10494. 'For [every] man has been against his son and against his brother' means when the internal has been shut off, in order that truth and good from heaven may not enter the external. This is clear from the meaning of 'man against son and against brother', or after they have killed them, as a shutting off of the internal to prevent the inflow of truth and good, dealt with above in 10490, 10492.

'Son' means truth, see 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623, 2628, 2803, 2813, 3373, 3704, 4257, 9807.

'Brother' means good, 3815, 4121, 4191, 5409, 5686, 5692, 6756.

5692. 'Towards his brother' means towards the internal going forth from himself. This is clear from the representation of Benjamin, to whom 'brother' refers here, as the intermediary, and so also the internal, dealt with in 5469; and because he goes forth, as the intermediary and the internal, from the celestial of the spiritual, which is 'Joseph', the words of explanation are 'towards the internal going forth from himself'. Anyone who receives anything of a Divine nature from the Lord, whom 'Joseph' represents here in the highest sense - for example, someone who receives any good of charity from Him - is called 'brother' by the Lord as well as 'son'.