6584. 'Also the sons of Machir, Manasseh's son' means and so far as its will and the derivatives from that were concerned. This is clear from the representation of 'Manasseh' as the area of will in the Church, dealt with in 5351, 5357, 5754, 6222, 6238, 6267, 6296; and from the meaning of his sons and his sons' sons, to whom 'the sons of Machir' refers here, as derivatives, as above in 6583. The derivatives of the Church's will, which are meant by 'the sons of Machir', are aspects of good joined to truths, thus truths from good, for truths that have been derived from good are forms of good. As regards 'the sons of Machir', that they are aspects of good joined to truths, this is meant by their being born on Joseph's knees, as stated in what immediately follows; and as regards their being truths from good, this may be seen in the Book of Judges,

Out of Machir lawgivers will come down. Judges 5:14.

'Lawgivers' stands for truths from good, 6372.

6238. 'As Reuben and Simeon will they be mine' means that they will be truth and the good of truth. This is clear from the representation of 'Reuben' as faith in the understanding, and the truth of doctrine by means of which one is able to arrive at the good of life, dealt with in 3861, 3866, thus in general truth that belongs to the understanding; and from the representation of 'Simeon' as faith in the will, consequently truth realized in action, which is the good of faith or the good of truth, dealt with in 3869-3872, 4497, 4502, 4503, 5626, 5630, thus in general good which belongs to the new will. The things that Ephraim and Manasseh represent are clearly similar to all this.

[2] But since Reuben profaned what he represented, 4601, and Simeon polluted what he represented, 4497, 4501, 4507, on account of which they were cursed, see verses 3-7 of the next chapter, they lost their birthright and Joseph's sons Ephraim and Manasseh were acknowledged as the firstborn in place of them, 1 Chronicles 5:1. Nevertheless what Reuben and Simeon represented remained with them, for it makes no difference what the character of the person who serves to represent something is like, 665, l097 (end), 4281. That is to say, the representation of faith in the understanding remained with Reuben, and the representation of faith in the will with Simeon. But what resided with Ephraim was the representation of the Church's understanding, and what resided with Manasseh was the representation of the Church's will.