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.

6383. 'Zebulun' means the dwelling together of goodness and truth. This is clear from the representation of 'Zebulun' as the heavenly marriage, dealt with in 3960, 3961, thus goodness and truth joined together, since that conjunction is the heavenly marriage. The words 'the dwelling together of goodness and truth' are used because in the original language 'Zebulun' means a dwelling together. Here 'Zebulun' has reference to those within the Church who use the facts they know to draw inferences about spiritual truths and thereby strengthen their grasp of those truths. But it should be recognized that 'Zebulun' does not mean those people who do not believe something unless they are shown factual and sensory evidence to prove it and who until then have a negative attitude of mind. Such people do not ever come to believe it because that negative attitude of mind reigns in all their thinking; and when it reigns in all their thinking, facts which contradict, not those that corroborate, enter in and are gathered up by those people. They cast aside facts that may serve to corroborate, or else interpret them in such a way that they lend support to other factual evidence that contradicts the truth. Thus the negative attitude becomes all the stronger.

[2] But 'Zebulun' is used here to mean people who believe teachings drawn from the Word and accordingly have something of an affirmative attitude in all their thinking. Yet their faith does not exist in truths but in factual knowledge, for they bring such knowledge to bear on those teachings and by doing this strengthen their affirmative attitude. The ones who are meant by 'Zebulun' do not therefore go above factual knowledge; rather, when they hear or contemplate any truth of faith they instantly fall back on the facts they know. Many in the world are like this; and the Lord even makes provision so that factual knowledge and sensory evidence may serve them to that end.