Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 1429

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1429. 'Abram was a son of seventy-five years' means that as yet there was not so much of the Divine. This becomes clear from the meaning of the number 'five' as that which is small, and of the number 'seventy' as that which is holy. That 'five' means that which is small has been shown already in 649, and that 'seventy' or 'sever' that which is holy in 395, 433, 716, 881 Here, since seventy is used in reference to the Lord, it means that which is Divine and holy. Furthermore that the numbersa giving Abram's years have a different meaning in the internal sense may become clear from what has been stated and shown already about years and numbers in 482, 487, 493, 575, 647, 648, 755, 813, and from the fact that not one tiny expression or part of a letter exists in the Word that does not carry an internal sense. And unless it embodied things that are spiritual and celestial no mention would ever have been made of Abram's being at that time 'a son of seventy-five years', or of this event taking place when he was that age, as is also clear from other numbers, both of years and of quantities, that are given in the Word.

Notes

a i.e. the numbers 5 and 70 In the Latin and in the Hebrew the words are literally Abram was a son of five years and seventy years.


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