3814. 'And he dwelt with him for a full month' means a new state of life. This is clear from the meaning of 'dwelling' as life, dealt with in 1293, 3384, 3613, and from the meaning of 'a full month' as a new state. All periods of time mean states, see 1274, 1382, 2625, 2788, 2837, 3254, 3356, 3404, so that years, months, and days mean such. What kind of states are meant however is clear from the numbers attached to them. When however year, month, or day is used in the singular, an entire state is meant, and so the end of the previous state and the beginning of the next, as has also been shown in various places in the explanations. Here therefore 'month' means the end of the previous state and the beginning of the next, and so means a new state, as in other places in the Word, as in Isaiah,

At length from month to its month, and from sabbath to sabbath, all flesh will come to bow down before Me, said Jehovah. Isaiah 66:23.

In John,

He showed me a pure river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and of the river, on this side and on that, was the tree of life bearing twelve fruits, yielding its fruit each month. Revelation 22:1-2.

'Yielding its fruit each month' stands for a state for ever new as regards the reception of good and the consequent practice of it. In Moses, Count the sons of Levi according to their father's house and according to their families. Every male a month old and over shall you count. Count every firstborn male of the children of Israel, a month old and over, and take the number of their names. Numbers 3:15, 40.

[2] It was because the end of the previous state and the beginning of the next, that is, a new state, was meant by 'a month' that they were ordered to count those who were 'a month old and over'. In the same author,

If you see among captives a beautiful woman, and have a desire for her so that you would take her to yourself for a wife, she shall remove the clothing of her captivity from upon her, and she shall sit in your house and lament her father and her mother for a full month. After that you shall go in to her and know her, and she shall be your wife. Deuteronomy 21:11, 13.

Here 'a full month' clearly stands for the end of the previous and the beginning of the next or new state.

41. Anything that is man's own has no life in it; and when depicted visually it looks like something hard as a bone and black. But anything that comes from the Lord does contain life. It has that which is spiritual and celestial within it, and when depicted visually it looks human and alive. It is perhaps incredible, but nevertheless absolutely true, that every expression, every idea, and every least thought of an angelic spirit is alive. In even the most detailed areas of his thought there is an affection that comes from the Lord, who is life itself. Consequently all that derives from the Lord has life within it, for it contains faith in Him, and is here meant by 'a living creature'. It then has the outward appearance of a body, meant here by that which is moving, or creeping. To man these matters remain arcana, but since the subject here is the living and moving creature, they ought at least to be mentioned here.