9431. 'Six days' means when passing through the state of truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'six days' as a state of labour and conflict, dealt with in 737, 8510, 8888, 8975. It is a state of truth because a person who is being regenerated by the Lord experiences two states, the first of which is called the state of truth and the second the state of good. The reason why the first state is called the state of truth is that during it the person is being brought by means of truth towards good; and the reason why the second state is called the state of good is that the person, when governed by good, has been brought to it. Also, while the person is in the state of truth he is outside heaven; but when governed by good he is in heaven, and has accordingly been brought to the Lord. Furthermore while the person is passing through the first state or the state of truth he experiences labour and conflict, since he undergoes temptations then; but when he is in the second state or the state of good he experiences rest and the serenity which peace brings. The former state is what has been represented in the Word by the six days which come before a seventh, whereas the latter state is what has been represented by the seventh day or the sabbath, see 8890, 8893, 9274. Regarding these two states with the person who is being regenerated, which are called the state of truth and the state of good, see what has already been shown extensively in 7923, 7992, 8505, 8506, 8510, 8513, 8516, 8539, 8643, 8648, 8658, 8685, 8690, 8701, 8722, 8772, 9139, 9224, 9227, 9230, 9274.

4930. 'And he called his name Zerah' means the essential nature of it. This is clear from the meaning of 'calling the name' as the essential nature, as above in 4927. The essential nature meant by 'Zerah' is the nature of the reality which has been the subject in the internal sense up to this point, this reality being that in actual fact good is the firstborn but that truth appears to be such. That nature contains countless details, countless details such as cannot be seen in the light of the world, only in the light of heaven, and so by the eyes of the angels. If man could see the essential nature of a single reality like those visible to the angels he would be dumbfounded and would confess he would never have believed it, adding that compared with the angels he knew scarcely anything. In the original language Zerah means 'the rise' and is used to refer to the sun and the first sign of its light. This explains why this son was named Zerah, for good behaves in a similar way in the case of one who is being regenerated. Good first rises and sheds light, and from this light things within the natural man are lightened, enabling them to be seen, acknowledged, and finally believed. If light did not flow from the good present within that person he would never be able to see truths so that he could acknowledge and believe them. Instead he would see them as no more than the kind of things that have to be called truths for the common people's sake, or else as falsities.