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.