5938. Say unto thy brethren. That this signifies about the truths of the church in the natural (namely, that there is perception about them), is evident from the representation of Joseph’s brethren, as being the truths of the church in the natural (see n. 5403, 5419, 5458, 5512). Pharaoh here invites the sons of Jacob to come into Egypt with their babes and women, and to bring their father with them; for Pharaoh says: “Say unto thy brethren, This do ye, and take your father, and take you out of the land of Egypt carts for your babes and for your women, and bring your father, and come.” Joseph, however, just above invites his father, and his brethren no otherwise than as his father’s sons, for he says: “Go up to my father, and say unto him, Come down unto me, tarry not; and thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy sons, and thy sons’ sons, and all that thou hast; haste ye and bring down my father hither.” The reason why Pharaoh invited the sons of Jacob, and Joseph his father, is not plain except from the internal sense, which is, that the natural in general, which is represented by Pharaoh, has immediate communication with the truths of the church in the natural, which are represented by the sons of Jacob; and hence it is that Pharaoh speaks of them. But the internal celestial, which is represented by Joseph, has no immediate communication with the truths of the church in the natural, which are the sons of Jacob; but it has communication through spiritual good, which is Israel their father. This is the reason why Joseph speaks of his father.