4276. 'And he saw that he did not prevail against him' means that in temptations He conquered. This is clear without explanation.

6266. 'And bowed down, his face to the earth' means an expression of humility by them. This is clear from the meaning of 'bowing down, face to the earth' as an expression of interior humility, dealt with in 5682. For that kind of bowing down is an action performed by the body corresponding to humility of mind; and it explains why people who worship God in their hearts bow down in that manner. It is said that Joseph 'bowed down' because he was acting in place of them; yet he did not bow down before Israel but before the Lord, from whom the blessing came through Israel.

[2] Joseph did it in place of them because of the situation in spiritual things. Good belonging to the will and truth belonging to the understanding within the natural possess no ability on their own to humble themselves before the Lord; they can possess it only if it flows in from the internal. In fact without an inflow through the internal into the natural, nothing at all of the powers of will and understanding are present there, nor indeed any life since the internal is the means through which life from the Lord comes to be there.

5879. 'Is my father still alive?' means the presence of spiritual good from the natural. This is clear from the representation of Israel, to whom 'father' refers here, as spiritual good from the natural, dealt with in 5801, 5803, 5806, 5812, 5817, 5819, 5826, 5833 (its derivation from the natural being dealt with in 4286); and from the meaning of 'is he still alive?' as the presence of that good. For when he revealed who he was Joseph thought first about his father, whom he knew to be alive. His father was therefore present in his thought at the beginning, and also constantly after that when he talks to his brothers. The reason for this is that the internal celestial, which is 'Joseph', cannot become joined to the truths in the natural, which are 'the sons of Jacob', except through spiritual good from the natural, which is 'Israel'. And once that joining together has taken place they are no longer the sons of Jacob but the sons of Israel; for 'the sons of Israel' are spiritual truths within the natural.