6287. 'And Joseph saw that his father placed his right hand on Ephraim's head' means a discernment that he considered truth to occupy the first place. This is clear from the meaning of 'seeing' as understanding and discerning, dealt with in 2150, 2807, 3764, 4567, 4723, 5400; from the representation of 'Joseph' as the internal celestial, dealt with in 5869, 5877, 6224; from the representation of Israel, to whom 'father' refers here, as spiritual good from the natural; from the meaning of 'placing the right hand on the head' as considering to occupy the first place, dealt with above in 6269; and from the representation of 'Ephraim' as truth present in the understanding part within the natural, dealt with above in 6234, 6238, 6267. From all this it is evident that 'Joseph saw that his father placed his right hand on Ephraim's head' means a discernment by the internal celestial that spiritual good from the natural considered truth to occupy the first place. See what has been stated and shown above on these matters in 6256, 6269, 6272, 6273.

4925. 'That behold, his brother came out' means the truth of good. This is clear from the meaning of 'brother' as that which is kindred, by virtue of good, dealt with in 3815, 4267, and so the truth of good. The truth of good is that truth which is rooted in good, or that faith which is rooted in charity. Dealt with here in the internal sense is the birthright in the case of those who are being born again or regenerated by the Lord, and therefore the birthright within the Church. It has been a matter of argument since most ancient times as to which is the firstborn, whether this is the good of charity or whether it is the truth of faith. Unseen while a person is being born again and becoming a Church, good conceals itself within the interior man and reveals itself solely within some affection which does not pass into the conscious feelings of the external or natural man until he has been born again. But truth reveals itself, for this does enter his conscious feelings and lodges in the memory belonging to the external or natural man. This explains why many have fallen into the error that truth is the firstborn, and at length even thinking that truth is the vital element of the Church, so vital that truth which is called faith can save a person without the good of charity.

[2] From this one error very many others have been derived which have infected not only what is taught but also life, such as the error that no matter what kind of life a person leads he can be saved provided he has faith. A further derivative error is that very wicked people are accepted into heaven provided that in the final hour before they die they declare their belief in those things which are matters of faith; and another such error is that, irrespective of the kind of life one has led, one is accepted into heaven solely by grace. Because people hold to this teaching they fail at length to know what charity is or to have any concern about what it is, till in the end they do not believe in the existence of it, or consequently in the existence of heaven and hell. The reason for this is that faith without charity, or truth without good, teaches a person nothing; and the more it departs from good, the more foolish it makes him. For good is what the Lord flows into and through which He flows, imparting intelligence and wisdom and consequently a superior ability to see, and also perception whether something is really true or not.

[3] From these considerations one may now see the position with regard to the birthright, namely that in actual fact it belongs to good but appears to belong to truth. This is what the birth of Tamar's two sons is used to describe in the internal sense. 'The twice-dyed thread' which the midwife bound on the hand that came out means good, as shown in 4922; 'coming out first' means priority of place, 4923; 'withdrawing the hand' means that good concealed its own power, as stated immediately above [in 4924]; 'his brother came out' means truth; 'you have made a breach upon yourself means this truth's apparent separation from good; 'afterwards his brother came out' means that good is in actual fact first; and 'on whose hand was the twice-dyed thread' means the acknowledgement that good is first. For it is not until after a person has been born again that good is acknowledged to be first, at which point that person's actions spring from good, and his view of truth and what this is like springs from the same.

[4] These are the matters contained within the internal sense, in which teaching is given regarding the good and truth with a person who is being born anew, namely that good in actual fact occupies first place but truth appears to do so, and that good is not seen to occupy the first place while a person is being regenerated but is plainly seen to do so once he has been regenerated. But there is no need to explain these matters any further since they have been explained already - see 3324, 3325, 3494, 3539, 3548, 3556, 3563, 3570, 3576, 3603, 3701, 4243, 4244, 4247, 4337; and the fact that controversy has taken place since ancient times over whether the birthright belonged to good or to truth, that is, to charity or to faith, 2435.

[5] Because in the highest sense the Lord is the firstborn, and therefore love to Him and charity towards the neighbour are the firstborn, the law was for that reason laid down in the representative Church that firstborn things were Jehovah's: in Moses,

Sanctify to Me all the firstborn, that which opens the womb among the children of Israel; with man and with beast let them be Mine. Exodus 13:2.

You shall make over to Jehovah all that opens the worm', and every firstling of a beast; however many males you have they shall be Jehovah's. Exodus 13:12.

All that opens the womb is Mine; therefore among all your cattle, you shall give the male. that among oxen and small cattle which opens [the womb]. Exodus 34:19.

All that opens the womb among all flesh which they bring to Jehovah, from men and from beasts, shall be yours. Nevertheless you shall surely redeem all the firstborn of men. Numbers 18:15.

Behold, I Myself have taken the Levites from the midst of the children of Israel, instead of every firstborn, that which opens the womb, from the children of Israel, so that the Levites may be Mine. Numbers 3:12.

[6] Because the firstborn is the one that opens the womb, the expression 'that which opens the womb' is therefore added, when the firstborn is mentioned in these places, so as to mean good. It is evident that this expression means good from the specific details contained in the internal sense, especially from those which are recorded regarding the sons of Tamar: Zerah is said to have opened the womb with his hand, and 'Zerah' represents good, as is also clear from the twice-dyed thread placed on his hand, dealt with in 4922. In addition to this 'the womb', to which the expression 'opened' is applied, means the place where good and truth, consequently the Church, lie, see 4918, while 'opening the womb' means supplying the power which enables truth to be born.

[7] Because the Lord is the only firstborn - He being Good itself, and His Good being the source of all truth - Jacob, who was not the firstborn, was therefore allowed to purchase the birthright from Esau his brother so that he might represent Him. Also, because this was not sufficient, he was called Israel, so that by this name he might represent the good of truth; for 'Israel' in the representative sense means good which comes through truth, 3654, 4286, 4598.