6583. 'And Joseph saw Ephraim's sons of the third generation' means the establishment of the Church so far as its understanding and the derivatives from this were concerned. This is clear from the representation of 'Ephraim' as the area of understanding in the Church, dealt with in 3969, 5354, 6222, 6274, 6238, 6267; and from the meaning of 'sons of the third generation' as derivatives, for being the descendants of their parent, 'sons and 'sons of sons' mean the thing represented by that parent. The establishment of the Church from the internal, that is, from the Lord through the internal, is meant by 'Joseph saw'. What the Church's understanding is which 'Ephraim' represents, see 6222.

6238. 'As Reuben and Simeon will they be mine' means that they will be truth and the good of truth. This is clear from the representation of 'Reuben' as faith in the understanding, and the truth of doctrine by means of which one is able to arrive at the good of life, dealt with in 3861, 3866, thus in general truth that belongs to the understanding; and from the representation of 'Simeon' as faith in the will, consequently truth realized in action, which is the good of faith or the good of truth, dealt with in 3869-3872, 4497, 4502, 4503, 5626, 5630, thus in general good which belongs to the new will. The things that Ephraim and Manasseh represent are clearly similar to all this.

[2] But since Reuben profaned what he represented, 4601, and Simeon polluted what he represented, 4497, 4501, 4507, on account of which they were cursed, see verses 3-7 of the next chapter, they lost their birthright and Joseph's sons Ephraim and Manasseh were acknowledged as the firstborn in place of them, 1 Chronicles 5:1. Nevertheless what Reuben and Simeon represented remained with them, for it makes no difference what the character of the person who serves to represent something is like, 665, l097 (end), 4281. That is to say, the representation of faith in the understanding remained with Reuben, and the representation of faith in the will with Simeon. But what resided with Ephraim was the representation of the Church's understanding, and what resided with Manasseh was the representation of the Church's will.