2575. 'Behold, I have given a thousand pieces of silver to your brother' means an infinite abundance of rational truth joined to [celestial] good. This is clear from the meaning of 'a thousand' as much and countless, here, as infinite, or an infinite abundance, since the expression has reference to the Lord, a meaning dealt with below; from the meaning of 'silver' as rational truth, dealt with in 1551, 2048; and from the meaning of 'a brother' as celestial good joined to rational truth, like a brother to a sister, 2524, 2557. From this it is evident that 'I have given a thousand pieces of silver to your brother' means an infinite abundance of rational truth joined to [celestial] good. The reason this abundance was granted to good, meant by 'a brother', but not to truth, is that truth derives from good, not good from truth. Regarding that infinite abundance, see 2572.

[2] That 'a thousand' in the Word means much and countless, and infinite when it has reference to the Lord, is evident from the following places: In Moses,

I, Jehovah your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the sons, on the third and on the fourth generations of those who hate Me; and showing mercy to thousands of those who love Me and keep My commandments. Exodus 20:5-6; 34:7; Deuteronomy 5:9-10.

And in Jeremiah,

Jehovah shows mercy to thousands and He repays the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their sons after them. Jeremiah 32:18.

In these two places 'thousands' does not mean a definite number but that which is infinite, for the Lord's mercy, being Divine, is infinite. In David,

The chariots of God are myriad on myriad, thousands on thousands; ¹ the Lord is within them, Sinai within holiness. Psalms 68:17.

Here 'myriads' and 'thousands' stand for things that are countless.

[3] In the same author,

A thousand will fall at your side, and a myriad at your right hand; it will not come near you. Psalms 91:7.

Here also 'a thousand' and 'a myriad' stand for things that are countless, and as it has reference to the Lord, who is meant by 'David' in the Psalms, those numbers stand for all who are His enemies. In the same author,

Our garners are full, yielding food and still more food; our flocks bring forth a thousand, and ten thousand in our streets. Psalms 144:13.

Here also 'a thousand', and 'ten thousand' or a myriad, stand for things that are countless. In the same author,

A thousand years in Your eyes are but as yesterday when it is past. Psalms 90:4.

'A thousand years' stands for that which is outside time, thus for eternity, which is infinity of time. In Isaiah,

One thousand at the rebuke of one, at the rebuke of five will you flee until you are left like a flagstaff on top of a mountain. Isaiah 30:17.

Here 'one thousand' or a chiliad stands for a large indefinite number, 'five' for few, 649. In Moses,

May Jehovah the God of your fathers add to you, as you are, a thousand times, and may He bless you. Deuteronomy 1:11.

Here 'a thousand times' stands for things that are countless, as in everyday speech in which also a thousand is an expression for many, as when one speaks of things being said thousands of times, or done in thousands of ways. Similarly in Joshua,

One man of you will chase a thousand, for Jehovah your God fights for you. Joshua 23:10.

[4] Being a definite calculable number, the word 'thousand' when used in prophetical parts, especially when these are linked together as historical descriptions, appears to mean a thousand. But in fact it means people who are many or countless - an unspecified number. For historical descriptions are of such a nature that they restrict people's ideas to the most immediate and proper meanings that the words possess, as they also do with the names that occur there, when in fact numbers in the Word, like names also, mean real things, as may become clear from what has been shown already concerning numbers in 482, 487, 575, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1963, 1988, 2075, 2252. This explains why some people suppose that the thousand years referred to in Revelation 20:1-7 means a thousand years or periods of time, for the reason, as has been stated, that prophecies are declared in that book through historical descriptions. But in fact 'a thousand years' there means nothing else than that which is large and indeterminate, and elsewhere infinity of time, or eternity.

Poznámky pod čarou:

2454. That 'his wife looked back behind him' means that truth turned away from good and looked towards matters of doctrine is clear from the meaning of 'looking back behind him' and from the meaning of 'a wife'. Looking back behind him means looking towards matters of doctrine, which have a relationship with truth, and not towards life in accordance with them, which has a relationship with good, as stated above in 2417. That which is secondary is referred to as 'behind him' and that which is primary as 'before him'. The fact that truth is secondary and good primary has been shown quite often. For truth belongs to good, since the essence and life of truth is good. 'Looking behind him' therefore means looking towards truth which constitutes doctrinal teaching, and not towards good which constitutes life in accordance with doctrinal teaching. That these points are what is meant becomes quite clear from the Lord's words, where also, referring to the final period of the Church or close of the age, He says in Luke,

On that day, whoever will be on the housetop with his vessels in the house, let him not come down to take them away; and whoever is in the field, let him likewise not turn back to behind him. Remember Lot's wife. Luke 17:31-32.

[2] These words of the Lord are by no means intelligible without the internal sense, and so are unintelligible unless one knows what is meant by 'being on the housetop', by 'vessels in the house', by 'coming down to take them away', by 'the field', and lastly by 'turning back to behind him'. According to the internal sense 'being on the housetop' means resting on good; for 'a house' means good, see 710, 2231, 2233. 'Vessels in the house' means truths which belong to good; for truths are the vessels for good, see 1496, 1832, 1900, 2063, 2269. 'Going down to take them away' means, as is evident, turning away from good towards truth, for since good is primary it is also higher, while truth, being secondary, is also lower. That 'the field' is the Church, so called from the seed which it receives, and consequently that those people are 'fields' in whom there is the good taught by doctrine, is clear from many places in the Word. These considerations show what 'turning back to behind him' means, namely turning away from good and looking towards matters of doctrine. And it is because these things are meant by the expression 'Lot's wife', that 'remember Lot's wife' is added. The reason it is not said that she looked 'behind herself' but 'behind him' is that 'Lot' means good, see 2324, 2351, 2371, 2399. This explains why, when Lot was told what to do, verse 17, the words used were, 'Do not look back behind you'.

[3] The reason why in Luke it is said 'let him not turn back to behind him' and not 'to the things behind him' is that celestial people are unwilling even to mention anything that is a matter of doctrine, see 202, 337. This is why no such thing is mentioned in Luke, only the words 'to behind him'.

[4] These same matters are described in Matthew as follows,

When you see the abomination of desolation, foretold by the prophet Daniel, then let those who are in Judea flee into the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything away out of his house; and let him who is in the field not return back to take his clothes. Matthew 24:15-17.

Here 'the abomination of desolation' is the state of the Church when there is no love and no charity. When these have been destroyed abominable things predominate. 'Judea' means the Church, and in particular the celestial Church, as is evident from both the historical and prophetical sections throughout the Old Testament Word, while 'the mountains into which they were to flee' means love to the Lord and consequent charity towards the neighbour, see 795, 1430, 1691. 'He who is on the housetop' means good flowing from love, as stated just above. 'Going down to take anything away out of his house' means turning away from good towards truth, as has also been stated above, while 'he who is in the field' means members of the spiritual Church, as is evident from the meaning of 'field' in the Word. 'Let him not return back to take his clothes' means not turning away from good towards truth that constitutes doctrinal teaching - 'clothes' meaning truths, for truths clothe good like garments, see 1073. Anyone may see that all those things which the Lord has said in that section about the close of the age mean things altogether different and embody arcana, such as that those in Judea were to flee into the mountains, that the one on the housetop was not to go down and bring anything out of the house, and that the one in the field was not to return back to take his clothes. Similar to this is the statement in verse 17 that Lot was not to look back behind him, and that made here that his wife did look back behind him and became a pillar of salt. In addition this matter is clear from the meaning of 'a wife' as truth, dealt with in 915, 1468, and from the meaning of 'Lot' as good, dealt with in 2324, 2351, 2371, 2399; hence the words 'after him'.

[5] Truth is said to turn away from good and look towards matters of doctrine when the member of the Church no longer takes to heart what kind of life he leads, only what kind of doctrine he possesses. Yet it is life according to doctrine, not doctrine separate from life, that makes anyone a member of the Church; for when doctrine is separated from life, then because good, in which life consists, has been vastated, truth as well, in which doctrine consists, is vastated, that is, it becomes 'a pillar of salt'. This is something anyone who looks to doctrine alone and not to life may know, by considering whether, even though doctrine teaches such things, he in fact believes in the resurrection, heaven, hell, and indeed the Lord, and so in everything else which doctrine teaches.