IBhayibheli

 

Genesis 40

Funda

   

1 And it came to pass after these things, that the butler of the king of Egypt and his baker had offended their lord the king of Egypt.

2 And Pharaoh was wroth with two of his officers, with the chief of the butlers, and with the chief of the bakers.

3 And he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, into the prison, the place where Joseph was bound.

4 And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them; and they continued a season in custody.

5 And they dreamed a dream both of them, each man his dream in one night, each man according to the interpretation of his dream; the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were bound in the prison.

6 And Joseph came to them in the morning, and looked upon them, and behold, they were sad.

7 And he asked Pharaoh's officers that were with him in the ward of his lord's house, saying, Why look ye so sad to-day?

8 And they said to him, We have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter of it. And Joseph said to them, Do not interpretations belong to God? tell me them, I pray you.

9 And the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, In my dream, behold, a vine was before me;

10 And on the vine were three branches: and it was as though it budded, and its blossoms shot forth; and its clusters brought forth ripe grapes:

11 And Pharaoh's cup was in my hand: and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand.

12 And Joseph said to him, This is the interpretation of it: The three branches are three days;

13 Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head, and restore thee to thy place: and thou shalt deliver Pharaoh's cup into his hand, after the former manner when thou wast his butler.

14 But think on me when it shall be well with thee, and show kindness to me, I pray thee, and make mention of me to Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house:

15 For indeed I was stolen away from the land of the Hebrews: and here also have I done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon.

16 When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said to Joseph, I also was in my dream, and behold, I had three white baskets on my head:

17 And in the uppermost basket there was of all manner of bake-meats for Pharaoh; and the birds ate them out of the basket upon my head.

18 And Joseph answered, and said, This is the interpretation of it: The three baskets are three days:

19 Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head from off thee, and shall hang thee on a tree; and the birds shall eat thy flesh from off thee.

20 And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh's birth-day, that he made a feast to all his servants: and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants.

21 And he restored the chief butler to his butlership again; and he gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand:

22 But he hanged the chief baker: as Joseph had interpreted to them.

23 Yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.

   

Okususelwe Emisebenzini kaSwedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia #4984

Funda lesi Sigaba

  
Yiya esigabeni / 10837  
  

4984. 'And he did not concern himself with anything except the bread that he ate' means that the good from there was made its own. This is clear from the meaning of 'bread' as good, dealt with in 276, 680, 3478, 3735, 4211, 4217, 4735; and from the meaning of 'eating' as being made one's own, dealt with in 3168, 3513 (end), 3596, 3832, 4745. 'He did not concern himself with anything except the bread' means that it took to itself nothing else than good. One might think that when good makes truth its own, it makes its own that kind of truth which is the truth of faith; but in fact it makes the good of truth its own. Truths that have no useful purpose do indeed come near it but they do not enter into it. All useful purposes led to by truths are instances of the good of truth. Truths which have no useful purpose are separated, some of which are then retained, others laid aside. The ones that are retained lead in some direct or else more remote way to good and actually have a useful purpose. Ones that are laid aside do not lead to good, nor do they become linked to it. Initially all useful purposes exist as the truths of doctrine, but they move on to become forms of good. They become such when a person acts in conformity with them, for it is what the person actually practises that imparts such a nature to those truths. Every action springs from the will, and the will is what causes that which existed initially as truth to become good. From this it is evident that, when in the will, truth is no longer the truth of faith but the good of faith, and that it is not the truth of faith but the good of faith that brings happiness. For the latter exerts an influence on the essential constituent of a person's life, that is to say, on the intentions in his will, bringing him interior delight or bliss, and in the next life happiness that is called heavenly joy.

  
Yiya esigabeni / 10837  
  

Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.