According to Genesis, God rested on the seventh day of creation. According to Swedenborg, that represents a state of holiness and tranquility that was preserved in the form of the sabbath. Holier still was the seventh sabbath, which happened every 49 days. The Children of Israel would follow that solemn day with the “feast of the seven sabbaths” on the 50th day, and for similar reasons had a jubilee year every 50th year. For these reasons, among others, “fifty” in the Bible is the completion of a cycle, and in most cases, according to Swedenborg, represents fullness or sufficiency.
Fifty is also half of 100, which has a similar meaning; Swedenborg says that when the two are used together, 50 represents an intermediate state.
Passages from Swedenborg
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 2252
2252. That ‘perhaps there may be fifty righteous persons in the midst of the city’ means that the truths may be full of goods is clear from the meaning of ‘fifty’ as full, from the meaning of ‘righteous’ as good, dealt with in 612, 2235, from [the meaning] of ‘midst’ as that which is within, 1074, and from [the meaning] of ‘the city’ as truth, 402. Thus ‘fifty righteous persons in the midst of the city’ in the internal sense means that the truths may be full of goods. That this meaning exists within these words cannot be seen by anyone from the letter, for the historical details of the literal sense lead the mind in an altogether different direction or to think in a different way; but that these words are nevertheless perceived according to that meaning by those who possess the internal sense, I know for certain. Moreover the actual numbers mentioned, such as fifty here, and forty-five, forty, thirty, twenty, and ten in what follows, are never perceived as numbers by those who possess the internal sense but as real things or as states, as shown in 482, 487, 575, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1963, 1988, 2075.
[3] The reason ‘fifty’ means that which is full is that it is the number which comes after seven times seven, or forty-nine, and so marks the completion of the latter number. This explains why in the representative Church the feast of the seven sabbaths* was held on the fiftieth day, and why a jubilee was held in the fiftieth year. Regarding the feast of the seven sabbaths the following is said in Moses,
You shall count for yourselves from the day after the sabbath; from the day you bring the sheaf of the wave-offering, seven sabbaths shall there be complete. Until the day after the seventh sabbath you shall count fifty days, and offer a new gift to Jehovah. Lev. 23:15, 16.
Regarding the jubilee in the same book,
You shall count for yourself seven sabbaths of years, seven times seven years, and you shall have a time of seven sabbaths of years, forty-nine years. And you shall sanctify the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty in the land to all its inhabitants; it shall be a jubilee for you. Lev. 25:8, 10.
From this it is evident that ‘the fiftieth’ means that which marks the full completion of the sabbaths.
[4] What is more, whenever ‘fifty’ is mentioned in the Word it means that which is full, as in the case of the numbering of the Levites aged thirty years and over up to fifty years of age, Num. 4:23, 35, 39, 43, 47; 8:25. Here ‘fifty’ stands for the full or final state of that period of ministerial service. A man found lying with a young woman who was a virgin had to give to the young woman’s father fifty pieces of silver, and she had to be his wife; nor could he divorce her, Deut. 22:29. Here ‘fifty pieces of silver’ stands for a full fine and a full recompense. David’s giving to Araunah fifty pieces of silver for the threshing-floor, where he built an altar to Jehovah, 2 Sam. 24:24, stands for a full price and a full payment. Absalom’s making ready for himself a chariot and horses, and his having fifty men running before him, 2 Sam. 15:1, and Adonijah’s likewise having chariots and horsemen, and fifty men running before him, 1 Kings 1:5, stand for their full dignity and majesty. For these people received from the ancients certain numbers which were representative and carried spiritual meanings and which were observed by them. Those numbers were also commanded in their religious observances, though the majority of the people did not know what was meant by them.
[5] In the same way, because ‘fifty’ means that which is full and this number was also representative, as has been stated, the same thing is meant in the Lord’s parable concerning the steward, who said to the man owing oil,
How much do you owe my master? He said, A hundred baths of oil. Then he said to him, Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty. Luke 16:5, 6.
‘Fifty’ stands for the full discharge of the debt. Being a number it does indeed seem to imply nothing more than a number, when in fact in the internal sense this number is used in every case to mean that which is full, as also in Haggai,
One came to the winevat to draw fifty measures from the winevat, and there were only twenty. Hagg. 2:16.
This means that instead of a full amount there was not much. ‘Fifty’ would not have been mentioned in the prophet if it had not carried this meaning.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 8714
8714. ‘Rulers of fifties’ means first and foremost truths that are intermediary. This is clear from the meaning of ‘rulers’ as first and foremost truths, as above in 8712, 8713; and from the meaning of ‘fifties’ as intermediary truths, that is to say, those which lie between truths springing from good that reside in the second degree and those that reside in the third, meant by ‘rulers of hundreds’ and ‘rulers of tens’. The reason why ‘fifties’ are intermediary truths is that ‘fifty’ means either much or something, just as ‘five’ does (for the meaning of ‘five’ as much, see 5708, 5956, and for its meaning something, 4638, 5291), and therefore when fifty is mentioned between a hundred and ten, intermediaries are meant. Intermediary truths are those which extend towards one part from another, that is, exist between those in a prior degree and those in a posterior degree, in order to link such degrees together.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 9608
9608. ‘Fifty loops you shall make in the one curtain’ means a complete joining together in the outermost parts of the spheres. This is clear from the meaning of ‘fifty’ as what is complete, dealt with in 2252; from the meaning of ‘loops’ as a joining together, as just above in 9605; and from the meaning of ‘the edge of the curtain’, where the loops go, as the place where the sphere of truth ends, also dealt with above, in 9606, that is, in the outermost parts.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 9756
9756. ‘The hangings shall be fifty cubits’ means the quantity of truths needed for the purposes they have to serve. This is clear from the meaning of ‘the hangings of the court’ as truths such as they are in the lowest heaven, dealt with above in 9743; and from the meaning of ‘fifty’ as all belonging to one side, and also a sufficient amount. ‘Fifty’ is similar in meaning to ‘five’ (for what ‘five’ means, see 9604, 9689), and therefore also means the quantity needed for the purposes they have to serve, since this is a sufficient amount.