4690. 'And his brothers said to him' means the adherents to faith separated from charity. This is clear from the representation of 'Joseph's brothers' as the Church which turns aside from charity to faith and at length separates faith from charity, dealt with in 4665, 4671, 4679. The more internal members of that Church however were meant by the sheaves seen in the dream, 4686, 4688. The reason 'Joseph's brothers' represent that Church is that in the proximate sense they mean that which was a representative of the Church, that is, the semblance of religion established among the descendants of Jacob. They did not, it is true, know anything of faith such as the Christian Church knows of, but they knew of truth. Truth for them consisted in the same things as faith does for Christians. What is more, the same word is used in the original language for both faith and truth. But by truth the Jewish Church meant the Ten Commandments, and also the laws, judgements, testimonies, and statutes which were handed down to it through Moses. Interior aspects of truth they neither knew nor wished to know.

[2] The Christian Church however applies the term faith to matters of doctrine which constitute the more internal features of the Church and are called matters of belief. For by faith the ordinary people understand nothing other than that contained in the Creeds or that taught by books expounding the Creeds. But those who think that matters of doctrine concerning faith or knowledge of these cannot save anyone, and that few lead the life of faith, call faith confidence. But these are above the ordinary people and are more learned than others. From these considerations one may see that the subject at this point in the internal sense is not only that representative of the Church which had been established among the descendants of Jacob but also the Christian Church that followed it. For the Lord's Word is all-embracing and in general includes every Church. Indeed the Lord foresaw what the Christian Church would be like no less than what the Jewish Church would be like, though more immediately or proximately in the case of the Jewish. This is why this sense is called the proximate or internal historical sense, and the other the internal sense.

4688. 'And behold, your sheaves gathered round it' means those who were governed by faith, that is to say, by faith grounded in some charity. This is clear from the meaning of 'gathering round' here as an approach in order to worship, for the statement follows that 'they bowed down to his sheaf', by which worship is meant; and from the meaning of 'a sheaf' as doctrine, dealt with just above in 4686, in this case every aspect of doctrine, that is, every aspect of faith. The reason 'sheaves' has this meaning here is that all the sons of Jacob represent in the genuine sense every aspect of faith, 3858, 3926, and so also do 'sheaves' because in the dream these stood in place of the sons of Jacob. 'Sheaves' also has that meaning because what was seen took place in the middle of the field, and 'the middle of the field' means that which is more internal, or those within the Church who are more internal ones, dealt with in 4686, and so means those governed by faith grounded in charity. These are the ones who are meant by the sheaves which gathered round and bowed down to Joseph's sheaf. The fact that those who were more external, that is, more remote from the middle, and whom 'Joseph's brothers' stand for here in the proper sense, are not meant is evident from what is stated before and after, namely that they hated him all the more, that is, they held him in contempt and turned away in aversion. For 'hating,' 'not speaking peaceably', and 'being envious' - expressions used in reference to his brothers - mean contempt and aversion.