6027. 'And he sent Judah before him to Joseph' means a communication of the good of the Church with the internal celestial. This is clear from the representation of 'Judah' as the good of the Church, dealt with in 5583, 5603, 5782, 5794, 5837; and from the representation of' Joseph' as the internal celestial, dealt with in 5869, 5877. And 'sending before him', it is self-evident, means communicating. The reason why Judah and not anyone else was sent was so that a direct communication of good with good might be denoted, that is, a direct communication of external good, which 'Judah' represents, with internal good, which 'Joseph' represents. For good that is the good of love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour flows in from Him by way of the internal into the external, the amount of good in the external determining how much is received there. But if merely the truth of faith and no good is present in a person's external, the inflow of good from the Lord by way of the internal cannot be received in the external. For no direct communication with truth can exist there, only an indirect one through good. This is why Judah and not anyone else was sent from Jacob to Joseph.

5602. 'Could We possibly have known that he would say, Cause your brother to come down?' means that we did not believe that he would want the truth of good to be joined to him. This is clear from the meaning of 'could it possibly be known that he would say?' as not believing; and from the representation of Benjamin, to whom 'brother' refers here, as the truth of good, dealt with just above in 5600. The joining of this truth of good to the spiritual from the internal is meant by the command that they should cause him to come down, as is evident from what has been stated above in 5596.