717. From these considerations it is also clear that the subject is things belonging to man's will, or the good and holy things in him which are attributes of the will. In this verse it is said that he was to take sevens of each clean beast, and in the next verse of each bird similarly. But in verses 19-20, of the previous chapter it is not said that he was to take sevens but two of each, that is, pairs of them, because there the subject was things belonging to the understanding, which in themselves are not holy but are made so by the love which constitutes the will.

9288. 'Seven days' means a holy state then. This is clear from the meaning of 'seven' as that which is holy, dealt with in 395, 433, 716, 881, 5265, 5268; and from the meaning of 'days' as states, dealt with in 23, 487, 488, 493, 2788, 3462, 3785, 4850, 5672, 5962, 7680, 8426, 9213.