4759. For twenty pieces of silver. That this signifies estimation, is evident from the signification of “twenty,” as being the good and truth stored up by the Lord in the interior man, which are called remains (n. 2280), thus holy good or truth, here holy truth, because it is said “twenty pieces of silver;” for “silver” is truth (n. 1551, 2954). The same number signifies also what is not holy, because most of the expressions used in the Word have also an opposite sense; and here what is not holy in respect to those who alienated Divine truth, or sold Joseph (n. 4758), but what is holy in respect to those who received it, or bought him. Thus it denotes what is not holy in respect to Joseph’s brethren, that is, to those in the church who are in faith separate, but what is holy in respect to the Ishmaelites, that is, to those who are in simple good. These are the things which are meant by estimation.

[2] That “twenty” signifies also what is not holy, is because “twenty” denotes remains, as before said. The holy in those who have no remains of good and truth in their interior man, but instead of them evil and falsity, is not holy, but is either filthy or profane, according to the kind of evil and falsity. That “twenty” denotes also what is not holy, is evident in Zechariah:

I saw and behold a flying roll. And he said unto me, What seest thou? And I answered, I see a flying roll; the length thereof is twenty ells, and the breadth thereof ten ells. Then said he unto me, This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth (Zech. 5:1-3).

In Haggai:

When one came to the wine-press to draw out fifty out of the wine-press, there were twenty. I smote you with blasting, and with mildew, all the work of your hands (Haggai 2:16-17).

[3] In Ezekiel:

Thy food which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day; from time even in time shalt thou eat it. And thou shalt eat it as a barley cake, and thou shalt make it in their eyes with dung that cometh out of man. For thus, Jehovah said, shall the sons of Israel eat their bread unclean among the nations (Ezekiel 4:10, 12-13).

In these passages “twenty” denotes that which is unholy, unclean, and profane. That all who were more than twenty years old should die in the wilderness (Numbers 14:29; 32:11), represented also what is holy in respect to those who were under that number of years, and what is unholy in respect to those who were over it. (That all numbers in the Word signify things, see n. 482, 487, 575, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1963, 1988, 2075, 2252, 4264, 4495, 4670; and that remains are good and truth stored up by the Lord in the interior man, n. 468, 530, 560, 561, 576, 660, 798, 1050, 1738, 1906, 2284)

4264. Thirty milch camels and their colts, forty heifers and ten bullocks, twenty she-asses and ten foals. That this signifies things of service general and special, is evident from the signification of “camels and their colts,” and of “heifers and bullocks,” also of “she-asses and their foals” as being the things which are of the natural man (concerning which see above—as to camels, n. 3048, 3071, 3143, 3145; bullocks, n. 1824, 1825, 2180, 2781, 2830; and she-asses, n. 2781). That the things which are of the natural man are relatively things of service, may also be seen above (n. 1486, 3019, 3020, 3167). Hence it is that by these animals are signified things of service general and special. As regards the number, of she-goats two hundred, of he-goats twenty, of ewes two hundred, of rams twenty, of camels and their colts thirty, of heifers forty, of bullocks ten, of she-asses twenty, and of their foals ten, these are arcana which cannot be opened without much explication and ample deduction; for all numbers in the Word signify actual things (n. 482, 487, 575, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1988, 2075, 2252, 3252); and what they signify has been shown in the foregoing pages where they have occurred.

[2] I have sometimes wondered that when the speech of the angels fell down into the world of spirits, it fell also into various numbers; and also that where numbers were read in the Word, real things were understood by the angels. For number never penetrates into heaven, because numbers are measures of both space and of time, these being of the world and of nature, to which in the heavens correspond states and changes of states. The most ancient people, who were celestial men and had communication with angels, knew what was signified by every number, even by the compound ones; and from them their signification was handed down to their posterity, and to the sons of the Ancient Church. These are things which will hardly be credited by the man of the church at this day, who believes nothing to have been stored up in the Word more holy than what appears in the letter.