6523. 'And there went up with him all Pharaoh's servants' means that it had attached to itself the factual knowledge belonging to the natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'going up with him' as attaching to itself, for since it was by command that they went up, he attached them to himself; and from the meaning of 'Pharaoh's servants' as factual knowledge belonging to the natural. For 'Pharaoh' represents the natural as a general whole, 5160, 5799, 6015 (end); and since within the natural factual knowledge is present, that knowledge is what is meant by 'his servants' as well as by 'the Egyptians', 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462, 4749, 4964, 4966, 5700, 5702, 6004.

5800. 'My lord questioned his servants, saying' means perception of their thought. This is clear from the meaning of 'questioning' as perceiving another's thought, dealt with in 5597. The reason 'questioning' has this meaning is that in the spiritual world or heaven no one needs to ask another what he thinks about the kinds of things for which he - that other person - has an affection, because in that world one person can perceive the thought that flows from another's affection. Furthermore the internal represented by 'Joseph' does not question the external, which 'Jacob's sons' represent, since the external receives its entire existence from the internal. From this too it is evident that 'questioning' means the perception of their thought. Also, the Word refers in various places to Jehovah questioning a person, when in fact He knows every single thought in that person. But such references are made to Him because people cannot help believing that their thoughts, being inside them, cannot be known to anyone. This appearance and consequent belief explain why questioning takes place.