5040. Verses 21-23. And Jehovah was with Joseph, and inclined mercy unto him, and gave him grace in the eyes of the prince of the prison house. And the prince of the prison house gave into Joseph's hand all the bound ones that were in the prison house; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer. The prince of the prison house saw naught of anything that was in his hand, because Jehovah was with him; and that which he did, Jehovah made it to prosper. "And Jehovah was with Joseph," signifies that the Divine was in Him; "and inclined mercy unto him," signifies the Divine love in everything; "and gave him grace in the eyes of the prince of the prison house," signifies relief in consequence; "and the prince of the prison house," signifies truth governing in a state of temptations; "gave into Joseph's hand all the bound ones that were in the prison house," signifies from Himself over all falsities; "and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer," signifies absolute power; "the prince of the prison house saw naught of anything that was in his hand," signifies that He Himself governed truth; "because Jehovah was with him," signifies from the Divine which was in Him; "and that which he did, Jehovah made it to prosper," signifies that the Divine providence was from Himself.

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5041. And Jehovah was with Joseph. That this signifies that the Divine was in Him, that is, in the Lord (who in the supreme sense is represented by Joseph), here the Divine in temptations, which are here treated of, is evident; for the Divine Itself is Jehovah; and that He was in the Lord, or within Him, is signified by "Jehovah was with Joseph." As in the sense of the letter Joseph is treated of, it is said with him; but in the internal sense, where the Lord is treated of, it is in Him. That the Divine was in Him, may be seen by everyone within the church from the fact that He was conceived of Jehovah, for which reason He so frequently calls Him His "Father." The very being of a man, and hence the inmost of his life, is from the father; the clothings or exteriors are from the mother; therefore the Lord's being, and hence the inmost of His life, was Divine, because it was Jehovah Himself; and the clothings or exteriors made the human which He took from the mother by birth. This human was such that it could be tempted, for it was polluted with hereditary evil from the mother; but because the inmost was Divine, He was able by His own power to cast out that evil heredity from the mother; which was done successively by means of temptations, and finally by the last, that of the cross, when He fully glorified His Human, that is, made it Divine. From this it may be seen what is meant by the statement that the Divine was in Him.

5042. And inclined mercy unto him. That this signifies the Divine love in everything, is evident from the signification of "mercy," as being in the supreme sense the Divine love (see n. 1735, 3063, 3073, 3120, 3875). The Divine being itself, understood in the supreme sense, is love utterly incomprehensible to man; and from this love through truth all things come forth and subsist, both those which have life and those which have not. This Divine love from the very being through the inmost of life in the Lord, flowed into everything He did from the human taken from the mother, and directed all to ends, and these ends to the ultimate end that mankind might be saved. And because the Lord, from the Divine Itself in Him, saw the nature of His human, that it was hereditarily in evil, therefore it is said that "Jehovah inclined mercy unto him;" and by this in the supreme sense is meant the Divine love in everything. For the Divine mercy is nothing else than the Divine love toward those who are immersed in miseries (n. 1049, 3063, 3875), that is, toward those who are in temptations; for these are in miseries, and are chiefly meant in the Word by the "miserable."

5043.

5021. Verses 16-18. And she laid up his garment by her, until his lord came to his house. And she spoke unto him according to these words, saying, The Hebrew servant whom thou hast brought unto us came unto me to mock me; and it came to pass, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment by me, and fled out. "And she laid up his garment by her," signifies that it retained ultimate truth; "until his lord came to his house," signifies that it might communicate with natural good; "and she spoke unto him according to these words," signifies false speaking; "saying, The Hebrew servant whom thou hast brought unto us, came unto me," signifies that servant; "to mock me," signifies that it rose up; "and it came to pass, as I lifted up my voice and cried," signifies when great aversion was perceived; "that he left his garment by me," signifies testification; "and fled out," signifies that then it separated itself.

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5022. And she laid up his garment by her. That this signifies that it retained ultimate truth, is evident from the signification of "laying up by her," as being to retain; and from the signification of a "garment," as being ultimate truth (of which above, n. 5006, 5008), which truth being taken away, the spiritual man has no longer anything with which to defend himself against those who are merely natural (n. 5008e, 5009), and in this event injury is done to him; for whatever the spiritual man then speaks, merely natural men say that they do not perceive, and also that it is not so. And if what is internal or spiritual is but mentioned, they either ridicule it or call it mystical; wherefore all conjunction between them is then broken, and when this is broken, the spiritual man suffers hard things among the merely natural, which is represented by Joseph's being cast into prison, after the wife had testified by the garment in the presence of her husband.

5023. Until his lord came to his house. That this signifies that it might communicate with natural good, is evident from the signification of the "lord," as being good natural not spiritual (n. 4973, 4988). A "house" in the internal sense is the natural mind, for the natural mind, as also the rational mind, is like a house: the husband therein is good, the wife is truth, the daughters and sons are affections of good and truth, and also goods and truth derived from the former as parents; the maidservants and menservants are the pleasures and memory-knowledges which minister and confirm. Here therefore by "until his lord came to his house" is signified until natural good came to its dwelling place, where there is also truth conjoined with it; but here falsity persuading good that it is truth, for good natural not spiritual is easily persuaded that falsity is truth, and that truth is falsity. It is said "his lord," because the natural not spiritual considers the spiritual as a servant (n. 5013).

[2] That the natural and the rational mind of man are called a "house," is evident from the following passages:

When the unclean spirit is gone out from a man, he wandereth through dry places, seeking rest; and if he findeth it not, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. And if on coming he findeth it swept and garnished, he then goeth away and taketh to him seven other spirits worse than himself; and they enter in and dwell there (Luke 11:24-26);

the "house" here denotes the natural mind, which is called a "house that is empty and swept" when there are within it no goods and truths, which are the husband and wife; no affections of good and truth, which are the daughters and sons; nor such things as confirm, which are the maidservants and menservants. The man himself is the "house," because the rational and the natural mind make the man; and without these things, that is, without goods and truths and their affections and the ministry of these affections,

Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments offered in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to keep the focus on understanding the Text in terms of its application to the inner life along with reinforcing any key LP principles that have been highlighted in the exchanges.

Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments offered in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to keep the focus on understanding the Text in terms of its application to the inner life along with reinforcing any key LP principles that have been highlighted in the exchanges.

Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments offered in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to keep the focus on understanding the Text in terms of its application to the inner life along with reinforcing any key LP principles that have been highlighted in the exchanges.

Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments offered in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to keep the focus on understanding the Text in terms of its application to the inner life along with reinforcing any key LP principles that have been highlighted in the exchanges.

Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments offered in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to keep the focus on understanding the Text in terms of its application to the inner life along with reinforcing any key LP principles that have been highlighted in the exchanges.

Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments offered in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to keep the focus on understanding the Text in terms of its application to the inner life along with reinforcing any key LP principles that have been highlighted in the exchanges.

Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments offered in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to keep the focus on understanding the Text in terms of its application to the inner life along with reinforcing any key LP principles that have been highlighted in the exchanges.

Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments offered in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to keep the focus on understanding the Text in terms of its application to the inner life along with reinforcing any key LP principles that have been highlighted in the exchanges.