4968. 'From the hand of the Ishmaelites' means from simple good. This is clear from the representation of 'the Ishmaelites' as those in whom simple good is present, dealt with in 3263, 4747, and therefore here as natural truth which is received from simple good. Chapter 37:36 says that 'the Midianites sold Joseph into Egypt to Potiphar, Pharaoh's bedchamber servant, the chief of the attendants'; but now it is said that 'Potiphar, Pharaoh's bedchamber servant, the chief of the attendants, bought him from the hand of the Ishmaelites, who made him go down there'. The matter is stated in these different ways for the sake of the internal sense. Previously - in Chapter 37 - the subject was the alienation of Divine truth, which is done not by those in whom simple good exists but by those in whom simple truth is present, whom 'the Midianites' represent, see 4788. But now the subject is the acquisition or the availing oneself of factual knowledge; also natural truth, which is acquired from simple good. This is why the expression 'from the Ishmaelites' is used, for these people represent those in whom simple good is present. From this it is evident that the matter is stated in the way it is for the sake of the internal sense. Nor is there any discrepancy in the historical narrative, for this states that the Midianites drew Joseph out of the pit and then handed him over to the Ishmaelites by whom he was led away into Egypt. Thus since the Midianites handed him over to the Ishmaelites who were going to Egypt, it was the Midianites who sold him to Egypt.

4117. 'And he set his face towards mount Gilead' means good within it. This is clear from the meaning of 'mount' as the celestial element of love, which is good, dealt with in 795, 1430, to which the good meant by 'Jacob' was joined - 'Gilead' meaning the essential nature of it. Since the river was the boundary and, as has been stated, meant the first phase of the joining together, 'mount Gilead', which lay in this part away from the Jordan, means the good involved in that first stage of the joining together.

[2] The land of Gilead where the mountain was situated lay within the confines of the land of Canaan understood in a wide sense. It was situated on this side of the Jordan, and was granted as an inheritance to the Reubenites and the Gadites, and in particular to the half-tribe of Manasseh. And since the inheritances stretched out that far, it is said that it was situated within the confines of the land of Canaan understood in a wide sense. The fact that this territory was granted as an inheritance to those tribes is clear in Moses, Numbers 32:1, 26-41; Deuteronomy 3:8, 10-16; Joshua 13:24-31. For this reason when the land of Canaan was envisaged in its entirety it was said to stretch from Gilead even to Dan, and in another sense from Beersheba even to Dan, for Dan also was a boundary, 1710, 3923. Regarding its stretching from Beersheba even to Dan, see 2858, 2859; and reference to its doing so from Gilead to Dan occurs in Moses,

Moses went up from the plains of Moab onto mount Nebo, the top of Pisgah, which is in the direction of Jericho. There Jehovah showed him the whole land, Gilead even to Dan. Deuteronomy 34:1.

And in the Book of Judges,

Gilead dwelling at the crossing of the Jordan; and Dan, why will he fear ships? Judges 5:17.

[3] Because it was a boundary, 'Gilead' in the spiritual sense means the good that comes first, which is that of the bodily senses, for it is the good or delight of the senses that a person who is being regenerated is introduced into first of all. This is the sense in which 'Gilead' is taken in the Prophets, as in Jeremiah 8:22; 22:6; 46:11; 50:19; Ezekiel 47:18; Obad. verse 19; Micah 7:14; Zechariah 10:10; Psalms 60:7; and in the contrary sense, in Hosea 6:8; 12:11.