5244. 'And Pharaoh sent' means the inclination of the new natural. This is clear from the representation of 'Pharaoh' as the new natural man, dealt with in 5079, 5080. An inclination to accept the celestial of the spiritual is the meaning of the words 'sent and called Joseph'. Such an inclination is evident from what follows, in verses 40-43, where it is stated that Pharaoh set him over his house and over all the land of Egypt and said that all his people would kiss him on the mouth. The implications of this are that when the state is complete, that is, when everything has been made ready in the natural to accept an influx from what is interior or higher and to link itself to what flows into it, the natural too possesses that inclination, which is an affection disposed to accept [the celestial of the spiritual]. The one accordingly becomes compatible with the other when a person is being renewed by the Lord.

1165. In the Word 'Mizraim' or Egypt means knowledge, that is, various facts, by which people wish to probe into the arcana of faith and so confirm the false assumptions acquired in that way. 'Mizraim' also means simply knowledge, and so knowledge that is useful. This is clear not only from the places just quoted but also from very many others which would fill up page after page if they were all included. See Isaiah 19:1-end; Isaiah 30:1-3; 31:1-3; Jeremiah 2:18, 36; Jeremiah 42:14-end; Jeremiah 46:1-end; Ezekiel 16:26; 23:3; Ezekiel 29:1-end; Ezekiel 30:1-end; Hosea 7:11; 9:3, 6; 11:1, 5, 11; Micah 7:12 [NCBS: 7:15]; Zechariah 10:10-11; Psalms 80:8 and following verses.