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.

7564. 'And he that did not take the word of Jehovah to heart' means the things which were not from the Lord. This is clear from the explanation above in 7562, where 'he that feared the word of Jehovah' means the things that were the Lord's, and therefore conversely 'he that did not take the word of Jehovah to heart' means the things which were not from the Lord. Forms of good and truths are either the Lord's or not the Lord's. The Lord's are those which a person puts into practice for the sake of his neighbour, his country, the Church, and the Lord's kingdom, thus for the sake of truth and goodness themselves, and above all for the Lord's sake. These forms of good and truths are the ones that are the Lord's. But those that are not the Lord's are the ones which a person puts into practice for the sake of himself as his end in view, and for the sake of the world as his end in view. These latter forms of good and truths sometimes seem in outward appearance to be like the former; but inwardly they are totally different, for the latter lead to self, the former away from self. The truths and forms of good which are not the Lord's are also for the most part what a person puts into practice in a state of misfortune, sickness, grief, or fear, and not in a state of freedom; for these are also done for the sake of self. Every form of truth or good does indeed flow in from the Lord, but when a person turns the Lord's goodness or truth directly towards himself it becomes man's; it becomes the possession of him who turns it directly towards himself. For it becomes the good of self-love and love of the world. This is the kind of good that all evil people do to one another. From all this one may see which forms of good and truths are meant by forms of good and truths that are the Lord's and by forms of good and truths that are not the Lord's.