10652. And his daughters commit whoredom after their gods, and make thy sons commit whoredom after their gods. That this signifies in this manner the profanation of good and of truth, is evident from the signification of “committing whoredom,” as being unlawful conjunction (of which above, n. 10648); from the signification of “his daughters,” or the daughters of the inhabitant of the land, as being the affections of evil; from the signification of “their gods,” as being the falsities of the affections of evil conjoined with truths, for by “their gods” are meant the gods of the daughters of the inhabitant of the land conjoined with sons of the Israelitish nation (see just above at n. 10651), which conjunction is the profanation of good; and from the signification of “making thy sons commit whoredom after their gods,” as being the conjunction of truth with falsities, which is the profanation of truth. (That “gods” denote falsities, see n. 4402, 4544, 7873, 8867; and that “sons” denote truths, n. 489, 491, 533, 1147, 3373, 4257, 9807, 10490.)

[2] These things are so said because the first conjunction of the affections of evil with truths, which is signified by “taking the daughters of the inhabitant of the land for thy sons,” is not as yet profanation; but the second conjunction is profanation, because this takes place when evil is applied to truth, and truth to evil, which is done by means of a wrong interpretation of truth, and the application of it to evil, and thus by the insertion of the one into the other. From this, truth no longer remains truth; but is killed and profaned.

[3] This profanation is also signified by “the whoredom of the people with the daughters of Moab,” of which we read in Moses:

Israel settled in Shittim, where the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab, and they called the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people did eat, and bowed themselves down to their gods. Therefore Jehovah said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up to Jehovah before the sun. And the people were smitten; and there died from this plague twenty-four thousand (Numbers 25:1-2, 4-5, 9).

By “Moab” are signified those who adulterate goods (n. 2468, 8315); and by his “daughters,” the affections of this evil; and by “whoredom with them,” profanation; consequently the penalty was the hanging of the heads of the people before the sun, and the death of twenty-four thousand. For the sun of the world denotes the love of self (n. 10584); “hanging before it” denotes the total extinction of heavenly good; and “twenty-four thousand” denotes all the truths and goods of truth in the complex, in like manner as “twelve thousand” (n. 2089, 3913, 7973); their death denotes the extinction of all truths. This takes place with those who profane.

2252. Peradventure there be fifty righteous in the midst of the city. That this signifies that the truths may possibly be full of goods, is evident from the signification of “fifty,” as being what is full; from the signification of “righteous” as being good (see n. 612, 2235); from that of the “midst,” as being what is within (n. 1074); and from that of “city,” as being truth (n. 402). Thus “fifty righteous in the midst of the city,” means in the internal sense that truths may possibly be full of goods within. That there is this meaning in these words cannot be seen from the letter, for the historicals of the literal sense lead the mind in quite a different direction, that is, to different thoughts; and yet that these words are so perceived by those who are in the internal sense, I know of a certainty. The numbers themselves also, as here “fifty,” and in what follows “forty-five,” “forty,” “thirty,” “twenty,” and “ten,” are by no means perceived as numbers by those who are in the internal sense, but as real things or states (as is shown, n. 482, 487, 575, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1963, 2075).

[2] For the ancients marked the states of their church-in one way-by numbers; and the nature of their computation in so doing is evident from the signification of the numbers in the places just referred to. They had the signification of numbers from the representatives which exist in the world of spirits, where, when anything appears as numbered, it does not signify anything that is determined by the numbers, but the thing or state itself; as is evident from the things that have been adduced (n. 2129, 2130, also n. 2089) concerning “twelve,” as meaning all the things of faith. It is similar with the numbers which now follow. This shows what is the nature of the Word in the internal sense.

[3] That “fifty” signifies what is full, comes from its following next after the product of seven into seven, or forty-nine, so that it is the impletion of this number, on which account there was in the Representative Church the festival of the Seven Sabbaths on the fiftieth day, and the Jubilee in the fiftieth year. As regards the festival of the seven sabbaths we read in Moses:

Ye shall count unto you from the morrow of the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave-offering, seven entire sabbaths shall there be, even unto the morrow of the seventh sabbath shall ye count fifty days, and ye shall offer a new offering unto Jehovah (Leviticus 23:15).

And concerning the Jubilee:

Thou shalt count for thee seven sabbaths of years, seven years seven times, and they shall be to thee seven sabbaths of years, nine and forty years, and ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty in the land to all the inhabitants thereof; it shall be a jubilee unto you (Leviticus 25:8, 10),

which shows that the fiftieth is what is full in relation to sabbaths.

[4] Moreover, wherever “fifty” is mentioned in the Word, it signifies what is full; as when it is said that:

The Levites were numbered from a son of thirty years and upward, even unto a son of fifty years (Numbers 4:23, 34, 35, 39, 43, 47; 8:25);

meaning the full or final state of discharging the ministry.

That a man lying with a damsel, a virgin, shall give unto the damsel’s father fifty pieces of silver, and she should be to him for a wife, nor could he put her away (Deuteronomy 22:29),

which denotes a full fine and full restitution.

David’s giving to Araunah for the threshing-floor where he built the altar to Jehovah, fifty shekels of silver (2 Samuel 24:24)

denotes a full price and a full purchase.

Absalom’s preparing for himself a chariot and horses, and having fifty men running before him (2 Samuel 15:1),

and in like manner:

Adonijah’s having chariots and horsemen, and fifty men running before him (1 Kings 1:5),

denotes full excellence and greatness. For they had from the ancients certain representative and significative numbers, which they observed, and which were also commanded in their rites; but most of them did not know what they signified.

[5] And in the same way, as “fifty” signifies what is full, and as this number was also representative-already said-the same thing is signified by it in the Lord’s parable of the steward, who said to him that owed the oil:

How much owest thou unto my lord? And he said, a hundred baths of oil. And he said unto him, take thy bond, and sit down quickly, and write fifty (Luke 16:6);

“fifty” denoting full payment. As fifty is a number, it indeed appears to involve nothing beyond the number; whereas in the internal sense what is full is everywhere meant by it, as in Haggai:

One came to the wine-press to draw out fifty out of the wine-press; there were twenty (Haggai 2:16),

that is, instead of fullness there was not much. “Fifty” could not have been mentioned here in the Prophet unless it had been significative.