4366. 'And Esau said, I have much, my brother; let what is yours be yours' means a tacit acceptance, in order that in this way He might instill the affection for good that develops out of truth. This becomes clear from this refusal to accept what was offered, in that it really implies a willingness to take it; for Esau went on to accept it. One sometimes refuses an offer when in fact accepting it, to the end that affection may be instilled. That affection is also increased by such a refusal and so advances from the thought of what is good to the desire for it. Man is led by the Lord in the spiritual life by means of things that are virtually the same as those by which one leads others in everyday life. In everyday life it is quite normal to refuse an offer so that the one who makes it may do so with affection, thus not simply because he has thought of making it but also because he desires to do so. Should the offer not be accepted the ultimate intention would perish, and therefore that intention incites the one making the offer to think more intently about it and so to make it his heart's desire.

[2] The reason why this procedure is not apparent in the spiritual life as it is in everyday life is that the people with whom good is being joined to truths, that is, who are being regenerated, are few; and what is more, the few who are being regenerated neither reflect on nor are able to reflect on such matters as they do not know what spiritual good is because they do not know what charity is and what the neighbour is in the genuine sense. And because they do not know these things they cannot have any interior conception about truth which is the truth of faith. In addition to this they set the spiritual life and everyday life so far apart from each other that they do not dare to infer from everyday life any notion about the spiritual life. They are totally unaware of the fact that these correspond to each other and that the spiritual life is represented within everyday life; indeed some do not even allow any comparison to be made. But the fact of the matter is that no notion of the spiritual life can be had except from the things which belong to everyday life. Once everyday life is taken away therefore spiritual life falls to nothing, until at length belief in the existence of it remains no longer. This is made perfectly clear by the fact that people no longer have any belief in the idea that spirits and angels mix with one another as men mix, or that they converse with one another, reason with one another just as men reason, though in a far more perfect way, about what is honourable and decent, about what is just and fair, and about what is good and true. Even less belief exists in the idea that spirits and angels can see, hear, and find out about one another, combine into communities and live together, besides many other things.

5035. 'And Joseph's lord took him' means temptation coming from the natural. This is clear from what follows immediately after this, for the narrative goes on to refer to the committal of Joseph to the prison-house, describing in the internal sense the temptation of spiritual good within the natural. This being the implication of the words 'Joseph's lord took him', it is also their spiritual meaning. There are two kinds of temptations - those which involve truths and those which involve forms of good. Temptations involving truths are the work of spirits, but those involving forms of good are the work of genii. Spirits in the next life are distinguished from genii by the fact that spirits act upon the understanding part of the mind, and so upon matters of faith, whereas genii act upon the will part and so upon matters of love. That is to say, such spirits allow themselves to be seen, and also reveal themselves by making utterances, but genii make themselves inconspicuous and do not reveal themselves except by their entry into a person's passions and desires. They also exist separated in the next life, for the evil or hellish spirits appear in front and to either side beneath the lower earth, whereas the evil or hellish genii are beneath and to the rear, deep down at the back underneath the lower earth. Temptations involving truths are the work, as stated, of evil spirits, but temptations involving forms of good are the work of evil genii. From here onwards the subject is temptations - those which are the work of evil spirits, and so ones that involve false-speaking against good. These temptations are milder than those which are the work of evil genii; they also arise before the latter kind do.