6502. 'And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians' means preservation from evils which would hinder it, that is to say, the joining together. This is clear from the meaning of 'commanding' as flowing into, dealt with in 5732; from the representation of 'Joseph' as the internal, dealt with just above in 6499; and from the meaning of 'the physicians' as preservation from evils (for it is apparent from the train of thought here that the preservation is from evils which would hinder the joining together referred to immediately above in 6501). From all this it is evident that 'Joseph commanded his servants the physicians' means an influx from the internal regarding preservation from evils which would hinder the joining together. The reason why 'the physicians' means preservation from evils is that in the spiritual world 'sicknesses' are evils and falsities. Spiritual diseases are nothing else, for evils and falsities rob the internal man of good health; they introduce mental disorders and at length states of depression. Nothing else is meant in the Word by 'sicknesses'.

[2] In the Word 'physicians', 'medicine', and 'medicaments' mean forms of preservation from evils and falsities. This is clear from places where they are mentioned, as in Moses,

If you obediently hear the voice of your God, and do what is good in His eyes, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will not put on you any sickness that I put on the Egyptians; for I, Jehovah, am your Physician. Exodus 15:26.

'Jehovah the Physician' stands for the preserver from evils; for these evils are meant by 'sicknesses on the Egyptians'. The fact that 'sicknesses on the Egyptians' means evils and falsities that arise when people reason about the arcana of faith on the basis of factual knowledge and false notions will in the Lord's Divine mercy be shown where those sicknesses are dealt with. But spiritual ones are meant, as is evident from its being said that if they heard the voice of God, did what was good, gave ear to His precepts, and kept His statutes, none of those sicknesses would be put on them.

[3] In addition the Lord calls Himself 'a Physician' in the same sense in Luke,

Those who are healthy have no need of a physician but those who are ill. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Luke 5:31, 32

Here also 'a physician' stands for a preserver from evils; for 'those who are healthy' is used to mean the righteous, and 'those who are ill' sinners. In Jeremiah,

Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no recovery for the health of the daughter of My people? ¹ Jeremiah 8:22.

'A physician' stands for preservation from falsities in the Church, for 'the health of the daughter of My people' is the truth of doctrine there.

[4] In the Word healing, cures, remedies, and medicaments are spoken of not in a natural but in a spiritual sense, as is evident in Jeremiah,

Why have You stricken us so that there is no remedy for us? Await peace, but no good comes; a time of healing, but behold, terror. Jeremiah 14:19; 8:15.

In the same prophet,

I will bring health and curing to it, ² and I will heal them, and reveal to them the crown of peace, and truth. Jeremiah 33:6.

In the same prophet,

There is none judging your judgement for healthiness; you have no restorative medicaments. Jeremiah 30:13.

In the same prophet,

Go up to Gilead, and take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt! In vain you have multiplied medicaments; there is no healing for you. Jeremiah 46:11.

[5] In Ezekiel,

Beside the river there is rising up upon its bank, on this side and on that, every tree for food, whose leaf does not fall and whose fruit does not fail; it is reborn monthly, for its waters are flowing out from the sanctuary, wherefore its fruit is for food, and its leaf for a medicament. Ezekiel 47:12.

Here the prophet is describing a new house of God or a new temple, by which a new Church is meant, and in a more internal sense the Lord's spiritual kingdom. Therefore by 'the river upon whose bank there is rising up every tree for food' is meant things that belong to intelligence and wisdom, 108, 109, 2702, 3051 - 'trees' are perceptions and recognition of what is good and true, 103, 2163, 2682, 2722, 2972, 4552; 'food' is forms of good and truths themselves, 680, 4459, 5147, 5293, 5576, 5915; 'waters going out from the sanctuary' are truths that compose intelligence, 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976, 5668; 'the sanctuary' is celestial love, and in the highest sense the Lord's Divine Human, which is the source of that love; 'fruits which are for food' means forms of the good of love, 917, 983, 2846, 2847, 3146; and 'leaf which is for a medicament' means the truth of faith, 885. From this it is evident what 'a medicament' means, namely that which preserves from falsities and from evils; for the truth of faith, when it leads to goodness of life because it leads away from evil, acts as a preserver.

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1232. That 'Aram' or Syria means cognitions of good follows from what has been said above as well as from the Word: in Ezekiel,

Aram was your merchant in the multitude of your handiworks; they exchanged for your wares chrysoprase, purple, and embroidered work, and fine linen, and ramoth, ¹ and rubies. Ezekiel 27:16.

This refers to 'Tyre' or the possession of cognitions. Here 'handiworks, chrysoprase, purple, embroidered work, fine linen, ramoth, and rubies' means nothing else than cognitions of good. In Hosea,

Jacob fled into the field of Aram and served for a wife, and for a wife kept guard. And by a prophet Jehovah brought Israel up out of Egypt, and by a prophet he was preserved. Ephraim has provoked to anger most bitterly. Hosea 12:12-14.

Here 'Jacob' stands for the external Church, and 'Israel' for the internal spiritual Church. 'Aram' stands for cognitions of good, 'Egypt' for knowledge that debases, 'Ephraim' for debased intelligence. What these mean in this context cannot possibly be deduced from the literal sense, only from the internal sense where, as has been stated, names mean things of the Church. In Isaiah,

Behold, Damascus has been rejected so that it is not a city; it has become a heap of ruins. The fortress will disappear from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus; and the remnant of Aram will be like the glory of the children of Israel. Isaiah 17:1, 3.

Here 'the remnant of Aram' stands for cognitions of good which are called 'the glory of Israel'. 'Aram' or Syria also stands in the contrary sense for cognitions of good that have been debased, for it is usual in the Word for an expression to be used in both senses, see Isaiah 7:4-6; 9:12; Deuteronomy 26:5.

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