5822. 'If our youngest brother is with us we will go down' means unless the intermediary that accomplishes the joining together is with them. This is clear from the representation of Benjamin, to whom youngest brother' refers here, as the intermediary that accomplishes the joining together, dealt with in 5411, 5413, 5443, 5639, 5688. The implications of this - that 'Benjamin' represents the intermediary between the celestial of the spiritual or internal good, which is 'Joseph', and the truths in the natural, which are 'the ten sons of Jacob', as well as representing new truth, see above in 5804, 5806, 5809 - are as follows: To be an intermediary, the intermediary must be derived both from the internal and from the external; otherwise it is not an intermediary that accomplishes a joining together.

[2] The intermediary, which 'Benjamin' represents, derives from the external or natural its existence there as new truth; for the new truth represented by him exists in the natural because it springs from spiritual good from the natural, which his father as Israel represents, 5686, 5689. But that intermediary derives from the internal the quality that 'Joseph' represents, by means of influx. This is how it is derived from both and is the reason why 'Benjamin' represents the intermediary that accomplishes the joining together, as well as representing new truth. He represents new truth when he is present with his father, the intermediary accomplishing the joining together when he is with Joseph. This is an arcanum for which no clearer explanation is possible; nor can it be understood except by those who are aware of the fact that a person has an internal and an external that are distinct and separate from each other, and who at the same time have an affection for knowing truths. The understanding part of these people's minds is lit by the light of heaven, enabling them to see what others do not see, including this arcanum.

5804. 'And a child of his old age, the youngest one' means truth that is new, springing from that good. This is clear from the representation of Benjamin, to whom 'a child, the youngest one' refers here, as truth, dealt with above in 5801, in addition to which 'child' or 'son' means truth, see 489, 491, 1147, 1623, 3373; and from the meaning of 'old age' as newness of life, dealt with in 3492, 4620, 4676. From this it is evident that 'a child of his old age, the youngest one' means truth that is new. The implications of this are as follows: A person who is being regenerated and becoming spiritual is led initially by means of truth to good; for a person does not know what spiritual good is, or what amounts to the same, what Christian good is, except through truth, that is, through teaching drawn from the Word. This is the way he is introduced into good. After that, once he has been introduced into it, he is led no longer by means of truth to good, but by means of good to truth; for at this point good not only enables him to see the truths he knew previously but also brings forth new ones he did not and could not know previously. Good holds the desire for truths within itself because it is so to speak nourished by them; indeed they make it more perfect. These truths - the new ones - are very different from the truths he knew before; for the truths he knew before possessed little life in them. But those which he receives afterwards possess life coming from good.

[2] Once a person has by means of truth arrived at good he is 'Israel', and the truth which he now receives from good, that is, from the Lord through good, is the new truth that 'Benjamin' represented all the time he was with his father. By means of this truth good in the natural bears fruit, bringing forth countless truths that hold good within them. This is the way the regeneration of the natural proceeds, becoming by its fruitfulness first of all like a tree with good fruit on it and then gradually like a garden. All this shows what is meant by new truth springing from spiritual good.