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Genesis 39

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1 And Joseph was brought down to Egypt: and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmaelites, who had brought him down thither.

2 And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man: and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.

3 And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand.

4 And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.

5 And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake: and the blessing of the LORD was on all that he had in the house, and in the field.

6 And he left all that he had in Joseph's hand; and he knew not aught he had, save the bread which he ate; and Joseph was a goodly person, and well favored.

7 And it came to pass after these things, that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph: and she said, Lie with me.

8 But he refused, and said to his master's wife, Behold, my master knoweth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand:

9 There is none greater in his house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?

10 And it came to pass, as she spoke to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not to her, to lie by her, or to be with her.

11 And it came to pass, about this time, that Joseph went into the house to do his business; and there was none of the men of the house there within.

12 And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and went out.

13 And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and had fled forth,

14 That she called to the men of her house, and spoke to them, saying, See, he hath brought in a Hebrew to us to mock us: he came in to me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice:

15 And it came to pass, when he heard that I raised my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled, and went out.

16 And she laid up his garment by her until his lord came home.

17 And she spoke to him according to these words, saying, The Hebrew servant, which thou hast brought to us, came in to me to mock me.

18 And it came to pass, as I raised my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled.

19 And it came to pass, when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spoke to him, saying, After this manner did thy servant to me; that his wrath was kindled.

20 And Joseph's master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison.

21 But the LORD was with Joseph, and showed him mercy, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.

22 And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatever they did there, was done by him.

23 The keeper of the prison looked not to any thing that was under his hand; because the LORD was with him: and that which he did the LORD made it to prosper.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 3263

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3263. 'These are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham's son' means derivatives of the spiritual Church represented by Ishmael. This is clear from the meaning of 'generations' as derivatives of faith and so of the Church, dealt with in 1145, 1255, 1330; from the representation of 'Ishmael' as those who are rational, and who belong to the Lord's spiritual Church, dealt with in 2078, 2691, 2699; and from the meaning of Abraham's sons as those with whom truth from the Lord is present, for 'sons' means truths, 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623, and 'Abraham' represents the Lord, even as to the Divine Human, 3251, the source of truth and good received by those who are spiritual, 2661, 2716, 2833, 2834.

[2] As regards the Lord's spiritual Church it should be realized that it exists throughout the whole world, for it is not confined to those who possess the Word and from the Word have knowledge of the Lord and of some truths of faith. It also exists among those who do not possess the Word and therefore do not know the Lord at all, and as a consequence have no knowledge of any truths of faith - for all truths of faith regard the Lord. That is, it exists with gentiles remote from the Church. For among those people there are many who know from the light of reason that there is one God, that He has created and preserves all things; and also that He is the source of everything good, and consequently of everything true; and that being the likeness of Him makes a person blessed. And what is more, they live up to their religion, in love to that God and in love towards the neighbour. From an affection for good they perform the works of charity, and from an affection for truth they worship the Supreme Being. Such people among the gentiles belong to the Lord's spiritual Church. And although they do not know the Lord while they are in the world they nevertheless have within themselves a worship and virtual acknowledgement of Him when good exists within them, for the Lord is present within all good. For this reason also they acknowledge the Lord in the next life without difficulty, and receive the truths of faith better than Christians do in whom good is not so much present, as may be seen from what has been disclosed from experience about the state and condition in the next life of nations and peoples outside the Church, in 2589-2604. Their natural light present in their minds holds spiritual light within it, for without spiritual light received from the Lord such truths cannot possibly be acknowledged.

[3] From this it may now become clear what Ishmael means, and therefore what the Ishmaelites mean, in the representative sense - those belonging to the Lord's spiritual Church who lead lives of simple goodness and therefore rely on natural truth for doctrine. Such people are also meant by the Ishmaelites in the following statement regarding Joseph,

Behold, a band of Ishmaelites came from Gilead, and their camels bearing wax, resin, and stacte, taking them down into Egypt. Genesis 37:25.

Here 'Ishmaelites' stands for those in whom simple good is present, such as exists with upright gentiles. 'Camels bearing wax, resin, and stacte' stands for the interior goods of such people. The same is meant by the Ishmaelites mentioned in verse 28 of that chapter, and in 39:1, as well as in the Book of Judges, in the reference to Gideon's requesting everyone to give him the earrings of his spoil, for being indeed Ishmaelites they had gold earrings, Judges 8:24. 'Gold earrings' means the things that constitute simple good, 3103.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.