505. [verse 9] 'And they of peoples and tribes and tongues and nations shall see their bodies three days and a half' signifies when all those who have been and shall be in untruths of doctrine and consequently in evils of life derived from faith alone, until the end of the present Church and the beginning of the New, have heard and are going to hear of these two Essentials, which are the acknowledgment of the Lord and of works in accordance with the Decalogue. By 'peoples and tribes and tongues and nations' are understood all of the Reformed who have been and shall be in untruths of doctrine and consequently in evils of life derived from faith alone. By 'peoples' are signified those who are in untruths of doctrine (n. 483); by 'tribes' untruths and evils of the Church (n. 349); by 'tongues' the confession and reception thereof (n. 483); and by 'nations' those who are in evils of life (n. 483). Consequently by those four are signified all those, collectively and separately, who have been and shall be [such], thus those who have been 'in that great city', and those who like them are going to come thither out of the world. By 'their bodies', or the bodies of the two witnesses, are signified the two Essentials of the New Church treated of above (n. 501). By 'shall see' is signified when they have heard and are going to hear of them, since 'to see' is said of the bodies and 'to hear' is said of the two Essentials. By 'three days and a half' is signified to the end and the beginning, that is, to the end of the present Church and the beginning of the New. Resulting from these [significations] now collected into one meaning it is plain that by 'they of peoples and tribes and tongues and nations shall see their bodies three days and a half' the things stated above are signified in the spiritual sense. 'Three days and a half' signify to the end and the beginning, because 'days' signify states, the number 'three' what is complete even to an end, and 'a half' a beginning. For the like is signified by 'three days and a half' as by a week, of which six days signify what is complete even to the end, and the seventh day signifies what is holy; for the number 3 1/2 is half the number 7, which makes a week, and the doubling and dividing of this signify what is similar. [2] That 'three' signifies what is complete, thus to the end, can be seen by virtue of these [statements] in the Word:-
That Isaiah went naked and barefoot three years Isa. xx 3.
That Jehovah called Samuel three times, and Samuel ran three times to Eli, and that the third time Eli understood Sam. iii 1-8.
That Elijah measured himself three times over the widow's son 1 Kings xvii 21.
That Elijah commanded that they should pour water on the burnt-offering three times 1 Kings xviii 34.
That Jesus said that the kingdom of the heavens is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures, until the whole should be leavened Matt. xiii 33.
That Jesus said to Peter that he was going to deny Him three times Matt. xxvi 34.
That the Lord asked Peter three times, Lovest thou Me? John xxi 15-17.
That Jonah was in the whale's belly three days and three nights Jonah i 17 [H.B. ii 1].
That Jesus said that He would break up the temple, and Himself build it up during three days Matt. xxvi 61.
That Jesus in Gethsemane prayed three times Matt. xxvi 39-44.
That Jesus rose again the third day Matt. xxviii 1;
besides many elsewhere, as Isa. xvi 14; Hosea vi 2; Exod. iii 18; x 22, 23; xix 1, 11, 15, 16, 18; Lev. xix 23-25; Num. xix 11 to the end; xxxi 19-24; Deut. xix 2-4; xxvi 12; Josh. i 11; iii 2; 1 Sam. xx 5, 12, 19, 20, 35, 36, 41; 2 Sam. xxiv 11-13; Dan. x 1-3; Mark xii 2, 4-6; Luke xx 12; xiii 32, 33. 'Seven' as well as 'three' signify what is full and complete, but 'seven' are said of things holy, while 'three' of things not holy.
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