6106. 'And Joseph sustained his father, and his brothers, and all his father's household with bread' means that from the internal celestial there was a constant influx of good into spiritual good and the Church's truths in the natural, which gave them their life. This is clear from the meaning of 'sustaining with bread' as an influx of good, for 'sustaining' here is a constant inflowing, which gives a person spiritual life, while 'bread' is the good of love, 276, 680, 2165, 2177, 3464, 3478, 3735, 3813, 4211, 4217, 4735, 4976, 5915; from the representation of 'Joseph' as the internal celestial, dealt with in 5869, 5877; from the representation of Israel, to whom 'father' refers here, as spiritual good from the natural, and from the representation of his sons, to whom 'brothers' refers here, as the Church's truths in the natural, both dealt with in 6101; and from the meaning of 'all his father's household' as everything in its entirety which belongs to spiritual good and is derived from that good. From all this it is evident that 'Joseph sustained his father, and his brothers, and all his father's household with bread' means that there was a constant influx of the good of love from the internal celestial into spiritual good and the Church's truths in the natural, and into everything belonging to spiritual good and derived from it.

2619. 'As He had spoken' means as He had thought. This is clear from the meaning of 'speaking' as thinking, dealt with in 2271, 2287. Perception, which is meant by 'Jehovah said', flowed from the Divine celestial, but thought, which is meant by 'Jehovah spoke', flowed from the Divine celestial by way of the Divine spiritual. This explains why in the sense of the letter there occurs an apparent repetition, namely 'as He had said' and 'as He had spoken'. But what perceiving from the Divine celestial is, and what thinking from the Divine celestial by way of the Divine spiritual, does not come within the range of even the most enlightened capacity to understand by means of the things which belong to the light of the world. This shows how infinite everything else [in the Word] must be. The fact that thought stems from perception, see 1919, 2515. With man the position is that good is the source from which he perceives, but truth the means by which he thinks. Good exists in love and its affections, and for that reason is the source of perception, whereas truth exists in faith, and for that reason faith goes with thought. The former is meant in historical parts of the Word by 'saying', but the latter by 'speaking'. When only the expression 'saying' is used however, it sometimes means perceiving and sometimes thinking, because 'saying' includes both.