5800. 'My lord questioned his servants, saying' means perception of their thought. This is clear from the meaning of 'questioning' as perceiving another's thought, dealt with in 5597. The reason 'questioning' has this meaning is that in the spiritual world or heaven no one needs to ask another what he thinks about the kinds of things for which he - that other person - has an affection, because in that world one person can perceive the thought that flows from another's affection. Furthermore the internal represented by 'Joseph' does not question the external, which 'Jacob's sons' represent, since the external receives its entire existence from the internal. From this too it is evident that 'questioning' means the perception of their thought. Also, the Word refers in various places to Jehovah questioning a person, when in fact He knows every single thought in that person. But such references are made to Him because people cannot help believing that their thoughts, being inside them, cannot be known to anyone. This appearance and consequent belief explain why questioning takes place.