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.

6233. 'And I will give [this] land to [your] seed after you as an everlasting possession' means the Lord's kingdom belonging to those who have that goodness and truth within them. This is clear from the meaning of 'land', in this case the land of Canaan, as the Lord's kingdom, dealt with in 1607, 3078, 3481, 3705, 4240, 4447; from the meaning of 'seed' as the truth of faith and the good of charity, dealt with in 1025, 1447, 1610, 1940, 2848, 3038, 3310 - 'the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob' being those who have forms of good and truths in themselves and are called 'the sons of the kingdom', 3373; and from the meaning of 'an everlasting possession' as having life that is the Lord's, since those who have that life are 'the sons of the kingdom'.