6569. 'And Joseph said to them, Do not be afraid' means renewal by the internal. This is clear from the representation of 'Joseph' as the internal, dealt with above in 6499; and from the meaning of 'do not be afraid' as that they should not be anxious. And because in what now follows Joseph removes their anxiety by comforting them and 'speaking to their heart', 'do not be afraid' here means renewal.

In general, digging in the Bible means applying your own mind, your own faculties to find or create spiritual things. This is reflected in our everyday language; we often speak of investigators “digging for the truth.” In most cases, the idea of digging is connected with wells, and to dig a well means to investigate the Lord’s Word and draw ideas from it. In a more negative sense, a pit – which is like a well but with no water – represents falsity, so to dig a pit represents using your intellect to fabricate falsities. Finally, there is the idea of digging through walls in order to steal from others, which represents doing evil in a cunning and concealed way, invading someone’s life and attacking their desires for good and concepts of truth.

In Genesis 26:18, to dig signifies to open.