5421. 'And Joseph saw his brothers, and recognized them' means perception and recognition by the celestial of the spiritual. This is clear from the meaning of 'seeing' as perception, dealt with in 2150, 3764, 4567, 4723; from the representation of 'Joseph' as the celestial of the spiritual, dealt with above in 5417; from the meaning of 'his brothers' as general truths known to the Church, also dealt with above, in 5419; and from the meaning of 'recognizing' as recognition resulting from perception. Regarding this recognition on Joseph's side and the non-recognition on his brother's side, see below in 5422, 5427, 5428.

5417. 'And Joseph, he was the governor over the land' means that the celestial of the spiritual, or truth from the Divine, reigned in the natural where factual knowledge resided. This is clear from the representation of 'Joseph' as the celestial of the spiritual, dealt with in 4286, 4963, 5249, 5307, 5331, 5332 (as regards the celestial of the spiritual being truth from the Divine, this will be seen below); from the meaning of 'the governor' as the one who reigned; and from the meaning of 'the land', in this case the land of Egypt, as the natural mind, and so the natural, dealt with in 5176, 5278, 5280, 5288, 5301. Regarding the fact that the celestial of the spiritual reigned within the natural where factual knowledge resided, see 5313; and the fact that 'Egypt' in the internal sense means factual knowledge, see 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462, 4749, 4964, 4966. The reason why the celestial of the spiritual is truth from the Divine is that, until it had been fully glorified, the Lord's Internal Human - being the receptacle of His Divine - was the celestial of the spiritual. It has to be called this because no other terms or thought-forms exist to describe it. This receptacle or recipient of the Divine is the same as truth from the Divine; and 'Joseph' is that truth, see 4723, 4727.