8715. 'And rulers of tens' means first and foremost truths in third place. This is clear from the meaning of 'rulers' as first and foremost truths, as above; and from the meaning of 'tens' also as much or many, but in a smaller degree since they come below hundreds. For the meaning of 'tens' or 'ten' also as many, see 3107, 4638.

The placement of the rulers over a thousand, over a hundred, or over ten, represented in the abstract sense, separately from any idea of numbers, many truths in first, second, and third degrees. This use of the numbers is like that found elsewhere in the Word, for example where the Lord said of the servant that he owed ten thousand talents and that the fellow-servant owed him a hundred denarii, Matthew 18:24, 28, and where He speaks of the king, about to make war against another king, considering whether He was able with ten thousand to meet the other who was coming with twenty thousand, Luke 14:31.

Likewise in John,

An angel coming down from heaven laid hold of the dragon, and bound him for a thousand years, and cast him into the abyss, so that he should not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years had come to an end. The rest of the dead did not live again before the thousand years came to an end. This is the first resurrection. Revelation 20:1-3, 5, 7.

Here 'a thousand' does not mean a thousand but much, without the idea of some number.

Likewise in Moses,

Jehovah shows mercy to a thousand generations who love Him. Exodus 20:6; Deuteronomy 5:9-10; 7:9; Jeremiah 32:18.

In David,

The word He has commanded to a thousand generations. Psalms 105:8.

In the same author,

A thousand will fall at your side, and a myriad at your right hand; it will not come near you. Psalms 91:7.

In the same author,

The chariots of God are myriad on myriad ¹ , thousands of peacemakers. Psalms 68:17.

In the same author,

Our flocks are thousands, and ten thousands in our streets. Psalms 144:13.

In the same author,

A thousand years in Your eyes are as a day. Psalms 90:4.

The situation is much the same with a hundred and with ten, for a smaller number or a factor is similar in meaning to the powers of that number, 5291, 5335, 5708, 7973. For the meaning of 'a hundred' and 'ten' also as much, see 3107, 4400, 4638.

Poznámky pod čarou:

575. 'The days of man were to be a hundred and twenty years' means that he ought to have remnants of faith. At verses 3, 4 of the previous chapter it was stated that 'days' and 'years' meant periods of time and states, and that the most ancient people meant states and changes in the states of the Church by the numbers which they compounded variously. The exact nature of their computation of things that had to do with the Church is one of those matters that have been lost. Here in like manner numbers of years occur, whose meaning nobody can possibly know unless he knows what is concealed in each of the numbers 1-12, and so on. It is quite apparent that they embody some arcanum or other, for in saying that they would live a hundred and twenty years this verse contradicts those that go before it. Nor subsequently did they live a mere hundred and twenty years, as is clear from what Chapter 11 says about those who lived after the Flood - that Shem lived 500 years after he beget Arpachshad, Arpachshad 407 years after he beget Shelah, Shelah 403 years as well after he beget Eber, and Eber 430 years after he beget Peleg. Chapter 9:28 says that Noah lived 350 years after the Flood; and other examples could be given. What the number 120 embodies however is clear merely from the numbers to and 12, for 120 is the product of 10 times 12. It means remnants of faith. In the Word the number ten has the same meaning as tenths, representing remnants which are preserved by the Lord within the internal man. And since these are the Lord's alone they are holy. The number twelve means faith, that is, all things belonging to faith in their entirety. So this composite number means remnants of faith.