6563. 'I beg you, forgive - I beg you - the transgression of your brothers, and their sin' means supplication and repentance. This is clear from the meaning of 'I beg you, forgive, I beg you' as supplication; and the fact that repentance too is meant is evident from the confession that they had transgressed and sinned, and also from what follows, in their offer of themselves as slaves to Joseph. The expressions 'transgression' and also 'sin' are used because of the marriage of truth and goodness in every detail of the Word; for 'transgression' means evil opposed to truth, which is the lesser, and 'sin' evil opposed to good, which is the greater. This is the reason why both expressions are used, as they are in other places, such as Genesis 31,

Jacob said to Laban, What is my transgression, what is my sin, that you have hotly pursued after me? Genesis 31:36.

In Isaiah,

I will blot out, like a cloud, your transgressions, and like a cloud, your sins. Isaiah 44:22.

In Ezekiel,

In his transgression that he has committed, ¹ and in his sin that he has committed, ² in them he will die. Ezekiel 18:24.

In the same prophet,

When your transgressions are revealed, so that your sins in all your works appear. . . Ezekiel 21:24.

In David,

Blessed is he whose transgression has been forgiven, whose sin has been covered. Psalms 32:1.

Poznámky pod čarou:

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.