5736. 'And you are to put my cup, the cup made of silver, in the mouth of the pouch of the youngest' means interior truth granted to the intermediary. This is clear from the meaning of 'the cup made of silver' as the truth of faith which flows from the good of charity, dealt with in 5120 - which 'cup', since it is said to be 'mine', that is, Joseph's, means interior truth (since 'Benjamin' represents the intermediary - including its truth - he represents interior truth, 5600, 5631, thus spiritual truth, 5639); from the meaning of 'the mouth of the pouch', when used in reference to Benjamin, the intermediary, as the place where it is joined on to the natural (for to be an intermediary the intermediary must communicate with the external and with the internal, 5411, 5413, 5586, the exterior of it being the natural here); and from the representation of Benjamin, to whom 'the youngest' refers here, as the intermediary, dealt with in 5411, 5413, 5443, 5688. All this shows what is meant by Joseph's putting his cup made of silver in Benjamin's pouch.

1182. 'Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar' means that these types of worship existed in those areas, and that at the same time these same nations mean types of worship themselves, whose external features appear holy but whose interiors are unholy. This is clear from the meaning of 'Babel' and of 'the land of Shinar'. In the Word much reference is made to Babel, and wherever it occurs it means such worship, that is to say, worship whose exteriors look holy but whose interiors are unholy. But since Babel is the subject in the next chapter it will be shown there that Babel means such things, and also that such worship in the beginning was not as unholy as it became subsequently. For the real nature of external worship is determined entirely by its interiors. The more undefiled the interiors are, the more undefiled is the external worship, but the more foul the interiors the more foul the external worship. And the more unholy the interiors are, the more unholy is the external worship. To put it briefly, the more love of the world and self-love exist in someone with whom external worship exists, the less life and holiness his worship has within it. The more hatred towards the neighbour there is present within his self-love and love of the world, the more unholiness his worship has within it. The more wickedness there is present within his hatred, the more unholiness still his worship has within it. And the more deceit that wickedness contains, the more unholiness still his worship has within it. These types of love and these forms of evil are the interior features of the external worship meant by 'Babel', which is dealt with in the next chapter.