487. 'Days means periods of time and states in general. This has been shown in Chapter 1, where the 'days of creation' have no other meaning. In the Word it is very common for a whole period of time to be called 'a day', as it clearly is in the present verse and in verses 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 27, 31, below; and therefore the states that belong to periods of time in general are meant by 'days' as well. And when 'years' is attached, then periods of years mean the natures of those states, and so the states in particular.

[2] The most ancient people had their own particular numbers which they would use to mean different aspects of the Church - for instance, the numbers three, seven, ten, twelve, and many which they obtained from these and other numbers - and in so doing incorporated states of the Church. These numbers therefore contain arcana that would require considerable effort to unravel. Really a number was an evaluation of the states of the Church. The same feature occurs throughout the Word, especially in the prophetical. And the religious ceremonies of the Jewish Church also entail numbers specifying periods of time as well as quantities; for example, in connection with sacrifices, minchahs, oblations, and other practices, which in every case have special reference to holy things. Consequently eight hundred in this verse, nine hundred and thirty in the next, and the numbers of years mentioned in the verses that follow after that, embody in particular more matters than can possibly be retold; matters, that is to say, which have to do with changes in the state of their Church in relationship to their own general state. Later on, in the Lord's Divine mercy, the meaning of the simple numbers up to twelve will be given, for without knowing these first of all no one can grasp what compound numbers mean.

6091. 'And Jacob blessed Pharaoh' means a heartfelt desire for a joining together and resulting fruitfulness. This is clear from the meaning of 'blessing' here as a heartfelt desire for a joining together - for a joining of truth to factual knowledge in the natural since that is the subject here. 'Blessing has many meanings; in the spiritual sense it includes all things that are good and also those that are blissful. It therefore means being endowed with the good of love and charity, 3185, 4981, also a joining together or conjunction, 3504, 3514, 3530, 3565, 3584, as well as fruitfulness by virtue of the affection for truth, 2846, and a heartfelt desire for someone's happiness, 3185. Here therefore a heartfelt desire for that which is the subject here is meant, namely a desire for a joining together and thus fruitfulness. Fruitfulness follows as a result of the joining together, because once the joining together has been effected good grows and truth multiplies; for the marriage of goodness and truth is then the producer of that fruitfulness. It cannot come about prior to that except as a result so to speak of fornication, the good from which union is spurious, as is the truth. Good from that union is full of self-regard, and truth likewise has the same flavour.