Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 6558

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6558. 'And they said, Perhaps Joseph will hate us' means that they rejected the internal. This is clear from the meaning of 'hating' as turning away from and rejecting; and from the representation of 'Joseph' as the internal, dealt with in 6177, 6224. Not that Joseph engaged in rejection, but that they rejected Joseph. The attribution to the internal, which is 'Joseph', of what belongs to the external, which is 'his brothers', is due to appearances, just as hatred and revenge are attributed to Jehovah, when in fact they reside with man.


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