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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 # 5945

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5945. 'Take for yourselves from the land of Egypt carts' means matters of doctrine belonging to factual knowledge. This is clear from the meaning of 'the land of Egypt' as factual knowledge, dealt with already; and from the meaning of 'carts' as matters of doctrine. Chariots and horses are mentioned in various places in the Word where Egypt is the subject. There 'chariots' is used to mean matters of doctrine, sometimes false, at other times true ones, while 'horses' is used to mean intellectual concepts, likewise true or false ones. (For the meaning of 'chariots' as matters of doctrine, see 5721.) It is similar with 'carts' there, but matters of doctrine belonging to factual knowledge are meant by them. Matters of doctrine belonging to factual knowledge are religious teachings drawn from the literal sense of the Word, which serve especially those people who are being introduced for the first time to interior truths that the Church possesses, such as the teaching that good should be done above all to widows, to orphans, and to the poor in the streets. Other such religious teachings are contained in the ten commandments. These and many other teachings are matters of doctrine belonging to factual knowledge and are meant by 'carts belonging to Egypt'. Because such matters of doctrine are the first to be learned by a person they also serve him subsequently as a groundwork; for when progress is made towards more internal teachings those learned first become the last and lowest. Moreover celestial and spiritual realities actually terminate in them, for they stand and rest so to speak on the matters of doctrine learned first. Indeed the spiritual world has so to speak its feet and the soles of its feet planted on the natural world; and so far as his spiritual life is concerned a person has his feet planted on matters of doctrine that belong to factual knowledge. The internal sense of the Word rests in a similar way on its literal sense. The particular word for 'carts', by which those matters of doctrine are meant, occurs in only a few places in the Word. It is used in the original language where it is said that the Ark was placed on one, 1 Samuel 6:7; 2 Samuel 6:3; and also when the tabernacle was consecrated, Numbers 7:3. The reason for the use of the word is that 'the Ark' represented heaven, 3478, which stands and rests, as has been stated, on matters of doctrine belonging to factual knowledge.

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