5122. The three shoots three days are these. That this signifies continuous derivations down to the last or ultimate one, is evident from the signification of “three,” as being one period and its continuation from beginning to end (n. 2788, 4495); from the signification of “shoots,” as being derivations (n. 5114); and from the signification of “days,” as being states (n. 23, 487, 488, 493, 893, 2788, 3462, 3785, 4850). From this it follows that by “the three shoots three days are these” is signified the state of the rebirth of this sensuous which is represented by the butler, from its first down to its ultimate; its successive derivations being signified by the “shoots.”

[2] The states of the rebirth of each sensuous, and of each thing in the natural, and also in the rational, have their progressions from beginning to end; and when they come to the end they commence from a kind of new beginning, that is, from the end to which they had striven in the former state, to a further end; and so on; and at last the order is inverted, and then what was last becomes first, just as while man is being regenerated both as to the rational and as to the natural, the periods of the first state are from the truths which are of faith to the goods which are of charity; and then the truths of faith apparently act the first part, and the goods of charity the second, for the truths of faith look to the good of charity as their end. These periods continue even until the man has been regenerated. Afterward charity, which was the end, becomes the beginning, and from it new states commence, which proceed in both directions, namely, toward what is still more interior, and also toward what is exterior; toward the former being toward love to the Lord, and toward the latter being toward the truths of faith, and further toward natural truths, and also toward sensuous truths, which are then successively reduced to correspondence with the goods of charity and of love in the rational, and thus into heavenly order.

[3] These are the things which are meant by continuous progressions and derivations down to the ultimate one. Such progressions and derivations with the man who is being regenerated are perpetual, from his infancy even to the last hour of his life in the world, and also afterward even to eternity; and yet he can never be so regenerated that he can in any way be said to be perfect; for there are things to be regenerated that are innumerable, nay, illimitable in number, both in the rational and in the natural, and everyone of them has shoots illimitable, that is, progressions and derivations toward interior things and toward exterior things. Man knows nothing at all of this; but the Lord knows all things and every single thing, and provides for them every moment. If He were to pause even for an instant, all the progressions would be disturbed; for what is prior looks to what follows in a continuous series, and produces series of consequences to eternity. From this it is plain that the Divine foresight and providence are in everything, even the very least; and that unless this were so, or if they were only universal, the human race would perish.

720. That “pairs” signify things relatively profane, is evident from the signification of the number “two.” A “pair” or “two” not only signifies marriage (and is, when predicated of the heavenly marriage, a holy number), but it also signifies the same as “six.” That is to say, as the six days of labor are related to the seventh day of rest, or the holy day, so is the number “two” related to “three;” and therefore the third day in the Word is taken for the seventh, and involves almost the same, on account of the Lord’s resurrection on the third day. And hence the Lord’s coming into the world, and in glory, and every coming of the Lord, is described equally by the “seventh” and by the “third” day. For this reason the two days that precede are not holy, but relatively are profane. Thus in Hosea:

Come and let us return unto Jehovah, for He hath wounded, and He will heal us; He hath smitten and He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live before Him (Hosea 6:1-2).

And in Zechariah:

It shall come to pass in all the land, saith Jehovah, that two parts therein shall be cut off and die, and the third shall be left therein; and I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined (Zechariah 13:8-9).

And that silver was most pure when purified seven times appears in Psalms 12:6; from all of which it is plain that as “seven” does not signify seven, but things that are holy, so by “pairs” are signified not pairs, but things relatively profane; and therefore the meaning is not that the unclean beasts, or evil affections, in comparison with the clean beasts, or good affections, were few in the proportion of two to seven, for the evils in man are far more numerous than the goods.