894. 'At the beginning, on the first of the month' means a starting point. This is now clear from what has been said above. Everything that this statement embodies is an arcanum so deep that it cannot be described, except for just the point that no definite period of time ever exists when anyone is regenerate enough to be able to say, 'Now I am perfect'. In fact an unlimited number of states of evil and falsity exist with everyone, not only simple states but also varied and complex ones which, as has been stated, have to be disposed of in such a way that they do not recur. In some states a person can be called fairly perfect, but in countless others he cannot. People who have been regenerated during their lifetime, and in whose lives faith in the Lord and charity towards the neighbour have been present, are in the next life being perfected all the time.

4010. 'And he put three days' journey between himself and Jacob' means that their state was one in which they were totally set apart. This is clear from the meaning of 'putting a journey' as being set apart; from the meaning of 'three' as that which is last, completed, or the end, dealt with in 1825, 2788, and so is totally set apart; and from the meaning of 'days' as states, dealt with in 23, 487, 488, 493, 893, 2788, 3462.