7839. 'The son of a year it shall be to you' means a complete state. This is clear from the meaning of 'the son' as truth, dealt with in 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623, 1803, 1813, 3373, 3704; and from the meaning of 'a year' as a whole period from start to finish, dealt with in 2906, and so a complete state. What a complete state is must be explained. The expression 'complete state' is used when good is such that it lacks nothing it needs for receiving the inflow of innocence. The truths of faith when they have been joined to the good of charity cause good to be such; for spiritual good receives its specific quality from the truths of faith. This is how to understand what a complete state is, meant by 'the son of a year'. But the state is not complete when truths have not as yet brought a specific quality to good, enabling it to receive a corresponding state of innocence. That complete state begins to exist when people look from good towards truths; it is not yet complete while they are looking from truths towards good. The second of these is the state of those undergoing regeneration, whereas the first is that of those who have been regenerated. Those undergoing regeneration are guided by truth that leads to good, those who have been regenerated by truth that springs from good; that is, the former live in obedience to truth, the latter are led by an affection to do it. The former are therefore members of the external Church, whereas the latter are members of the internal. Since 'the son of a year' meant a complete state, the command occurs so many times for a lamb or a kid, the son of a year, to be sacrificed, as in Exodus 29:38; Leviticus 9:3; 12:6; 14:10; 23:12, 18-19; Numbers 6:12; 7:15ff, 87-88; 15:27; 28:9, 11; and where the new temple is the subject in Ezekiel,

The prince shall make ¹ a burnt offering of a lamb, a perfect, year-old lamb, ² daily, to Jehovah; each morning he shall make ¹ it. Ezekiel 46:13.

Here 'the new temple' is used to mean the Lord's spiritual kingdom. 'The prince' is those who know genuine truths and are led by them to good; 'a burnt offering of a lamb' is worship of the Lord that springs from the good of innocence; and 'year-old' means a complete state.

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488. As has been stated, 'days' means states in general, and 'years' states in particular. This too becomes clear from the Word, as in Ezekiel,

You have brought your days near, and you have come even to your years. Ezekiel 22:4.

This refers to people who behave abominably and sin to the fullest extent, and so 'days' has reference in this case to such people's state in general, 'years' to that state in particular.

In David,

You will add days to the king's days; and his years as generation after generation! Psalms 61:6.

This refers to the Lord and His kingdom, where again 'days' and 'years' stand for the state of His kingdom.

In the same author,

I have considered the days of old, the years of long ago. Psalms 77:5.

Here 'days of old' is states of the Most Ancient Church, and 'years of long ago' states of the Ancient Church. In Isaiah,

The day of vengeance was in My heart, and the year of My redeemed has come. Isaiah 63:4.

This stands for the final times, where 'the day of vengeance' stands for a state of condemnation, and 'the year of the redeemed' for a state of blessedness.

Similarly, in the same prophet,

To proclaim the year of Jehovah's good pleasure, and the day of vengeance for our God; to comfort all who mourn. Isaiah 61:2.

Here again 'days' and also 'years' are mentioned and mean states.

In Jeremiah,

Renew our days as of old. Lamentations 5:21.

Here 'days' plainly stands for state.

[2] In Joel,

The day of Jehovah is coming, for it is near, a day of darkness and thick darkness, a tiny of cloud and gloom, as has never happened of old, nor will be again after it through the years of generation after generation. Joel 2:1-2, 11.

Here 'day' stands for a state of darkness, thick darkness, cloud and gloom - a state of individuals in particular and of all in general.

In Zechariah,

I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day. On that day you will shout, each to his companion, under his vine and under his fig tree. Zechariah 3:9-10.

And elsewhere in Zechariah,

There will be one tiny, it is known to Jehovah, which is neither day nor night, and at evening time there will be light. Zechariah 14:7.

State is clearly meant here, for it is said that 'it will be a day, which is neither day nor night; at evening time there will be light'.

The same meaning is also clear from the following in the Decalogue,

Honour your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged, and that it may be well with you in the land. Deuteronomy 5:16; 25:15.

Here 'a prolonging of days' does not mean living on into old age but a state that is happy.

[3] In the sense of the letter 'day' cannot be seen to mean anything other than a period of time, but in the internal sense it means a state. Angels, who abide in the internal sense of the Word, do not know what a period of time is, for the activity of the sun and moon with them does not produce divisions of time. As a consequence they do not know what a day or a year is, but only what states and changes of state are. This is why among angels, who abide in the internal sense of the Word, anything connected with matter, space, and time, goes unnoticed, as with the following usages in the sense of the letter in Ezekiel,

The day is near, even the day of Jehovah is near, a day of cloud; it will be a time of the nations. Ezekiel 30:3.

And in Joel,

Alas for the day! For the day of Jehovah is near, and as destruction. Joel 1:15.

Here 'a day of cloud' stands for cloud or falsity, 'a day of the nations' for the nations or wickedness, and 'the day of Jehovah' for vastation. When the concept of time is removed there remains the concept of the state of the things existing during that period of time. The same applies to the days and the years that are mentioned so many times in this chapter.