5434.“他们对他说，我主阿，不是的，我们是诚实人”表真理的确存在于他们里面。这从“对他说，我主阿，不是的”和“我们是诚实人”的含义清楚可知：“对他说，我主阿，不是的”是指否认约瑟的话，即“你们是奸细”所表示的他们是来寻求利益的（参看5432节），并且否认约瑟的这话，即他们“来窥探这地的虚实”所表示的没有什么比自己知道它们不是真理更令他们高兴的了（5433节）；“我们是诚实人”是指真理的确存在于他们里面，因为就内义而言，“诚实”在此和在圣言的许多其它地方一样，表示真理。这层含义（即真理的确存在于他们里面），从整个思路可推知；因为在那些以自己的物质利益为目的而为自己获取教会的真理之人看来，真理的确不是真理，如前所述（5433节）；然而真理仍存在于他们里面，因为“雅各的儿子们”表示教会作为一个总的整体的这类真理。“诚实人”之所以表示从人抽象出来的真理，是因为内义上的一切都是从人抽象出来的，对人的观念会转化为对事物或属灵实体的观念（参看5225，5287节）。这是因为，若不这样，读者的思维和随之的言语不可避免地分散，偏离事物本身或属灵实体，以及对它的深入思考，转到与这个人有关的细节上。更重要的是，思维和随之的言语无法以其它方式变得更普遍，同时无法理解大量观念，更无法如天使那样理解不计其数和难以描述的观念。尽管这种抽象观念或属灵形像会退离对人的观念，但它们仍与人有关；也就是说，它们与那些处于这些事物或属灵实体的人有关。这就是为何“诚实人”表示真理。
Potts(1905-1910) 5434
5434. And they said unto him, Nay my lord, we are upright. That this signifies that they are truths in themselves, is evident from the signification of "saying to him, Nay my lord," as being that they did not come to seek gain, which is signified by Joseph's words, "Ye are spies" (see n. 5432), and that it was not the case that they would like nothing better than to know in themselves that there are no truths, as is signified by Joseph's words, "To see the nakedness of the land ye are come" (n. 5433); and from the signification of "we are upright," as being that they are truths in themselves; for in the internal sense "upright" signifies truth, in this as in many other passages of the Word. This meaning-that they are truths in themselves-follows from the series; for to those who have procured for themselves the truths of the church for the purpose of gain, truths are indeed not truths (as was shown above, n. 5433); yet they may be truths in themselves, for the very truths of the church in general are signified by the "sons of Jacob." That by the "upright" are meant truths in the abstract, is because in the internal sense everything is abstracted from person, and the idea of person is turned into the idea of thing (see n. 5225, 5287). The reason of this is that otherwise the thought and derivative speech must needs be drawn away and lost from the thing itself and the view of it, to such things as are of person; and moreover the thought and derivative speech can in no other way become universal, and comprehend many things at the same time, still less things unlimited and unutterable, as with the angels. Nevertheless this abstracted idea involves persons, namely, those who are in the things in question. Hence it is that by "the upright" are signified truths.
Elliott(1983-1999) 5434
5434. 'And they said to him, No, sir, we are upright men' means that truths are indeed present within them. This is clear from the meaning of 'saying to him, No, sir' as a denial that they existed for the sake of gain, meant by Joseph's words 'you are spies', 5432, and a denial that nothing would please them more than to know it for themselves that they are not truths, meant by Joseph's words 'you have come to see the nakedness of the land', 5433; and from the meaning of 'we are upright men' as that truths are indeed present within them, 'uprightness' meaning truth in the internal sense here, as also many times elsewhere in the Word. This meaning - that truths are indeed present within them - follows from the whole train of thought; for in the case of people who have acquired to themselves the truths known to the Church, doing so for the sake of their own material gain, those truths are not indeed truths to them, as shown above in 5433. But even so, truths can indeed be present within them, such truths known to the Church as a general whole being meant by 'the sons of Jacob'. The reason 'upright men' means truths quite apart from persons is that in the internal sense everything is withdrawn from ideas about persons; an idea in the literal sense describing a person becomes an idea describing some spiritual reality, see 5225, 5287. The reason for this is that otherwise the reader's thought and consequent speech are inevitably distracted and diverted from that spiritual reality and contemplation of it to details that have to do with the person. What is more, there is no other way in which the thought and consequent speech can become more universal, no other way in which just a number of ideas, let alone ideas that are countless and indescribable, can be taken in simultaneously, as is the case among angels. But although such spiritual images are withdrawn from ideas of persons they still have to do with persons; that is to say, they have to do with people in whom those spiritual realities are present. This is why 'upright men' means truths.
Latin(1748-1756) 5434
5434. `Et dixerunt ad eum, Non domine {1}mi': quod significet quod vera sint in se, constat ex significatione `dicere ad eum non domine' quod sit quod non ad captandum lucrum, quae significantur per Josephi verba `Exploratores vos', n. 5432; et quod non sit quod illis nihil potius {2} quam sibi scire quod non vera sint, quae significantur per Josephi verba `ad videndum nuditatem terrae venistis', n. 5433; et a significatione `recti nos' quod sit quod vera sint in se; `rectum' enim significat verum in sensu interno, hic ut multoties in Verbo alibi. Hic sensus, nempe quod vera sint in se, sequitur ex serie, nam apud illos qui vera Ecclesiae sibi compararunt lucri causa, vera non quidem illis vera sunt, ut supra n. 5433 ostensum, sed usque in se vera possunt esse, ipsa enim vera Ecclesiae {3}in communi significantur per `filios Jacobi'. Quod `recti' sint vera abstracte, est quia in, sensu interno abstrahuntur omnia a personis; quod idea personae vertatur in ideam rei, videatur n. 5225, 5287; causa est quia cogitatio et inde loquela (m)alioquin non potest quam distrahi et dilabi a re et ejus intuitione ad talia quae personae sunt(n), et praeterea cogitatio et inde loquela nec aliter {4} potest universalis fieri, et comprehendere simul multa, minus indefinita et ineffabilia, ut apud angelos {5}; usque tamen abstractum illud involvit personas, nempe illos qui in illis sunt; inde est quod `recti' significent vera. @1 A I o mi and i recti nos. Hence recti nos is here explained, instead of in n. 5437.@ @2 i sit@ @3 communia@ @4 i non$ @5 i nisi omnes ideae cogitationis vertuntur a personis ad res$