6115. 'And Joseph caused the silver to come to Pharaoh's house' means that all that factual knowledge was brought into association with the general whole within the natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'causing to come' as bringing into association with and introducing into; from the meaning of 'silver' as factual knowledge that holds truth in it and is appropriate, dealt with in 6112; and from the representation of 'Pharaoh' as the natural in general, dealt with in 5160, 5799, 6015, and therefore 'Pharaoh's house' is the general whole within the natural since this includes everything there in its entirety.

[2] Regarding this matter of bringing known facts that hold truths in them and that are appropriate into association with a general whole, it should be recognized that all known facts, and truths as well, if they are to be anything, must without exception be brought into association with a general whole. They must be placed with and contained within the general whole and be made subject to it; otherwise they are instantly scattered to the winds. Indeed, if known facts and truths are to be anything, they must be brought into a form in which they have a mutual relationship with one another, and this cannot be done if they do not exist in association with one another subject to a general whole. This therefore is what preserves them in the form they receive and gives each fact or truth there its specific character. That general whole too, together with others like it, must be brought into association with one another subject to a more general whole, and these in turn must be subject to the most general of all. If they are not, even the general wholes, and the more general ones too, are scattered to the winds.

[3] The most general and all-embracing whole, the source from which everything is held in place, is the Lord Himself; and what holds everything in place is Divine Truth going forth from Him. The more general wholes are general communities in the spiritual world into which Divine Truth flows, which makes them distinct and separate from one another on a general level; and the general wholes are less general communities subject to a more general one. The more general communities are those to which the members, organs, and viscera in a person correspond; through the amazing way that they are linked together they exist in a kind of form in which they have regard to one another and thus hold one another in place, and also present themselves as a single whole. In the human being the most general and all-embracing whole, holding every single thing in place, is the soul. It is also Divine Truth going forth from the Lord, for Divine Truth flows constantly into the soul and makes it what it is.

[4] Divine Truth going forth from the Lord is what is called the Word, through which all things were created, John 1:1-3, that is, through which all things came into being, and therefore through which all things are kept in being. The truth that all things in the entire natural world exist subject to a general whole, each specific thing to its own general whole, and that otherwise they cannot remain in being, anyone will plainly discover who is willing to turn his attention to those things in the natural creation.

4280. In that lower sense the words 'he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh' mean where conjugial love is joined to natural good. This is clear from the meaning of 'the hollow of the thigh' as the place where conjugial love is linked to it, see above in 4277. The reason why the place where it is linked to natural good is meant is that it is the place where the thigh is joined to the feet. 'The feet' in the internal sense means natural good, see 2162, 3147, 3761, 3986.

[2] As regards 'the thigh' meaning conjugial love and 'the feet' natural good, that is one of those realities known in the past which have grown old and died. The Ancient Church, which existed in an age of representatives and meaningful signs, was extremely well acquainted with these meanings, such knowledge of them constituting their intelligence and wisdom. Indeed it constituted the intelligence and wisdom not only of those who belonged to the Church but also of those outside the Church, as becomes clear from the oldest books written by gentiles and from the stories in them which are nowadays called myths - for meaningful signs and representatives spread from the Ancient Church to those gentiles. With these also 'the thighs and loins' meant that which belonged to marriage, and 'the feet' things that were natural. The origin of this meaning of 'the thighs and the feet' lies in the correspondences of all the members, organs, and viscera of the human being with the Grand Man, which - that is to say, such correspondences - are being dealt with now at the ends of chapters. The correspondences with the thigh and the feet will be discussed again further on, where actual experience will be used to corroborate that their meaning is as indicated above.

[3] These things are bound to seem like enigmas at the present day because, as has been stated, that knowledge has grown very old indeed and died. Yet how far that knowledge excels other types of knowledge becomes clear from the consideration that the internal sense of the Word cannot possibly be known without that knowledge, as well as for the reason that the angels present with man perceive the Word according to that sense. It becomes clear also from the consideration that by means of that knowledge man is provided with communication with heaven. And what is unbelievable, the internal man himself does not think in any other way; for when the external man understands the Word according to the letter the internal man does so according to the internal sense, though while living in the body a person is not at all conscious of doing so. This becomes particularly clear from the fact that when anyone enters the next life and becomes an angel he has no need to learn the internal sense but knows it instinctively, so to speak.

[4] What conjugial love is which is meant by 'the thighs' and also by 'the loins', see 995, 1123, 2727-2759; and conjugial love is the basic love of all loves, 686, 3021. Consequently people who have genuine conjugial love in them also have celestial love, which is love to the Lord, and spiritual love, which is charity towards the neighbour. For this reason the expression 'conjugial love' is used to mean not only that love itself but also all celestial and spiritual love. These kinds of love are said to be joined to natural good when the internal man is joined to the external, that is, the spiritual man to the natural - that joining together of them being meant by 'the hollow of the thigh'. The fact that with Jacob and his descendants in general no such conjunction existed will be evident from what follows, for this is the subject dealt with here in the internal historical sense.