9373. Come up unto Jehovah. That this signifies conjunction with the Lord, is evident from the signification of “coming up,” as being to be raised toward interior things (see n. 3084, 4539, 4969, 5406, 5817, 6007), consequently also to be conjoined (n. 8760). That it denotes conjunction with the Lord, is because by “Jehovah” in the Word is meant the the Lord, (n. 1343, 1736, 1793, 2004, 2005, 2018, 2025, 2921, 3023, 3035, 5663, 6280, 6303, 6905, 8274, 8864, 9315). A secret which also lies hidden in the internal sense of these words, is that the sons of Jacob, over whom Moses was the head, were not called and chosen; but they themselves insisted that Divine worship should be instituted among them (according to wh at has been said in n. 4290, 4293); and therefore it is here said, “and He said unto Moses, Come up unto Jehovah,” as if not Jehovah, but another, had said that he should come up. For the same reason in what follows it is said that “the people should not go up” (verse 2); and that “Jehovah sent not His hand unto the sons of Israel who were set apart” (verse 11); and that “the appearance of the glory of Jehovah was like devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the sons of Israel” (verse 17); and lastly that Moses, being called the seventh day, “entered into the midst of the cloud.” For by “the cloud” is meant the Word in the letter (n. 5922, 6343, 6752, 6832, 8106, 8443, 8781); and with the sons of Jacob the Word was separated from its internal sense, because they were in external worship without internal, as can be clearly seen from the fact that now, as before, they said, “all the words which Jehovah hath spoken we will do” (verse 3); and yet scarcely forty days afterward they worshiped a golden calf instead of Jehovah; which shows that this was hidden in their hearts while they were saying with their lips that they would serve Jehovah alone. But nevertheless those who are meant by “the called and the chosen” are those who are in internal worship, and who from internal worship are in external; that is, those who are in love to and faith in the Lord, and from this in love toward the neighbor.

2575. 'Behold, I have given a thousand pieces of silver to your brother' means an infinite abundance of rational truth joined to [celestial] good. This is clear from the meaning of 'a thousand' as much and countless, here, as infinite, or an infinite abundance, since the expression has reference to the Lord, a meaning dealt with below; from the meaning of 'silver' as rational truth, dealt with in 1551, 2048; and from the meaning of 'a brother' as celestial good joined to rational truth, like a brother to a sister, 2524, 2557. From this it is evident that 'I have given a thousand pieces of silver to your brother' means an infinite abundance of rational truth joined to [celestial] good. The reason this abundance was granted to good, meant by 'a brother', but not to truth, is that truth derives from good, not good from truth. Regarding that infinite abundance, see 2572.

[2] That 'a thousand' in the Word means much and countless, and infinite when it has reference to the Lord, is evident from the following places: In Moses,

I, Jehovah your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the sons, on the third and on the fourth generations of those who hate Me; and showing mercy to thousands of those who love Me and keep My commandments. Exodus 20:5-6; 34:7; Deuteronomy 5:9-10.

And in Jeremiah,

Jehovah shows mercy to thousands and He repays the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their sons after them. Jeremiah 32:18.

In these two places 'thousands' does not mean a definite number but that which is infinite, for the Lord's mercy, being Divine, is infinite. In David,

The chariots of God are myriad on myriad, thousands on thousands; ¹ the Lord is within them, Sinai within holiness. Psalms 68:17.

Here 'myriads' and 'thousands' stand for things that are countless.

[3] In the same author,

A thousand will fall at your side, and a myriad at your right hand; it will not come near you. Psalms 91:7.

Here also 'a thousand' and 'a myriad' stand for things that are countless, and as it has reference to the Lord, who is meant by 'David' in the Psalms, those numbers stand for all who are His enemies. In the same author,

Our garners are full, yielding food and still more food; our flocks bring forth a thousand, and ten thousand in our streets. Psalms 144:13.

Here also 'a thousand', and 'ten thousand' or a myriad, stand for things that are countless. In the same author,

A thousand years in Your eyes are but as yesterday when it is past. Psalms 90:4.

'A thousand years' stands for that which is outside time, thus for eternity, which is infinity of time. In Isaiah,

One thousand at the rebuke of one, at the rebuke of five will you flee until you are left like a flagstaff on top of a mountain. Isaiah 30:17.

Here 'one thousand' or a chiliad stands for a large indefinite number, 'five' for few, 649. In Moses,

May Jehovah the God of your fathers add to you, as you are, a thousand times, and may He bless you. Deuteronomy 1:11.

Here 'a thousand times' stands for things that are countless, as in everyday speech in which also a thousand is an expression for many, as when one speaks of things being said thousands of times, or done in thousands of ways. Similarly in Joshua,

One man of you will chase a thousand, for Jehovah your God fights for you. Joshua 23:10.

[4] Being a definite calculable number, the word 'thousand' when used in prophetical parts, especially when these are linked together as historical descriptions, appears to mean a thousand. But in fact it means people who are many or countless - an unspecified number. For historical descriptions are of such a nature that they restrict people's ideas to the most immediate and proper meanings that the words possess, as they also do with the names that occur there, when in fact numbers in the Word, like names also, mean real things, as may become clear from what has been shown already concerning numbers in 482, 487, 575, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1963, 1988, 2075, 2252. This explains why some people suppose that the thousand years referred to in Revelation 20:1-7 means a thousand years or periods of time, for the reason, as has been stated, that prophecies are declared in that book through historical descriptions. But in fact 'a thousand years' there means nothing else than that which is large and indeterminate, and elsewhere infinity of time, or eternity.

Footnotes:

7097. I know not Jehovah. That this signifies that they do not care for the Lord, is evident from the signification of “not knowing,” as being not to care, for he who does not care, says that he does not know. (That by “Jehovah” is meant the Lord, see n. 7091.) As to Pharaoh’s saying that “he did not know Jehovah,” the case is this. The Egyptians from ancient time knew Jehovah, because in Egypt also there had been the Ancient Church, as can be plainly seen from the fact that they had among them the representatives and significatives of that church. The hieroglyphics of the Egyptians are nothing else; for by these were signified spiritual things, and they also knew that they actually corresponded; and as they began to employ such things in their sacred worship, and to worship them, and at last also to turn them into magic, and in this way to be associated with the devilish crew in hell, they therefore utterly destroyed the Ancient Church among them. Hence it is that by the “Egyptians” in the Word are signified the memory-knowledges of the church perverted, and also falsities contrary to the truths of the church.

[2] When Divine worship had been thus perverted in Egypt, then also they were no longer allowed to worship Jehovah, and finally not even to know that Jehovah was the God of the Ancient Church, and this in order that they might not profane the name of Jehovah. That the name of Jehovah was known at that time also, and this before it was again told to the posterity of Abraham through Moses in Mount Horeb, is very plain from the fact that Balaam, who was of Syria, not only knew Jehovah, but also adored Him, and likewise sacrificed to Him (Numbers 22,23, 24). From all this it can be known why Pharaoh said “Who is Jehovah, whose voice I should hear to let the people go? I know not Jehovah.”

[3] But as by Pharaoh are represented those in the hells who are in falsities, and who infest those of the spiritual church, therefore it must be told how the case is with these. They who are in the hells, and infest those who are of the spiritual church, are for the most part from such as have said that faith alone saves, and yet have lived a life contrary to faith; and as after the death of the body the life remains, thus the evil which they have thought, plotted, and done, therefore they either apply those things which they have said to be of faith to defend the evils of their life, or they altogether reject them. But lest they should abuse the truths of faith, they are deprived of them, and when they are deprived of them, they seize upon falsities, which are quite contrary to the truths of faith, and afterward by means of falsities infest those who are in truths. This is then the delight of their life. Moreover, some of them, in order to acquire power, learn magical arts. This is done by those who by various arts which they devised in the world have deceived the neighbor, and in consequence of their success have afterward attributed all things to their own prudence.

[4] They who have become such, acknowledge the Father the Creator of the universe, but not the Lord. Of the Lord they say as Pharaoh here says of Jehovah, “Who is Jehovah? I know not Jehovah.” Nay, as the universal sphere of heaven is full of the acknowledgment and love of the Lord, so is the universal sphere of the hells full of the denial of the Lord and of hatred against Him; neither can they endure that He should be named. The infernals are such that they do not desist on account of exhortations and threats, so great is the delight of their life in infesting the upright, and turning them from the acknowledgment of the Lord, and from faith in Him. This very delight of their life is increased by exhortations to desist, for this leads them to believe that it will shortly be all over with those whom they are infesting. These then are they who are specifically meant by “Pharaoh and the Egyptians.”