Arcana Coelestia volume 7 - Swedenborg Foundation

ARCANA COELESTIA 3571[2] In respect to his human the Lord also had an external and aninternal, because it pleased him to be born like other men. Theexternal (that is, his external man) was represented by Jacob, andafterward by Israel; but his internal man is represented by Joseph.This internal man is what is called the celestial spiritual from therational; or what is the same thing, the Lord’s internal, which washuman, was the celestial of the spiritual from the rational. This andthe glorification of it are treated of in the internal sense of this andthe following chapters wherein Joseph is treated of. But what thecelestial of the spiritual from the rational is has been explainedabove (n. 4286, 4585, 4592, 4594), namely, that it is above thecelestial of the spiritual from the natural, which is represented byIsrael.[3] The Lord was indeed born as are other men, but it is knownthat he who is born a man derives what is his from both the fatherand the mother, and that he has his inmost from the father, but hisexteriors (that is, the things which clothe this inmost) from themother. Both that which he derives from the father, and that whichhe derives from the mother, are defiled with hereditary evil. But itwas different with the Lord: that which he derived from the motherin like manner had in it an heredity such as is that of any otherman; but that which he derived from the father, who was Jehovah,was Divine. For this reason the Lord’s internal man was not like theinternal of another man; for his inmost was Jehovah. This istherefore the intermediate which is called the celestial of thespiritual from the rational. But concerning this, of the Lord’sDivine mercy more will be said in the following pages.4964. Was brought down to Egypt. That this signifies to thememory-knowledges [scientifica] of the church is evident from thesignification of “Egypt” as being memory-knowledge (that is,memory-knowledge in general), treated of in n. 1164–1165, 1186,1462; but what the nature of that memory-knowledge was which isproperly signified by “Egypt,” has not as yet been explained. In theancient church there were doctrinal things and there were memoryknowledges.The doctrinal things treated of love to God and ofcharity toward the neighbor; but the memory-knowledges treated