In this chapter, Jacob is old, and near death. Joseph comes to see him, bringing his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. Overall, this story respresents a phase of our spiritual rebirth, in which our natural mind is no longer predominant, and deeper spiritual, even celestial, loves are coming to the fore.

“Joseph was told” (verse 1) represents an awareness of good and true things flowing from the inner part of our minds outward. Secrets of Heaven 6221 explains that “dying” (in cases such as this) refers to the process of regeneration, or being made anew. Swedenborg writes that this “is bound to seem too far-fetched to be believed,” but “angels have no knowledge at all of death or sickness and form no mental image of them.” Instead, they think of death as part of a continuation of life.

Israel strengthening himself indicates that truth in our natural self is now able to perceive good, because we are now connected with our inner self, symbolized by Joseph’s presence (verse 2).

Jacob's speaking to Joseph (verse 3) means that there will be a renewed exchange between our natural or material self [Jacob] and our more internal or spiritual self. When we receive spiritual ideas from God, we get them first in the most interior parts of our soul and mind, and they flow outward to our more exterior mind and body. New good and charitable ideals we’ve received from God prompt outer behaviors. The Lord can't reach our natural minds without first going through these inner channels. (See Secrets of Heaven 6230).

When God gives the land to Jacob’s descendants, it's showing that people who love others and believe in God will have the His kingdom within them even while they're still on earth. Love for others is fruitful, and the truth we have multiplies. (Secrets of Heaven 6232).

Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, (verse 5) represent a new kind of goodness and truth. Jacob saying, “They are mine” represents the natural part of us in relation to goodness and truth. The reason why Jacob counts them in with his other sons is that all of Jacob’s sons represent parts of our lives where the Lord is present within us. Ephraim symbolizes our understanding, and Manasseh symbolizes our will. Our understanding and will together make up our mind, which is where we receive internal truths from God.

When truth is first accepted, it is in the outer parts of our minds (as in verse 6). As more truths continue to be revealed, they lead us to a more profound understanding of spiritual matters. (See Secrets of Heaven 6239).

In Jacob’s blessing, he says that any children Joseph has after Ephraim and Manasseh will belong to Joseph, and Jacob (the outermost part) won’t claim them. In other words, once a person has a new will (Manasseh) and understanding (Ephraim), the rational part of their minds opens. Any truths and good that come after that will proceed from the deepest parts of a person, symbolized by Joseph (See Secrets of Heaven 6240).

The true rational part of our mind is distinguished from the natural rationality that exists before a person becomes open to spiritual truths. Swedenborg describes it this way, “Rationality consists in seeing inwardly and perceiving that what is good is indeed good, and from this that what is true is indeed true, for such vision and perception of these things comes from heaven” (See Secrets of Heaven 6240).

Jacob’s wife dying (verse 7) signifies the end of affection for inner truth. The meaning of Ephrath concerns a former, inner connection between truth and good. At first, a person has an affection for truth, for learning religious teachings. A later, better state is when a person's affection for truth focuses on implementing teachings in our daily lives, and not merely just studying them. The former state is impure because, while becoming spiritually intelligent, the person is “also moved at the same time by a desire for reputation and glory.” In this new state the person “casts aside glory and reputation as . . . ends in view and instead embraces the good of life, that is, love and caring towards the neighbor” (Secrets of Heaven 6247).

Loving truth for the sake of living is different from loving it for the sake of personal gain. In Genesis 48:8, Jacob asks, “Who are these?” This represents our outer self questioning the quality and origin of a new attitude to heavenly things.

“Joseph said to his father” (verse 9) is a response originating from the Lord. This results in a blessing, or a “foretelling regarding goodness and truth” (Secrets of Heaven 6254). In spiritual life, true blessings only come from God.

Israel’s dim eyes indicate obscure thinking (verse 10). This is because Jacob had “reached the final phase of his representation” (Secrets of Heaven 6256). The good coming from natural truth becomes relatively dim as more complex ideas from deeper parts of our mind become present. It might be like being in a light that is much brighter than your eyes are used to, thus making it difficult to see.

“Then Joseph brought them near him” shows how external self can accept internal truths from God. “Kissing” represents an affection for truth, and “embracing” an affection for good. Jacob embracing Joseph’s sons is a natural representation of embracing good on a spiritual level. Swedenborg explains that “every spiritual affection has a corresponding gesture that a person performs with his or her body” (Secrets of Heaven 6261).

Israel's speaking to Joseph (verse 11) corresponds with love flowing from our internal self to external self. Our internal self cannot actually possess love, because the love it feels belongs to the Lord. It possesses no love in and of itself, as indicated by the phrase “I had not thought,” but it feels the flow of love. In this wonderful state, we can also discern the goodness and truth springing from that outward flow, as represented by Joseph’s sons. (See Secrets of Heaven 6263, 6264).

Verse 12 draws us deeper into this wonderful state of receiving spiritual love. Joseph brings his sons from beside his knees, representing how good things in the will (Manasseh) and true things in the understanding (Ephraim) are now enriched from our spiritual truths (Joseph). From there, they become more present in our natural, more outward self (Jacob).

Joseph's bowing is an expression of humility before the Lord. We must do this on a spiritual level, because our natural mind possesses no ability to humble itself before the Lord. These ideas demonstrate that life first comes from the Lord and then flows to the natural world (See Secrets of Heaven 6266).

Ephraim represents new truth in understanding. His position on the left shows that truth is meant to take on a supporting role to will. Manasseh represents new good belonging to the will, and his position on the right shows that this good is meant to occupy the primary position.

Israel lays his right hand on Ephraim’s head (verse 14). This means “he considered truth to occupy the first place and good … the second place” (Secrets of Heaven 6269). This is the way we start out in life, thinking that truth takes precedence over love. Before being regenerated, a person is “not conscious of what the good of charity is because it comes from an interior route” (Secrets of Heaven 6269). The entire story of Joseph is about learning to see things in a deeper way. It does not describe people who are first starting out in their spiritual life, but those who have made progress, and now need to see how all things come from the Lord.

Israel “guiding his hands knowingly,” shows his belief that truth should be primary. He places love in a secondary position. However, the importance of love being primary can be seen by the following image. Good is like a flame and truth is like the light that shines from it. If you take away the flame, the light perishes, too.

Swedenborg notes that if people saw love and charity were what's most important, they wouldn’t split up into so many different religious organizations. “Instead, they would speak of one Church that included everyone leading a good life” (Secrets of Heaven 6269).

Here, Israel is identifying Joseph’s children with Joseph himself, since the new truth and good that Ephraim and Manasseh represent only have life because of the spiritual truths represented by Joseph (verse 15). On a natural level, the new good and truth are clothed so they can be a part of our daily lives.

Joseph’s father talks about God and his forefathers. Abraham represents the Divine itself, and Isaac represents the rational ability of God. As complex and difficult as it is to understand God, we can think of this rational ability as the part of God that arranges everything He creates.

In the Old Testament, Jehovah God’s presence flowed into the natural world through heaven, but only could be seen by people on earth when it took on an angelic appearance. (See Exodus 3 with the story of Moses and the burning bush). Over time, people distanced themselves so far away from heaven that Jehovah God could no longer reach them. The magnitude of His love, and His desire to save people from hell caused Jehovah to take on a human form. This is the reason Jesus was born on earth and why He was glorified or made divine. Through His teachings the Lord Jesus was, and is still, able to reach out to people and redeem them (See Secrets of Heaven 6280).

Joseph represents the innermost, or celestial, realms within us. These are the areas most closely associated with love. Israel represents good that comes from truth that is not quite as profound as what Joseph represents. Here our innermost realm sees that our outer self considers truth to occupy the primary position (See Secrets of Heaven 6287) and does not approve of this. It is like looking deep within and seeing that love is motivating us, but then not actually being able to act according to love. The reason why the deepest parts of our mind feel this way is because they operate in the light of heaven.

Joseph takes hold of his father’s hand. This symbolizes spiritual ideas flowing into Israel’s limited thinking. When spiritual ideas move into our thought processes concerning the material world, they begin to replace our old ways of thinking. (See Secrets of Heaven 6289). Think of the times when we were filled with love to do something, and how it overtakes our whole being, compared with the dimmer motivation of deciding to do something because simply we know it's true. Joseph grasping his father’s hand represents the way our inner self really wants us to see that love comes to us first from the Lord. “To remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head” shows that the celestial or most loving part of us wants to steer us away from the error of thinking that truth is more important than love.

Placing a hand on a person’s head for a blessing was an ancient custom. Doing this was a representative act, “denoting that a blessing should be imparted to a person’s understanding and will, thus to their real self” (Secrets of Heaven 6292). In this verse (18), the inflow is becoming stronger. It is giving the person a new way of thinking and providing new direction.

Joseph’s father saying, “I know, my son, I know” shows that our outer self recognizes the importance of love.

Jacob saying, “His younger brother shall be greater” is the reverse of true order. Since the time represented by the story of Adam and Eve being expelled from the garden, the will of humankind has been corrupted and revived, again and again. God had to change His way of leading people to moral living by shifting His focus to altering people’s understanding instead of their will. This is meant to explain why Jacob says Ephraim’s increase will be greater than Manasseh’s. But here, with inflow from the deepest parts of the mind, people become able to see and understand that love is what’s most important (See Secrets of Heaven 6296).

To give a little sense of how these things differ, the deepest or celestial things within a person (represented by Joseph) have “a concern for good [love], and from this for truth.” The more external things (represented by Israel) have “a concern for truth, and from this for good” (Secrets of Heaven 6295).

Israel's blessing of Joseph’s children (verse 20) speaks to the foresight and providence of God - evil is foreseen and good is provided. The true blessing is the foreseeing of evil which God then tries to turn towards good (See Secrets of Heaven 6298). With any true blessing, spiritual matters must reside in the natural world. If not, our spirit has no foundation to come into our physical body. For example, when a person enjoys a calm and blissful feeling in doing something for another without thought of reward, it is from the spirit. Doing good because it serves heaven requires our natural mind to cooperate. If the natural mind does not cooperate, we block the flow of spiritual ideas (See Secrets of Heaven 6299).

“God will be with you” shows that we will have some awareness of Divine Providence’s operation. The Lord here is trying to bring us back to “the land of your fathers,” as spoken to Joseph. That is, the Lord wants to lead us towards a time when we are willing to follow, in innocence, as we were before we turned away from Him.

When it says that Israel takes the land from the hand of the Amorite, this symbolizes victory over evil. “Whenever the children of Israel represented the things of heaven, [the nations around them] represented the things of hell; thus the land of Canaan represented every state that exists in the next life” both good and evil (Secrets of Heaven 6306). Here, Manasseh and Ephraim represent the new good flowing into the will and the new truths flowing into the understanding, “which are the two constituents of the Church” (Secrets of Heaven 6305). In its essence “church” means the inflow of Divine truth from heaven into the minds of people in the natural world.

3881. 'Therefore she called his name Judah' means the essential nature of it. This is clear from the meaning of 'name' and of 'calling the name' as the essential nature, dealt with in 144, 145, 1754, 1896, 2009, 2724, 3006, 3421. That nature is contained in the internal sense of these words spoken by Leah - 'This time I will confess Jehovah', dealt with immediately above in 3880. That is to say, in the highest sense those words mean the Lord and the Divinity of His Love, in the internal sense the Word and also the Lord's celestial kingdom, and in the more exterior sense doctrine from the Word which the celestial Church has. But as yet scarcely anyone knows that these things are meant in the Word when the name Judah is mentioned, the reason being that the historical descriptions of the Word are thought to be simply historical descriptions, and the prophetical utterances to belong among such things as have fallen into oblivion, except for some of them from which doctrinal inferences may be drawn out. No belief exists that those descriptions and utterances have a spiritual sense within them, because at the present day no knowledge exists of what the spiritual sense is, or indeed of what the spiritual is. And the chief reason for this is that the life which people lead is the natural life. This is such that when they have that life as their end in view or it is the only life they desire, it blots out both spiritual knowledge and faith - so much so that when spiritual life and a spiritual sense are spoken of, these are like something that does not really exist or else are something unpleasant and depressing which, because it does not accord with natural life, they find distasteful. Such being the condition of the human race at the present day it neither understands nor wishes to understand by the names mentioned in the Word anything else than the nations, peoples, individual persons, regions, cities, mountains, or rivers, which those names denote. Yet in the spiritual sense names mean real things.

[2] That 'Judah' in the internal sense means the Lord's celestial Church, in the universal sense His celestial kingdom, and in the highest sense the Lord Himself may be seen from many places in the Old Testament where Judah is mentioned, for example, from the following: In Moses,

You are Judah; your brothers will praise you; your hand will be on the neck of your enemies; the sons of your father will bow down to you. A lion's whelp is Judah; from the prey you have gone up, my son. He crouched, he lay down like a lion, and like an old lion; who will rouse him up? The sceptre will not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh comes; and to him will be the gathering of peoples. Binding his ass's colt to the vine, and the foal of his she-ass to a choice vine, he will wash his clothing in wine, and his garment in the blood of grapes. His eyes are red from wine, and his teeth white from milk. Genesis 49:8-12.

[3] Nobody can know the meaning of this prophetical declaration about Judah uttered by Jacob, who by then was Israel - not even one expression used there - except from the internal sense. He cannot know for example what is meant by 'his brothers will praise him' and 'his father's sons will bow down to him', or by 'his going up from the prey like a lion's whelp', and 'his crouching and lying down like a lion'. Nor can he know what is meant by 'Shiloh', by 'binding his ass's colt to the vine, and the foal of his she-ass to a choice vine', by 'washing his clothing in wine, and his garment in the blood of grapes', by 'eyes red from wine', or by 'teeth white from milk'. As has been stated, these expressions cannot possibly be understood by anyone except from the internal sense, yet all of them - each one - mean celestial things belonging to the Lord's kingdom, also things that are Divine. The same words also foretell that the Lord's celestial kingdom, and in the highest sense the Lord Himself, were to be represented by Judah. All these things declared by Jacob will in the Lord's Divine mercy be discussed in the explanations of the chapter in which they occur.

[4] Similar examples involving the name Judah occur elsewhere, especially in the Prophets, as in Ezekiel,

You son of man, take a stick and write on it, For Judah and for the children of Israel, his companions'. And take another stick and write on it, For Joseph - the stick of Ephraim and of the whole house of Israel, his companions - and join them together, one to the other into one stick for you, and they will be one in your, hand. I will make them into one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king will be king to them all. My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. And they will walk in My judgements, and keep My statutes and do them. And they will dwell in the land which I gave to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers dwelt. And they will dwell in it, they and their sons, and their sons' sons even for ever. And David My servant will be their prince for ever, and I will make with them a covenant of peace, it will be an eternal covenant with them. I will bless them, and multiply them, and I will grant My sanctuary in their midst for evermore. Thus will My dwelling-place be with them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people. Ezekiel 37:15-28.

Anyone who takes Judah, Israel, Joseph, Ephraim, and David in this passage to mean those actual people will believe all these things will actually take place as described in the sense of the letter. That is to say, he will believe that Israel is going to be reunited with Judah, as well as the tribe of Ephraim; also that David is going to reign as king; that in this manner they are going to dwell in the land given to Jacob for ever, and that at that time an eternal covenant will exist with them and the sanctuary will be in the midst of them for ever. But in fact the meaning of this passage has nothing whatever to do with that nation but with the Lord's celestial kingdom meant by 'Judah', and His spiritual kingdom meant by 'Israel', and with the Lord Himself meant by 'David'. From this it is quite evident that names are not used to mean actual persons but things that are celestial and Divine.

[5] The same is so with the following words in Zechariah,

Many peoples and numerous nations will come to seek Jehovah Zebaoth in Jerusalem and to placate Jehovah's face. Thus said Jehovah Zebaoth, In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue will take hold; and they will take hold of the hem of a man of Judah, saying, We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you. Zechariah 8:22-23.

Those who take these words literally will say, as the Jewish nation believes still, that being a prophecy not yet fulfilled it is going to be fulfilled in the future. These say that they are going to go back to the land of Canaan, that many from every nation and tongue will follow them, and take hold of the hem of a man of Judah and plead to be allowed to follow. They say that at that time God - that is to say, the Messiah, whom Christians call the Lord - will be among them, to whom they must first be converted. This would be the true implication of these words if 'a man of Judah' were used to mean a man of Judah. But in fact the internal sense at this point deals with a new spiritual Church among gentiles, and 'a man of Judah' means saving faith which results from love to the Lord.

[6] That 'Judah' is not used to mean Judah but, as has been stated, means in the internal sense the Lord's celestial kingdom which was represented in the Church established among Judah or the Jews, becomes quite clear from the following places: In Isaiah,

When the Lord raises an ensign for the nations He will gather the outcasts of Israel, and will assemble the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. Then the envy of Ephraim will depart, and the enemies of Judah will be cut off. Ephraim will not envy Judah, and Judah will not harass Ephraim. Isaiah 11:12-13.

In Jeremiah,

Behold, the days are coming, said Jehovah, when I will raise up for David a righteous branch, who will reign as king, and prosper, and execute judgement and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is His name which they will call Him, Jehovah our Righteousness. Jeremiah 23:5-6.

In Joel,

Then you will know that I am Jehovah your God, who dwell in Zion, My holy mountain; and Jerusalem will be holy. It will happen on that day, that the mountains will drip new wine, and the hills will flow with milk, and all the streams of Judah will flow with water; and a spring will come forth from the house of Jehovah and will water the river of Shittim. Judah will abide for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation. Joel 3:17-18, 20.

[7] In Zechariah,

On that day I will strike every horse with panic, and its rider with madness. And on the house of Judah I will open My eyes, and every horse of the peoples I will strike with blindness. And the leaders of Judah will say in their hearts, I will strengthen for myself the inhabitants of Jerusalem in Jehovah Zebaoth their God. On that day I will set the leaders of Judah like a hearth of fire in sticks of wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they will devour to the right and to the left all the peoples round about, and Jerusalem will yet again be inhabited in her own place, in Jerusalem. And Jehovah will save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David, and the glory of the inhabitant of Jerusalem, may not exalt itself over Judah. On that day Jehovah will protect the inhabitant of Jerusalem, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of Jehovah in front of them. And I will pour out over the house of David and over the inhabitant of Jerusalem a spirit of grace. Zechariah 12:4-10.

This refers to the Lord's celestial kingdom, where truth should not have dominion over good but ought to be subordinate to it, truth being meant by 'the house of David' and 'the inhabitant of Jerusalem', and good by 'Judah'. From this it is evident why first it is said that 'the glory of the house of David, and the glory of the inhabitant of Jerusalem, will not exalt itself over Judah', and after this that 'the house of David will be like God, and like the angel of Jehovah', and that 'a spirit of grace will be poured out over it and over the inhabitant of Jerusalem'. For such is the state when truth is subordinate to good or faith to love. 'The horse which will be struck with panic, and the horse of the peoples with blindness' is self-intelligence, see 2761, 2762, 3217.

[8] In the same prophet,

On that day there will be on the horses' bells, Holiness to Jehovah. And the pots in the house of Jehovah will be as the bowls before the altar. And every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holiness to Jehovah Zebaoth. Zechariah 14:20-21.

This refers to the Lord's kingdom. In Malachi,

Behold, I am sending My angel, who will prepare the way before Me, and suddenly there will come to His temple the Lord whom you are seeking, and the angel of the covenant in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming. Who can endure the day of His coming? Then the minchah of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to Jehovah, as in the days of old and as in former years. Malachi 3:1-2, 4.

This plainly refers to the Coming of the Lord. The meaning is that Judah and Jerusalem's minchah was not, as is well known, acceptable but that worship flowing from love, Judah's minchah, and worship flowing from faith rooted in love, Jerusalem's minchah, are acceptable.

[9] In Jeremiah,

Thus said Jehovah Zebaoth, Again they will speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities when I turn again their captivity: Jehovah bless you, O habitation of righteousness, O holy mountain! And Judah and all its cities will dwell in it together. Behold, the days are coming, said Jehovah, in which I will sow the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast. Behold, the days are coming, said Jehovah, in which I will make with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah a new covenant, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers. Jeremiah 31:23-24, 27, 31-32.

In David,

The Lord chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which He loved, and built His sanctuary as the heights, as the earth He founded it for ever. Psalms 78:68-69.

[10] From these places and very many others which have not been mentioned one may see what 'Judah' means in the Word. They show that 'Judah' does not mean the Jewish nation, for that nation was anything but the celestial Church or the Lord's celestial kingdom; for so far as love to the Lord, charity towards the neighbour, and faith; went they were the worst nation of all. This has been so from their earliest forefathers, namely the sons of Jacob, even to the present day. But in spite of this such people were able to represent the celestial and spiritual things of the Lord's kingdom, see 3479-3481. For in representations no attention is paid to the person who represents, only to what is represented by him, 665, 1097 (end), 1361, 3147, 3670.

[11] But when they did not adhere to the religious observances commanded by Jehovah or the Lord but deviated from them into acts of idolatry they no longer represented those things but such as are contrary to them, namely those of hell and the devil, according to the Lord's words in John,

You are from your father the devil, and the desires of your father you will to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and did not take a stand on the truth. John 8:44

Such is the meaning of 'Judah' in the contrary sense, as becomes clear from the following: In Isaiah,

Jerusalem has stumbled, and Judah has fallen, because their tongue and their works are against Jehovah, to provoke the eyes of His glory to anger. Isaiah 3:8.

In Malachi,

Judah has acted faithlessly, and abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem, and Judah has profaned the holiness of Jehovah, for he loved and married the daughter of a foreign god. Malachi 2:11.

And in addition in the following places - Isaiah 3:1 and following verses;

8:7-8; Jeremiah 2:28; 3:7-11; 9:26; 11:9-10, 12; 13:9; 14:2; 17:1; 18:11-13; 19:7; 32:35; 36:31; 44:12, 14, 26, 28; Hosea 5:5; 8:14; Amos 2:4-5; Zephaniah 1:4; and many times elsewhere.