2575. 'Behold, I have given a thousand pieces of silver to your brother' means an infinite abundance of rational truth joined to [celestial] good. This is clear from the meaning of 'a thousand' as much and countless, here, as infinite, or an infinite abundance, since the expression has reference to the Lord, a meaning dealt with below; from the meaning of 'silver' as rational truth, dealt with in 1551, 2048; and from the meaning of 'a brother' as celestial good joined to rational truth, like a brother to a sister, 2524, 2557. From this it is evident that 'I have given a thousand pieces of silver to your brother' means an infinite abundance of rational truth joined to [celestial] good. The reason this abundance was granted to good, meant by 'a brother', but not to truth, is that truth derives from good, not good from truth. Regarding that infinite abundance, see 2572.

[2] That 'a thousand' in the Word means much and countless, and infinite when it has reference to the Lord, is evident from the following places: In Moses,

I, Jehovah your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the sons, on the third and on the fourth generations of those who hate Me; and showing mercy to thousands of those who love Me and keep My commandments. Exodus 20:5-6; 34:7; Deuteronomy 5:9-10.

And in Jeremiah,

Jehovah shows mercy to thousands and He repays the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their sons after them. Jeremiah 32:18.

In these two places 'thousands' does not mean a definite number but that which is infinite, for the Lord's mercy, being Divine, is infinite. In David,

The chariots of God are myriad on myriad, thousands on thousands; ¹ the Lord is within them, Sinai within holiness. Psalms 68:17.

Here 'myriads' and 'thousands' stand for things that are countless.

[3] In the same author,

A thousand will fall at your side, and a myriad at your right hand; it will not come near you. Psalms 91:7.

Here also 'a thousand' and 'a myriad' stand for things that are countless, and as it has reference to the Lord, who is meant by 'David' in the Psalms, those numbers stand for all who are His enemies. In the same author,

Our garners are full, yielding food and still more food; our flocks bring forth a thousand, and ten thousand in our streets. Psalms 144:13.

Here also 'a thousand', and 'ten thousand' or a myriad, stand for things that are countless. In the same author,

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

'A thousand years' stands for that which is outside time, thus for eternity, which is infinity of time. In Isaiah,

One thousand at the rebuke of one, at the rebuke of five will you flee until you are left like a flagstaff on top of a mountain. Isaiah 30:17.

Here 'one thousand' or a chiliad stands for a large indefinite number, 'five' for few, 649. In Moses,

May Jehovah the God of your fathers add to you, as you are, a thousand times, and may He bless you. Deuteronomy 1:11.

Here 'a thousand times' stands for things that are countless, as in everyday speech in which also a thousand is an expression for many, as when one speaks of things being said thousands of times, or done in thousands of ways. Similarly in Joshua,

One man of you will chase a thousand, for Jehovah your God fights for you. Joshua 23:10.

[4] Being a definite calculable number, the word 'thousand' when used in prophetical parts, especially when these are linked together as historical descriptions, appears to mean a thousand. But in fact it means people who are many or countless - an unspecified number. For historical descriptions are of such a nature that they restrict people's ideas to the most immediate and proper meanings that the words possess, as they also do with the names that occur there, when in fact numbers in the Word, like names also, mean real things, as may become clear from what has been shown already concerning numbers in 482, 487, 575, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1963, 1988, 2075, 2252. This explains why some people suppose that the thousand years referred to in Revelation 20:1-7 means a thousand years or periods of time, for the reason, as has been stated, that prophecies are declared in that book through historical descriptions. But in fact 'a thousand years' there means nothing else than that which is large and indeterminate, and elsewhere infinity of time, or eternity.

სქოლიოები:

814. THE HELLS - continued

Here, the hells of people who have gone through life hating, desiring revenge, and being cruel.

The kinds of spirits who harbour deadly hatred and as a consequence breathe revenge, breathing nothing less than the murder of another, and are not satisfied until they have done it, are confined in a death-like hell very deep down where the dreadful stench is like that given off by dead bodies. And what is remarkable, the spirits there are so delighted with that stench that they prefer it to the most pleasant odours. Such is their dreadful nature and resulting delusions. This hell really does discharge such a stench; and when this hell is thrown open, which happens rarely and for only brief spaces of time, the stench welling up out of it is so powerful that spirits cannot stay in the vicinity. Certain genii, or rather avenging spirits, were sent from there so that I might know what they were like. They polluted the atmosphere with breath so poisonous and obnoxious that the spirits who were around me could not remain, and at the same time it had the effect on my stomach of making me vomit.

[2] They presented themselves in the form of a small child whose face was not unattractive, with a dagger concealed on him, and whom they sent to me carrying a dish in his hand. From this I was given to understand their intention (animus) to commit murder, either by stabbing or by poisoning, under a cloak of innocence. But they themselves were naked and had very black bodies. Soon however they were thrown back into their own death-like hell, and I was allowed to witness the manner in which they plunged down. They went away to the left on a level with my left temple, for a considerable distance without going downwards, and then they plunged down. First of all they went down through what looked like fire, then through fiery smoke like that of a furnace, and immediately afterwards below that furnace into more forward parts where there were many most gloomy caverns stretching downwards. On their way down they were all the time turning over in their minds and intending evil deeds, especially - and without cause - against the innocent. When they fell through the fire they cried out greatly. So that people may tell where they come from and what they are like, these spirits when sent out hold a kind of ring to which bronze-like spikes are attached. These they press with their hands and brandish about, which serves to indicate what they are like and that they are bound.