4666. THE INTERNAL SENSE

Verses 1-3 And Jacob dwelt in the land of his father's sojournings, in the land of Canaan. These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, a son of seventeen years, was pasturing the flock with his brothers; and he, still a boy, was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's womenfolk; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. And Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, for he was the son of his old age; and he made him a tunic of various colours.

'Jacob dwelt in the land of his father's sojournings, in the land of Canaan' means the Lord's Divine Natural, which existed in accord with and beneath Divine Rational Good. 'These are the generations of Jacob' means the things that follow. 'Joseph' means the Lord's Spiritual [from His] Divine Human. 'A son of seventeen years' means His state. 'Was pasturing the flock with his brothers' means its presence among those governed by faith who were teachers. 'And he, still a boy' means at first. 'Was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's womenfolk' means that he was cast away from them. 'And Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father' means that this showed up the essential nature of those people. 'And Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons' means a joining of the Divine Spiritual of the Rational to the Divine Spiritual of the Natural. 'For he was the son of his old age' means its own life within it. 'And he made him a tunic of various colours' means the resulting appearances of truth by which the spiritual of the natural is recognized and distinguished.

2066. 'And I will also give you a son by her' means the Rational. This is clear from the meaning of 'a son' as truth, dealt with in 489, 491, 533, 1147. And because the whole of the rational originates in truth, 'a son' here means the rational. The Lord's first rational was represented and meant by Ishmael, born from the servant-girl Hagar. This was dealt with previously in Chapter 16. The second Rational, which is the subject here, is represented and meant by Isaac who was to be born from Sarah. The former, that represented by Ishmael, was the rational that was subsequently cast out of the house, but this latter Rational, which is represented by Isaac, is the one that remained in the house, because it was Divine. This rational is in the Lord's Divine mercy to be described in the next chapter where Isaac is the subject.