730、“四十昼夜”表示试探持续的时间。这从主的圣言很清楚地看出来。“四十”表示试探持续的时间，其原因是这一事实：主允许自己受试探四十天（如马太福音4:1，2；路加福音4:2；马可福音1:13所述）。由于主降临之前，犹太教会和其它代表性教会的每一个传统要求都只是祂的一个类型和影子，或都预示着祂，所以四十昼夜也是如此。一般来说，它们代表并表示一切试探，尤其试探持续的时间，无论这时间有多么长。凡经受试探的人都经历属于自我的一切事物和肉体事物的荒废（因为在他重生为一个新人，或变得属灵和属天之前，自我和肉体的事物必须死去，并且通过争战和试探而死去），因此，“四十昼夜”也表示荒废持续的时间。此处也一样，这里的主题既是被称为挪亚的新教会成员的试探，也是生活在大洪水之前的人们的毁灭。
“四十”不仅表示试探持续的时间，还表示荒废持续的时间，无论时间长短，这一点清楚可见于以西结书：
你要向右边躺卧，担当犹大家的罪孽，共四十日；我给你规定一日顶一年。（以西结书4:6）
“四十”表示犹太教会荒废持续的时间，还表示主之试探的一个代表，因为经上说，他要“担当犹大家的罪孽”。同一先知书：
我必使埃及陆地成为荒废之地，全然凄凉。人的脚不经过，兽的蹄也不经过，四十年无人居住。我必使埃及陆地在荒凉的陆地中间成为荒凉，使她的城在荒废的城中间变为荒僻之地，共有四十年。（以西结书29:10-11）
此处“四十”也表示荒废和荒凉持续的时间；就内义而言，此处不是指四十年，仅仅指总体上信的荒凉，无论时间长短。启示录：
只是殿外的院子要留下不用量，因为这是给了外邦人的，他们要践踏圣城四十二个月。（启示录11:2）
又：
又赐给兽说夸大亵渎话的口，又有权柄赐给它，可以行事四十二个月。（启示录13:5）
这表示荒废持续的时间，因为谁都能看出，此处根本不是指四十二个月。在这段经文中，数字实际上是“四十二”，但这个数字和“四十”具有相同的含义。这来源于“七日”表示荒废的结束和一个新的开始，“六日”表示劳碌，因为六日是劳碌或争战。因此，七乘以六所得的数字“四十二”，就表示荒废持续的时间，以及试探，或将要重生之人的劳碌和争战持续的时间，这段时间含有神圣。然而，从启示录的这些经文明显可知，经上把不太整的数“四十二”当成整数“四十”。
以色列人被领进迦南地之前在旷野被引导了四十年，同样代表并表示试探持续的时间，以及荒废持续的时间：他们后来被领进圣地，代表并表示试探持续的时间；凡离开埃及时年龄超过二十岁的，除了约书亚和迦勒外，都死在了旷野（民数记14:33-35；32:8-14），这一事实代表并表示荒废持续的时间。他们经常抱怨的事表示试探，他们经常遭受的瘟疫和毁灭表示荒废。这些表示试探和荒废，对此，蒙主的神性怜悯，我将在适当地方予以说明。论到这些事，摩西五经上记着说：
你要记得耶和华你的神在旷野一路引导你这四十年，是要苦炼你、试探你，要知道你心内如何，是否愿意遵守祂的诫命。（申命记8:2-3，16）
摩西在西乃山上“四十昼夜”，同样表示试探持续的时间，也就是说，表示主的试探，这清楚可见于摩西五经：
他在西乃山上住了四十昼又四十夜，没有吃饭，也没有喝水，祈求这百姓不被毁灭。（申命记9:9，11，18，25-29；10:10；民数记14:33-34，35；32:8-14）
“四十天”之所以表示试探持续的时间，是因为如前所述，主允许自己被魔鬼试探四十天。因此，由于一切事物代表主，所以每当试探的观念与天使同在时，这种观念在灵人界就以诸如世上的那类事物来代表，如当一切天使观念降到灵人界，以一种代表的方式显现时的情形。这同样适用于数字四十，因为主要受试探四十天。对主，因而对天使天堂来说，未来与现在是一回事，因为未来早已存在，或说将要发生的事已经发生。这就是在代表性教会，“四十”代表试探，也代表荒废的起源。不过，这些事还不能被很好地理解，因为人们不知道天使天堂流入灵人界，也不知道这种流注的性质。
New Century Edition
Cooper(2008,2013)
[NCE]730. The fact that forty days and nights is a symbol for how long their trials last stands out clearly from the Lord's Word.
The use of forty as a symbol for the length that times of trial last comes from the fact that the Lord submitted to being tested for forty days, as shown in Matthew 4:1-2; Luke 4:2; and Mark 1:13. Each and every tradition established in the Jewish church, and in all the other representative churches that preceded the Lord's Coming, foreshadowed him.{*1} So the forty days and nights did too, representing and symbolizing every time of struggle in general, and the length that any one time of struggle lasts in particular.
When we are being tried, we experience the devastation or stripping away of everything self-centered and bodily. What is self-centered and bodily has to die — and die through combat and struggle — before we can be reborn as a new being, or in other words, as a spiritual and heavenly being. Because of this, forty days and nights also symbolize the length of time that devastation lasts. They do so here, in a verse that deals with both the trials of the people in the new church known as Noah and the devastation of the pre-Flood people.
[2] The symbolism of forty as the duration of both trials and devastation, whether long or short, can be seen in Ezekiel:
You shall lie on your right side and carry the wickedness of the house of Judah forty days; a day for each year is the [task] I have set for you. (Ezekiel 4:6)
Forty stands for the length of time the devastation of the Jewish church lasted. It stands also as a representation of the Lord's struggles, since it says that he was to carry the wickedness of the house of Judah. In the same author:
I will turn the land of Egypt into wastelands, a ruinous wasteland. It will not be traversed by a human foot, nor will an animal's foot traverse it, and it will not be inhabited for forty years. And I will make the land of Egypt a ruin in the middle of ruined lands; and its cities in the midst of wasted cities will be a lonely place for forty years. (Ezekiel 29:10-11, 12)
Again forty stands for the time it takes for them to be devastated (or laid waste) and ruined. On a deeper plane it positively does not mean forty years but only the overall process by which faith is brought to ruin, whether this takes a short or long time. In John:
Throw out the courtyard that is within the temple and do not measure it, because it has been given to the nations, which will trample the holy city for forty-two months. (Revelation 11:2)
[3] And in the same author:
The beast was given a mouth speaking grand things and blasphemies, and it was given authority to act for forty-two months. (Revelation 13:5)
Here the number stands for the course that devastation runs, since it certainly does not mean a period of forty-two months, as anyone can see.
This time the number mentioned is forty-two, which is the same as forty, for the following reason. Seven days symbolize the end of devastation and a new start while six symbolizes hard work, from the six days of labor or combat. Seven multiplied by six, then, produces forty-two, symbolizing the length of time devastation lasts and the length of time struggles or labor and conflict last for those who are being reborn. This period contains something holy. The round number of forty is a substitute for the exact figure of forty-two, as is clear from the above places in the Book of Revelation.
[4] The fact that the Israelite people wandered in the wilderness for forty years before entering the land of Canaan likewise represented and symbolized the duration of hardship and also of devastation. The former was represented and symbolized by the fact that they did eventually enter the holy land. The latter was represented and symbolized by the fact that everyone who had passed the age of twenty by the time of leaving Egypt, except for Joshua and Caleb, died in the wilderness. Hardships are meant by the things against which the people murmured so many times, and devastation is meant by the plagues and deaths that so often struck.
The symbolism of these events as trials and devastation will be shown where the relevant passages are explained, the Lord's divine mercy permitting.{*2} Moses speaks of them this way:
Remember all the path that Jehovah your God led you on these forty years in the wilderness to afflict you, to test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. (Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 16)
Moses' forty days and forty nights on Mount Sinai are again a symbol for the length of time that struggle lasts, or for the testing of the Lord, as is clear in Moses:
He was on Mount Sinai forty days and forty nights, not eating bread, not drinking water, pleading for the people that they not be destroyed. (Deuteronomy 9:9, 11, 18, 25-29; 10:10; Numbers 14:33-34, 35; 32:8-14)
[5] The reason forty days symbolize the duration of struggles, as noted, is that the Lord allowed himself to be tried by the Devil for forty days. Since everything represented the Lord, if the angels were thinking about trial, that idea was represented visually in the world of spirits by the kinds of things that exist in the world. All the thoughts angels have are made visible in representative form when they pass down into the world of spirits. So the number forty served for the idea of adversity, since the Lord would struggle for forty days. (To the Lord, and consequently to the angels in heaven, the future is the same as the present. What is to come is already here, or what will happen is already an accomplished fact.) This is why the number forty in the representative church was able to represent times of trial, and of devastation as well.
But these things cannot yet be grasped in a satisfactory way, since no one knows about the influence the angelic heavens have on the world of spirits or the fact that the influence works this way.
Footnotes:
{*1} The other representative churches mentioned here are those that existed at the time of the ancient church. See 796, 9280:2. [LHC]
{*2} Several of the matters mentioned here (the story of Joshua and Caleb, the wandering and death in the wilderness, and many of the plagues and slaughters the Israelites suffered) occur in the Book of Numbers, which Swedenborg apparently originally intended to cover in Secrets of Heaven (see the reader's guide, pages 24-25 note 14 [NCBSP: Available from Swedenborg Foundation]). However, for the symbolism of the people's murmurings against God (and his servants), see the explanations of Exodus 14:10-15; 15:24-25; 16:2-12; 17:1-7 (8158-8181, 8344, 8351-8358, 8402-8499, 8556-8591). Additionally, the massacre or plague referred to in Exodus 32:35 is explained in its place as symbolizing devastation (10496, 10510-10512). [LHC]
Potts(1905-1910) 730
730. That by "forty days and nights" is signified the duration of temptation, is plainly evident from the Word of the Lord. That "forty" signifies the duration of temptation, comes from the fact that the Lord suffered Himself to be tempted for forty days (as is stated in Matthew 4:1, 2; Luke 4:2; Mark 1:13). And as the things instituted in the Jewish and the other representative churches before the coming of the Lord were each and all types of Him, so also were the forty days and nights, in that they represented and signified in general all temptation, and specifically the duration of the temptation, whatever that might be. And because a man when in temptation is in vastation as to all things that are of his Own, and of the body (for the things that are of his Own and of the body must die, and this through combats and temptations, before he is born again a new man, or is made spiritual and heavenly), for this reason also "forty days and nights" signify the duration of vastation; and it is the same here where the subject is both the temptation of the man of the new church, called "Noah" and the devastation of the antediluvians. [2] That the number "forty" signifies the duration of both temptation and vastation, whether greater or less, is evident in Ezekiel:
Thou shalt lie on thy right side, and shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days, each day for a year have I appointed it unto thee (Ezek. 4:6). "Forty" denotes here the duration of the vastation of the Jewish Church, and also a representation of the Lord's temptation; for it is said that he should "bear the iniquity of the house of Judah." Again:
I will make the land of Egypt wastes, a waste of desolation; no foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall pass through it, and it shall not be inhabited forty years; and I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of the desolate lands, and her cities in the midst of the cities that are laid waste shall be a solitude forty years (Ezek. 29:10-12). Here also "forty" denotes the duration of vastation and desolation; and in the internal sense forty years are not meant, but only, in general, the desolation of faith, whether within a less or greater time. In John:
The court that is without the temple cast out and measure it not; for it hath been given unto the nations, who shall tread the holy city underfoot forty and two months (Rev. 11:2). [3] And again:
There was given unto the beast a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and there was given unto him power to make war forty and two months (Rev. 13:5), denoting the duration of vastation, for anyone may know that forty-two months of time is not meant. But the origin of the use of the number "forty-two" in this passage (which has the same signification as the number "forty") is that "seven days" signify the end of vastation, and a new beginning, and "six days" signify labor, from the six days of labor or combat. Seven are therefore multiplied by six, and thus give rise to the number forty-two, which signifies the duration of the vastation and the duration of the temptation, or the labor and combat, of the man who is to be regenerated, in which there is holiness. But, as is evident from these passages in Revelation, the round number "forty" was taken for the not-so-round number "forty-two." [4] That the Israelitish people were led about for forty years in the wilderness before they were brought into the land of Canaan, in like manner represented and signified the duration of temptation, and also the duration of vastation; the duration of temptation, by their being afterwards brought into the holy land; the duration of vastation, by the fact that all above the age of twenty years, who went out of Egypt, except Joshua and Caleb, died in the wilderness (Num. 14:33-35; 32:8-14). The things against which they so often murmured signify temptations, and the plagues and destruction that so frequently came upon them signify vastations. That these signify temptations and vastations will of the Lord's Divine mercy be shown in that place. Of these things it is written in Moses:
Thou shalt remember all the way which Jehovah thy God hath led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to afflict thee, to tempt thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep His commandments, or no (Deut. 8:2-3, 16). That Moses was forty days and forty nights upon Mount Sinai, likewise signifies the duration of the temptation, that is, it signifies the Lord's temptation, as is evident from his abiding in the mount forty days and forty nights, neither eating bread nor drinking water, supplicating for the people that they might not be destroyed (Deut. 9:9, 11, 18, 25-29; 10:10). [5] The reason why "forty days" signify the duration of temptation is, as just said, that the Lord suffered Himself to be tempted of the devil forty days. And therefore-as all things were representative of the Lord-when the idea of temptations was present with the angels, that idea was represented in the world of spirits by such things as are in this world, as is the case with all angelic ideas during their descent into the world of spirits: they being presented representatively. And in the same way the idea of temptation was presented by the number "forty" because the Lord was to be tempted forty days. With the Lord, and consequently with the angelic heaven, it is the same whether a thing is present or is to come; what is to come is present, or what is to be done is done. From this came the representation of temptations, as also of vastations, in the representative church, by "forty." But these things cannot as yet be very well comprehended, because the influx of the angelic heaven into the world of spirits is not known, nor that such is the nature of this influx.
Elliott(1983-1999) 730
730. 'Forty days and nights' means the duration of temptation. This is quite clear from the Word of the Lord. The reason 'forty' means the duration of temptation is the fact that the Lord allowed Himself to be tempted for forty days, as is clear in Matt 4:1, 2; Luke 4:2; Mark 1:13. And because every single requirement in the Jewish Church and in all other representative Churches before the Lord's Coming was merely a type and shadow of Him, so too were forty days and nights. In general they represented and meant all temptation, and in particular however long its duration. And since anyone undergoing temptation experiences vastation of all things that belong to the proprium and of things that are bodily - for things of the proprium and those that are bodily have to die, doing so indeed through conflict and temptation, before he is reborn a new man, that is, before he becomes spiritual and celestial - 'forty days and nights' therefore also means the duration of vastation. The same applies here where the subject is both the temptation of the member of the new Church called Noah and also the destruction of those who lived before the Flood.
[2] That 'forty' means not only the duration of temptation but also of vastation, whether long or short, is clear in Ezekiel,
You shall lie on your right side and you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days, a day for each year I assign you. Ezek 4:6.
This stands for the duration of the vastation of the Jewish Church and also for a representation of the Lord's temptation, for it is said that he was 'to bear the iniquity of the house of Judah'. In the same prophet,
I will make the land of Egypt waste places, an utter desolation. The foot of man will not pass through it, and the foot of beast will not pass through it, and it will be uninhabited for forty years. And I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of desolated lands, and her cities in the midst of devastated cities will be a lonely place for forty years. Ezek 29:10-11.
This too stands for the duration of vastation and desolation. Here the meaning in the internal sense is not forty years but solely the desolation of faith in general, whether within a short or a long period of time. In John,
The court outside the Temple, leave that out and do not measure it, for it has been given over to the nationsa who will trample over the holy city for forty-two months. Rev 11:2.
[3] And in the same author,
The beast was given a mouth uttering great things and blasphemies, and it was given power to act for forty-two months. Rev 13:5.
This stands for the duration of vastation, for a period of forty-two months is not meant at all, as anyone may see. In these quotations the number is in fact forty-two, but this has the same meaning as forty. It is obtained from 'seven days' meaning the finish of vastation and a new beginning, and from 'six' meaning labour because of the six days of labour or conflict. Consequently seven multiplied by six, which produces the number 'forty-two', means the duration of vastation and the duration of temptation, that is, the labour and conflict of someone who is to be regenerated, which period of time involves holiness. The round number forty however has been adopted instead of the less round number forty-two, as is clear in these quotations from the Book of Revelation.
[4] The people of Israel's being led about in the wilderness for forty years before being brought into the land of Canaan in a similar way represented and meant the duration of temptation, and also the duration of vastation - the duration of temptation by the fact that they were subsequently brought into the Holy Land, and the duration of vastation by the fact that, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb, all who were more than twenty years old when they left Egypt died in the wilderness. And temptations are also meant by the things they grumbled about so often, and vastations by the plagues and destruction they suffered so often. The fact that temptations and vastations are meant will in the Lord's Divine mercy be shown in their proper places. They are referred to in Moses as follows,
You shall remember all the way that Jehovah your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness to afflict you, to tempt you, to know what is in your heart, whether you will keep His commandments or not. Deut 8:2, 3, 16.
Moses' forty days and forty nights on Mount Sinai similarly mean the duration of temptation - that is, the temptation of the Lord - as is clear in Moses,
He was on Mount Sinai for forty days and forty nights, eating no bread, drinking no water, pleading for the people not to be destroyed. Deut 9:9, 11, 18, 25-end; 10:10.
[See also] Num 14:33-35; 32:8-14
[5] The reason 'forty days' means the duration of temptation is, as has been stated, that the Lord allowed Himself to be tempted by the devil for forty days. Consequently in the days when all things were representatives of the Lord, whenever the idea of temptation existed with angels, that idea was represented in the world of spirits by such things as exist in the world - as happens with all angelic ideas when they come down into the world of spirits and manifest themselves there in a representative fashion. The same accordingly applies to the number forty, for the Lord was to be tempted for forty days. With the Lord, and consequently in the angelic heaven, the future and the present are one and the same, for what is future is already present, or what is to take place has taken place. This is the origin of the representation of temptations and also of vastations by forty in the representative Church. But these matters cannot as yet be understood satisfactorily because people do not know about the influx of the angelic heaven into the world of spirits or the nature of it.
Latin(1748-1756) 730
730. Quod per 'quadraginta dies et noctes' significetur duratio tentationis, constat manifeste ex Verbo Domini: quod 'quadraginta' significent durationem tentationis, inde venit quod Dominus Se passus sit tentari per quadraginta dies, ut constat apud Matth. iv 1, 2; Luc. iv 2; Marc. i 13, et quia omnia et singula quae instituta in Ecclesia Judaica et ceteris Ecclesiis repraesentativis ante Adventum Domini, fuerunt typi Ipsius, ita quoque 'quadraginta dies et noctes,' quod repraesentarent et significarent in genere omnem tentationem, in specie durationem quamcumque tentationis: et quia cum homo in tentatione est, est in vastatione omnium quae sunt proprii et quae sunt corporea, nam propria et corporea moritura sunt et quidem per pugnas et tentationes, antequam renascitur novus seu fit spiritualis et caelestis, ideo etiam 'quadraginta dies et noctes' significant quoque durationem vastationis; hic similiter, ubi tam de tentatione hominis novae Ecclesiae Noahus dictae, quam de devastatione antediluvianorum agitur: quod 'quadraginta' significent tam tentationis quam vastationis durationem, tam majorem, quam minorem, constat apud Ezechielem, Jacebis super latere tuo dextro, et portabis iniquitatem domus Jehudae quadraginta dies, singulos dies pro singulis annis dedi illud tibi, iv 6;ibi pro duratione vastationis Ecclesiae Judaicae, tum quoque pro repraesentatione tentationis Domini, nam dicitur quod 'portaret iniquitatem domus Jehudae': apud eundem, Dabo terram Aegypti vastitates, vastitatem desolationis, non transibit per eam pes hominis, et pes bestiae non transibit per eam, et non habitabitur quadraginta annis. Et dabo terram Aegypti desolationem in medio terrarum desolationis,...et urbes ejus in medio urbium devastatarum erunt solitudo quadraginta annis, xxix [10,] 11, 12;
ibi quoque pro duratione vastationis et desolationis; ubi in sensu interno nusquam significantur quadraginta anni, sed tantum desolatio fidei in genere, sive intra minus sive majus tempus: apud Johannem, Atrium quod {1}extra Templum, ejice foras ut illud non metiaris, quia datum est gentibus, quae civitatem sanctam conculcabunt mensibus quadraginta duobus, Apoc. xi {x}2;
et apud eundem, Datum est bestiae os loquens magna et blasphemias, dataque ei potestas faciendi menses quadraginta duos, Apoc. xiii 5;
ubi pro duratione vastationis; nusquam enim tempus quadraginta duorum mensium intelligitur, ut quisque scire potest: sed hic dicitur 'quadraginta duo' quod idem est cum quadraginta; quod inde trahit originem quia 'dies septem' significant finem vastationis et principium novum, 'sex' autem significant laborem ex sex diebus laboris aut pugnae, quare multiplicati sunt septem per sex, inde numerus exsurgit 'quadraginta duo' significans durationem vastationis et durationem tentationis seu laborem et pugnam hominis regenerandi, in qua sanctum; sed numerus rotundus quadraginta pro non rotundo quadraginta duo assumptus est, ut constat ex illis locis Apocalypseos. Quod populus Israeliticus per quadraginta annos circumductus fuisset in deserto antequam introducti in terram Canaanem, repraesentabat et significabat similiter durationem tentationis, tum quoque durationem vastationis; durationem tentationis per id quod postea introducti in terram sanctam; durationem vastationis per id quod omnes qui supra viginti annos exiverunt Aegypto, in deserto mortui sint praeter Josuam et Chalebum: sunt tentationes quae intelliguntur per illa contra qua toties murmurarunt; et sunt vastationes quod toties illis plagae e interitus: quod significent tentationes et vastationes, ibi, ex Divina Domini Misericordia, ostendetur; de quibus ita apud Mosen, Recorderis omnis viae, quam duxit te Jehovah Deus tuus his quadraginta annis in deserto propter ad affligendum te, ac tentandum te, ad sciendum quid in corde tuo, an serves praecepta Ipsius, annon, Deut. viii 2, 3, 16. Quod 'Moses fuerit quadraginta dies et quadraginta noctes super monte Sinai' similiter significat durationem tentationis, seu tentationem Domini, ut constat apud illum, In monte Sinai fuit quadraginta dies et quadraginta noctes non edens panem, non bibens aquam, supplicans pro populo ne perderetur, Deut. ix 9, 11, 18, 25 ad f.; x 11 [A.V. 10]; Num. xiv 33, 34, 35; xxxii 8-14. Quod per 'quadraginta dies' significetur duratio tentationis, causa est, ut dictum, quod Dominus Se passus tentari a diabolo quadraginta diebus; quare cum omnia erant repraesentativa Domini, cum idea tentationis fuit apud angelos, idea illa in mundo spirituum repraesentata fuit per talia quae in mundo, sicut fit cum omnibus ideis angelicis dum labuntur in mundum spirituum, quod sistantur repraesentative; ita per quadraginta, quia Dominus tentaretur quadraginta diebus; idem est apud Dominum, et inde in caelo angelico, quod venturum, aut quod praesens; quod venturum est praesens, seu quod fiet hoc factum; inde repraesentatio tentationum ut et vastationum per quadraginta in Ecclesia repraesentativa: sed haec nondum satis comprehendi possunt, quia nescitur influxus caeli angelici in mundum spirituum et quod talis. @1 has intra, as also Sch., but S. corrects the latter in his copy, and in A.E. and A.R. has extra, which the Internal sense demands.$