505. Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their bodies for three and a half days. (11:9) This symbolizes all those who were or who would be caught up in doctrinal falsities and the resulting evil practices at the end of the church still existing, when they have heard and later hear about these two essential elements at the beginning of the New Church, namely, an acknowledgment of the Lord and of works in accordance with the Ten Commandments.

Peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations mean all those of the Protestant Reformed who were or who would be caught up in doctrinal falsities and the resulting evil practices owing to their faith alone. Peoples symbolize people caught up in doctrinal falsities (no. 483), tribes the falsities and evils in the church (no. 349), tongues a confession and acceptance of these (no. 483), and nations people caught up in evil practices (no. 483). Therefore the four together symbolize all those individually and collectively who were or who would be of such a character, thus all those who were in that great city and all those like them who would later come from the world.

The bodies that they would see, those of the two witnesses, symbolize the two essential elements of the New Church, as said in no. 501 above. That they would see them means, symbolically, when they have heard and later hear about them, since it is bodies that are said to be seen, and the two essential elements that are heard.

Three and a half days mean, symbolically, at the end and then the beginning, namely, at the end of the church still existing and the beginning of a new one.

Putting all these things together now into a single meaning, it is apparent that "those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their bodies for three and a half days" has, in the spiritual sense, the symbolic meaning stated above.

Three and a half days mean, symbolically, at the end and then the beginning because a day symbolizes a state, the number three symbolizes something completed to the end, and a half symbolizes a new beginning. For three and half days have the same symbolic meaning as a week, six days of which symbolize something completed to the end, and the seventh day something holy. That is because the number three and a half is one half of seven, and seven days constitute a week; and a number doubled or divided has the same symbolic meaning.

[2] That the number three symbolizes something completed, thus something completed to the end, can be seen from the following accounts in the Word:

That Isaiah was to go naked and barefoot for three years (Isaiah 20:3).

That Jehovah called three times to Samuel, and Samuel ran three times to Eli, and that the third time Eli understood (1 Samuel 3:1-8).

That Elijah stretched himself out three times on the widow's son (1 Kings 17:21).

That Elijah ordered that water be poured on the burnt sacrifice three times (1 Kings 18:34).

That Jesus said that the kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal (Matthew 13:33).

That Jesus told Peter he would deny Him three times (Matthew 26:34).

That the Lord asked Peter three times, "Do you love Me?" (John 21:15-17).

That Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights (Jonah 1:17).

That Jesus said He would destroy the Temple and in three days build it (Matthew 26:61, John 2:19)

That Jesus prayed three times in Gethsemane (Matthew 26:39-44).

That Jesus rose on the third day (Matthew 28:1ff.).

And so on elsewhere, as in Isaiah 16:14; Hosea 6:2; Exodus 3:18; 10:22-23; 19:1, 11, 15-16, 18; Leviticus 19:23-25; Numbers 19:11-22; 31:19-24; Deuteronomy 19:2-4; 26:12; Joshua 1:11; 3:2; 1 Samuel 20:5, 12, 19-20, 35-36, 41; 2 Samuel 24:11-13; Daniel 10:1-3; Mark 12:2, 4-6; Luke 20:12; 13:32-33.

Seven, like three, symbolizes something full and complete, but seven is predicated of holy things, while three is predicated of things not holy.

In a general sense, then, Adam represents the Most Ancient Church. In specific, when named as an individual, he represents that church as it first began turning away from the Lord. In both senses, though, his story is spiritual history, not natural history. Adam is a figurative character, not an actual individual human being.

The word "adam" is Hebrew for "man" or "humankind," and it is consistently translated that way in the first chapter of Genesis. In fact, in that chapter "adam" is plural, and includes men and women: "So God created man (adam) in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them" (Genesis 1:27, quoted from the King James Version of the Bible). Yet in later chapters – even including the genealogy of Jesus in Luke 3:38 – "Adam" is used as a name, and seems to refer to a specific person.

The first ripple in the relationship between God and humanity came as people began wanting a greater sense of life as their own, as they began to want to feel their love and wisdom as their own instead of things flowing in from God. The Lord gave them the power to feel as they wanted to, which is represented by the rib taken from the "man" Adam and formed into the "woman" Eve. This would, of course, lead to the downfall of humanity; because of that sense of self, people were drawn to the power of their own senses and their own minds – the serpent – instead of trusting the Lord. The Writings say the switch from "man" to "Adam" represents the change made in people when the Lord allowed them to have that sense of self. So what does this mean? The Writings tell us that the "man" created in Genesis represents the Most Ancient Church, which was the first church among early humans and was the purest ever to grace the earth. People of the church were motivated purely by the love of the Lord, and lived in peace, harmony, mutual love and inexpressible wisdom. This follows from the idea that the Lord is the one true human – and is, in fact, humanity itself. Since the Most Ancients were so close to the Lord, they are represented by "adam" in its meaning of "man" or "humankind." The common interpretation is that Genesis 1:26-28 is a general statement of the creation of people, and that the specifics of that creation are laid out in the next chapter when God first creates the man Adam and the woman Eve. But linguistically "adam" in the second chapter is the same as "adam" in the first chapter. In fact, while the King James Version of the Bible switches from "man" to "Adam" midway through the second chapter (Genesis 2:19), Young's Literal Translation – created to be as close to the original language as possible – does not use "Adam" as a named person until Genesis 4:25, long after the Garden of Eden. Eve, meanwhile, is simply "the woman" in all translations until Genesis 3:20, which is after she and Adam have eaten the forbidden fruit and been expelled from the Garden. Adam is one of the most crucial and most controversial figures in the Bible, dividing even the faithful into camps: those who believe he literally existed, created by God as the first human; and those who believe he is a figurative character, embodying spiritual and moral lessons but not an actual person.

In Genesis 2:19, Also that man was made from the ground, or from the non-man, by regeneration. (Arcana Coelestia 478, Arcana Coelestia 64, 313)

In Genesis 3:17, Adam's expulsion from Eden signifies the condemnation of those called Adam and Eve, the former of their intellectual part, the latter of their voluntary or will: in short of both degrees of their selfhood or proprium. Proprium is defined as "the love of self, and the derivative conceit of self-intelligence." (Doctrine Regarding Sacred Scripture 60, Divine Providence 313)