5595. 'And Israel said' means a perception received from spiritual good. This is clear from the meaning of 'saying' as perceiving, dealt with already; and from the representation of 'Israel' as spiritual good, dealt with in 3654, 4598. And as 'Israel' represents spiritual good, he also represents the internal Church, 3305, 4286; for that Church is a Church by virtue of its spiritual good. Spiritual good is truth made into good; for truth is made into good when a person leads a life in keeping with that truth. When he does this, truth passes into his will and from there into action and becomes part of his life; and when truth becomes part of his life it is no longer called truth but good. But the will which transforms truth into good is the new will formed in the understanding part of his mind; and that good is called spiritual good. Spiritual good differs from celestial good in that celestial good is implanted in the will part of a person's mind. But this matter has been dealt with quite a number of times before.

[2] The reason why Jacob is not called Jacob now, as he is in Verse Genesis 42:36 of the previous chapter, but Israel is that good is the subject here, whereas truth was the subject in the previous chapter. In the previous chapter the speaker was therefore Reuben, who represents the truth of doctrine taught by the Church, 3861, 3866, 4731, 4734, 4761, 5542; but in the present chapter the speaker is Judah, by whom the good of the Church is represented, 3654, 5583. Good becomes the subject now because this time the joining together is effected of the internal, which is 'Joseph', and the external, which is 'the ten sons of Jacob', through the intermediary, which is 'Benjamin'. That joining of the internal to the external is effected through good.

5583. 'And Judah said to him' means the good which existed in the Church. This is clear from the representation of 'Judah' as the good existing in the Church, dealt with in 3654. The fact that now Judah speaks about Benjamin, whereas previously, in verses Genesis 42:36, 37 of the previous chapter, Reuben was the one to do so, is an arcanum which only the internal sense can bring to light. The same applies to the fact that when Reuben spoke about Benjamin, Jacob is referred to in Verse 36 of the previous chapter as Jacob, whereas now, when Judah is speaking about Benjamin, Jacob is referred to in verses 6, 8, 11 as Israel. No one can deny that some such arcanum lies within this, but what that arcanum is cannot possibly be known simply from the story told in the sense of the letter, as is also the case in other places where Jacob is sometimes referred to as Jacob, and at other times as Israel, 4286. The actual arcanum embodied in all this will in the Lord's Divine mercy be stated in what follows. The reason Judah is the speaker now is that the subject is the good of spiritual truth which needs to be acquired, 5582. Therefore here Judah, who represents the good existing with the Church, is the one to speak to Israel, who represents the good of spiritual truth. He also offers himself as a surety for Benjamin, who represents the intermediary; for the intermediary must be joined by means of good to what has to be acquired.