7947. 'And it happened at midnight' means a state of nothing but falsity arising from evil. This is clear from the meaning of 'midnight' as vastation when completed, dealt with in 7776, that is, an absence of anything good or true, consequently a state of nothing but falsity arising from evil. As regards its being a state of evil, see 2357, 6000, 7870.

7776. 'About midnight' means when vastation is completed. This is clear from the meaning of 'midnight' as the time of thickest darkness, that is, utter falsity. For 'night' means a state of falsity, 2353, 6000, and 'the middle' of it is the peak, so that 'midnight' is when vastation is completed.