n. 2693, 6132).
. And Joseph said unto his father. That this signifies an answer from within, may be seen without explication, for by "Joseph" is meant the internal (n. 6177); for when a man perceives, he then on making inquiry with himself about anything, also answers himself from within. I have also observed that when spirits have made inquiry with me, they received an answer by merely looking into my thought.
. These are my sons, whom God hath given me here. That this signifies that they were from the internal in the natural, is evident from the representation of Joseph, whose sons they were, as being the internal (n. 6177, 6224); and from the signification of the "land of Egypt," meant by "here," as being the natural mind (n. 5276, 5278, 5280, 5288, 5301), thus the natural.
. And he said, Take them I pray unto me. That this signifies that they should accede to spiritual good, is evident from the signification of "taking them to him," as being that they should accede; and from the representation of Israel to whom they should accede, as being spiritual good (n. 5801, 5803, 5806, 5812, 5817, 5819, 5826, 5833).
. And I will bless them. That this signifies a prediction about good and truth, is evident from the signification of "blessing," as being prediction (n. 6230), here about good and truth, which are represented by Manasseh and Ephraim. As "to bless" is a very general expression, it signifies various things; that it signifies also a prediction, both about the good things that will happen, and about the evil, is plain in the following chapter, where Israel foretold to his sons what should befall them; to some, evil things, as to Reuben, Simeon, and Levi; and to some, good things, as to Judah and Joseph. This prediction is called a "blessing" in (Gen. 49:28) of this chapter: "This is what their father spake of them, and blessed them, everyone according to his blessing he blessed them." That "blessing" denotes prediction, is evident from the words in the first verse of the chapter: "Jacob called his sons, and said, Be ye gathered together, and I will tell you what shall happen to you in the extremity of the days."
GENESIS 48:8-9previous
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