47. That these words contain arcana concerning regeneration becomes additionally clear from the fact that verse 24 above spoke of the earth bringing forth 'living creatures, beasts, and wild animals of the earth', while in the verse that followed the order was different, namely that God made the wild animals of the earth first and then the beasts. Indeed a person does first produce things so to speak from himself, and continues to do so until he becomes celestial. And so regeneration begins with the external man and moves on to the internal. This is why there is a different order here, with external things coming first.

9226. 'Seven days it shall be with its mother' means their first state with truths. This is clear from the meaning of 'seven days' as the first state of those who are being regenerated, 'days' being states, 23, 487, 488, 493, 893, 2788, 3462, 3785, 4850, 5672, 5962, 8426, 9213, and 'seven' being from start to finish, thus what is complete, 728, 6508; and from the meaning of 'mother' as the Church in respect of truth, thus also the Church's truth, dealt with in 289, 2691, 2717, 3703, 4257, 5581, 8897. From all this it follows that 'seven days it shall be with its mother' means the first state in its completeness or the whole of it from start to finish, during which a person is governed by truths. The implications of all this will be stated in the next paragraph.