7900. 'In the first [month], on the fourteenth day of the month' means at the beginning of a holy state. This is clear from the meaning of 'in the first' as the beginning, as above in 7887, 7891; and from the meaning of 'the fourteenth day' as a holy state. For the meaning of the number fourteen as what is holy, see above in 7842; and for 'day' as state, 7881. The reason why fourteen means what is holy is that it arises from seven, and where seven is mentioned in the Word what is holy is meant. For the meanings held by simple numbers are much the same as those held by compound ones, 5291, 5335, 5708. Since the Passover was the holiest of feast days, it was laid down that it should be celebrated on the fourteenth day of the month, last seven days, and be brought to an end on the twenty-first day, which also means what is holy. It was therefore also established that those who were unable to celebrate the Passover in the first month should do so the following month, likewise on the fourteenth day. This provision is stated in Moses as follows,

When any man is unclean because of a dead body, ¹ or is on a journey far away, among you or your descendants, ² he shall still keep the Passover to Jehovah. In the second month, on the fourteenth day between the evenings they shall keep it. Numbers 9:10-11.

脚注:

5708. 'Five measures more' means that it was much increased. This is clear from the meaning of 'five' as much, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'measures' as states of truth received from good, dealt with in 3104. As regards 'five', this is a number which can mean little, or else something, or even much. Whatever its specific meaning, this stems from its relationship with the number of which it is a factor, 5291. When it is a factor of ten, much the same as ten, but in a smaller degree, is implied, five being half the number ten. For just as compound numbers have a similar meaning to the simple ones of which they are the product, 5291, 5335, so do divisors have a similar meaning to the compound numbers they divide, as with the relationship of five to ten, also to twenty, as well as to a hundred, a thousand, and so on. 'Ten' means what is full and complete, see 3107, 4638. 'Five measures more' were given to Benjamin than to the rest of his brothers on account of what was meant by this in the spiritual sense. Ten measures could not be given because that amount would have been far too much. The ancients knew from what had been handed down to them from the Most Ancient Church the meanings that certain numbers carried; they therefore used those numbers whenever something cropped up, the meaning of which could be conveyed by those numbers, as is the case with five here. At other times they employed many other numbers, such as three to mean what was complete from start to finish, seven to mean what was holy, or twelve to mean all things in their entirety.