5816. 'You will not see my face again' means that in this case no mercy will be at hand and there is no joining to truths in the natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'face', when it has reference to the Lord, as mercy, dealt with in 222, 223, 5585, which being so 'not seeing his face' means that no mercy is at hand, 5585, 5592. And when no mercy is at hand, neither is there any joining together, since no love, which is a spiritual joining together, is present. Divine love is called mercy (misericordia) as it relates to the human race in so much misery (miseriae). The reason why there is no joining to truths in the natural is that Jacob's sons, to whom the words used here were addressed, represent the truths in the natural, 5403, 5419, 5427, 5458, 5512.

[2] With regard to no mercy being at hand and to there being no joining to truths in the natural Unless the truth represented by 'Benjamin' was made subject to the internal good represented by 'Joseph', the situation is this: The truth which enables a person to be a Church is that truth which springs from good; for when a person is governed by good, it is from good that he sees truths, perceives them, and so believes that they are indeed truths, which no one can possibly do unless he is governed by good. That good is like a little flame which sheds light and provides illumination, and so enables a person to see, perceive, and believe truths. For an affection for truth springing from good directs the internal sight towards those truths and away from matters of a worldly and bodily nature which envelop them in darkness. This is the kind of truth that 'Benjamin' represents here - the one and only truth the Church possesses, see 5806, which is to say the one and only truth that enables a person to be a Church. But this truth must be entirely subject to the internal good represented by 'Joseph'; for the Lord flows in by way of internal good and imparts life to the truths below, thus also to this truth that springs from spiritual good from the natural, represented by 'Israel', 4286, 4598.

[3] From all this it is also evident that it is by means of this truth that the joining together with the truths below it is effected. For if this truth did not exist subject to internal good, enabling it to receive an influx of good into itself, mercy which flows in constantly from the Lord by way of internal good would not be received since no intermediary would be present. And if that mercy were not received, neither would there be any joining together. These are the considerations meant by 'if your youngest brother does not come down with you, you will not see my face again'.

2619. 'As He had spoken' means as He had thought. This is clear from the meaning of 'speaking' as thinking, dealt with in 2271, 2287. Perception, which is meant by 'Jehovah said', flowed from the Divine celestial, but thought, which is meant by 'Jehovah spoke', flowed from the Divine celestial by way of the Divine spiritual. This explains why in the sense of the letter there occurs an apparent repetition, namely 'as He had said' and 'as He had spoken'. But what perceiving from the Divine celestial is, and what thinking from the Divine celestial by way of the Divine spiritual, does not come within the range of even the most enlightened capacity to understand by means of the things which belong to the light of the world. This shows how infinite everything else [in the Word] must be. The fact that thought stems from perception, see 1919, 2515. With man the position is that good is the source from which he perceives, but truth the means by which he thinks. Good exists in love and its affections, and for that reason is the source of perception, whereas truth exists in faith, and for that reason faith goes with thought. The former is meant in historical parts of the Word by 'saying', but the latter by 'speaking'. When only the expression 'saying' is used however, it sometimes means perceiving and sometimes thinking, because 'saying' includes both.