Arcana Coelestia volume 7 - Swedenborg Foundation

ARCANA COELESTIA 3590know these things is that he has no doctrinals of charity. In thelight of heaven these things appear most distinctly, and hence theyappear distinctly also with the spiritual or regenerate, because theseare in the light of heaven.4989. And she said, Lie with me. That this signifies that it desiredconjunction is evident from the signification of “lying with me,” asbeing conjunction (that is, of good spiritual natural, which now is“Joseph,” with truth natural not spiritual, which is his “lord’swife”), but unlawful conjunction. The conjunctions of good withtruth, and of truth with good, are described in the Word bymarriages (see n. 2727–2759, 3132, 3665, 4434, 4837); and henceunlawful conjunctions are described by harlotries. And so here theconjunction of truth natural not spiritual with good spiritualnatural is described by his lord’s wife being desirous to lie withJoseph. Between these no conjunction is possible in internals, butonly in externals, in which there is an apparent conjunction, but itis only an affinity. For this reason also she caught him by hisgarment, and he left the garment in her hand; for by “garment” inthe internal sense is signified what is external, by which there is anapparent conjunction, or by which there is an affinity, as will beseen below at verses 12, 13.[2] That these things are signified cannot be seen so long as themind or thought is kept in the historicals; for then nothing isthought of but Joseph, Potiphar’s wife, and the flight of Josephwhen he had left his garment. But if the mind or thought were keptin those things which are signified by Joseph, by Potiphar’s wife,and by a garment, it would then be perceived that some unlawfulspiritual conjunction is here described; and the mind or thoughtcan be kept in the things which are signified, provided it is believedthat the historic Word is Divine, not from the mere history, butfrom the fact that within the history there is what is spiritual andDivine; and if this were believed, it would be known that thespiritual and Divine therein are concerning the good and truth ofthe Lord’s church and kingdom, and in the supreme senseconcerning the Lord himself. When a man comes into the otherlife, as he does immediately after death, if he is one of those who