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.

1989. That 'Abram' means the Lord in that state and at that age is clear from what has been stated already about Abram. In the internal sense Abram represents the Lord, for when mentioned in the Word no other Abram is meant in heaven. People who have been born inside the Church and have heard of him from the Word do indeed know of Abram when they enter the next life, but because he is no different from any other human being and cannot be of any help to them, they are no longer interested in him. Furthermore they are informed that in the Word 'Abram' has been used to mean no one other than the Lord. Indeed angels, who possess heavenly ideas but form no image of any man with them, know nothing at all about Abram. Consequently when the Word is read by man and Abram is mentioned they perceive no one other than the Lord. And in the statement made here they perceive the Lord passing through that state and that age, for here Jehovah is talking to Abram, that is, to the Lord.