5139. Verses 16-19. And the prince of the bakers saw that he had interpreted good, and he said unto Joseph, I also was in my dream, and behold three baskets with holes in them upon my head; and in the uppermost basket there was of all food for Pharaoh, the work of the baker; and the birds did eat them out of the basket from upon my head. And Joseph answered and said, This is the interpretation thereof: The three baskets three days are these. In yet three days shall Pharaoh lift off thy head from upon thee, and shall hang thee upon wood; and the birds shall eat thy flesh from upon thee. "And the prince of the bakers saw," signifies the perception of the sensuous that is subject to the will part; "that he had interpreted good," signifies what would happen; "and he said unto Joseph," signifies the perception of the celestial in the natural; "I also was in my dream," signifies prediction; "and behold three baskets," signifies the successives of things of the will; "with holes in them upon my head," signifies without termination anywhere in the middle; "and in the uppermost basket," signifies the inmost of the will part; "there was of all food for Pharaoh," signifies full of celestial good for the nourishment of the natural; "the work of the baker," signifies according to every use of the sensuous; "and the birds did eat them out of the basket from upon my head," signifies that falsity from evil consumed it; "and Joseph answered and said," signifies revelation from perception from the celestial in the natural; "This is the interpretation thereof," signifies what it had in it; "the three baskets," signifies the successives of the things of the will; "three days are these," signifies even to the last; "in yet three days," signifies that which is in the last; "shall Pharaoh lift off thy head from upon thee," signifies what is concluded from what is foreseen; "and shall hang thee upon wood," signifies rejection and damnation; "and the birds shall eat thy flesh from upon thee," signifies that the falsity from evil will consume what is of these sensuous things.

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5140. And the prince of the bakers saw. That this signifies the perception of the sensuous that is subject to the will part, is evident from the signification of "seeing," as being to understand and perceive (n. 2150, 2807, 3764, 4723); and from the signification of the "prince of the bakers," as being the sensuous in general subject to the will part, thus these sensuous things (n. 5078, 5082).

5141. That he had interpreted good. That this signifies what would happen, is evident from the signification of "interpreting," as being what it had in it, or what there was therein (of which above, n. 5093, 5105, 5107, 5121); thus also what would happen. That good would happen, is the perception from the sensuous, which perception is comparatively obscure. There actually do exist perception from the sensuous or exterior natural, perception from the interior natural, and perception from the rational; for when a man is in interior thought from affection, and withdraws his mind from sensuous things and from the body, he is in rational perception; for then the things which are beneath, or which belong to the external man, are quiescent, and the man is almost in his spirit. But when man is in exterior thought, from causes which exist in the world, then his perception is from the interior natural, and the rational indeed flows in, but not with any life of affection. But when man is in pleasures, and in the delights of the love of the world and also of the love of self, the perception is from the sensuous; for his life is then in externals or in the body, and admits no more from the interiors than may serve to moderate his outbursts into what is dishonorable and unbecoming. But the more external the perception is, the more obscure it is, because exterior things are comparatively general,