487. 'Days means periods of time and states in general. This has been shown in Chapter 1, where the 'days of creation' have no other meaning. In the Word it is very common for a whole period of time to be called 'a day', as it clearly is in the present verse and in verses 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 27, 31, below; and therefore the states that belong to periods of time in general are meant by 'days' as well. And when 'years' is attached, then periods of years mean the natures of those states, and so the states in particular.

[2] The most ancient people had their own particular numbers which they would use to mean different aspects of the Church - for instance, the numbers three, seven, ten, twelve, and many which they obtained from these and other numbers - and in so doing incorporated states of the Church. These numbers therefore contain arcana that would require considerable effort to unravel. Really a number was an evaluation of the states of the Church. The same feature occurs throughout the Word, especially in the prophetical. And the religious ceremonies of the Jewish Church also entail numbers specifying periods of time as well as quantities; for example, in connection with sacrifices, minchahs, oblations, and other practices, which in every case have special reference to holy things. Consequently eight hundred in this verse, nine hundred and thirty in the next, and the numbers of years mentioned in the verses that follow after that, embody in particular more matters than can possibly be retold; matters, that is to say, which have to do with changes in the state of their Church in relationship to their own general state. Later on, in the Lord's Divine mercy, the meaning of the simple numbers up to twelve will be given, for without knowing these first of all no one can grasp what compound numbers mean.

6115. 'And Joseph caused the silver to come to Pharaoh's house' means that all that factual knowledge was brought into association with the general whole within the natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'causing to come' as bringing into association with and introducing into; from the meaning of 'silver' as factual knowledge that holds truth in it and is appropriate, dealt with in 6112; and from the representation of 'Pharaoh' as the natural in general, dealt with in 5160, 5799, 6015, and therefore 'Pharaoh's house' is the general whole within the natural since this includes everything there in its entirety.

[2] Regarding this matter of bringing known facts that hold truths in them and that are appropriate into association with a general whole, it should be recognized that all known facts, and truths as well, if they are to be anything, must without exception be brought into association with a general whole. They must be placed with and contained within the general whole and be made subject to it; otherwise they are instantly scattered to the winds. Indeed, if known facts and truths are to be anything, they must be brought into a form in which they have a mutual relationship with one another, and this cannot be done if they do not exist in association with one another subject to a general whole. This therefore is what preserves them in the form they receive and gives each fact or truth there its specific character. That general whole too, together with others like it, must be brought into association with one another subject to a more general whole, and these in turn must be subject to the most general of all. If they are not, even the general wholes, and the more general ones too, are scattered to the winds.

[3] The most general and all-embracing whole, the source from which everything is held in place, is the Lord Himself; and what holds everything in place is Divine Truth going forth from Him. The more general wholes are general communities in the spiritual world into which Divine Truth flows, which makes them distinct and separate from one another on a general level; and the general wholes are less general communities subject to a more general one. The more general communities are those to which the members, organs, and viscera in a person correspond; through the amazing way that they are linked together they exist in a kind of form in which they have regard to one another and thus hold one another in place, and also present themselves as a single whole. In the human being the most general and all-embracing whole, holding every single thing in place, is the soul. It is also Divine Truth going forth from the Lord, for Divine Truth flows constantly into the soul and makes it what it is.

[4] Divine Truth going forth from the Lord is what is called the Word, through which all things were created, John 1:1-3, that is, through which all things came into being, and therefore through which all things are kept in being. The truth that all things in the entire natural world exist subject to a general whole, each specific thing to its own general whole, and that otherwise they cannot remain in being, anyone will plainly discover who is willing to turn his attention to those things in the natural creation.