'They took Joseph's tunic' means appearances. 'And killed a he-goat of the she- goats' means external truths received from delights. 'And dipped the tunic in the blood' means that they defiled those appearances with falsities arising from evils. 'And they sent the tunic of various colours' means the appearances that have been defiled in this way. 'And brought it to their father' means comparison with the goods and truths of the Ancient Church and of the Primitive [Christian] one. 'And said, We have found this' means that this is what they see it to be. 'Recognize now whether this is your son's tunic or not' means whether there was any likeness. 'And he recognized it' means, yes, there was. 'And said, My son's tunic!' means that it was the truth possessed by the Church. 'An evil wild animal has devoured him' means that desires for evil annihilated it. 'Joseph has been torn to pieces' means that falsities render that truth entirely non-existent. 'And [Jacob] rent his clothes' means mourning for lost truth. 'And put sackcloth on his loins' means mourning for lost good. 'And mourned over his son many days' means a state. 'And all his sons rose up' means those who are governed by falsities. 'And all his daughters' means those who are governed by evils. 'To comfort him' means to provide explanations based on the sense of the letter of the Word. 'And he refused to comfort himself' means that this was not possible. 'For I will go down to my son, to the grave mourning' means that the Ancient Church was perishing. 'And his father wept for him' means interior mourning.