5434. 'And they said to him, No, sir, we are upright men' means that truths are indeed present within them. This is clear from the meaning of 'saying to him, No, sir' as a denial that they existed for the sake of gain, meant by Joseph's words 'you are spies', 5432, and a denial that nothing would please them more than to know it for themselves that they are not truths, meant by Joseph's words 'you have come to see the nakedness of the land', 5433; and from the meaning of 'we are upright men' as that truths are indeed present within them, 'uprightness' meaning truth in the internal sense here, as also many times elsewhere in the Word. This meaning - that truths are indeed present within them - follows from the whole train of thought; for in the case of people who have acquired to themselves the truths known to the Church, doing so for the sake of their own material gain, those truths are not indeed truths to them, as shown above in 5433. But even so, truths can indeed be present within them, such truths known to the Church as a general whole being meant by 'the sons of Jacob'. The reason 'upright men' means truths quite apart from persons is that in the internal sense everything is withdrawn from ideas about persons; an idea in the literal sense describing a person becomes an idea describing some spiritual reality, see 5225, 5287. The reason for this is that otherwise the reader's thought and consequent speech are inevitably distracted and diverted from that spiritual reality and contemplation of it to details that have to do with the person. What is more, there is no other way in which the thought and consequent speech can become more universal, no other way in which just a number of ideas, let alone ideas that are countless and indescribable, can be taken in simultaneously, as is the case among angels. But although such spiritual images are withdrawn from ideas of persons they still have to do with persons; that is to say, they have to do with people in whom those spiritual realities are present. This is why 'upright men' means truths.

5248. 'And changed his clothes' means the change made so far as coverings of the interior natural were concerned, by the putting on of what was rightly suited to this. This is clear from the meaning of 'changing as removing and casting aside, and from the meaning of 'clothes' as the coverings of the interior natural, dealt with below. The putting on of what was rightly suited, meant by 'new clothes', follows on from this. Frequent reference is made in the Word to clothes, by which are meant lower or outward things which, being such, serve to cover higher or inward ones. 'Clothes' consequently means the external part of man and therefore what is natural, since this covers the internal and the spiritual part of him. In particular 'clothes' means truths that are matters of faith since these cover forms of good that are embodiments of charity. This meaning of 'clothes' has its origin in the clothes that spirits and angels are seen to be wearing. Spirits are seen dressed in clothes that have no brightness, whereas angels are seen dressed in clothes full of brightness and so to speak made of brightness. For the actual brightness that surrounds them looks like a robe, much like the Lord's garments when He was transfigured, which were 'as the light', Matthew 17:2, and 'glistening white', Luke 9:29. From the clothes they wear one can also tell what kinds of spirits and angels they are so far as truths of faith are concerned since these are represented by their clothes, though only truths of faith such as exist within the natural. The truths of faith such as exist within the rational are revealed in the face and in the beauty it possesses. The brightness of their garments has its origin in the good of love and charity, for that good shines through and is the producer of the brightness. From all this one may see what is represented in the spiritual world by clothes and as a consequence what is meant in the spiritual sense by 'clothes'.

[2] But the clothes which Joseph changed - that is, cast aside - were those of the pit or prison-clothing, which mean the delusions and false ideas that are stirred up by evil genii and spirits in a state involving temptations. Consequently the expression 'he changed his clothes' means a casting aside and a change made in the coverings of the interior natural. And the clothes which he put on were ones such as were properly suitable, so that the putting on of what was rightly suited is meant. See what has been stated and shown already regarding clothes,

Celestial things are unclothed, but not so spiritual and natural ones, 297.

'Clothes' are truths, which are of a lower nature when they are compared with what they cover, 1073, 2576.

'Changing one's garments' was representative of the need to put on holy truths, and therefore 'changes of garments' had the same meaning, 4545.

'Rending one's clothes' was representative of mourning on account of the loss of truth, 4763.

What is meant by someone entering who was not wearing a wedding garment, 2132.