1988. 'Abram was a son of ninety-nine years' means the period of time before the Lord fully joined the Internal Man to the Rational Man. This is clear from the meaning of 'nine' when thought of as one less than ten, or what amounts to the same, of 'ninety-nine' when thought of as one less than a hundred; for when Isaac was born to him Abram was a hundred years old. The nature of the internal sense of the Word is made especially clear by the numbers that are used, as it is by the names. Any numbers whatever, as also any names, that are mentioned in the Word mean real things; for nothing ever exists in the Word that does not have that which is Divine within it, that is, which does not have an internal sense within it. How remote this sense is from the sense of the letter is especially evident from the names and numbers, for in heaven they pay no attention whatever to names and numbers but to things meant by the names or numbers. For example, whenever the number seven occurs, holiness instantly suggests itself to angels instead of the number seven, for 'seven' means holiness from the fact that the celestial man is the seventh day or the sabbath, and so the Lord's rest, 84-87, 395, 433, 716, 881. The same applies to all other numbers, for example, to the number twelve. Whenever twelve occurs the idea of everything belonging to faith suggests itself to angels, for the reason that the twelve tribes of Israel meant everything belonging to faith, 577. That numbers mean real things in the Word has been shown in Volume One; see 482, 487, 488, 493, 575, 647, 648, 755, 813, 893.

[2] It is similar with the number 'ninety-nine'. That this number means the period of time before the Lord fully joined the Internal Man to the Rational Man is clear from the meaning of 'a hundred years', Abram's age when Isaac was born to him, for Isaac represents and means the Lord's Rational Man which was joined to His Internal, that is, to the Divine. In the Word 'a hundred' has the same meaning as ten, for that number is the product of ten multiplied by ten, and 'ten' means remnants, as shown in Volume One, in 576. For what remnants residing with man are, see 468, 530, 561, 660, 1050, and for what remnants residing with the Lord were, 1906. These arcana cannot be explained any further, but anyone can find out for himself once he has acquainted himself with what remnants are - for nowadays what they are is not known - provided it is realized that by remnants residing with the Lord are meant the Divine Goods which He acquired to Himself by His own power, and by which He united the Human Essence to the Divine Essence.

[3] These considerations show what is meant by 'ninety-nine'. Being one less than a hundred, that number means the period of time before the Lord fully joined the Internal Man to the Rational Man. 'Ishmael' represented the first rational with the Lord, the nature of which has been shown adequately enough above in the previous chapter. But 'Isaac' represents the Lord's Divine Rational, as will be clear later on. Anyone may see that an arcanum is embodied within the following circumstance: Abram having remained such a long time in the land of Canaan - twenty-four years now, ten before Ishmael's birth, and thirteen after - and not as yet having had a son by Sarai his wife, he then first received the promise of a son, when he had now reached ninety-nine and would be a hundred when this son was born. The arcanum is that by means of these experiences he might represent the union of the Lord's Divine Essence with His Human Essence, and in fact of His Internal Man, which was Jehovah, with His Rational.

814. THE HELLS - continued

Here, the hells of people who have gone through life hating, desiring revenge, and being cruel.

The kinds of spirits who harbour deadly hatred and as a consequence breathe revenge, breathing nothing less than the murder of another, and are not satisfied until they have done it, are confined in a death-like hell very deep down where the dreadful stench is like that given off by dead bodies. And what is remarkable, the spirits there are so delighted with that stench that they prefer it to the most pleasant odours. Such is their dreadful nature and resulting delusions. This hell really does discharge such a stench; and when this hell is thrown open, which happens rarely and for only brief spaces of time, the stench welling up out of it is so powerful that spirits cannot stay in the vicinity. Certain genii, or rather avenging spirits, were sent from there so that I might know what they were like. They polluted the atmosphere with breath so poisonous and obnoxious that the spirits who were around me could not remain, and at the same time it had the effect on my stomach of making me vomit.

[2] They presented themselves in the form of a small child whose face was not unattractive, with a dagger concealed on him, and whom they sent to me carrying a dish in his hand. From this I was given to understand their intention (animus) to commit murder, either by stabbing or by poisoning, under a cloak of innocence. But they themselves were naked and had very black bodies. Soon however they were thrown back into their own death-like hell, and I was allowed to witness the manner in which they plunged down. They went away to the left on a level with my left temple, for a considerable distance without going downwards, and then they plunged down. First of all they went down through what looked like fire, then through fiery smoke like that of a furnace, and immediately afterwards below that furnace into more forward parts where there were many most gloomy caverns stretching downwards. On their way down they were all the time turning over in their minds and intending evil deeds, especially - and without cause - against the innocent. When they fell through the fire they cried out greatly. So that people may tell where they come from and what they are like, these spirits when sent out hold a kind of ring to which bronze-like spikes are attached. These they press with their hands and brandish about, which serves to indicate what they are like and that they are bound.