This can, of course, be a wonderful thing: It is essential for our journey to heaven, and is the reason for the holiness of marriage. But when the men represent falsity it can also be horrendously twisted, as in the attempted homosexual rape in Sodom (Genesis 19) and the rape of the concubine in Gibeah (Judges 19). In a general sense, men represent things of the intellect -- facts, ideas, knowledge, everything from the deepest truths to the most pernicious falsities about life and the Lord. Women in general represents things of affection -- desire, passion, caring, everything from the most exalted love for the Lord to the darkest hatred. When a man “knows” a woman in the Bible, then, it represents a joining together of those intellectual and affectionate faculties. “Know" is also often used in connection with virginity. A women who has “not known a man” represents the affection for truth, unsullied by falsity.

5645. 'And the man brought the men to Joseph's house' means the first introduction into good coming from the celestial of the spiritual. This is clear from the meaning of 'bringing to' as an introduction, as above in 5641; from the meaning of 'the sons of Jacob' as truths known to the Church that are present within the natural, dealt with in 5403, 5419, 5427, 5428, 5512; from the meaning of 'the house' as good, dealt with in 3652, 3720, 4982, on account of which 'the house' is also the Church, 3720, for the Church is the Church by virtue of good; and from the representation of 'Joseph' as the celestial of the spiritual, often dealt with already. From all this it is evident that 'the man brought the men to Joseph's house' means that truths in the natural were introduced into good coming from the celestial of the spiritual. The reason why a first introduction is meant is that at this point they merely ate with Joseph but did not recognize who he was. By this is meant a general joining together, which is a first introduction; for at this point there is a general inflow of truth from the Divine, but it is not recognized. When however a discernment of that inflowing truth does exist a second joining together is effected, and this is meant by Joseph revealing who he was to his brothers, dealt with further on in Chapter 45.