5805. 'And his brother is dead' means that internal good does not exist. This is clear from the representation of 'Joseph' as the celestial of the spiritual, dealt with in 4592, 4963, 5249, 5307, 5331, 5332, thus internal good since this is the same as the celestial of the spiritual; and from the meaning of 'being dead' as existing no more, dealt with in 494. There is this difference between the representation of 'Joseph' as internal good and the representation of 'Israel' as spiritual good: 'Joseph' is internal good springing from the rational, whereas 'Israel' is internal good springing from the natural, see 4286. This difference is like that between celestial good, or the good which is that of the celestial Church, and spiritual good, or the good which is that of the spiritual Church. These two kinds of good have been dealt with quite often in what has gone before. It is the first kind of internal good - celestial good - that is said to be non-existent there, which is meant by 'his brother is dead'.

5332. 'And gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera the priest of On, for a wife' means the essential nature of the marriage of truth to good, and of good to truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'giving for a wife' as a marriage. The reason the marriage of good to truth, and of truth to good, is meant is that nothing else is understood in a spiritual sense by 'marriages', and therefore nothing else is understood by 'marriages' in the Word. 'The daughter of the priest of On' means the truth of good, since 'a daughter' is the affection for truth and 'a priest' is good; but 'Joseph' is the good of truth that has the Divine within it, which is the same as the celestial of the spiritual. From this it is evident that the marriage of truth to good, and of good to truth, is meant. What is actually meant is the essential nature of this marriage; but this cannot receive any further explanation because the essential nature of what was the Lord's when He was in the world is beyond all understanding, beyond even that of angels. Just a vague idea of it can be formed from the kinds of things that exist in heaven - from the Grand Man and from the celestial of the spiritual existing there as a result of the influx of the Lord's Divine. But that idea is like the darkest shade compared with the light itself; for it is a very general idea indeed, thus scarcely anything compared with the reality it describes.