Spiritual Meaning of

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That four hundred years signifies the duration and state, namely, of the temptations, is evident from the signification of four hundred, which number signifies the same as forty, namely, the durations and states of temptations (AC 730, 862). The durations of temptations, both the shorter and the more lasting, are described in the Word by forty. In the literal sense the words before us relate to the stay of the sons of Jacob in Egypt; and that this was four hundred and thirty years is evident from (Exodus 12:40); though the time was not so great as reckoned from Jacob's coming into Egypt, but it was reckoned from Abram's sojourn there, as has been observed before. The number four hundred and thirty is mentioned, from Abram's sojourn, for the reason that this number involves the temptations which they represented by their servitude in Egypt, and afterwards also by the forty years' afflictions in the wilderness.

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