6033. And fell upon his necks. That this signifies conjunction, is evident from the signification of “falling upon the necks,” as being conjunction close and intimate (see n. 5926). That “to fall upon the necks” signifies conjunction is because the neck joins together the head and the body, and by the “head” are signified the interiors, and by the “body” the exteriors. Hence the “neck” denotes the conjunction of the interiors with the exteriors, and thus the communication of the interiors with the exteriors, and also of celestial things with spiritual (see n. 3542, 5320, 5328), which communication is by virtue of conjunction also signified by these same words, for “Joseph” is the internal, and “Israel” is relatively the external.

1328. And from thence did Jehovah scatter them upon the faces of all the earth. That this signifies that internal worship was annihilated, may be seen from the signification of “scattering,” as being to dissipate. In the proximate sense, the scattering over the faces of all the earth, means the dispersion of those who desire to build the city of Babel; but as these are they who deprive others of all the knowledge of truth, as before said, the words signify, at the same time, the deprivation of internal worship; for the one is a consequence of the other; and here we have the consequence, for it is stated for the third time. That the First Ancient Church was deprived of the knowledges of truth and good, is evident from the fact that the nations which constituted that Ancient Church became for the most part idolaters, and yet had a certain external worship. The lot of those idolaters who are outside the church is much better than that of those idolaters who are within the church; for the former are external idolaters, whereas the latter are internal idolaters. That the lot of the former is better, is evident from the words the Lord spoke in Luke 13:23, 28-30; Matthew 8:11-12. This therefore is the reason why the state of this Ancient Church was changed.