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Genesis 47

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1 Then Joseph went in and told Pharao, saying: My father and brethren, their sheep and their herds, and all that they possess, are come out of the land of Chanaan: and behold they stay in the land of Gessen.

2 Five men also the last of his brethren, he presented before the king:

3 And he asked them: What is your occupation? They answered: Re thy servants are shepherds, both we, and our fathers.

4 We are come to sojourn in thy land, because there is no grass for the flocks of thy servants, the famine being very grievous in the land of Chanaan: and we pray thee to give orders that we thy servants may be in the land of Gessen.

5 The king therefore said to Joseph: Thy father and thy brethren are come to thee.

6 The land of Egypt is before thee: make them dwell in the best place, and give them the land of Gessen. And if thou knowest that there are industrious men among them, make them rulers over my cattle.

7 After this Joseph brought in his to the king, and presented him before him: and he blessed him.

8 And being asked by him: How many are the days of the years of thy life?

9 He answered: The days of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty years, few, and evil, and they are not come up to the days of the pilgrimage of my fathers.

10 And blessing the king, he went out.

11 But Joseph gave a possession to his father and his brethren in Egypt, in the best place of the land, in Ramesses, as Pharao had commanded.

12 And he nourished them, and all his father's house, allowing food to every one.

13 For in the whole world there was want of bread, and a famine had op- pressed the land: more especially of Egypt and Chanaan.

14 Out of which he gathered up all the money for the corn which they bought, and brought it into the king's treasure.

15 And when the buyers wanted money, all Egypt came to Joseph, saying: Give us bread: why should we die in thy presence, having now net money.

16 And he answered them: Bring your cattle, and for them I will give you food, if you have no money.

17 And when they had brought them, he gave them food in exchange for their horses, and sheep, and oxen, end asses and he maintained them that year for the exchange of their cattle.

18 And they came the second year, and said to him: We will not hide from our lord, how that our money is spent, and our cattle also are gone: neither art thou ignorant that we have nothing now left but our bodies and our lands.

19 Why therefore shall we die before thy eyes? we will be thins, both we and our lands: buy us to be the king's servants, and give us seed, lest for want of tillers the land be turned into a wilderness.

20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt, every man selling his possessions, because of the greatness of the famine. And he brought it into Pharao's hands:

21 And all its people from one end of the borders of Egypt, even to the other end thereof,

22 Except the land of the priests, which had been given them by the king: to whom also a certain allowance of food was given out of the public stores, and therefore they were not forced to sell their possessions.

23 Then Joseph said to the people : Be- hold as you see, both you and your lands belong to Pharao: take seed and sow the fields,

24 That you may have corn. The fifth part you shall give to the king: the other four you shall have for seed, and for food for your families and children.

25 And they answered: Our life is in thy hand: only let my lord look favourably upon us, and we will gladly serve the king.

26 From that time unto this day, in the whole land of Egypt, the fifth part is paid to the king, and it is become as a law, except the land of the priests, which was free from this covenant.

27 So Israel dwelt in Egypt, that is, in the land of Gessen, and possessed it: and grew, and was multiplied exceedingly.

28 And he lived in it seventeen years: and all the days of his life came to a hundred and forty-seven years.

29 And when he saw that the day of his death drew nigh, he called his son Joseph, and said to him: If I have found favour in thy sight, put thy hand under my thigh; and thou shalt shew me this kindness and truth, not to bury me in Egypt:

30 But I will sleep with my fathers, end thou shalt take me away out of this land, and bury me in the burying place of my ancestors. And Joseph answered him: I will do what thou hast commanded.

31 And he said: Swear then to me. And as he was swearing, Israel adored God, turning to the bed's head.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 6159

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6159. 'And for your food, and for those in your households' means so that the good of truth may therefore be present in every single part. This is clear from the meaning of 'food' as the good of truth, dealt with in 5410, 5426, 5487, 5582, 5588, 5655, and from the meaning of 'those who are in households' as every single instance of good derived from truth, so that 'for food for those in your households' is the good of truth in every single part. What is really meant by this - by the statement that the good of truth may be present in every single part - is this: As a person undergoes regeneration, good instills itself into every single part of him, for it then comes about that an affection for good reigns throughout the whole of him. And what reigns throughout the whole reigns in each individual or every single part. This may be recognized from the dominant affection in any person. That affection, whatever it may be, is present in every individual part of his will, and also in every individual part of his thought. Even though it does not seem to be present always in his thought, it is nevertheless there. It does not seem to be there because at such moments it is covered over by other affections that circumstances introduce; but as those affections are stripped away, so the dominant affection comes into view.

[2] There is no better way to demonstrate this than by reference to spirits and angels. Spirits who are evil, that is, ones in whom evil has dominion, are evil in every single part. They are such even when they utter what is true or perform a good action, for in doing so they have nothing else in mind than to deceive others into thinking that they are in fact good spirits, and so to mislead them by an outward appearance of goodness. When they are doing this it can be clearly detected simply from the sound of their voice, and one can also detect it in the sphere emanating from them. Angels in heaven, in whom good has dominion, that is, reigns throughout, are good in every single part. That is, good from the Lord shines out of every single aspect of them. Even if they do something evil to outward appearance, their end or intention nevertheless is that good may be the outcome. From all this it may be seen that where good reigns throughout the whole, it does so in every single part; and the same holds true where evil reigns. For a reigning throughout the whole first begins when every single part is good or evil; and the essential nature and the number of those parts determines the nature of the whole. For what is called the whole is such by virtue of its existence in each separate part .

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