5090. Verses 5-8 And they both dreamed a dream, each his dream in one night, each according to the interpretation of his dream, the cupbearer and the baker to the king of Egypt, who were bound in the prison-house. And Joseph came to them in the morning, and he saw them, and behold, they were troubled. And he asked Pharaoh's courtier-ministers who were with him in the custody of his lord's house, saying, Why are your faces sad ¹ today? And they said to him, We have dreamed a dream and there is no interpreter for it. And Joseph said to them, Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell it to me, I beg you.

'And they both dreamed a dream' means foresight regarding them. 'Each his dream in one night' means regarding what the outcome would be, which to them lay in obscurity. 'Each according to the interpretation of his dream' means which they held within them. 'The cupbearer and the baker' means regarding both kinds of sensory powers. 'To the king of Egypt' means which were subordinate to the interior natural. 'Who were bound in the prison-house' means which were among falsities. 'And Joseph came to them in the morning' means that which was revealed and made clear to the celestial of the natural. ² 'And he saw them' means perception. 'And behold, they were troubled' means that they were passing through a sad state. 'And he asked Pharaoh's courtier-ministers' means those sensory powers. 'Who were with him in the custody of his lord's house' means which had been cast aside. 'Saying, Why are your faces sad today?' means, What affection gives rise to this sadness? 'And they said to him' means perception regarding these matters. 'We have dreamed a dream' means a foretelling. 'And there is no interpreter for it' means that no one knows what they hold within them. 'And Joseph said to them' means the celestial of the natural. 'Do not interpretations belong to God?' means that the Divine is within them. 'Tell it to me, I beg you' means that it might be known.

Imibhalo yaphansi:

5097. 'And Joseph came to them in the morning" means that which was revealed and made clear to the celestial of the spiritual. This is clear from the representation of 'Joseph' as the celestial of the spiritual, dealt with in 4286, 4592, 4963, and from the meaning of 'the morning' as a state of enlightenment, dealt with in 3458, so that what was revealed and made clear is meant. The reason 'the morning' has these meanings is that all the periods of a day, like all the seasons of a year, mean the various states that arise owing to variations of the light of heaven. Variations of the light of heaven are not like the daily and annual variations of light in the world; they are variations of intelligence and love. For the light of heaven is nothing else than Divine Intelligence flowing from the Lord, which also shines before the eyes as light, while the warmth accompanying that light is the Lord's Divine Love, which is also felt as a radiated warmth. It is that light which provides a person with understanding, and that warmth which provides him with both vital heat and a will desiring what is good. In heaven morning is a state of enlightenment, of enlightenment in matters involving goodness and truth; and this state arises when there is an acknowledgement, more so when there is a perception that good is indeed good and truth is indeed truth. Perception is a revelation that takes place internally, and therefore 'the morning' means something that has been revealed. And because that which has previously been obscure is now made clear, 'the morning' as a consequence also means that which has been made clear.

[2] In addition to this, 'morning" in the highest sense means the Lord Himself, for the reason that the Lord is the sun from which all light in heaven flows; He is always a rising sun and so is always a morning one. He is rising always on everyone who receives truth that is the truth of faith and good that is the good of love; but He is setting on everyone who does not receive these. Not that the sun there ever sets, for as has been stated, it is always a rising one, but that anyone who does not receive that truth or good causes it so to speak to set on himself. This may be compared in some measure to the changes which the sun of the world undergoes so far as the inhabitants on earth are concerned. Here too the sun does not really set since it remains all the time in its own fixed position, from where it is constantly shedding light. Yet it does seem to set because the earth spins daily on its axis, and as it goes round it takes its inhabitants out of sight of the sun, see the first example given in 5084. Thus the sun does not actually go down but anyone inhabiting the earth is removed from its light. This comparison is used to illustrate a particular point; but the phenomenon referred to is in itself instructive because every detail of the natural creation is representative of the Lord's kingdom. The instruction held within that phenomenon is that a loss of the light of heaven, that is, of intelligence and wisdom, does not come about because the Lord, the Sun of intelligence and wisdom, sets on anyone. It comes about because the inhabitant of His kingdom takes himself away, that is, he allows hell to be his leader and so take him away.