6287. 'And Joseph saw that his father placed his right hand on Ephraim's head' means a discernment that he considered truth to occupy the first place. This is clear from the meaning of 'seeing' as understanding and discerning, dealt with in 2150, 2807, 3764, 4567, 4723, 5400; from the representation of 'Joseph' as the internal celestial, dealt with in 5869, 5877, 6224; from the representation of Israel, to whom 'father' refers here, as spiritual good from the natural; from the meaning of 'placing the right hand on the head' as considering to occupy the first place, dealt with above in 6269; and from the representation of 'Ephraim' as truth present in the understanding part within the natural, dealt with above in 6234, 6238, 6267. From all this it is evident that 'Joseph saw that his father placed his right hand on Ephraim's head' means a discernment by the internal celestial that spiritual good from the natural considered truth to occupy the first place. See what has been stated and shown above on these matters in 6256, 6269, 6272, 6273.

6267. 'And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand to Israel's left' means truth belonging to the understanding, to occupy the second place, 'and Manasseh in his left to Israel's right' means good belonging to the will, to occupy the first place. This is clear from the representation of 'Ephraim' as truth belonging to the understanding, and from the representation of 'Manasseh' as good belonging to the will, dealt with in 5354, 6222; and from the meaning of 'the right' as occupying the first place, and of 'the left' as occupying the second place, as is evident from what is the normal practice in life. The implications of all this will be discussed in what follows below.