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.

5905. Verses 9-13 Make haste and go up to my father, and say to him, Thus said your son Joseph: God has established me as lord for all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay. And you shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near to me, you and your sons, and the sons of your sons, and your flocks, and your herds, and everything that belongs to you. And I will sustain you there, for there are still five years of famine, lest perhaps you are wiped out, you and your household, and all that belongs to you. And behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that with my mouth I am speaking to you. And you must tell my father about all my glory in Egypt, and all that you see; and you must make haste, and cause my father to come down here.

'Make haste and go up to my father' means to spiritual good. 'And say to him, Thus said your son Joseph' means the perception this good had regarding the internal celestial. 'God has established me as lord for all Egypt' means that it sets in order every single thing in the natural. 'Come down to me, do not delay' means a sure joining together. 'And you shall dwell in the land of Goshen' means the middle of the natural. 'And you shall be near to me' means an everlasting joining together. 'You and your sons, and the sons of your sons' means spiritual good, and all derivatives from it, and further derivatives from these. 'And your flocks, and your herds' means natural good, interior and exterior. 'And everything that belongs to you' means whatever is dependent on that good. 'And I will sustain you there' means a constant influx of spiritual life from the internal celestial. 'For there are still five years of famine' means the duration of the lack of good. 'Lest perhaps you are wiped out' means lest it perishes. 'You and your household, and all that belongs to you' means spiritual good and everything belonging to it. 'And behold, your eyes see' means attesting as a result of perception. 'And the eyes of my brother Benjamin' means especially as a result of perception by the intermediary. 'That with my mouth I am speaking to you' means a revelation. 'And you must tell my father about all my glory in Egypt' means a communication of the spiritual heaven in the natural with spiritual good. 'And all that you see' means whatever is recognized and perceived there. 'And you must make haste, and cause my father to come down here' means a closer joining together.