9437. And Moses was in the mountain forty days and forty nights. That this signifies what is complete in respect to instruction and influx, is evident from the signification of “forty,” as being what is full or complete. That “forty” denotes what is full or complete, is because “four” denotes what is full (see n. 9103), in like manner “ten” (n. 3107, 4638), and the number forty arises from four multiplied into ten; for multiplied numbers signify the same as the simple numbers from which they have been multiplied (n. 5291, 5335, 5708, 7973). (That all numbers in the Word signify real things, see n. 575, 3252, 4264, 4495, 4670, 5265, 6175.) It is from this then that Moses was in the mountain forty days and forty nights. That “forty” here signifies what is complete in respect to instruction and influx, is plain from what follows in chapters 25 to 32, in which are recounted the things concerning which he was instructed, which were the ark, Aaron, the Urim and Thummim, and the sacrifices. That “forty” signifies what is complete as to influx also, is because from that time Moses began to represent the holy external of the Word, which mediates between the Lord and the people; and mediation is effected by influx through this holy external into the representative in which the people were (see n. 9419).

[2] As “forty” signified what is full or complete, therefore Moses remained on Mount Sinai not only on this occasion, but also on another, “forty days and forty nights” (Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 9:18, 25; 10:10). And for this reason the sons of Israel wandered in the wilderness “forty years,” until, as it is said, “all that generation was consumed” (Numbers 14:33-34; 32:13). And for this reason it was said by Jonah to the Ninevites that “the city would be overthrown after forty days” (Jonah 3:4). And for this reason the prophet was commanded “to lie on the right side, and to bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days” (Ezekiel 4:6). For this reason also it is said of Egypt that it should be surrendered to “an utter solitude forty years, and after those years should be gathered together from the peoples” (Ezekiel 29:11-13). And for this reason “it rained upon the earth, so that it was inundated with a flood, forty days and forty nights” (Genesis 7:4, 12, 17). From this it is evident why it was decreed that a wicked man should be “beaten with forty stripes” (Deuteronomy 25:3); for “forty stripes” signified punishment to the full. From this it is also evident what is meant in the prophetic song of Deborah and Barak, that “there was neither shield nor spear seen in the forty thousands of Israel” (Judges 5:8); “in the forty thousands of Israel” denotes in all. It is evident also from this why the temple built by Solomon was “forty cubits long” (1 Kings 6:17); in like manner the new temple described in Ezekiel (41:2); for by “the temple,” in the supreme sense, is signified the Lord; in the internal sense, heaven and the church; and thus by “forty,” what is complete in respect to representation. In like manner in other passages.

4670. A son of seventeen years. That this signifies its state, is evident from the years of the ages of those mentioned in the Word, in that like other numbers they signify things and states. (That all numbers in the Word signify things and states may be seen above, n. 575, 647, 648, 1988, 2075, 2252, 3252, 4264, 4495; as also years, n. 487, 488, 493, 893)

[2] It indeed appears as if numbers of years, or years of ages, had no further meaning, because they seem to be more historical than other numbers. But that these also involve things and states is evident from what was unfolded in the fifth chapter of Genesis, and said as to the age of Abraham (Genesis 17:1; 25:7), and that of Isaac (Genesis 35:28); and moreover from the fact that there is no historical statement in the Word which does not involve what is heavenly; into which also it is changed when it passes from the thought of the man who is reading, to the angels with him, and through the angels to heaven, where from every historical of the Word a spiritual sense is produced.

[3] But what is signified by Joseph’s age of seventeen years may be seen from the signification of this number in other places, namely, a beginning, but here the beginning of the representation by Joseph. (That this number signifies a beginning and what is new, may be seen above, n. 755, 853.) Moreover in a general and potential way this number involves all that is represented by Joseph; for “seven” signifies holy, and “ten,” remains. (That “seven” in the Word adds holiness may be seen above, n. 881; and that “ten” denotes remains, n. 576, 1906, 2284.) That the remains in the Lord by means of which He united the Human essence to the Divine, were Divine and of Himself, may be seen above (n. 1906).