10472. 'You know the people, that they [are set] on evil' means that that nation's interest lies in what is external separated from what is holy and internal. This is clear from the meaning of 'evil' and 'sin' as severance, separation, and turning away from the Divine, dealt with in 4997, 5746, 5841, 9346. The words 'separated from what is holy and internal' are used because when that which is external is separated from what is internal it is also separated from what is holy; for what is holy in a person resides in his internal. That is called holy which flows in from heaven and resides with a person, that is, comes from the Lord by way of heaven. Heaven flows into a person's internal, and by way of this into his external; for a person's internal has been created so as to conform to an image of heaven, thus to receive spiritual things that belong there, and the external to conform to an image of the world, thus to receive natural things that belong there, 9279, 10156. From this it is evident what a person whose external has been separated from his internal is like, that is to say, his interest lies solely in worldly, earthly, and bodily things. Those whose interest lies solely in these have no understanding of what the internal is, nor thus of what a concern for heavenly and Divine things is. They suppose that when they are engaged in doing the things that compose the external worship of the Church they are also involved in things that are Divine. But this is not so; for at such times either the bodily delights to which they have been accustomed since they were young children rule their minds, or the worldly aim that they may seen by others spurs them on, or the gain to be made or the prestige to be won out of performing the duties of their office motivates them. Thus they too are interested in worldly, earthly, and bodily things, and not in heavenly and Divine ones. It is different with those who are interested in external things from a concern for what is internal.

5747. 'Is not this what my lord drinks from?' means that present with them there was interior truth received from the celestial. This is clear from the meaning of the cup, implied by 'what my lord drinks from', as interior truth, dealt with in 5736; and from the representation of Joseph, to whom 'my lord' refers here, as the celestial of the spiritual, dealt with in 5307, 5331, 5332, but here as the celestial, because reference is being made to interior truth and interior truth is spiritual yet comes forth from the celestial. The reception of it is meant by the cup's having been planted at Joseph's command in the mouth of Benjamin's pouch.

[2] The men are accused of having supposedly taken the cup. The reason why they were accused of having taken it, when in fact the cup had been planted there, is evident from the inner meaning, which is this: Truth imparted by the Lord is not accepted initially as a gift; for prior to regeneration a person supposes that he himself acquires the truth he knows, and as long as he makes this supposition he is guilty of spiritual theft. Claiming good and truth as his own and attributing them to his own righteousness and merit is taking away from the Lord what is His, see 2609, 4174, 5135. In order that this theft might be represented Joseph acted in the way he did; even so, the men were accused of theft so that a joining together might be effected. Before he has been regenerated a person's belief about how he acquires truth cannot be any different. He may, it is true, say with his lips, because of what he has been taught, that the truth of faith and the good of charity come entirely from the Lord; nevertheless he does not believe it until faith has become implanted in good. Only then does he begin to acknowledge it in his heart.

[3] Professing something because one has been taught it is altogether different from professing it because one believes it. Many people - even those who are not governed by good - can profess something because they have been taught it; for to them the teaching they receive is no more than factual knowledge. But only those who are governed by spiritual good, that is, by charity towards the neighbour, can profess something because they believe it. Further evidence that the men were accused of theft so that a joining together might be effected lies in the fact that by that means Joseph brought them back to himself and kept them thinking for some time about that deed, after which he revealed who he was, that is, he joined himself to them.