Firstborn, in a supreme sense, represents the Lord as to divine celestial love, and also peope who were of the celestial church. The sanctification of the firstborn, as in Exodus 13, signifies faith in the Lord. The firstborn, in the spiritual sense of the Word, is good, for with infants the good of innocence is first infused by the Lord, by virtue of which man first becomes a man. Since good is of love, and man does not reflect upon his own love, but only upon the thoughts of his memory, and since good has not at first a quality, but acquires one when it is formed in truths, and without a quality nothing is perceived, hence it was unknown that good was the primary principle, or firstborn. Good is first conceived from the Lord in man, and is produced by truths, in which good is manifested, in its own form and effigy. Firstborn, as in Psalm 89:28, signifies the Lord's humanity.

6255. Verses 10-14 And the eyes of Israel were weak ¹ because of old age; he could not see. And [Joseph] made them draw near him, and [Israel] kissed them and embraced them. And Israel said to Joseph, I did not think to see your face, and behold, God has caused me to see your seed also. And Joseph brought them away from his thighs and bowed down, his face to the earth. And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand to Israel's left, and Manasseh in his left to Israel's right, and made them draw near him. And Israel put out his right hand and placed it on Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh's head; crosswise he put out his hands, for Manasseh was the firstborn.

'And the eyes of Israel were weak' means his obscurity of discernment. 'Because of old age' means because he was in the final phase of his representation. 'He could not see means not noticing. 'And [Joseph] made them draw near him' means presence. 'And [Israel] kissed them' means a joining together resulting from an affection for truth. 'And embraced them' means a joining together resulting from an affection for good. 'And Israel said to Joseph' means a raising up to the internal. 'I did not think to see your face' means that he had not entertained any hope of an inflowing of his love. 'And behold, God has caused me to see your seed also' means that not only an inflow of love was discerned, but also the goodness and truth springing from it. 'And Joseph brought them away from his thighs' means that the good belonging to the will and the truth belonging to the understanding within the natural were brought away from an affection originating in love on the part of spiritual good. 'And bowed down, his face to the earth' means an expression of humility by them. '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 hand to Israel's right' means good belonging to the will, to occupy the first place. 'And made them draw near him' means a linking together. 'And Israel put out his right hand and placed it on Ephraim's head' means that he considered truth to occupy the first place. 'Who was the younger' means though in fact it occupies the second place. 'And his left hand on Manasseh's head' means that he considered good to occupy the second place. 'Crosswise he put out his hands' means thus out of keeping with true order. 'For Manasseh was the firstborn' means since good does indeed occupy the first place.

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