6983. 'Neither since yesterday, nor since the day before' means that he has lacked it - the gift of speech - from eternity. This is clear from the meaning of 'since yesterday and since the day before' as from eternity. The reason why 'since yesterday and since the day before' means from eternity is that a period of time is meant by these words, in particular past time; but time spoken of in connection with the Lord or the Divine does not mean a period of time but what is eternal. There are two things proper to the natural order which have no existence in heaven, and even less in the Divine, namely space and time. For their non-existence in heaven and the existence of states instead - states of being instead of 'space', and states of coming-into-being or manifestation instead of 'time' - see 2625, 3938; and for the fact that areas of space and periods of time in heaven are states, 1274, 1382, 2625, 2788, 2837, 3254, 3356, 3387, 3404, 3827, 4321, 4814, 4882, 4901, 4916, 5605, 6110. But within the Divine which is above the heavens the absence of space and time is even more complete; for not even states exist within Him. Instead of space there is what is infinite, and instead of time what is eternal. These two are what periods of time or areas of space in the world correspond to, and are what states of being and of coming-into-being in the heavens correspond to.

[2] The fact that in the Word 'yesterday' and 'the day before' do not mean yesterday and the day before but past time in general is clear from places where those words are used, as in Joshua,

The waters of the Jordan returned to their place, and went as yesterday [and] the day before ¹ over all its banks. Joshua 4:18.

In the first Book of Samuel,

It happened, when all who knew Saul from yesterday and the day before ² saw that, behold, he prophesied with the prophets . . . 1 Samuel 10:11.

In the second Book of Samuel,

The tribes of Israel said to David, Both yesterday and the day before, ³ when Saul was king over us, you were the one bringing Israel out and back. 2 Samuel 5:1-2.

In these places and elsewhere 'yesterday [and] the day before' stands for previously or past time. Now since 'yesterday and the day before' means time past, and the subject in the highest sense is the Lord, who in respect of the Divine Law or Divine Truth is represented by 'Moses', it is evident that 'since yesterday and since the day before' means from eternity. Eternity, meant by 'yesterday', is described in David as follows,

A thousand years in Your eyes are but as yesterday when it is past. Psalms 90:4.

Notes de bas de page:

4850. 'The days were multiplied' means a change of state. This is clear from the meaning of 'the days being multiplied' as undergoing a change of state, for 'day' or a time in the internal sense means state, 23, 487, 488, 893a, 2788, 3462, 3785, and 'being multiplied' when used in reference to days or times means undergoing a change. The fact that a change of state is the meaning is also evident from the details that follow. The expression 'to be multiplied' is used because it implies a change of state so far as truths are concerned; for 'to be multiplied' is used in reference to truths, 43, 55, 913, 983, 2846, 2847. Since the terms state and change of state are being used time and again, and yet few know what a state or a change of state is, a statement needs to be made about what these are. Neither time and the passage of time nor space and the extension of space can be associated with the interior aspects of the human being - that is to say, with his affections and his thoughts formed by these - because his affections and thoughts are not located in time and place, though to the senses in the world they do seem to be thus located. Rather, they are located in the interior things which correspond to time and place. The things which correspond to them cannot be called anything else than states, for no other term exists to describe the things that correspond to time and place. A change of state in interior things is said to take place when the affections and resulting thoughts in a person's mind or disposition (mens seu animus) undergo change, as when sadness turns to joy, or joy back to sadness, when ungodliness turns to godliness or devotion, and so on. These changes are called changes of state and are attributable to affections and, insofar as thoughts are governed by these, to thoughts also. But the changes of state which thoughts held within affections undergo are like those of individual parts within their general wholes, compared with which they are variations.