Arcana Coelestia (Potts) n. 5337

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5337. And Joseph went out from before Pharaoh. That this signifies when the natural in general belonged to the celestial of the spiritual, is evident from the signification of "going out," as being to belong thereto (of which below); and from the representation of Joseph as being the celestial of the spiritual, and of Pharaoh as being the natural (of which above). That "to go out" is to belong thereto, or to be its own, is plain from what precedes and what follows, and also from the spiritual sense of this expression; for "to go out" or proceed, in the spiritual sense, is to present one's self before another in a form accommodated to him, thus to present one's self the same, but in a different form. In this sense "going out" is said of the Lord in John:

Jesus said about Himself, I went out and am come from God (John 8:42). The Father loveth you, because ye have loved Me, and have believed that I went out from God. I went out from the Father, and am come into the world; again, I leave the world, and go to the Father. His disciples said, We believe that thou wentest out from God (John 16:27-30). They knew of a truth that I went out from God (John 17:8). [2] To illustrate what is meant by "going out" or proceeding, let us take the following examples. Truth is said to "go out" or proceed from good, when truth is the form of good, or when truth is good in a form that the understanding can apprehend. The understanding also may be said to "go out" or proceed from the will, when the understanding is the will formed, or when it is the will in a form perceivable by the internal sight. So in regard to the thought of the understanding, this may be said to "go out" or proceed when it becomes speech; and of the will, that it "goes out" when it becomes action. Thought clothes itself with another form when it becomes speech, but still it is the thought that so goes out or proceeds; for the words and tones with which it is clothed are mere additions that cause the thought to be appropriately perceived. In like manner the will becomes of another form when it becomes action, but still it is the will that is presented in such a form; the gestures and movements that are put on are merely additions that cause the will to appear and affect the beholder appropriately. So also it may be said of the external man, that it "goes out" or proceeds from the internal man, nay, that it does so substantially, because the external man is nothing else than the internal man so formed that it may act suitably in the world in which it is. From all this it is evident what "to go out" or proceed is in the spiritual sense, namely, that when predicated of the Lord it is the Divine formed as a Man and thereby accommodated to the perception of those who believe; nevertheless both of these are one.


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