2044. And a son of eight days. That this signifies any beginning of purification whatever, is evident from the signification of “the eighth day.” A “week,” which is seven days, signifies an entire period of any state or time, as of reformation, of regeneration, of temptation, whether of man in particular, or of the church in general; thus a period is called a “week,” whether it be one of a thousand years, of a hundred, of ten, or of as many days, hours, minutes, and so on ((728) as may be seen from the passages cited in Part First, n. 728). And as the eighth day is the first day of a new week, it signifies any beginning whatever. This shows also that, as circumcision was itself a representative of purification, so also was the time of it, namely, the eighth day; not that they then entered into a purer state, and were purified on that account, but for the reason that, as “circumcision” signified purification, so “the eighth day” signified that this ought to be effected at all times, and thus always, as from a new beginning.

727. Verse 4. For in yet seven days I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every substance that I have made will I destroy from off the faces of the ground. “In yet seven days” signifies the beginning of temptation; “to rain” signifies temptation; “forty days and nights” signifies the duration of temptation; “I will destroy every substance that I have made from off the faces of the ground” signifies the Own of man, which is as it were destroyed when he is being regenerated. The same words signify also the extinction of those of the Most Ancient Church who destroyed themselves.