8714. 'Rulers of fifties' means first and foremost truths that are intermediary. This is clear from the meaning of 'rulers' as first and foremost truths, as above in 8712, 8713; and from the meaning of 'fifties' as intermediary truths, that is to say, those which lie between truths springing from good that reside in the second degree and those that reside in the third, meant by 'rulers of hundreds' and 'rulers of tens'. The reason why 'fifties' are intermediary truths is that 'fifty' means either much or something, just as 'five' does (for the meaning of 'five' as much, see 5708, 5956, and for its meaning something, 4638, 5291), and therefore when fifty is mentioned between a hundred and ten, intermediaries are meant. Intermediary truths are those which extend towards one part from another, that is, exist between those in a prior degree and those in a posterior degree, in order to link such degrees together.

8713. 'Rulers of hundreds' means first and foremost truths in the second degree. This is clear from the meaning of 'rulers' as first and foremost truths, dealt with immediately above in 8712; and from the meaning of 'hundreds' as many people or many things, but in the second degree since 'thousands' exist in the first. For the meaning of 'hundred' as much or many, see 4400.