Genesis 37
1
And Jacob dwelt in the land where his father sojourned -- in the land of Canaan.
2
These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, fed the flock with his brethren; and he was doing service with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives. And Joseph brought to his father an evil report of them.
3
And Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was son of his old age; and he made him a vest of many colours.
4
And his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, and they hated him, and could not greet him with friendliness.
5
And Joseph dreamed a dream, and told [it] to his brethren, and they hated him yet the more.
6
And he said to them, Hear, I pray you, this dream, which I have dreamt:
7
Behold, we were binding sheaves in the fields, and lo, my sheaf rose up, and remained standing; and behold, your sheaves came round about and bowed down to my sheaf.
8
And his brethren said to him, Wilt thou indeed be a king over us? wilt thou indeed rule over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams and for his words.
9
And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamt another dream, and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowed down to me.
10
And he told [it] to his father and to his brethren. And his father rebuked him, and said to him, What is this dream which thou hast dreamt? Shall we indeed come, I and thy mother and thy brethren, to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?
11
And his brethren envied him; but his father kept the saying.
12
And his brethren went to feed their father's flock at Shechem.
13
And Israel said to Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed [the flock] at Shechem? Come, that I may send thee to them. And he said to him, Here am I.
14
And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see after the welfare of thy brethren, and after the welfare of the flock; and bring me word again. And he sent him out of the vale of Hebron; and he came towards Shechem.
15
And a man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the country; and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou?
16
And he said, I am seeking my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they feed [their flocks].
17
And the man said, They have removed from this; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them at Dothan.
18
And when they saw him from afar, and before he came near to them, they conspired against him to put him to death.
19
And they said one to another, Behold, there comes that dreamer!
20
And now come and let us kill him, and cast him into one of the pits, and we will say, An evil beast has devoured him; and we will see what becomes of his dreams.
21
And Reuben heard [it], and delivered him out of their hand, and said, Let us not take his life.
22
And Reuben said to them, Shed no blood: cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness; but lay no hand upon him -- in order that he might deliver him out of their hand, to bring him to his father again.
23
And it came to pass when Joseph came to his brethren, that they stripped Joseph of his vest, the vest of many colours, which he had on;
24
and they took him and cast him into the pit; now the pit was empty -- there was no water in it.
25
And they sat down to eat bread; and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites came from Gilead; and their camels bore tragacanth, and balsam, and ladanum -- going to carry [it] down to Egypt.
26
And Judah said to his brethren, What profit is it that we kill our brother and secrete his blood?
27
Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites; but let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother, our flesh. And his brethren hearkened [to him].
28
And Midianitish men, merchants, passed by; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty silver-pieces; and they brought Joseph to Egypt.
29
And Reuben returned to the pit, and behold, Joseph [was] not in the pit; and he rent his garments,
30
and returned to his brethren, and said, The child is not; and I, where shall I go?
31
And they took Joseph's vest, and slaughtered a buck of the goats, and dipped the vest in the blood;
32
and they sent the vest of many colours and had it carried to their father, and said, This have we found: discern now whether it is thy son's vest or not.
33
And he discerned it, and said, [It is] my son's vest! an evil beast has devoured him: Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces!
34
And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son many days.
35
And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted, and said, For I will go down to my son into Sheol mourning. Thus his father wept for him.
36
And the Midianites sold him into Egypt, to Potiphar, a chamberlain of Pharaoh, the captain of the life-guard.
Arcana Coelestia # 8067
8067. 'And as a memorial between your eyes' means that it shall be constantly in their understanding. This is clear from the meaning of 'memorial' too as constant recollection, the word 'memorial' being used because it has reference in the Word to the understanding, whereas 'sign' has reference to the will; and from the meaning of 'the eyes' as the understanding, dealt with in 2701, 3820, 4403-4421, 4523-4534. This is why 'as a memorial between the eyes' means that it shall be constantly in their understanding, that is, their thinking.
Something brief will be said to show how one should understand the explanation that it shall be constantly in the understanding and constantly in the will. The things which have imprinted themselves on a person through faith and charity, that is, which he fully believes and loves, are constantly in his thought and will. He thinks them and wills them even when he contemplates and deals with other matters, and imagines that those things are not present in his mind at that time. For they are indeed there among other things which determine the character of his mind. The truth of this is plainly evident from the spiritual sphere surrounding a spirit or angel; for when the spirit or angel approaches, that sphere tells one immediately about his faith and about his charity, and about much more that he has at heart, even though he is not thinking about them at the time. Such are the things that constitute the life of every mind and remain constantly there. These considerations could be illustrated by very many details to be observed in a person, such as his reflections on different things, his affections, the ways to act that have been ingrained in him since early childhood, and the like, which are continually present and hold sway although he does not consciously think about them at all. It is similar with love to the neighbour, love to God, and a love of goodness and truth, and with faith. People with those kinds of love and with faith will and think them constantly; for such love and faith reside within these people, and when they do so they are said to be reigning throughout, see 6159, 6571, 7648.
