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Genesis 40

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1 And it was, after these words*, that they sinned, the cupbearer* of the king of Egypt and the baker, against their lord, against the king of Egypt.

2 And Pharaoh was·​·enraged over his two chamberlains, over the prince of the cupbearers, and over the prince of the bakers.

3 And he put them under guard in the house of the prince of the guards, into the jail house, the place where Joseph was bound.

4 And the prince of the guards appointed Joseph over them, and he ministered to them; and they were days under guard.

5 And they dreamed a dream, the two of them, a man his dream in one night, each man according·​·to the interpretation of his dream, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were bound in the jail house.

6 And Joseph came to them in the morning, and saw them, and behold, they were gloomy.

7 And he asked the chamberlains of Pharaoh who were with him under guard in the house of his lord, saying, Wherefore are your faces evil today?

8 And they said to him, We have dreamed a dream and there is no interpreter of it. And Joseph said to them, Do not interpretations belong to God? Recount it to me, I pray.

9 And the prince of the cupbearers recounted his dream to Joseph, and said to him, In my dream behold, a vine was before me.

10 And on the vine were three tendrils, and it was as though it flourished, its blossom went·​·up, and its clusters ripened grapes.

11 And Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I gave the cup upon the palm of Pharaoh’s hand.

12 And Joseph said to him, This is the interpretation of it. The three tendrils, they are three days.

13 In yet three days shall Pharaoh lift·​·up thy head, and shall return thee to thy position, and thou shalt give the cup of Pharaoh into his hand, according·​·to the former manner* when thou wast his cupbearer.

14 But remember me with thee when it is·​·well for thee, and do mercy, I pray, with·​·me, and make·​·mention of me to Pharaoh, and cause me to come·​·out from this house.

15 For being stolen I was stolen from the land of the Hebrews; and even here I have not done anything that they should set me in the pit.

16 And the prince of the bakers saw that he had interpreted for good, and he said to Joseph, I also was in my dream, and behold, three baskets with·​·holes were on my head.

17 And in the highest basket there was of all the food for Pharaoh, made by the baker; and the fowl ate them from the basket from on my head.

18 And Joseph answered and said, This is the interpretation of it. The three baskets, they are three days.

19 In yet three days shall Pharaoh lift thy head from upon thee, and shall hang thee on wood*; and the fowl shall eat thy flesh from on thee.

20 And it was on the third day, the birthday of Pharaoh, and he made a feast for all his servants; and he lifted up the head of the prince of the cupbearers and the head of the prince of the bakers in the midst of his servants.

21 And he returned the prince of the cupbearers to his cupbearing; and he gave the cup on the palm of the hand of Pharaoh.

22 And he hanged the prince of the bakers; as Joseph interpreted to them.

23 And the prince of the cupbearers did not remember Joseph, and he forgot him.

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

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Arcana Coelestia # 5096

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5096. 'Who were bound in the prison house' means which were among falsities. This is clear from the meaning of 'being bound in the prison-house' as being among falsities, dealt with in 4958, 5037, 5038, 5085. Those who are engrossed in falsities, more so those steeped in evils, are called 'the bound" and 'in prison', not because they are held in any physical bonds but because they are not in freedom; for people who are not in freedom are inwardly in bonds. Indeed once they subscribe to falsity they no longer have any freedom to choose or receive what is true; and those who subscribe heavily to it do not have any freedom even to see it, let alone acknowledge it and believe it, because they are quite convinced that what is false is true and what is true is false. That conviction is so powerful in them that it removes all freedom to think anything different, and is so strong that it holds their actual thought in bonds, in prison so to speak. This has been made clear to me from considerable experience among those in the next life who have become quite convinced of falsity by harbouring ideas that serve to prove to it. They are the kind of people who do not entertain any truths at all but turn or drive these away, doing so with a degree of ruthlessness which matches the intensity of their conviction. This is primarily so when such falsity is the product of evil, that is, when evil causes them to be convinced of it. These are the ones who are meant in the Lord's parable in Matthew,

Other seeds fell on the hard path, and the birds came and devoured them. Matthew 13:4.

'Seeds' means Divine truths, 'hard rock' conviction, and 'birds' false assumptions.

[2] People like these are not even aware that they are in bonds or in prison, for they are full of affection for their falsity, loving it because of the evil which produces it. This leads them to think that they are in freedom, since everything they have an affection for or love seems to make them feel free. But those who have not really subscribed to falsity, that is, who have not become convinced of it, entertain truths easily. They see them, choose them, and are full of affection for them, after which they look down on falsities so to speak, and then see how those convinced of falsity have come to be in bonds. Having such freedom they are able in their contemplation and thought to roam so to speak through the whole of heaven in search of countless truths. But nobody can have this freedom except one who is governed by good; for it is by virtue of good that he is in heaven and by virtue of good that truths are seen there.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.