583. Verses 20, 21. And the rest of the men who were not killed in these plagues, and repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not adore demons, and idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; and repented not of their murders, nor of their enchantments, nor of their whoredoms, nor of their thefts.

20. "And the rest of the men who were not killed in these plagues," signifies who did not perish by the cupidities above mentioned n. 584; "and repented not of the works of their hands," signifies who did not actually turn themselves away from such things as are from self [proprium] (n. 585); "that they should not adore demons," signifies that they should not worship their own cupidities n. 586; "and idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood," signifies the false doctrinals that are from self-intelligence, and that favor the bodily and worldly loves and the principles derived therefrom n. 587; "which can neither see nor hear nor walk," signifies in which and from which there is nothing of the understanding of truth or the perception of good, and thus nothing of spiritual life (n. 588).

21. "And repented not of their murders," signifies who have not actually turned themselves away from extinguishing the things that pertain to the understanding of truth, the will of good, and spiritual life therefrom n. 589; "nor of their enchantments, nor of their whoredoms," signifies nor from perverting good and falsifying truth n. 590; "nor of their thefts," signifies nor from taking away the knowledges of truth and good, and thus the means of acquiring for themselves spiritual life (n. 591).

Intellectual things -- ideas, knowledge, facts, even insight and understanding -- are more separate and free-standing than emotional things, and it's easier to imagine numbering them as individual things. Our loves and affections tend to be more amorphous -- they can certainly be powerful, but would be harder to measure. Using words like “much,” “many,” myriad” and “multitude” to describe a collection of things gives the sense that there is an exact number, even if we don't know what it is and don't want to bother trying to count. These words, then, are used in the Bible in reference to intellectual things -- our thoughts, knowledge and concepts. Words that indicate largeness without the idea of number -- “great” is a common one -- generally refer to loves, affections and the desire for good. Here's one way to think about this: Say you want to take some food to a friend who just had a baby. That's a desire for good (assuming you're doing it from genuinely good motives). To actually do it, though, takes dozens of thoughts, ideas, facts and knowledges. What does she like to eat? What do you have to cook? What do you cook well? Can you keep it hot getting to her house? Is it nutritious? Does she have any allergies? So one good desire can bring a multitude of ideas into play.