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.

1703. That the name 'a Hebrew' is used in the Word in reference to things which have to do with some form of service is clear from the following places: In Moses,

When your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you, and serves you for six years, then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. Deuteronomy 15:12.

Here the expressions 'a Hebrew men' and 'a Hebrew women' are used because servitude is the subject. In Jeremiah,

At the end of seven years you shall let go every man his brother that is a Hebrew who has been sold to you and has served you for six years. Jeremiah 34:9, 14.

Here similarly the name 'Hebrew' occurs because servitude is the subject, though the sons of Jacob are not called Hebrews in other places in the Prophets. In Samuel,

The Philistines said, Take heart and acquit yourselves like men, lest you be slaves to the Hebrews as they have served you. 1 Samuel 4:9.

Here the meaning is similar.

[2] In Moses,

Jehovah said to Moses, Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, Thus said Jehovah the God of the Hebrews, Let My people go so that they may serve Me. Exodus 9:1, 13; 10:3.

Here too because of their servitude they were called Hebrews. Potiphar's wife referred to Joseph as a Hebrew,

She called to the men of her house, and said to them, See, he has brought us a Hebrew man to make sport of us. Genesis 39:14.

He is called 'a Hebrew' because he was a slave there. The chief of the cup-bearers said to Pharaoh,

There was with us a Hebrew lad, a slave of the chief of the guards, and he interpreted our dreams to us. Genesis 41:12.

In addition the Egyptians called the children of Israel Hebrews, because they were slaves, or in slavery, as is well known from Exodus 1:15-16, 19, and elsewhere.