Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 5090

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5090. Verses 5-8 And they both dreamed a dream, each his dream in one night, each according to the interpretation of his dream, the cupbearer and the baker to the king of Egypt, who were bound in the prison-house. And Joseph came to them in the morning, and he saw them, and behold, they were troubled. And he asked Pharaoh's courtier-ministers who were with him in the custody of his lord's house, saying, Why are your faces sada today? And they said to him, We have dreamed a dream and there is no interpreter for it. And Joseph said to them, Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell it to me, I beg you.

'And they both dreamed a dream' means foresight regarding them. 'Each his dream in one night' means regarding what the outcome would be, which to them lay in obscurity. 'Each according to the interpretation of his dream' means which they held within them. 'The cupbearer and the baker' means regarding both kinds of sensory powers. 'To the king of Egypt' means which were subordinate to the interior natural. 'Who were bound in the prison-house' means which were among falsities. 'And Joseph came to them in the morning' means that which was revealed and made clear to the celestial of the natural.b 'And he saw them' means perception. 'And behold, they were troubled' means that they were passing through a sad state. 'And he asked Pharaoh's courtier-ministers' means those sensory powers. 'Who were with him in the custody of his lord's house' means which had been cast aside. 'Saying, Why are your faces sad today?' means, What affection gives rise to this sadness? 'And they said to him' means perception regarding these matters. 'We have dreamed a dream' means a foretelling. 'And there is no interpreter for it' means that no one knows what they hold within them. 'And Joseph said to them' means the celestial of the natural. 'Do not interpretations belong to God?' means that the Divine is within them. 'Tell it to me, I beg you' means that it might be known.

Notes

a lit. evil
b the celestial of the spiritual is possibly intended here; see 5097.


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