6132. 'And said to him, We will not hide from [my] lord' means that it is well known to the internal. This is clear from the meaning of 'saying' as perception, dealt with above in 6063; from the representation of Joseph, to whom 'lord' refers here, as the internal, dealt with already; and from the meaning of 'not concealing from him' as being well known. The reason why 'not concealing' in the internal sense means being well known is that everything that exists and happens in the natural is well known to the internal; for the natural derives all that it is from the internal, from which therefore nothing can be hidden. Yet even so, the external sense, especially where it is historical, uses the kind of words that appear here. It is like when the Lord speaks to a person He first asks him about what is going on even though it is fully known to Him, as when the angel of Jehovah spoke to Hagar, Genesis 16:7-8; to Abraham, Genesis 18:9; and to Moses, Exodus 4:2. Nor can the external otherwise be content, for unless it declares something it does not think it can be known.

6063. 'And Joseph came and told Pharaoh, and said' means the presence of the internal celestial within the natural where factual knowledge resides, and the consequent influx and perception. This is clear from the meaning of 'coming to someone' as presence, as in 5934; from the representation of 'Joseph' as the internal celestial, dealt with in 5869, 5877; from the meaning of 'telling as an influx, dealt with in 5966; from the representation of 'Pharaoh' as the natural and therefore factual knowledge in general, dealt with in 5799, 6015; and from the meaning of 'saying' in historical narratives of the Word as perception, dealt with in 1791, 1815, 1819, 1822, 1898, 1919, 2080, 2619, 2862, 3509, 5687. From all this it is evident that 'Joseph came and told Pharaoh, and said' means the presence of the internal celestial within the natural where factual knowledge resides, and the consequent influx and perception.

[2] Reference has been made many times before this to the flowing of the internal into the natural or external, and to perception in the natural. It has been shown that the natural is kept in being and receives its life from an influx from the internal, that is, from the Lord through the internal. For without the influx from that source the natural does not have any life, since it exists on the natural level of creation and derives all that it is from there, and the natural level of creation is totally devoid of life. This being so, if a person's natural is to have life there must be an influx from the Lord. It must come not only directly from Him but also indirectly through the spiritual world, consequently into a person's internal, since this exists in the spiritual world, and from there into the natural so that it may have life. The human natural has been formed so that it may receive life thereby. This then is what is meant by a flowing of the internal celestial into the natural where factual knowledge resides. As a result of this influx from the internal, perception takes place in the external or natural, which 'Pharaoh' represents; for influx and perception answer to each other, 5743.