'And Joseph said to his brothers' means a perception by the truths in the natural. 'And to his father's house' means by the forms of good there. 'I will go up and tell Pharaoh' means a communication with the natural, where the Church's factual knowledge resides. 'And say to him, My brothers and my father's house, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me' means that the truths and forms of good which the Church possesses are to be introduced [into that knowledge]. 'And the men are shepherds of the flock' means that they lead to good. 'For they are keepers of livestock' means that they possess good deriving from truths. 'And their flocks and their herds, and all that they have, they have made to come' means that interior good and exterior good, and whatever is dependent on them, are present. 'And it may be, that Pharaoh may call you' means if the natural in which the Church's factual knowledge resides wishes to be joined to you. 'And says, What are your works?' means and to know your forms of good. 'And you are to say, Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our boyhoods and right up to now' means that the truths which lead to good have been present from the beginning and are present still. 'Both we and our fathers' means that this was so from when the earliest forms of good existed. 'So that you may dwell in the land of Goshen' means that your position will for that reason be in the middle of the natural where the Church's factual knowledge resides. 'For every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians' means thereby a separation from perverted factual knowledge which is opposed to the Church's factual knowledge.

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