Arcana Coelestia #9659
9659. 'And there shall be eight boards and their bases [made] from silver' means support in every respect from good and through truth that springs from good. This is clear from the meaning of 'eight' as what is so in every respect, dealt with below; from the meaning of 'boards' as good that lends support, dealt with in 9634; and from the meaning of 'bases [made] from silver' as support provided through truth from good, dealt with in 9643.
[2] 'Eight' means in every respect because this number has the same meaning as two and four, being the product of these when multiplied together. 'Two' and 'four' mean being joined together, completely so, 5194, 8423, 8877, and consequently also mean what is complete, 9103, and therefore what is so in every respect; for what exists in completeness does so in every respect. Another reason why 'eight' means what exists in completeness and in every respect is that since 'a week' means a whole period from beginning to end, 2044, 3845, 'the eighth day' means a complete state, from which a new beginning then commences. This explains why males had to be circumcised on the eighth day, Genesis 17:12; 21:4, for circumcision was a sign of purification from foul kinds of love by means of the truth of faith, 2039, 2046 (end), 2799, 3412, 3413, 4462. The foreskin corresponded to the defilement of good by those kinds of love, 4462, 7045, 7225, and the knife of flint with which circumcision was carried out was a sign of the truth of faith by means of which purification was accomplished, 2039 (end), 2046 (end), 2799, 7044.
[3] What exists in completeness and in every respect is also meant by 'eight' following 'seven' in Micah,
When Asshur comes into our land and treads our palaces we will set up over him seven shepherds and eight princes of men (homo), and they will feed 1 the land of Asshur with the sword; and he will deliver [us] from Asshur. Micah 5:5-6.
'Asshur' stands for reasoning on the basis of one's own intelligence about the Church's forms of good and its truths. Deliverance totally or in every respect from consequent falsity is meant by 'eight princes of men' who will bring destruction, 'princes of men' being the leading truths that rise out of good.
[4] The fact that 'eight' means completeness and in every respect is also clear from an experience I had involving the admission and reception of some communities into heaven, about which see 2130. I saw as many as twelve communities received first, and after them as many as eight more; for people admitted and received into heaven are those who have been purified from earthly things, that is, from all love of them, and have gone on to receive instruction. The number eight on that occasion was a sign of that which was complete.
[5] 'Eight' has a similar meaning elsewhere in the Word, for example where it says that the portico of the gateway was 'eight cubits' long from the house, and that there were 'eight steps' up to the house, in Ezekiel 40:9, 31, 41. The description there is of the new house, by which the Lord's New Church is meant, truths leading to good and from good back to truths being meant by 'the portico' and 'the steps'.
[6] Anyone who does not know that spiritual realities or real things are implied by the numbers used in the Word cannot possibly see any such reality nor thus anything holy in the measures and numbers where the tabernacle, Solomon's temple, and after these the new house, new temple, and new land in Ezekiel, are described, when yet not a syllable in the Word is devoid of spiritual meaning. Let all who have intelligence weigh up in their mind what the measures and numbers in Chapters 40-48 of Ezekiel really mean, also the measures and numbers in John, at Revelation 21:17, where it says that the angel measured the wall of the new Jerusalem, a hundred and forty-four cubits, and that this measure was that of a man (homo), that is, of an angel, and also in the following, besides many other places,
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 13:18.
For more about all numbers in the Word, that they mean spiritual realities or real things, see 482, 487, 575, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1963, 1988, 2075, 2252, 3252, 4264, 4495, 4670, 5265, 5291, 5335, 5708, 6175, 7973, and places where the specific meaning of certain numbers has been shown.
Fusnotat:
1. i.e. destroy
Genesis 11
1
The whole earth was of one language and of one speech.
2
It happened, as they traveled east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they lived there.
3
They said one to another, "Come, let's make bricks, and burn them thoroughly." They had brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar.
4
They said, "Come, let's build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top reaches to the sky, and let's make ourselves a name, lest we be scattered abroad on the surface of the whole earth."
5
Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men built.
6
Yahweh said, "Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is what they begin to do. Now nothing will be withheld from them, which they intend to do.
7
Come, let's go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech."
8
So Yahweh scattered them abroad from there on the surface of all the earth. They stopped building the city.
9
Therefore its name was called Babel, because there Yahweh confused the language of all the earth. From there, Yahweh scattered them abroad on the surface of all the earth.
10
This is the history of the generations of Shem. Shem was one hundred years old and became the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood.
11
Shem lived five hundred years after he became the father of Arpachshad, and became the father of sons and daughters.
12
Arpachshad lived thirty-five years and became the father of Shelah.
13
Arpachshad lived four hundred three years after he became the father of Shelah, and became the father of sons and daughters.
14
Shelah lived thirty years, and became the father of Eber:
15
and Shelah lived four hundred three years after he became the father of Eber, and became the father of sons and daughters.
16
Eber lived thirty-four years, and became the father of Peleg.
17
Eber lived four hundred thirty years after he became the father of Peleg, and became the father of sons and daughters.
18
Peleg lived thirty years, and became the father of Reu.
19
Peleg lived two hundred nine years after he became the father of Reu, and became the father of sons and daughters.
20
Reu lived thirty-two years, and became the father of Serug.
21
Reu lived two hundred seven years after he became the father of Serug, and became the father of sons and daughters.
22
Serug lived thirty years, and became the father of Nahor.
23
Serug lived two hundred years after he became the father of Nahor, and became the father of sons and daughters.
24
Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and became the father of Terah.
25
Nahor lived one hundred nineteen years after he became the father of Terah, and became the father of sons and daughters.
26
Terah lived seventy years, and became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
27
Now this is the history of the generations of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran became the father of Lot.
28
Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldees.
29
Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran who was also the father of Iscah.
30
Sarai was barren. She had no child.
31
Terah took Abram his son, Lot the son of Haran, his son's son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife. They went forth from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan. They came to Haran and lived there.
32
The days of Terah were two hundred five years. Terah died in Haran.
