5468. 'And they said, a man to his brother' means a perception as to the reason why. This is clear from the meaning of 'saying' in the historical narratives of the Word as perception, dealt with in 1791, 1815, 1819, 1822, 1898, 1919, 2080, 2619, 3509; and from the meaning of 'a man to his brother' as mutually, dealt with in 4725. The reason 'they said, a man to his brother' means a perception as to the reason why - why Joseph spoke hard words to them, calling them spies, and why he held them in custody for three days - is that what immediately follows contains their discussion with one another as to the reason why. Consequently a perception as to this is meant.

1791. 'Abram said, O Lord Jehovih' means the Lord's perception. This becomes clear from the fact that the Lord had the inmost and most perfect perception of all. As stated already, this perception was a perceptive feeling and awareness of all that was happening in heaven; it was also a constant communication and internal conversing with Jehovah, which the Lord alone had. This perception is what is meant in the internal sense by the statement 'Abram said to Jehovah', and thus is what was represented by Abram when he addressed Jehovah. The same applies in what follows whenever the expression 'Abram said to Jehovah' occurs.