6294. 'And said, I know, my son, I know' means that though that is true the appearance is different. This is clear from the meaning of 'knowing', at this point as knowing that though something is true the appearance is different. The discernment of this now by spiritual good, which is 'Israel', resulted from the influx of the internal celestial, which is 'Joseph' - the influx dealt with above in 6289, 6291. When spiritual good has become enlightened as a result of such an influx it discerns the truth of the matter, which is that good belongs in the first place and truth in the second, and also that the appearance is different from this. Yet spiritual good goes on to make the matter of which one is the first rest in the fact that truth is going to rule over good, as described in what follows, and for that reason Israel keeps his right hand on the younger son's head and his left on that of the firstborn.

6234. 'And now your two sons born to you in the land of Egypt' means goodness and truth within the natural that come from the internal. This is clear from the representation of Manasseh and Ephraim, to whom 'two sons' refers here, as the Church's will and the Church's understanding within the natural, which are born from the internal, dealt with above in 6222 (and since good belongs to the will and truth to the understanding, the Church's goodness and truth are meant by those same sons); from the meaning of 'born to you' - to Joseph - as that come from the internal; and from the meaning of 'the land of Egypt' as the natural mind where the Church's factual knowledge resides, dealt with in 5176, 5178, 5280, 5288, 5301, and as the natural, 6147.