Spiritual Meaning of

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Now that the number nine signifies conjunction, and still more the number ninety, which is the product of the multiplication of nine into ten (for ten signifies the remains by which conjunction is effected, as is evident from what was said above, n. 1988, at the end), may also be seen from the representatives and significatives which now follow. It was commanded that on the tenth day of the seventh month there should be a day of expiations, and that this should be a Sabbath of a Sabbath; and on the ninth day of the seventh month at evening, from evening even to evening, they should celebrate a Sabbath (Lev. 23:27, 32).

[3] In the internal sense these things signify conjunction by means of remains - nine signifying conjunction, and ten signifying remains. That a Divine arcanum lies hidden in these numbers, is clearly evident from the months and the days of the year that were to be held holy; as that every seventh day there was a Sabbath; and that every seventh month, as just stated, there should be a Sabbath of a Sabbath; in like manner the seventh year; and also that on the seven times seventh year the jubilee should commence. The case is the same with all other numbers in the Word; as with three, the signification of which is nearly the same as that of seven; and with twelve, which signifies all things of faith; and with ten, which signifies the same as tenths, that is, remains (AC 576); and so on. Thus in the passage here quoted from Leviticus, unless the number ten and the number nine involved arcana, it would by no means have been commanded that this Sabbath of a Sabbath should be on the tenth day of the seventh month, and that on the ninth of the month they should celebrate it. Such is the Word of the Lord in the internal sense, although in the historical sense nothing of the kind appears.

[4] In the same way it is related of Jerusalem that it was besieged by Nebuchadnezzar in the ninth year of Zedekiah, and that a breach was made in the eleventh year, on the ninth day of the month; concerning which we read as follows in the second book of Kings:--

By the ninth year and the tenth month, and by the eleventh year and the ninth of the month, when the famine prevailed in the city and there was no bread for the people of the land, is signified in the internal sense that there was no longer any conjunction by means of the things of faith and of charity; famine in the city and no bread for the people of the land, signifies that there was nothing of faith and nothing of charity left. This is the internal sense of these words, which does not at all appear in the letter; and such things shine forth from the historical portions of the Word still less than from the prophetical, because the histories so captivate the mind that it is scarcely believed that anything deeper lies hidden within; when yet all things are representative, and the words themselves are everywhere significative. These things are hard to believe, but still they are true (AC 1769-1772).

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