251. The reason why the “serpent” means all evil in general, and specifically the love of self, is that all evil has had its rise from that sensuous part of the mind, and also from that memory-knowledge [scientifico], which at first were signified by the “serpent;” and therefore it here denotes evil of every kind, and specifically the love of self, or hatred against the neighbor and the Lord, which is the same thing. As this evil or hatred was various, consisting of numerous genera and still more numerous species, it is described in the Word by various kinds of serpents, as “snakes” “cockatrices” “asps” “adders” “fiery serpents” “serpents that fly” and “that creep” and “vipers” according to the differences of the poison, which is hatred. Thus we read in Isaiah:

Rejoice not thou, whole Philistia, because the rod which smiteth thee is broken, for out of the serpent’s root shall go forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a flying fire-serpent (Isaiah 14:29).The “serpent’s root” denotes that part of the mind, or that principle, which is connected with the senses and with memory-knowledge [est sensuale et scientificum]; the “cockatrice” denotes evil originating in the falsity thence derived; and the “flying fire-serpent” the cupidity that comes from the love of self. By the same Prophet also similar things are elsewhere thus described:

They hatch cockatrice’s eggs, and weave the spider’s web; he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and when it is crushed there cometh out a viper (Isaiah 59:5).

The serpent described here in Genesis is called in the Revelation the “great and red dragon” and the “old serpent” and also the “devil and satan” that “deceives the whole world” (Revelation 12:3, 9; 20:2), where, and also in other places, by the “devil” is not meant any particular devil who is prince over the others, but the whole crew of evil spirits, and evil itself.

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.