891. 'The dove did not return to him any more' means a state of freedom. This follows from what was said above, in particular from the fact that the dove, or the truth of faith - like the other birds, and also the beasts, and so Noah too - was no longer confined to the ark on account of the flood-waters. All the time he was in the ark it was a state of slavery, that is, a state of bondage or imprisonment, with the flood-waters, or falsities, tossing him about. That state is described along with the state of temptation in Chapter 7:17 above, where it is said that 'the waters increased and lifted up the ark, and raised it above the earth', and also in 7:18 that 'the waters grew stronger and the ark went over the face ¹ of the waters'. His state of freedom is described in verses 15-18 of the present chapter not only by Noah's going out of the ark but also by all the other living things accompanying him - the dove, that is, the truth of faith deriving from good, first of all, for all freedom has its origin in the good of faith, that is, in the love of good.

Fusnotat:

5292. 'In the seven years of abundance of corn means which are instilled during the times when truths along with forms of good have been multiplied. This is clear from the meaning of 'years' as states, and from these as periods of time, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'abundance of corn' as the multiplication of truth, or truth that has been multiplied, dealt with above in 5276, 5278, 5280. Here therefore truths which, along with forms of good, have been multiplied are meant because truths are nothing unless they are accompanied by forms of good; nor are any truths stored away within the interior man - dealt with immediately above in 5291 - other than those which have been joined to forms of good. The reason 'years' means not only states but also periods of time is that in the internal sense 'years' means entire states, that is, periods in their entirety from the start to the finish of a state. No expression other than periods of time exists to describe such states; nor have the inhabitants of [space and] time any other way of understanding them than as periods of time. For 'days' and 'years mean both states and periods of time, see 23, 487, 488, 493, 893, 2906.