3970. Verses 25-26 And it happened, when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, Send me away and let me go to my own place and to my own land. Give me my womenfolk and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know my service with which I have served you.

'It happened, when Rachel had borne Joseph' means acknowledgement of the spiritual represented by Joseph. 'That Jacob said to Laban' means the good of natural truth turned to the parallel good from a Divine origin, by means of which good interior things are joined together. 'Send me away and let me go to my own place and to my own land' means that at that time there was in the natural represented by Jacob a strong desire to arrive at a state in which it would be joined to everything Divine in the Rational. 'Give me my womenfolk' means that the affections for truth belonged to that natural. 'And my children' means as did the truths born from those affections. 'For whom I have served you' means from His own power. 'And let me go' means to be joined to everything Divine in the Rational. 'For you know my service with which I have served you' means toil and endeavour from His own power.

6417. 'The son of a fertile one is Joseph' means the spiritual Church, in the highest sense the Lord's Divine spiritual. This is clear from the representation of 'Joseph' in the highest sense as the Lord's Divine spiritual, in the internal sense as the spiritual kingdom and the good of faith, and in the external sense as fruitfulness and multiplication, dealt with in 3969, 3971; and since 'Joseph' is the fruitfulness of good and the multiplication of truth, he is called 'the son of a fertile one'. 'Joseph' is used here to refer to the Lord's spiritual kingdom, while above 'Judah' is used to refer to His celestial kingdom; for there are two kingdoms constituting heaven, the celestial and the spiritual. The celestial kingdom constitutes the inmost or third heaven, the spiritual kingdom the middle or second heaven; and the Lord is seen by the spiritual kingdom as the moon, but by the celestial kingdom as the sun, 1053, 1521, 1529-1531, 4060. When one says that 'Joseph' in the highest sense represents the Lord's Divine Spiritual, the following is involved: The Lord is nothing else than Divine Good. What goes forth from His Divine Good and flows into heaven is in His celestial kingdom called the Divine celestial, but in His spiritual kingdom the Divine spiritual, so that one uses the expression Divine spiritual or Divine celestial with reference to receptivity.