5314. Verses 41-44 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh took off his ring from upon his hand and put it onto Joseph's hand, and clothed him in robes of fine linen, and placed a chain of gold onto his neck. And he made him ride in the second chariot that he had; and they cried out before him, Abrek! and he set him over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without you no man shall lift up his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt.

'And Pharaoh said to Joseph' means a further perception present in the natural but received from the celestial of the spiritual. 'See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt' means dominion over both parts of the natural. 'And Pharaoh took off his ring from upon his hand' means a confirmation regarding the power which belonged at first to the natural. 'And put it onto Joseph's hand' means that it yielded all that power to the celestial of the spiritual. 'And clothed him in robes of fine linen' means an outward sign denoting the celestial of the spiritual, 'robes of fine linen' being truths going forth from the Divine. 'And placed a chain of gold onto his neck' means an outward sign denoting the joining of interior things to exterior ones, good being that which effects that joining together. 'And he made him ride in the second chariot' means an outward sign that the celestial of the spiritual was the source of all the teaching about goodness and truth. 'That he had' means which is imparted through the natural. 'And they cried out before him, Abrek!' means acknowledgement coming through faith, and homage. 'And he set him over all the land of Egypt' means that its authority was as described. 'And Pharaoh said to Joseph' means further perception still. 'I am Pharaoh' means that this made the natural what it was. 'And without you shall no man lift up his hand' means that all power in the spiritual was received from the celestial of the spiritual. 'Or his foot' means all power in the natural. 'In all the land of Egypt' means in both parts of the natural.

2547. 'That you have brought great sin on me and on my kingdom' means that thereby the doctrine of faith and all matters of doctrine would be at risk. This is clear from the meaning of 'Abimelech', to whom the pronoun 'me' refers here, as the doctrine of faith, and from the meaning of 'kingdom' as the truth of doctrine or that which is a matter of doctrine. That 'a kingdom' in the internal sense means truths of doctrine, and in the contrary sense falsities of doctrine, is clear from the Word, as in Jeremiah,

He is the One who formed all things and the sceptre of His inheritance; Jehovah Zebaoth is His name. You are to me a hammer, weapons of war, and in You I will scatter the nations, and in You I will destroy the kingdoms. Jeremiah 51:19-20.

This refers to the Lord who, it is clear, is not going to scatter nations or destroy kingdoms but to do so to things meant by nations and kingdoms, namely evils and falsities of doctrine.

[2] In Ezekiel,

Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the nations to where they have gone away, and will gather them from all around, and bring them into their own land; I will make them into one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one King will be King to them all, and they will no longer be two nations, nor will they be divided any longer into two kingdoms. Ezekiel 37:21-22.

'Israel' stands for the spiritual Church, 'nation' for the good of that Church, that is, of doctrine, for by 'nations' goods are meant, see 1259, 1260, 1416, 1849. 'Kingdom' stands for the truths of that Church. The fact that 'nations' and 'kingdoms' here mean something different from nations and kingdoms is quite evident, for the children of Israel, or the Israelites, are spoken of as being gathered together and brought into the land when in fact they were dispersed among the gentile nations and became such themselves.

[3] In Isaiah,

I will confound Egypt with Egypt, and they will fight, every one against his brother, and every one against his companion, city against city, kingdom against kingdom. Isaiah 19:2.

Here 'Egypt' stands for the reasonings based on facts concerning the truths of faith, 1164, 1165, 1186. 'City' stands for doctrine, in this case heretical doctrine, 402, 2268, 2449, 'kingdom' for falsity of doctrine. 'City against city and kingdom against kingdom' therefore stands for the fact that heresies and falsities will be in conflict with one another. The same is meant by the following words spoken by the Lord in reference to the close of the age, in Matthew,

Nation will be roused against nation and kingdom against kingdom. Matthew 24:7.

This stands for evils against evils, and falsities against falsities.

[4] The things that Daniel prophesied about the four kingdoms, Chapter 2:37-46; Daniel 7:17-end; and about the kingdoms of Media and Persia, Chapter 8:20-end; and about the kingdoms of the king of the south and the king of the north in Chapter 11; and the things that John too prophesied in the Book of Revelation about kings and kingdoms, have no other meaning. Those kingdoms are used solely to mean states of the Church as regards truths and falsities. The conditions of monarchs and of earthly kingdoms in the sense of the letter are in the internal sense states of the Church and of the Lord's kingdom. In the internal sense nothing else occurs there than spiritual and celestial things, for regarded in itself the Word of the Lord is purely spiritual and celestial; but so that it may be read and understood by man, no matter who, ideas of the things which belong to heaven are conveyed by means of such things as exist on earth.