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.

3921. 'Rachel said, God has judged me, and also has heard my voice' in the highest sense means righteousness and mercy, in the internal sense the holiness of faith, in the external sense the good of life. This is clear from the meaning of 'God's judging me', and from the meaning of 'hearing my voice'. 'God's judging me' means the Lord's righteousness, as may be seen without explanation, while 'hearing my voice' means mercy, as may likewise be seen; for the Lord judges everyone from righteousness, and hears everyone from mercy. He judges from righteousness in that He does so from Divine Truth, and hears from mercy in that He does so from Divine Good. He judges from righteousness those who do not receive Divine Good, and hears from mercy those who do. Yet when He judges from righteousness He does so at the same time from mercy since all Divine righteousness includes mercy within itself, even as Divine Truth includes Divine Good within it. But as these arcana are too deep for brief comment, they will in the Lord's Divine mercy be explained more fully elsewhere.

[2] The reason why 'God has judged me, and also has heard my voice' in the internal sense means the holiness of faith is that faith, which is associated with truth, corresponds to Divine righteousness, and holiness, which is goodness, corresponds to the Lord's Divine mercy; and in addition to this, judging or judgement is associated with the truth of faith, 2235. And since it is God who is said to have judged, that which is good or holy is meant. From this it is evident that the holiness of faith, at the same time as righteousness and mercy, is meant by these two expressions - 'God has judged me' and 'has heard my voice'. And because the two together mean a single entity they are joined by the words 'and also'. The reason the good of life is meant in the external sense is also rooted in correspondence, for the good of life corresponds to the holiness of faith. Without the internal sense no one can know what 'God has judged me, and also has heard me' means, and this is evident from the consideration that in the sense of the letter the two phrases do not fit together very easily to present one complete and intelligible idea.

[3] The reason why in this verse and in those that follow as far as 'Joseph' the name God is used and why in the verses immediately before these Jehovah is used is that in this and the following verses the regeneration of the spiritual man is the subject, whereas in those before them the regeneration of the celestial man was the subject. For God is used when the good of faith which is an attribute of the spiritual man is the subject, but Jehovah when the good of love which is an attribute of the celestial man is the subject, see 2586, 2769, 2807, 2822. For Judah, down to whom the births of sons went in the previous chapter, represented the celestial man, see 3881, whereas Joseph, down to whom those births go in the present chapter, represents the spiritual man, dealt with below in verses 23-24. The name Jehovah is used down to Judah, see Genesis 29:32-33, 35, but God down to Joseph, see verses 6, 8, 17-18, 20, 22-23 of the present chapter, after which Jehovah occurs again because the subject moves on from the spiritual man to the celestial. This is the arcanum which lies concealed in these words and which no one can know except from the internal sense, and also unless he knows what the celestial man is and what the spiritual.