8496. 'Bake what you will bake' means preparing good to be joined; 'and boil what you will boil' means preparing truth to be joined. This is clear from the meaning of 'baking', since it was done by means of fire, as preparing good to be joined; and from the meaning of 'boiling', since it was done by means of water, as preparing truth to be joined - 'water' meaning the truth of faith, 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976, 5668, and 'fire' meaning the good of love, 934, 5215, 6314, 6832, 6834, 6849, 7324, 7852. The fact that preparing them to be joined is meant is self-evident, for what was being baked and boiled was being prepared for the following sabbath day, by which a joining together is meant, as shown immediately above. They were forbidden to kindle fire on the sabbath day, Exodus 35:3, so they could not bake or boil anything then. The word 'bake' is used in connection with bread and the minchah, which was made by means of fire, see Isaiah 44:15, 19; 1 Samuel 28:24; Ezekiel 46:20; Leviticus 6:17; while 'boil' is used in connection with flesh, which was cooked in water, Exodus 29:31; Leviticus 6:28; 1 Samuel 2:13, 15.

6063. 'And Joseph came and told Pharaoh, and said' means the presence of the internal celestial within the natural where factual knowledge resides, and the consequent influx and perception. This is clear from the meaning of 'coming to someone' as presence, as in 5934; from the representation of 'Joseph' as the internal celestial, dealt with in 5869, 5877; from the meaning of 'telling as an influx, dealt with in 5966; from the representation of 'Pharaoh' as the natural and therefore factual knowledge in general, dealt with in 5799, 6015; and from the meaning of 'saying' in historical narratives of the Word as perception, dealt with in 1791, 1815, 1819, 1822, 1898, 1919, 2080, 2619, 2862, 3509, 5687. From all this it is evident that 'Joseph came and told Pharaoh, and said' means the presence of the internal celestial within the natural where factual knowledge resides, and the consequent influx and perception.

[2] Reference has been made many times before this to the flowing of the internal into the natural or external, and to perception in the natural. It has been shown that the natural is kept in being and receives its life from an influx from the internal, that is, from the Lord through the internal. For without the influx from that source the natural does not have any life, since it exists on the natural level of creation and derives all that it is from there, and the natural level of creation is totally devoid of life. This being so, if a person's natural is to have life there must be an influx from the Lord. It must come not only directly from Him but also indirectly through the spiritual world, consequently into a person's internal, since this exists in the spiritual world, and from there into the natural so that it may have life. The human natural has been formed so that it may receive life thereby. This then is what is meant by a flowing of the internal celestial into the natural where factual knowledge resides. As a result of this influx from the internal, perception takes place in the external or natural, which 'Pharaoh' represents; for influx and perception answer to each other, 5743.