9228. The fact that 'seven' means a whole period from start to finish, thus what is complete, is clear from a large number of places in the Word, as in Isaiah,

The light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, on the day when Jehovah will bind up the hurt ¹ of His people. Isaiah 30:26.

This refers to the salvation of faithful believers and their intelligence and wisdom in the Lord's kingdom. 'The moon' is faith received from the Lord, thus belief in the Lord, and 'the sun' is love derived from the Lord, thus love to the Lord, 30-38, 1521, 1529-1531, 2441, 2495, 3636, 3643, 4060, 4321 (end), 4696, 5377, 7078, 7083, 7171, 8644. 'The light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days' means a complete state of intelligence and wisdom because of love to and belief in the Lord.

[2] In Ezekiel,

The inhabitants of the cities of Israel will go out, and they will set alight and burn the weapons, both shield and buckler, together with bow and arrows, and hand-staff, and spear; they will set fire to them for seven years, that they may not bring wood from the field nor cut down any from the forests. And they will cleanse the land in seven months. Ezekiel 39:9-10, 12.

This refers to the destruction of falsity. 'The weapons' that are listed here are falsities used by those who are evil to fight against the Church's truths. 'Setting fire to them for seven years' means complete destruction brought about by the desires of self-love and love of the world. 'In order that they may bring no wood from the field or cut down any from the forests' means when no good at all survives, neither in the internal man nor in the external. 'Cleansing the land in seven months' means the complete restoration of goodness and truth within the Church. It has been shown in very many places that 'weapons' are truths fighting against falsities, and in the contrary sense falsities fighting against truths; that 'bow and arrows' means teachings that present truth, and in the contrary sense teachings that present falsity; that 'hand-staff' means the power of truth, and in the contrary sense the power of falsity; that 'setting alight and burning' means laying waste through the desires of self-love and love of the world; that 'wood from the field' means the Church's forms of interior good, and 'wood from the forests' factual knowledge of goodness and truth; and that 'the land' means the Church. Anyone can see that different things are meant here from those which present themselves in the letter, as when it says that they will burn the weapons, and set them alight for seven years, in order that they may bring no wood from the field or cut down any from the forests. People do indeed know that things of a holy and Divine nature are meant, because the Word is holy and comes from God. But they cannot by any means know which things of a holy and Divine nature are contained in these words unless they know what the meaning is of 'weapons', 'seven years' and 'seven months', 'wood from the field' and 'wood from the forests'. From this it is evident that without knowledge gained from the internal sense those prophetic utterances are completely unintelligible.

[3] In David,

Seven times in the day I praise You over the judgements of Your righteousness. Psalms 119:164.

In the same author,

Repay [our] neighbours sevenfold into their bosom. Psalms 79:12.

'Sevenfold' means completely. The meaning is similar in Moses, where it says that they would be punished sevenfold if they went against commandments and statutes, Leviticus 26:18, 21, 24, 28. Anyone who does not know that 'seven' means a whole period from start to finish, and therefore what is complete, will suppose that 'seven weeks' in Daniel means seven lengths of time,

Know and perceive that from the going forth of the Word to restore and to build Jerusalem until the Messiah, the Prince, there will be seven weeks. Daniel 9:25.

But 'seven weeks until the Messiah, the Prince' means what is said of the Lord, namely that He will come in the fullness of time, so that 'seven weeks' means a whole period. From this it is evident that the seven spirits before God's throne, Revelation 1:4, the book sealed with seven seals, Revelation 5:1, and the seven angels holding 'the seven bowls, which are the seven last plagues, Revelation 15:1, 6-7; 21:9, do not mean seven spirits, seven seals, or seven angels, bowls, and plagues, but all things even to completeness. The statement in 1 Samuel 2:5 that the barren has borne seven in like manner does not mean seven but a great amount, even to a complete amount.

[4] Because 'seven' had this meaning it was stipulated that a priest at his initiation should wear the garments for seven days, Exodus 29:30; that his hands should be filled for seven days, ² Exodus 29:35; that the altar should be sanctified for seven days, Exodus 29:37; and that those initiated into the priesthood should not depart from the tent [of meeting] for seven days, Leviticus 8:33-34. So too with the reference to the unclean spirit going out of a person and returning with seven others, Matthew 12:43-45; Luke 11:26; also where it says that if a brother sins seven times in a day and is seven times converted he is to be forgiven, Luke 17:4; and that the heart of Nebuchadnezzar was changed from [that of] a human being and the heart of a beast was given to him while seven times passed by, Daniel 4:15, 25, 32. For the same reasons also Job's friends sat down with him on the earth seven days and seven nights and spoke nothing to him, Job 2:13. Seventy in a similar way means that which is complete, see 6508, as also does a week, 2044, 3845. From all this it now becomes clear that 'the eighth day' means the initial phase of the following state.

Poznámky pod čarou:

4430. 'And Shechem saw her' means truth. This is clear from the representation of 'Shechem' as truth, in this case the truth received by the Church from ancient times. The reason why 'Shechem' has this representation is that remnants of the Church still existed with the nation to which Shechem belonged. The fact that his nation was one of the upright nations is evident from the genuineness behind the things that Hamor and Shechem said to Jacob and his sons, verses 8-12, and from the deference that was shown by them in order that Shechem might marry Dinah, verses 18-24, on account of which they represented the truth of the Church. Furthermore the city of Shechem was Abram's first stopping-place when he came from Syria into the land of Canaan, Genesis 12:6, and was now also Jacob's first stopping-place when he too came from Syria, where he stretched his tent, made booths, and set up an altar, Genesis 33:17-20. It has been shown frequently that the journeys or wanderings of Abraham and Jacob represented advances into the truths of faith and the goods of love - in the highest sense, the Lord's own advances, and in the relative sense those made by the person who is being regenerated by the Lord. Hence 'Shechem' meant the first degree of light, 1440, 1441, and therefore interior truth since this is the first degree of light.

[2] But in the present chapter the subject in the internal sense is the way in which the descendants of Jacob annihilated this first degree of light or interior truth residing with them. In this sense, which is the internal historical sense, 'the sons of Jacob' means all his descendants, for the internal sense of the Word deals solely with the things that belong to the Lord's kingdom, and so those that belong to His Church. Jacob's actual sons did not constitute any Church but their descendants did, though not until after they had come out of Egypt, and in actual fact not until they entered the land of Canaan.

[3] Furthermore regarding this city named after Shechem, it was called Salem in ancient times, as is clear in the previous chapter,

Jacob came to Salem, the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan. Genesis 32:18.

'Salem' means serenity, and 'the city of Shechem' the interior truths of faith; and a person comes into a state of serenity when he arrives at those truths, see 4393. But later on the same city was called Shechem, as may be seen in Joshua,

The bones of Joseph which the children of Israel caused to be brought up out of Egypt they buried in Shechem, in the part of the field which Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for a hundred kesitahs. Joshua 24:32.

And in the Book of Judges,

Gaal the son of Ebed said to the citizens of Shechem, Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal. and Zebul is his commander? Serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem; and why shall we serve him? Judges 9:28.

[4] The same city after that was called 'Sychar', as is evident in John,

Jesus came into a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to Joseph his son; Jacob's well was there. John 4:5-6.

From these places, as well as from others where it is mentioned, it is evident that this city means interior truth. It is also clear in Hosea,

Gilead is a city of those who work iniquity; it is stained with blood; and as troops wait for a man so the company of priests murder on the way to Shechem, for they have committed villainy. In the house of Israel I have seen a foul thing. Hosea 6:8-10.

Here 'they murder on the way to Shechem' means that they annihilate truths, including interior ones, and so annihilate all truths. The annihilation of interior truth is also meant by the reference to Abimelech's destruction of that city and sowing it with salt, Judges 9:45.