6302. 'And Israel said to Joseph, Behold, I am dying' means a perception which spiritual good received from the internal celestial regarding new life and regarding the end of the representation. This is clear from the meaning of 'saying' as perception, dealt with above in 6220; from the representation of 'Israel' as spiritual good, also dealt with above, in 6225; from the representation of 'Joseph' as the internal celestial, dealt with in 5869, 5877; and from the meaning of 'dying' as awakening to life, dealt with in 3498, 3505, 4618, 4621, 6036, 6221, and also as the end of the former representation, 3257, 3259, 3276. That end is also meant here by 'dying', for when one who has been representing some aspect of the Church dies another takes his place to continue the line of representation. Thus after Abraham died the line of representation was continued in Isaac, then in Jacob, and after him in his sons. It was similar when Moses died; the sequence of representation continued in Joshua, and then in the judges one after another down to the kings, and so on.

5805. 'And his brother is dead' means that internal good does not exist. This is clear from the representation of 'Joseph' as the celestial of the spiritual, dealt with in 4592, 4963, 5249, 5307, 5331, 5332, thus internal good since this is the same as the celestial of the spiritual; and from the meaning of 'being dead' as existing no more, dealt with in 494. There is this difference between the representation of 'Joseph' as internal good and the representation of 'Israel' as spiritual good: 'Joseph' is internal good springing from the rational, whereas 'Israel' is internal good springing from the natural, see 4286. This difference is like that between celestial good, or the good which is that of the celestial Church, and spiritual good, or the good which is that of the spiritual Church. These two kinds of good have been dealt with quite often in what has gone before. It is the first kind of internal good - celestial good - that is said to be non-existent there, which is meant by 'his brother is dead'.