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Genesis 45

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1 Then Joseph, unable to keep back his feelings before those who were with him, gave orders for everyone to be sent away, and no one was present when he made clear to his brothers who he was.

2 And so loud was his weeping, that it came to the ears of the Egyptians and all Pharaoh's house.

3 And Joseph said to his brothers, I am Joseph: is my father still living? But his brothers were not able to give him an answer for they were troubled before him.

4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, Come near to me. And they came near, And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom you sent into Egypt.

5 Now do not be troubled or angry with yourselves for sending me away, because God sent me before you to be the saviour of your lives.

6 For these two years have been years of need, and there are still five more years to come in which there will be no ploughing or cutting of grain.

7 God sent me before you to keep you and yours living on earth so that you might become a great nation.

8 So now it was not you who sent me here, but God: and he has made me as a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

9 Now go quickly to my father, and say to him, Your son Joseph says, God has made me ruler over all the land of Egypt: come down to me straight away:

10 The land of Goshen will be your living-place, and you will be near me; you and your children and your children's children, and your flocks and herds and all you have:

11 And there I will take care of you, so that you and your family may not be in need, for there are still five bad years to come.

12 Now truly, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is my mouth which says these things to you.

13 Give my father word of all my glory in Egypt and of all you have seen; and come back quickly with my father.

14 Then, weeping, he took Benjamin in his arms, and Benjamin himself was weeping on Joseph's neck.

15 Then he gave a kiss to all his brothers, weeping over them; and after that his brothers had no fear of talking to him.

16 And news of these things went through Pharaoh's house, and it was said that Joseph's brothers were come; and it seemed good to Pharaoh and his servants.

17 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, Say to your brothers, Put your goods on your beasts and go back to the land of Canaan;

18 And get your father and your families and come back to me: and I will give you all the good things of Egypt, and the fat of the land will be your food.

19 And say to them, This you are to do: take carts from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and get your father and come back.

20 And take no thought for your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.

21 And the children of Israel did as he said; and Joseph gave them carts as had been ordered by Pharaoh, and food for their journey.

22 To every one of them he gave three changes of clothing; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred bits of silver and five changes of clothing.

23 And to his father he sent ten asses with good things from Egypt on their backs, and ten she-asses with grain and bread and food for his father on the journey.

24 And he sent his brothers on their way, and said to them, See that you have no argument on the road.

25 So they went up from Egypt and came to the land of Canaan, to their father Jacob.

26 And they said to him, Joseph is living, and is ruler over all the land of Egypt. And at this word Jacob was quite overcome, for he had no faith in it.

27 And they gave him an account of everything Joseph had said to them; and when he saw the carts which Joseph had sent for them, his spirit came back to him:

28 And Israel said, It is enough: Joseph my son is still living; I will go and see him before my death.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 5895

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5895. 'In which there will be no ploughing and harvest' means that in the meanwhile no good will be seen nor any truth derived from good. This is clear from the meaning of 'ploughing' as the preparation made by good for the reception of truths, dealt with in what follows below; and from the meaning of 'harvest' as truths derived from good, for a harvest is grain that has ripened by the time it is gathered in, so that 'harvest' means truth derived from good. Before this truth is produced truths are indeed to be seen, but they are truths that lead to good, not truths derived from good. When truth guides a person in his actions his truths are truths leading to good; but when good guides him in them his truths are truths derived from good. The reason why 'ploughing' is said to mean good is that 'the field' which is ploughed means the Church as regards good, 2971, and so the good which constitutes the Church, 3310, 3317, 4982. Consequently 'ploughing' is the preparation made by good for the reception of truths; and 'the oxen' too that were used in ploughing means forms of good within the natural, 2180, 2566, 2781.

[2] Because 'ploughing' had this meaning people in the representative Church were forbidden 'to plough with an ox and an ass together', Deuteronomy 22:10. They would never have been forbidden to do this if there had not been some cause of a more internal nature, thus a cause existing in the spiritual world. Without it what would have been wrong with the two ploughing together? And what value would such a law have in the Word? That cause of a more internal nature, a cause existing in the spiritual world, is that 'ploughing with an ox' means good within the natural, and 'ploughing with an ass' means the truth there, 'an ass' being truth contained in factual knowledge, thus truth within the natural, see 5492, 5741. The more internal or spiritual cause behind the existence of this prohibition was that the angels could not have a separate idea of good and truth. The two must be joined together and make one. For this reason the angels were unwilling to see any kind of ploughing done by an ox and an ass. Celestial angels refuse even to think about truth separate from good, for all truth with them exists within good, so that also for them truth is good. It was for the same reason that people were also forbidden to wear a garment made from a mixture of wool and linen, Deuteronomy 22:11; for 'wool' meant good, and 'linen' truth.

[3] The fact that 'ploughing', also 'harrowing', 'sowing', and 'reaping', mean the kinds of activities that are connected with good and the truth that goes with it is clear in Hosea,

I will make Ephraim ride, Judah will plough, Jacob will harrow for him. Sow for yourselves in keeping with righteousness, reap in keeping with godliness, break up 'your fallow ground; and it is time to seek Jehovah, until He comes and teaches righteousness. Hosea 10:11-12.

'Riding' is used in reference to Ephraim because 'riding' means having the use of an understanding, 'Ephraim' being the Church's gift of understanding. But 'ploughing' is used in reference to Judah because 'Judah' is the good which exists in the Church.

[4] In Amos,

Will horses run upon the rock? Will one plough with oxen? in that you have turned judgement into poison and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood. Amos 6:11-12.

'Will horses run upon the rock?' stands for Will there be any understanding of the truth of faith? For 'rock' in the spiritual sense is faith, Preface to Genesis 22, while 'horses' means the powers of understanding, 2761, 2762, 3217, 5321. 'Will one plough with oxen?' stands for Will there be any doing of good? For 'oxen' means good in the natural, see 2180, 2566, 2781. The fact that no doing of it was possible is meant by the words that follow - 'because you have turned judgement into poison'.

[5] In Luke,

Jesus said, No one putting his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. Luke 9:62.

These words have the same meaning as those spoken by the Lord in Matthew,

Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house; and let him who is in the field not turn back to take his clothes. Matthew 24:17-18.

The meaning of these words is that a person governed by good should not depart from it and resort to matters of doctrine concerning faith; see 3652, where those words spoken by the Lord have been explained. Thus 'one who puts his hand to the plough' is a person governed by good; but 'looking back' means someone who then looks to matters of doctrine concerning faith and in so doing forsakes good. This explains why Elijah was displeased with Elisha who, ploughing in the field when he received his call, asked whether he might first kiss his father and mother; for Elijah said,

Go away; go back again; for what have I done to you? 1 Kings 19:19-21.

In the contrary sense 'ploughing' means evil that destroys good, and so means a laying waste, as in Jeremiah,

Zion will be ploughed [like] a field, and Jerusalem will be heaps, and the mountain of the house [will be turned] into the heights of the forest. Jeremiah 26:18; Micah 3:12.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.