Verses 1-4 And so it was after these words,^a that they sinned - the cupbearer of the king of Egypt, and the baker - against their lord the king of Egypt. And Pharaoh was incensed with his two courtier-ministers, with the chief of the cupbearers and with the chief of the bakers. And he put them into the custody of the house of the chief of the attendants, at the prison-house, the place where Joseph was bound. And the chief of the attendants set Joseph over them and he ministered to them; and they were in custody for days.^b

'And so it was' means a new state and the things that followed. 'After these words' means after the things prior to this. 'That they sinned' means that order had become turned around. 'The cupbearer of the king of Egypt' means among the things of the body which are subject to the understanding part of the mind. 'And the baker' means among the things in the body which are subject to the will part. 'Against their lord the king of Egypt' means that these were contrary to the new state in the natural man. 'And Pharaoh was incensed' means that the new natural man turned away. 'With his two courtier-ministers' means from both kinds of sensory powers in the body. 'With the chief of the cupbearers and with the chief of the bakers' means in general from the sensory powers subordinate to the understanding part and to the will part. 'And he put them into the custody' means a casting aside. 'Of the house of the chief of the attendants' means the things that are first and foremost in explanations. 'At the prison-house' means among falsities. 'The place where Joseph was bound' means the state of the celestial of the natural now in relation to these things. 'And the chief of the attendants set Joseph over them' means that under the influence of the things first and foremost in explanations the celestial of the natural taught those bodily senses. 'And he ministered to them' means that it instructed them. 'And they were in custody for days' means that they lay in a state when they were cast aside for a long time.

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