5165. 'And he restored the chief of the cupbearers to his supervision over [Pharaoh's] drink' means that the sensory impressions belonging to the understanding part were accepted and made subordinate. This is clear from the representation of 'the chief of the cupbearers' as in general the sensory impressions subject to the understanding part, dealt with above; and from the meaning of 'restoring to his supervision over [Pharaoh's] drink' as restoring to order beneath the understanding part. 'Restoring to a position' means restoring to order so as to occupy the lowest position, see 5125; but here a restoration to supervision over the drink is spoken of because that supervision and the kinds of drink that were the objects of it, such as wine, new wine, strong drink, and water, have reference to things of the understanding, as also do giving to drink and actual drinking, 3069, 3168, 3772, 4017. From this it is evident that 'restoring the chief of the cupbearers to his supervision over [Pharaoh's] drink' means a restoration to order of the sensory impressions belonging to the understanding, and thus the acceptance and subordination of them.

[2] Those sensory impressions are accepted and made subordinate when they minister to and serve interior things as the means both to the realization of these in actions and to the acquisition of insights into them. For within the sensory impressions present in his exterior natural a person can see interior things, in much the same way as he sees people's affections within their faces and even more interior affections within their eyes. Without an interior face or mirror such as this no one is able, while living in the body, to engage in any thought at all about things that are above the senses; for what he sees within the sensory impressions may be likened to someone's recognition of other people's affections and thoughts within their faces, without the payment of any attention by him to their actual faces. Or it may be likened to someone listening to another speaking; he pays no attention to the words the speaker uses, only to the meaning of what is uttered by him. The actual words that are used are a mirror in which the inner meaning can be seen. The same is so with the exterior natural; if this did not serve interior things as a mirror in which they see themselves as if in a looking-glass, a person could not engage in any thought at all. This being so, the mirror is formed first - in earliest childhood onwards. But these are matters about which people have no knowledge because what is going on inside a person is not evident unless one stops to reflect on. what takes place inwardly.

[3] The nature of the exterior natural is plainly evident in the next life, for the faces of spirits and of angels are shaped by and in conformity with it. In the light of heaven interior things, especially intentions and ends in view, shine through those faces. If love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour have formed the interiors, then these cause a brightness to shine in the face, and the face itself is a visual form of love and charity. But if self-love and love of the world, and therefore all kinds of hatred, revenge, cruelty, and the like, have formed the interiors, these cause a devilish appearance to be manifested in the face, and the face itself is a visual form of hatred, revenge, and cruelty. From this one may see what the exterior natural is and the use it serves, also what it is like when made subject to interior things, and what it is like when these are made subject to itself.

5077. 'The cupbearer of the king of Egypt' means among the things of the body which are subject to the understanding Part of the mind. This is clear from the meaning of 'the cupbearer' as the external or bodily senses that are subordinate or subject to the understanding part of the internal man, dealt with in what follows below; and from the meaning of 'the king of Egypt' as the natural man, dealt with below in 5079. Since the cupbearer and the baker are the subject of the narrative that follows and these mean the external senses belonging to the body, something must first be said about these. It is well known that the external or bodily senses are five in number - sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch - and also that these constitute the entire life of the body. For without those senses the body has no life at all, for which reason also when deprived of them it dies and becomes a corpse. The actual bodily part of the human being therefore is nothing else than a receiver of sensory impressions and consequently of the life resulting from these. The part played by the senses is the principal one and that by the body the instrumental. The instrumental without its principal which it is fitted to serve cannot even be called the body that a person carries around while living in the world; but the instrumental together with its principal, when they act as one, can be called such. The two together therefore constitute the body.

[2] A person's external senses are directly related to his internal ones, for they have been given to a person and placed within his body to serve his internal man while he is in the world and to exist subject to the sensory powers of that internal man. Consequently when a person's external senses begin to rule his internal ones he is done for. When this happens his internal sensory powers are regarded as no more than servants whose function is to reinforce whatever the external senses imperiously demand. When this is the state in which the external senses operate, order in their case has become turned around, a situation dealt with immediately above in 5076.

[3] A person's external senses are, as stated, directly related to his internal ones, in general to the understanding and to the will. Consequently some external senses are subject or subordinate to the understanding part of the human mind, others are subject to the will part. One sensory power specifically subject to the understanding is sight; another subject to the understanding, and after that to the will also, is hearing. Smell, and more especially taste, are subject to both simultaneously, while the power subject to the will is touch. Much evidence could be introduced to show that the external senses are subject to the understanding and the will, and also to show how they are subject; but it would take up too much space to carry the explanation so far. Something of what is involved may be recognized from what has been shown at the ends of preceding chapters about the correspondence of those senses.

[4] In addition it should be recognized that all truths that are called the truths of faith belong to the understanding part, and that all forms of good which are those of love and charity go with the will part. Consequently it is the function of the understanding to believe, acknowledge, know, and see truth - and good also. But the function of the will is to feel an affection for that truth and to love it; and whatever a person feels an affection for and loves is good. But how the understanding influences the will when truth passes into good, and how the will influences the understanding when it puts that good into effect, are matters for still deeper examination - In the Lord's Divine mercy those matters will be discussed at various points further on.

[5] The reason 'the cupbearer' means the senses subject or subordinate to the understanding Part of the internal man is that everything which serves as drink, or which is consumed as such, for example, wine, milk, or water, is related to truth, which feeds the understanding and so belongs to the understanding. Also, because the external or bodily senses play a ministering role, 'a cupbearer' therefore means those senses or what is perceived by them. For in general 'drinking' has reference to truths which feed the understanding, see 3069, 3071, 3168, 3772, 4017, 4018; the specific meaning of 'wine' is truth deriving from good, or faith from charity, 1071, 1798, while 'water' means truth, 680, 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976. From all this one may now see what 'the cupbearer' means.