5334. Verses 46-49 And Joseph was a son of thirty years when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt; and Joseph came out from before Pharaoh, and went through all the land of Egypt. And in the seven years of abundance of corn the land yielded bunches. And he gathered all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up' the food in the cities; the food of the field of a city which was round about it he laid up ¹ in the midst of it. And Joseph stored up grain like the sand of the sea, very much, until he left off numbering, because it was beyond number.

'And Joseph was a son of thirty years' means a state when the quantity of remnants was complete. 'When he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt' means the presence of the celestial of the spiritual in the natural. 'And Joseph came out from before Pharaoh' means when the natural in general belonged to it. 'And went through all the land of Egypt' means when it made each thing there subordinate and submissive. 'And in the seven years of abundance of corn the land yielded bunches' means initial states when series of truths were multiplied. 'And he gathered all the food of the seven years' means the preservation of truth linked to good, multiplied in the initial phases. 'Which were in the land of Egypt' means within the natural. 'And laid up food in the cities' means that it stored them in the interior parts. 'The food of the field of a city' means that these were proper to and suitable for those interior parts. 'Which was round about it he laid up in the midst of it' means what existed first in the exterior natural was stored away by it in the interior parts of the interior natural. 'And Joseph stored up grain like the sand of the sea, very much' means a multiplication of truth derived from good. 'Until he left off numbering, because it was beyond number' means such as holds the celestial from the Divine within it.

Poznámky pod čarou:

737. 'Noah was a son of six hundred years' means his initial state of temptation. This is clear from the fact from here down to Eber in Chapter 11 nothing else is meant by numbers, years of age, or names than real things, as was the case also with the ages and names of all those mentioned in Chapter 5. Here 'six hundred years' means the initial state of temptation. This becomes clear from its prime factors which are ten and six multiplied again by ten. When the same factors are involved it makes no difference whether the number arrived at is large or small. As for ten, this has been shown already at 6:3 to mean remnants, while the meaning of six here as labour and conflict is clear from places throughout the Word. For the situation is this: What has gone before dealt with man's preparation for temptation, that is to say, he was supplied by the Lord with truths of the understanding and with goods of the will. These truths and goods are remnants, but they are not brought forth so as to be acknowledged until man is being regenerated. In the case of those who are being regenerated by means of temptations the remnants existing with any man are for the angels present with him. From these remnants they draw out those things with which they protect him against the evil spirits who activate falsities with him and in this way attack him. It is because remnants are meant by 'ten' and conflict by 'six' that six hundred years are spoken of, a number in which ten and six are the prime factors and which means a state of temptation.

[2] As regards conflict being the particular meaning of 'six', this is clear from Genesis 1, which describes the six days of man's regeneration prior to his becoming celestial. During those six days there was constant conflict, but on the seventh day came rest. Consequently there are six days of labour, and the seventh is the sabbath, a word which means rest. This also is why a Hebrew slave was to serve for six years and in the seventh was to go free, Exodus 21:2; Deuteronomy 15:12; Jeremiah 34:14, and why for six years they were to sow the land and gather in the produce, but in the seventh they were to leave it alone, Exodus 23:10-12. The same applied to a vineyard. It is also the reason why in the seventh year the land was to have a sabbath of rest, a sabbath to Jehovah, Leviticus 25:3-4. Because 'six' means labour and conflict it also means the dispersion of falsity, as in Ezekiel,

Behold, six men coming from the direction of the upper gate, which looks towards the north, every man with a weapon of dispersion in his hand. Ezekiel 9:2.

And in the same prophet, against Gog,

I will cause you to turn about, and I will split you into six, and cause you to come up from the uttermost parts of the north. Ezekiel 39:2.

Here 'six' and 'splitting into six' stand for dispersion, 'the north' for falsities, and 'Gog' for people who seize on doctrinal matters based on things of an external nature with which they destroy internal worship. From Job,

He will deliver you in six troubles, and in a seventh no evil will touch you. Job 5:19.

This stands for the conflict that constitutes temptations.

[3] 'Six' occurs in other parts of the Word where it does not mean labour, conflict, or the dispersion of falsity, but the holiness of faith. In these instances it is related to twelve, which means faith and all things of faith in their entirety, and to three which means that which is holy. Consequently there is also a genuine derivative meaning to the number six, as in Ezekiel 40:5, where the man's measuring rod with which he measured the holy city of Israel was six cubits long; and in other places. The reason for this derivative is that in the conflict of temptation the holiness of faith is present, and also that six days of labour and conflict look forward to the holy seventh day.