10217. 'As they have been numbered' means as they have been arranged and set in order. This is clear from the meaning of 'numbering' - when it refers to all things of the Church, which are truths and forms of the good of faith and love - as an arrangement and setting of them in order, so that 'those who have been numbered' means the things which have been arranged and set in order. 'Numbering' has this meaning because numbering implies reviewing, and that which the Lord reviews is also arranged and set in order by Him. Furthermore the word used here to express the idea of numbering means in the original language reviewing, counting up, taking note of, and also visiting, giving orders, and taking control of, thus arranging and setting in order. That word has these meanings because in the spiritual sense each of these activities implies the next, and the spiritual sense consists in that inner meaning which the words of languages, especially eastern ones, frequently possess.

[2] The fact that in the spiritual sense, in which truths and forms of the good of faith and love are the subject, 'numbering' means arranging and setting in order is also clear from places in the Word in which the verb 'numbering' or else the noun 'number' is used, as in Isaiah,

The noise of a tumult of the kingdoms of the nations gathered together! Jehovah Zebaoth is numbering (arranging in order) an army of war. Isaiah 13:4.

In the same prophet,

Lift up your eyes on high and see; who created these? He who brought out their host by number; He calls them all by name. From the multitude of the powerful and of the mighty not a man is lacking in strength. Isaiah 40:26.

In David,

Jehovah who counts the number ¹ of the stars gives names to them all. Psalms 147:4.

In these places it is self-evident that 'numbering' means arranging and setting in order, for they refer to Jehovah, that is, the Lord, who does not number any army or count the stars, but arranges and sets such things in order as are meant by 'an army' and 'the stars', namely truths and forms of the good of faith and love. For the subject is not wars in the natural world but wars in the spiritual world, which are the wars or conflicts of truths springing from good against falsities arising from evil.

'Wars' in the spiritual sense are those kinds of conflicts, see 1664, 2686, 8273, 8295.

'An army' is the truths and forms of good belonging to the Church and heaven, 7988, 8019.

'The stars' are cognitions or knowledge of truth and good, 2495, 2849, 4697.

[3] Once it is known what 'numbering' and 'the children of Israel' mean it may be seen why it was that David was not allowed to number the people, and why after he had numbered them the prophet Gad was sent to him to intimate a punishment, 2 Samuel 24:1-15, and why here [in Exodus 30:12] it says that each one should make expiation for his soul, that there may be no plague among them when they are numbered. By 'the children of Israel' the Church's truths and forms of good are meant, and by 'numbering' arranging and setting in order is meant. The arranging and setting in order of the truths and forms of the good of faith and love that are present with each person in the Church and in heaven belongs to the Lord alone. Consequently when such numbering is done by man, as was done by David through Joab, an arranging and setting in order of those things by man, and not by the Lord, is meant; and this is not an arranging or setting in order but a destruction. If the numbering of the children of Israel had not held such things within it, no sin or guilt at all would have been attached to their being numbered.

[4] By 'the children of Israel' spiritual truths and forms of good, which are the Church's and heaven's truths and forms of good, are meant, see 5414, 5801, 5803, 5812, 5817, 5819, 5826, 5833, 5879, 5951, 7957, 8234, 8805.

Much the same is meant by 'the tribes' into which the children of Israel were divided, 3858, 3926, 4060, 6335, 6397.

Since such things are meant by 'the children of Israel' and 'the tribes' and those things are countless, the Word states regarding them,

Their number will be as the sand of the sea, which will not be measured nor numbered. Hosea 1:10.

Who will number the dust of Jacob and the number of Israel? Numbers 23:10.

Jehovah said to Abraham,

I will make your seed as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, so also will it be that your seed may be numbered. Genesis 13:16; 16:10.

And elsewhere,

Look towards heaven and number the stars, if you are able to number them. So will your seed be. Genesis 15:5.

The expressions 'the children of Israel' and 'the seed of Abraham' were not used to mean his descendants but spiritual truths and forms of good, which are countless and also for the most part beyond description. This becomes clear from the consideration that they were no greater in number than any other nation, as also Moses bore witness,

Jehovah has desired you, that He might choose you, not because you are more in number than all peoples; indeed you are fewer than all peoples. Deuteronomy 7:7.

[5] 'Numbering' again means arranging and setting in order in Jeremiah,

In the cities of Jerusalem and Judah flocks will again pass under the hands of him who numbers them. Jeremiah 33:13.

By 'flocks' too the Church's forms of good and its truths are meant, 6048, 8937, 9135, while 'under the hands of him who numbers them' means according to the order set by the Lord. In David,

Who knows the strength of Your anger? Teach us ² to number our days, that we may gain ³ a heart of wisdom. Psalms 90:11-12.

'Numbering days' stands for arranging and setting states of life in order; and days are said to be numbered after they have been arranged and set in order, thus when they are finished, as in Isaiah,

Through the cutting off of my days ⁴ I shall go away to the gates of hell; I am numbered [as to] ⁵ the residue of my years. Isaiah 38:10.

And in Daniel,

The writing appeared before Belshazzar the king, Numbered, weighed, and divided. Daniel 5:25.

When 'numbering' means arranging and setting in order, 'numbered' means what is brought to a conclusion, as when a line is drawn under a list of figures at the end of a calculation.

[6] 'Numbering' means arranging and setting in order because 'number' means the specific quality of some reality or some state, and that quality is defined by the number attached to it. Consequently numbering something means bringing specific quality to it, and specific quality is brought to spiritual realities through their being arranged and set in order by the Lord. This is what 'the number' means in John,

He causes all to receive ⁶ a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and no one to be able to buy or sell except him who has the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of its name. Here ⁷ is wisdom. Let him who has intelligence reckon the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man (homo), that is, its number is six hundred and sixty-six. Revelation 13:16-18.

[7] This chapter deals with the beast from the sea and the beast from the land. 'The beast from the sea' means the Church's truth falsified by factual knowledge derived from the world, and 'the beast from the land' means the Church's truth falsified by the use of the literal sense of the Word to support the evils of self-love and love of the world. For 'the land' means the Church in respect of its goodness and truth, see the places referred to in 9325; and 'the sea' means factual knowledge in general, 28, 2120, 2850. 'Having its mark on the hand and on the forehead' means accepting and loving those falsities; 'having its name' or 'the number of its name' means accepting all things, irrespective of what they are like. For 'the forehead' means the love, 9936, and 'name' the whole nature of the one who is the subject, 3006, 3421, 6674, 8274, 9310.

[8] 'Reckoning the number of the beast' means examining and becoming acquainted with those falsified truths of the Church. 'The number of a man' means the reality that is the Church and the state of that Church; 'six hundred and sixty-six' means its specific quality so far as all its falsified truths and falsities arising from evil in their entirety are concerned, also its profanation of what is holy, and its end as well. Being acquainted with them and examining them is an attribute of one who possesses wisdom and understanding, and that is why it says, 'Here ⁷ is wisdom. Let him who has intelligence reckon its number'. For the number 'six' has the same meaning as the number 'twelve', since it is a half of it, 3960(end), 7973, 8148; and 'twelve' means all the truths and forms of good the Church possesses in their entirety, 2129(end), 2130(end), 3272, 3858, 3913, 7973, and therefore also in the contrary sense all falsities and evils in their entirety. The tripling of the digit 'six' also implies the end, and the end comes when truth has been made altogether profane.

[9] From all this it is plainly evident that numbers in the Word have to do with different realities and states, each serving to mean a specific quality that accords with its numerical value, as also in these words John,

The angel measured the wall of the holy Jerusalem, a hundred and forty-four cubits, which is the measure of a man (homo), that is, of an angel. Revelation 21:17.

The numerical value here serves to mean all truths springing from good in their entirety; for 'a hundred and forty-four' has the same meaning as 'twelve', 7973, being the product of twelve multiplied by itself. Therefore also it says in this verse that the measure of it is 'the measure of a man', just as in the verses explained above it says that the number given there is 'the number of a man'. But since truths springing from good are meant in this verse it states in addition that that measure is the measure 'of an angel'; for in the Word 'an angel' means truths springing from good, an angel being a recipient of Divine Truth from the Lord, 8192.

Footnotes:

4287. 'For as a prince you have contended with God and with men, and have prevailed' means repeated victories in conflicts over truths and goods. This is clear from the meaning of 'contending as a prince' as overcoming in conflicts, in this case conflicts that accompany temptations since these are the subject at present; and from the meaning of 'with God and with men' as conflicts over truths and goods, to be dealt with below.

[2] The subject in the highest sense being the Lord, it is He who is meant in that sense by 'one contending as a prince with God and with men', for by His own power He suffered all temptations and through them overcame the hells. Indeed He allowed into Himself all the hells in their order, and even the angels, as will be explained later on. In so doing he brought into order everything in the heavens and in the hells, and at length glorified Himself, that is, made the Human within Him Divine.

[3] From this it is evident that in the highest sense the Lord is meant by Jacob and Israel, as shown immediately above in 4286. Not only has He Himself 'contended as a prince', that is, has suffered all the conflicts brought about by temptations and has overcome in them, but also He suffers them in every individual human being. But see what has been stated many times already on these matters in the following references,

The Lord suffered the severest temptations, greater than anybody else has done, 1663, 1668, 1787, 2776, 2786, 2795, 2816.

Unlike any others the Lord fought out of Divine love, 1690, 1691 (end), 1789, 1812, 1813, 1820.

The Lord fought against hereditary evil from the mother, so that at length He was not her son; even so, no evil of His own doing was attached to Him, 1444, 1573, 2025, 2574, 2649, 3318 (end).

Through the conflicts brought about by temptations and through repeated victories the Lord arranged all things into the form which heaven possesses, 1928.

And through repeated victories in conflicts brought about by temptations He united the Divine Essence to the Human Essence, 1616, 1737, 1813, 1921, 2025, 2026, 2500, 2523, 2632, 2776.

The Lord suffers the temptations that take place in man, subduing evil and the hells, 987, 1661, 1692 (end).

[4] The arcanum that 'contending with God and with men' means being tempted over truths and over goods is one that is not open to view in the letter. It is clear to anyone, and will also be evident from the explanation given below, that it was not God with whom Jacob contended, for it cannot be said of anyone that he contends with God and prevails. But the internal sense teaches what 'God' and 'men' mean here - that 'God' means truth, and 'men' good. The reason for this is that 'God' in the internal sense means truth, and therefore whenever truth is dealt with the name God is used, 2586, 2769, 2807, 2822, whereas the term 'man' is used to mean good. And 'man' means good because the Lord is the only Man and anyone else is called such by virtue of Him, 49, 288, 565, 1894. A further reason is that by virtue of Him heaven is man and is called the Grand Man, 684, 1276, 3624-3649, 3741-3750. And this also was why the Most Ancient Church which was governed by celestial good was referred to as Man, 478.

[5] Therefore whenever good is dealt with in the Word, 'man' (homo) means good, as in Isaiah,

I will make the male person (vir homo) more rare than gold, and man (homo) than the gold of Ophir. Isaiah 13:12.

In the same prophet,

The inhabitants of the land will be scorched and few male persons (vir homo) left. Isaiah 24:6.

'Male persons' stands for spiritual good or the good of truth. 'Man' stands for good. In the same prophet, The highways have been laid waste, the wayfarer has ceased. He has broken the covenant, he has despised the cities, he has no regard for the male person (vir homo). Isaiah 33:8.

In Jeremiah,

I looked to the earth, and behold, that which is void and empty, and towards the heavens, and they had no light I looked, and behold, there was no man; and all the birds of the air had flown away. Jeremiah 4:23, 25.

In the same prophet, behold, the days are coming, said Jehovah, in which I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast. Jeremiah 31:27.

In Ezekiel,

Your merchants [traded] in the souls of men and vessels of bronze, giving these for your merchandise. Ezekiel 27:13.

In the same prophet, You, O my flock, the flock of My pasture, you are men; I am your God. Ezekiel 34:31.

In the same prophet, They will be cities laid waste, filled with the flock of mankind. Ezekiel 36:38.

In these places 'man' (homo) stands for people who are governed by good, and so stands for good, since good is what causes anyone to be 'man'. Truth however which is grounded in good is referred to in the Word as 'a male person' (vir homo) and also as 'the son of man'.