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5250. Verses 15, 16. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and no one interpreteth it; and I have heard upon thee, saying, Thou hearest a dream to interpret it. And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, Not unto me; God shall answer peace to Pharaoh. "And Pharaoh said unto Joseph," signifies the perception of the celestial of the spiritual from the natural; "I have dreamed a dream," signifies prediction; "and no one interpreteth it," signifies ignorance of what was therein; "and I have heard upon thee," signifies the capacity of the celestial of the spiritual; "saying, thou hearest a dream to interpret it," signifies of perceiving what is in the things foreseen; "and Joseph answered Pharaoh," signifies knowledge; "saying, Not unto me," signifies that it was not from the human alone; "God shall answer peace to Pharaoh," signifies from the Divine Human through conjunction.

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5251. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph. That this signifies the perception of the celestial of the spiritual from the natural, is evident from the signification of "saying" in the historicals of the Word, as being to perceive (as often shown above); and from the representation of Pharaoh, as being the natural (see n. 5079, 5080, 5095, 5160); and from the representation of Joseph, as being the celestial of the spiritual (n. 4286, 4592, 4594, 4963, 5086, 5087, 5106, 5249). That the perception of the celestial of the spiritual from the natural is signified, is because the Lord is represented both by Joseph and by Pharaoh-by Joseph as to the celestial of the spiritual, and by Pharaoh as to the natural. Hence by "Pharaoh said unto Joseph" is signified the Lord's perception from the celestial of the spiritual in the natural. But what and of what quality this perception is, cannot be told so as to be apprehended, unless there has first been formed some idea of spiritual perception, and of the celestial of the spiritual, and also of the manner in which the natural is distinct from the spiritual. On these subjects some things have indeed been said already, which should now be recalled.

5252. I have dreamed a dream. That this signifies prediction, is evident from the signification of a "dream," as being foresight and hence prediction (see n. 3698, 5091, 5092, 5104, 5233); that a "dream" here is prediction is plain also from what follows, for in the dream the seven years of abundance of provision and the seven years of famine were foretold.

5253. And no one interpreteth it. That this signifies ignorance of what was therein, is evident from the signification of "interpreting" as being what was therein (n. 5093, 5105, 5107, 5141); hence ignorance of what was therein is signified by "no one interpreteth it." In the internal sense by "no one" is not meant no one or none, the expression being merely negative; and here simply not, thus that it is not known, or that there is ignorance regarding it. The reason is, that in the internal sense no person, nor even anything determined to a person, is regarded (n. 5225); and in the expression "no one," or none, something of person in general is implied. There are three things in general that perish from the literal sense of the Word when it becomes the internal sense, namely, what is of time, what is of space, and what is of person. The reason is that in the spiritual world there is neither time nor space, these two belonging to nature; and therefore it is said of those who die, that they pass out of time, and leave behind all that is of time. That in the spiritual world nothing is regarded as determined to person is because directing the attention in speech to person narrows and limits the idea, instead of extending it and making it unlimited. Extension and absence of limitation in speech cause it to be universal, and to comprise and be able to express innumerable and also ineffable things.