1963. 'Abram was a son of eighty-six years' means the Lord's state as regards celestial goods acquired through the conflicts brought about by temptations. This is clear from the meaning of 'eighty', a number that is similar to forty in what it embodies, which, as shown already in 730, 862, means temptations; from the meaning of 'six' as conflict, also dealt with already in 720, 737, 900; as well as from the meaning of 'ten' as remnants, dealt with in 576. With the Lord these remnants were acquisitions of celestial goods by which He united the Human Essence to the Divine Essence; see 1906 (end). These three numbers go to make up the number of eighty-six, which embodies such matters within it, and so means the Lord's state as regards celestial goods that had been acquired through the conflicts brought about by temptations; for all numbers in the Word mean real things, as shown already in 482, 487, 575, 647, 648, 755, 813. As the numbers mentioned here ¹ are numbers of years, and as they in fact occur in a historical narrative regarding Abram, it does seem as though they are not used to mean such things. But nothing is written in the Word that does not pass into a spiritual or celestial sense when it reaches the angels, for with angels none other than spiritual and celestial ideas exist. When the Word is being read by man, angels neither know nor perceive what eighty-six is, nor are they concerned about what age Abram was when Hagar bore him Ishmael. Rather, when such a number is read, the real things embodied in that number instantly present themselves to them, as when all other expressions are read, these present themselves as the things which they have been shown to mean in the internal sense.

Footnotes:

813. That these words mean the point at which the Most Ancient Church finally came to an end, and that 'a hundred and fifty' means that which is both a finishing point and a starting point, cannot be confirmed so easily from the Word as the more simple numbers can which occur frequently. Nevertheless the matter is clear from the number fifteen, dealt with above at verse 20. Fifteen means so few as to be hardly any. This meaning applies all the more to the number 'a hundred and fifty', which is the product of fifteen multiplied by ten, which means remnants. Multiplying fractions, such as a half, a quarter, or a tenth, produces smaller fractions still, till at length there is practically nothing, and then the end or finishing point has been reached. The same number occurs in Chapter 8:3 below where it is said that the waters retreated at the end of a hundred and fifty days. There the meaning is similar. Numbers in the Word have to be understood abstractedly - quite apart from the sense of the letter, for as stated and shown already, they have been included merely to produce the flow of historical events that belongs to the sense of the letter. For example, when seven occurs it means that which is holy - quite abstractedly from periods of time or measurements which it is normally used to quantify. Indeed angels, who perceive the internal sense of the Word, know nothing whatever about periods of time or measurements, let alone what a specific number denotes. Yet they understand the Word completely when it is being read by man. Consequently when a number occurs anywhere at all they cannot possibly have the idea of any numerical value, only of the real thing meant by the number. Likewise in the present context they understand by this number the point at which the Most Ancient Church finally came to an end, and in verse 3 of the next chapter the starting point of the Ancient or new Church.