5880. 'And his brothers could not answer him' means that the truths in the natural were not yet in a state of being able to talk. This is clear from the representation of the sons of Jacob, to whom 'Joseph's brothers' refers here, as the truths within the natural, dealt with above in 5877; and from the meaning of 'not being able to answer' as not yet being in a state of being able to talk - to talk to the internal on the basis of truths. The situation in all this is as follows: When the internal is joined to the external, or good is joined to truth, there is at first a communication with the external on the part of the internal, but there is no communication as yet in the opposite direction. When there is, the two exist joined together. This explains verse 15, which says it was after Joseph had wept on Benjamin's neck and had kissed all his brothers that the brothers began to talk to him, meaning that after the joining together had been effected a communication in both directions was established as a result of acceptance.

5877. 'And Joseph said to his brothers' means that the internal celestial imparted a power of perception to the truths in the natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'saying' in the historical narratives of the Word as perception, dealt with in 1898, 1919, 2080, 2619, 2862, 3395, 3509, 5687, 5743, in this case an imparting of a power of perception, dealt with below; from the representation of 'Joseph' as the internal celestial, dealt with just above in 5869; and from the representation of the ten sons of Jacob, to whom 'brothers' refers here, as the truths in the natural, dealt within 5403, 5419, 5458, 5512. The internal sense is therefore this, that the internal celestial imparted a power of perception to the truths in the natural. The reason why 'saying' here means imparting a power of perception is that the subject in what follows below is the joining of the internal celestial, which is 'Joseph', to the truths in the natural, which are 'the sons of Jacob'. And when that joining together takes place an ability to perceive is imparted - through the affection for truth and thus for good.