5673. 'For they heard that they would eat bread there' means a discernment that good was to be linked to the truths. This is clear from the meaning of 'hearing as discerning, dealt with in 5017; from the meaning of 'eating' as being made one's own and being joined together, dealt with in 2187, 3168, 3513 (end), 3596, 3832, 5643; and from the meaning of 'bread' as the good of love, dealt with in 2165, 2177, 2187, 3464, 3478, 3735, 3813, 4211, 4217, 4735.

5642. 'And slaughter and prepare [an animal]' means through the forms of good belonging to the exterior natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'slaughtering' - implying that which was slaughtered, namely an ox, young bull, he-goat or other member of the flock - as forms of good belonging to the natural. 'An ox' and 'a young bull' mean forms of good belonging to the natural, see 2180, 2566, 2781, 2830, in this case forms of good belonging to the exterior natural because they are the means by which the truths are first introduced to effect a joining together. For 'he brought the men to Joseph's house' means the first introduction into good coming from the celestial of the spiritual, see below in 5645. Because 'a young bull and an ox' meant forms of good in the natural, every activity involving these meant that good too; for the one entailed the other.