10495. 'So that He may bestow a blessing on you today' means the reception of Divine Truth from the Word, and being joined thereby to the Lord. This is clear from the general meaning of 'a blessing' as that which the Lord imparts to a person; and since all that the Lord imparts has connection with the good of love and the truth of faith, these and all that springs from them are what is meant by 'a blessing'. So here the reception of Divine Truth from the Word is meant, and being joined thereby to the Lord, see 1096, 2846, 3017, 3406, 4216, 4981, 6298, 8674, 8939. As regards the meaning of 'a blessing' as being joined to the Lord, see 3504, 3514, 3530, 3565, 3584, 6091, 6099. The implications of all this have been shown in what has gone before; and regarding the Word, that it is the means by which the Lord is joined to mankind, and heaven is joined to the world, see 10452.

6091. 'And Jacob blessed Pharaoh' means a heartfelt desire for a joining together and resulting fruitfulness. This is clear from the meaning of 'blessing' here as a heartfelt desire for a joining together - for a joining of truth to factual knowledge in the natural since that is the subject here. 'Blessing has many meanings; in the spiritual sense it includes all things that are good and also those that are blissful. It therefore means being endowed with the good of love and charity, 3185, 4981, also a joining together or conjunction, 3504, 3514, 3530, 3565, 3584, as well as fruitfulness by virtue of the affection for truth, 2846, and a heartfelt desire for someone's happiness, 3185. Here therefore a heartfelt desire for that which is the subject here is meant, namely a desire for a joining together and thus fruitfulness. Fruitfulness follows as a result of the joining together, because once the joining together has been effected good grows and truth multiplies; for the marriage of goodness and truth is then the producer of that fruitfulness. It cannot come about prior to that except as a result so to speak of fornication, the good from which union is spurious, as is the truth. Good from that union is full of self-regard, and truth likewise has the same flavour.