737. 'Noah was a son of six hundred years' means his initial state of temptation. This is clear from the fact from here down to Eber in Chapter 11 nothing else is meant by numbers, years of age, or names than real things, as was the case also with the ages and names of all those mentioned in Chapter 5. Here 'six hundred years' means the initial state of temptation. This becomes clear from its prime factors which are ten and six multiplied again by ten. When the same factors are involved it makes no difference whether the number arrived at is large or small. As for ten, this has been shown already at 6:3 to mean remnants, while the meaning of six here as labour and conflict is clear from places throughout the Word. For the situation is this: What has gone before dealt with man's preparation for temptation, that is to say, he was supplied by the Lord with truths of the understanding and with goods of the will. These truths and goods are remnants, but they are not brought forth so as to be acknowledged until man is being regenerated. In the case of those who are being regenerated by means of temptations the remnants existing with any man are for the angels present with him. From these remnants they draw out those things with which they protect him against the evil spirits who activate falsities with him and in this way attack him. It is because remnants are meant by 'ten' and conflict by 'six' that six hundred years are spoken of, a number in which ten and six are the prime factors and which means a state of temptation.

[2] As regards conflict being the particular meaning of 'six', this is clear from Genesis 1, which describes the six days of man's regeneration prior to his becoming celestial. During those six days there was constant conflict, but on the seventh day came rest. Consequently there are six days of labour, and the seventh is the sabbath, a word which means rest. This also is why a Hebrew slave was to serve for six years and in the seventh was to go free, Exodus 21:2; Deuteronomy 15:12; Jeremiah 34:14, and why for six years they were to sow the land and gather in the produce, but in the seventh they were to leave it alone, Exodus 23:10-12. The same applied to a vineyard. It is also the reason why in the seventh year the land was to have a sabbath of rest, a sabbath to Jehovah, Leviticus 25:3-4. Because 'six' means labour and conflict it also means the dispersion of falsity, as in Ezekiel,

Behold, six men coming from the direction of the upper gate, which looks towards the north, every man with a weapon of dispersion in his hand. Ezekiel 9:2.

And in the same prophet, against Gog,

I will cause you to turn about, and I will split you into six, and cause you to come up from the uttermost parts of the north. Ezekiel 39:2.

Here 'six' and 'splitting into six' stand for dispersion, 'the north' for falsities, and 'Gog' for people who seize on doctrinal matters based on things of an external nature with which they destroy internal worship. From Job,

He will deliver you in six troubles, and in a seventh no evil will touch you. Job 5:19.

This stands for the conflict that constitutes temptations.

[3] 'Six' occurs in other parts of the Word where it does not mean labour, conflict, or the dispersion of falsity, but the holiness of faith. In these instances it is related to twelve, which means faith and all things of faith in their entirety, and to three which means that which is holy. Consequently there is also a genuine derivative meaning to the number six, as in Ezekiel 40:5, where the man's measuring rod with which he measured the holy city of Israel was six cubits long; and in other places. The reason for this derivative is that in the conflict of temptation the holiness of faith is present, and also that six days of labour and conflict look forward to the holy seventh day.

3427. 'And he called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him' means an attitude of denial on account of those things, and also others, as being contrary to those persons, and on account of more things besides. This is clear from the fact that names given in early times were meaningful signs of a thing or of a state, 3422. In this way they were enabled to recollect many details about that thing or state, especially its essential nature. Here the well took its name from the incident of the herdsmen of Gerar disputing with Isaac's herdsmen. The fact that 'disputing' or 'contending' also means an attitude of denial, see 3425. This is the origin of the name Esek which in the original language means contention or dispute, and is derived from a related word which means oppression and violence. And since 'a well' here means the Word as regards the literal sense which holds the internal sense, 'Esek' or contention means a denial of the existence of the internal sense of the Word. The same word also includes the reasons for such denial, which, it is evident, lie with those things described just above in 3425, that is to say, things that appear to be contraries and with other things also.

[2] Thus the position with the internal sense of the Word is that those in whom no more than a knowledge of cognitions exists, who are referred to as 'the Philistines', and those in whom no more than matters of doctrine concerning faith are present, who are called 'the herdsmen of the Valley of Gerar', and with whom no charity towards the neighbour exists, inevitably refuse to recognize the existence of the internal sense of the Word. There are several reasons why they do so, the chief of which is that they do not acknowledge the Lord in their hearts, however much they confess Him with their lips. Nor in their hearts do they love the neighbour, however much they outwardly declare their love towards him. And anyone who in his heart does not acknowledge the Lord and does not in his heart love the neighbour inevitably refuses to recognize the internal sense of the Word, for the Word does not in the internal sense have anything else as its subject than love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour, on account of which the Lord says that on those two commandments depend the Law and the Prophets, that is, the whole Word, Matthew 22:37-40. I have also been allowed to see the extent to which those people do not recognize the internal sense of the Word from those who are like them in the next life. At the mere mention of the existence of the internal sense of the Word, which is not apparent in its literal sense, and of the fact that its subject is love to the Lord and towards the neighbour, not only is denial of its existence noticeable in those people but also repugnance and even loathing.

[3] This is the chief reason. A second reason is that they turn the Word completely upside down by placing the bottom on top, or what amounts to the same, making what is secondary primary. Indeed they set up faith as the essential thing of the Church, and the things that constitute love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour as the fruits of faith. But the truth is that if love to the Lord is compared to the tree of life in the paradise of Eden, charity and its works are the fruits from it, while faith and everything that is part of faith are merely the leaves. When therefore people so turn the Word upside down that they derive the fruit not from the tree but from the leaves, it is not surprising that they fail to recognize the internal sense of the Word and acknowledge merely its literal sense. For as is well known. the literal sense can be used to confirm any dogma, including the most heretical.

[4] A further reason why they do not recognize the internal sense is that the faith of people who are concerned solely with matters of doctrine concerning faith and not with goodness of life is inevitably persuasion of what is false, that is, it is a faith based on false assumptions as well as true ones. As a consequence they are more stupid than all others, for insofar as anyone is persuaded by what is false he is stupid, but insofar as anyone is concerned with goodness of life, that is, with love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour, he has intelligence, that is, faith from the Lord. Consequently the former cannot do other than have a negative attitude regarding the internal sense of the Word, whereas the latter cannot do other than have a positive attitude. For the interiors of people who have merely a knowledge of matters of doctrine and are devoid of the good of life are closed, so much so that the light of truth from the Lord cannot flow in and enable them to discern that it is so, whereas the interiors of those in whom love to the Lord exists are open, so much so that the light of truth from the Lord can flow in, inspire their minds with affection, and enable them to discern that it is so.

[5] There is yet another reason why they do not take any delight in reading the Word, except to gain position and wealth, and a reputation on account of these things - which delight is the delight that goes with self-love and love of the world. So true is this that if such gains are not to be had they reject the Word altogether. Such people in their hearts refuse to recognize not only the internal sense of the Word when they hear about it but also the literal sense itself, no matter how much they imagine they do believe in it. For anyone whose end in view is the delight that goes with self-love and love of the world casts out of his heart altogether everything that has to do with eternal life, and speaks from his natural and bodily-minded man when he speaks about the kind of things that he calls truths not for the sake of the Lord and of His kingdom but for the sake of himself and those who are his own. These and many other considerations are what cause people called 'the herdsmen of the Valley of Gerar' and 'the Philistines' to refuse to recognize the internal sense of the Word.