Arcana Coelestia # 4780
4780. 'And mourned over his son many days' means a state, namely one of mourning for lost good and truth. This is clear from the representation of Joseph, to whom 'son' refers here, as Divine Truth, specifically the truths spoken of above in 4776; and from the meaning of 'days' as states, dealt with in 23, 487, 488, 493, 893, 2788, 3785, in this case a state of great mourning since the expression 'many days' is used.
Isaiah 58:5-7
5
Is such the fast that I have chosen? the day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head as a rush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to Yahweh?
6
"Isn't this the fast that I have chosen: to release the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke?
7
Isn't it to distribute your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor who are cast out to your house? When you see the naked, that you cover him; and that you not hide yourself from your own flesh?
