Like most numbers in the Bible, “six” can have various meanings depending on context, but has a couple that are primary.
Swedenborg says that when used in relation to time – six days, six hours, six years, etc. – six generally represents a state of labor, struggle and conflict, especially the conflict involved with spiritual growth. Swedenborg says the six days of creation, for instance, represent the stages we go through in our lives, working toward the peaceful seventh day, in which our evil desires are removed from us and we can rest.
In most other references, six represents all desires for good and all the true ideas that come from those desires for good – or in the contrary sense, all evil and all the resulting false thinking.
Passages from Swedenborg
Apocalypse Explained (Tansley) n. 847
847. And his number is six hundred and sixty-six. That this signifies that nevertheless its quality is that of all the falsities and all the evils therefrom in their whole extent, is evident from the signification of number, as denoting the quality of faith separated from life; and from the signification of six hundred and sixty-six, as denoting the falsities and the evils therefrom in the aggregate.
The reason why these things are signified by that number is, that six signifies all, and is said of truths and the goods therefrom; and, in the opposite sense, of falsities and the evils therefrom. For that number is composed of the numbers two and three multiplied by each other. The number two is predicated of goods and, in the opposite sense, of evils; and the number three, of truths and, in the opposite sense, of falsities. And a compound number signifies the same as the simple numbers of which it is compounded. This then is why six signifies all the truths and all the goods therefrom in their whole extent; and in the opposite sense, all the falsities and all the evils therefrom in their whole extent.
In order that all these may be signified to the full that number is tripled; and the number 666 arises by triplication. For what is threefold signifies the idea of what is total and full from beginning to end; in this case, therefore, it denotes that absolutely nothing of truth and good remained.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 737
737. ‘Noah was a son of six hundred years’ means his initial state of temptation. This is clear from the fact from here down to Eber in Chapter 11 nothing else is meant by numbers, years of age, or names than real things, as was the case also with the ages and names of all those mentioned in Chapter 5. Here ‘six hundred years’ means the initial state of temptation. This becomes clear from its prime factors which are ten and six multiplied again by ten. When the same factors are involved it makes no difference whether the number arrived at is large or small. As for ten, this has been shown already at 6:3 to mean remnants, while the meaning of six here as labour and conflict is clear from places throughout the Word.
For the situation is this: What has gone before dealt with man’s preparation for temptation, that is to say, he was supplied by the Lord with truths of the understanding and with goods of the will. These truths and goods are remnants, but they are not brought forth so as to be acknowledged until man is being regenerated. In the case of those who are being regenerated by means of temptations the remnants existing with any man are for the angels present with him. From these remnants they draw out those things with which they protect him against the evil spirits who activate falsities with him and in this way attack him. It is because remnants are meant by ‘ten’ and conflict by ‘six’ that six hundred years are spoken of, a number in which ten and six are the prime factors and which means a state of temptation.
[2] As regards conflict being the particular meaning of ‘six’, this is clear from Genesis 1, which describes the six days of man’s regeneration prior to his becoming celestial. During those six days there was constant conflict, but on the seventh day came rest. Consequently there are six days of labour, and the seventh is the sabbath, a word which means rest. This also is why a Hebrew slave was to serve for six years and in the seventh was to go free, Exod. 21:2; Deut. 15:12; Jer. 34:14, and why for six years they were to sow the land and gather in the produce, but in the seventh they were to leave it alone, Exod. 23:10-12. The same applied to a vineyard. It is also the reason why in the seventh year the land was to have a sabbath of rest, a sabbath to Jehovah, Lev. 25:3, 4. Because ‘six’ means labour and conflict it also means the dispersion of falsity, as in Ezekiel,
Behold, six men coming from the direction of the upper gate, which looks towards the north, every man with a weapon of dispersion in his hand. Ezek. 9:2.
And in the same prophet, against Gog,
I will cause you to turn about, and I will split you into six, and cause you to come up from the uttermost parts of the north. Ezek. 39:2.
Here ‘six’ and ‘splitting into six’ stand for dispersion, ‘the north’ for falsities, and ‘Gog’ for people who seize on doctrinal matters based on things of an external nature with which they destroy internal worship. From Job,
He will deliver you in six troubles, and in a seventh no evil will touch you. Job 5:19.
This stands for the conflict that constitutes temptations.
[3] ‘Six’ occurs in other parts of the Word where it does not mean labour, conflict, or the dispersion of falsity, but the holiness of faith. In these instances it is related to twelve, which means faith and all things of faith in their entirety, and to three which means that which is holy. Consequently there is also a genuine derivative meaning to the number six, as in Ezekiel 40:5, where the man’s measuring rod with which he measured the holy city of Israel was six cubits long; and in other places. The reason for this derivative is that in the conflict of temptation the holiness of faith is present, and also that six days of labour and conflict look forward to the holy seventh day.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 8888
8888. ‘Six days you shall labour and do all your work’ means the conflict which comes before and is preparatory to that marriage. This is clear from the meaning of ‘six days’ as states of conflict, conflict being meant by ‘six’, see 720, 737, 900, and states by ‘days’, 23, 487, 488, 493, 2788, 4850, 5672, 5962, 6110, 8426; and from the meaning of ‘labouring and doing one’s work’ as attending to the necessary things of life, here those of spiritual life, which is life in heaven.
[2] Furthermore by the conflict which comes before and is preparatory to the heavenly marriage one should understand spiritual conflict or temptation. For before a person enters into the heavenly marriage, that is, before being regenerated, he is involved in conflict with the evils and falsities residing with him; these have to be removed before truth and good from the Lord can be received. They are removed – those evils and falsities – by means of the truths of faith; for a person not only learns through those truths what good is, but is also led to good by means of them. This state is the first that a person who is being regenerated passes through; and it is called the state which comes before and is preparatory to the heavenly marriage. But when the person is governed by good and is led by the Lord by means of good, he has entered into the heavenly marriage, and so is in heaven since the heavenly marriage is heaven. The first state is what is meant by the six days that come before the seventh, the second is what is meant by the seventh day. Regarding these two states with a person, see 7923, 8505, 8506, 8510, 8512, 8516, 8539, 8643, 8648, 8658, 8685, 8690, 8701, 8722.
[3] Since the heavenly marriage, which is heaven, is meant by ‘the sabbath’, the Lord’s kingdom in the heavens is called an everlasting sabbath, that is, everlasting rest and peace; and there the six days of labour are no more.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 9431
9431. ‘Six days’ means when passing through the state of truth. This is clear from the meaning of ‘six days’ as a state of labour and conflict, dealt with in 737, 8510, 8888, 8975. It is a state of truth because a person who is being regenerated by the Lord experiences two states, the first of which is called the state of truth and the second the state of good. The reason why the first state is called the state of truth is that during it the person is being brought by means of truth towards good; and the reason why the second state is called the state of good is that the person, when governed by good, has been brought to it. Also, while the person is in the state of truth he is outside heaven; but when governed by good he is in heaven, and has accordingly been brought to the Lord. Furthermore while the person is passing through the first state or the state of truth he experiences labour and conflict, since he undergoes temptations then; but when he is in the second state or the state of good he experiences rest and the serenity which peace brings. The former state is what has been represented in the Word by the six days which come before a seventh, whereas the latter state is what has been represented by the seventh day or the sabbath, see 8890, 8893, 9274.
Apocalypse Revealed (Rogers) n. 610
610. And its number is 666. This symbolically means, their character being this, that by them all the Word’s truth has been falsified.
The number of the beast symbolizes the character of the arguments the clergy use from the Word to defend their doctrine and faith (nos. 608, 609). Six hundred and sixty-six symbolizes every truth having to do with goodness, and because the statement is made in application to the Word, it symbolizes every truth in the Word having to do with goodness, in this case that truth falsified, because the number is the number of the beast.
This is the symbolic meaning because six has the same symbolism as three multiplied by two, and three symbolizes completeness and all and is predicated of truths (no. 505), while two symbolizes the marriage of truth and good. So, because six is composed of these two numbers multiplied together, therefore it symbolizes every truth in the Word having to do with goodness, in this case that truth falsified. That it also was falsified by the clergy may be seen in no. 566 above.
The number is said to be 666, because it contains the number six repeated three times, and tripling it makes it complete. Multiplying six by one hundred to make six hundred, and by ten to make sixty, does not change the number’s symbolic meaning, as may be seen in no. 348 above.
[2] That the number six symbolizes completeness and all, and is used when the subject is truths having to do with goodness, may be seen from passages in the Word where that number is mentioned. However, the symbolism of the number appears clearly only to people who see the things contained in the spiritual sense. As for instance, the Lord’s saying that the seeds that fell on good ground yielded fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred (Mark 4:8,20, Matthew 13:8,23); and that a landowner went out and hired laborers for his vineyard at the third hour and at the sixth hour (Matthew 20:3, 5). Also that the table in the Tabernacle had on it cakes of showbread arranged in two rows, each containing six cakes (Leviticus 24:6). That there were set six waterpots for the purification of the Jews (John 2:6). That there were six cities of refuge or of asylum (Numbers 35:6, 7, Deuteronomy 19:1-9). That the measuring reed with which the angel measured all parts of the new temple and new city was six cubits long (Ezekiel 40:5). That the prophet drank water by measure, a sixth of a hin (Ezekiel 4:11). That they took as an offering a sixth of an ephah of a homer of wheat (Ezekiel 45:13).
Since the number six symbolizes completeness, therefore words for separating a sixth part came into use, which in the spiritual sense symbolizes something that is complete and entire, as that they gave a sixth part of an ephah of a homer of barley (Ezekiel 45:13). And regarding Gog, “I will turn you around and leave but a sixth part of you” (Ezekiel 39:2). This last symbolically means that in Gog all truth in the Word having to do with goodness is destroyed. Just who are meant by Gog may be seen in no. 859.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 10366
10366. ‘Work shall be done for six days’ means the state which comes before and is preparatory to the heavenly marriage. This is clear from the meaning of ‘the six days which come before the sabbath’ as the state which comes before and is preparatory to the heavenly marriage, dealt with in 8510, 8888, 9431, the heavenly marriage being the joining together of goodness and truth in a member of the Church and in an angel of heaven, and in the highest sense the union of the Divine itself within the Lord’s Human, see 10356. And ‘the work of six days’ means the state which comes before, 10360.
Apocalypse Revealed (Rogers) n. 245
245.The four living creatures, each individually having six wings about it. (4:8) This symbolizes the Word in respect to its powers and protections.
We have already shown above that the four living creatures symbolize the Word. We will see below that wings symbolize powers and also protections.
The number six symbolizes completeness in respect to truth and goodness, as six is formed of three and two multiplied together, and three symbolizes completeness in respect to truth (no. 505), while two symbolizes completeness in respect to goodness (no. 762).
Wings symbolize powers because they are means of rising upward. Moreover, in the case of birds they take the place of the arms in the human being, and arms symbolize powers.
Since wings symbolize powers, and each living creature had six wings, it is apparent from what we said above what power is symbolized by each one’s wings, namely, that the wings of the lion symbolize the power of combating the evils and falsities arising from hell, this being the power of the Word’s Divine truth from the Lord; that the wings of the calf symbolize the power to affect hearts, for the Divine truth of the Word affects people who read it reverently; that the six wings of the human being symbolize the power to perceive the nature of God and what pertains to God, as this is peculiarly the mark of a human being in reading the Word; and that the wings of the eagle symbolize the power to recognize truth and good, and so to acquire for oneself intelligence.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 9555
9555. ‘And there shall be six branches going out of its sides’ means all the capacities of truth derived from good in their entirety. This is clear from the meaning of ‘six’ as all in their entirety, dealt with in 3960 (end), 7973, 8148; and from the meaning of ‘branches going out of the sides’ as truths derived from good. For the branches out of the lampstand have a similar meaning to human arms and hands, because every single thing that exists in the natural order bears resemblance to the human form and for that reason has a spiritual meaning, 9496, 9553. The arms and hands on a person correspond to truths derived from good, and consequently to power, 878, 4931-4937, 5327, 5328, 6292, 6947, 7188, 7189, 7205, 7518, 7673, 8050, 8153, 8281, 9025, 9133. From all this it is evident that ‘six branches going out of the sides’ means all the capacities of truth derived from good in their entirety.
Apocalypse Explained (Tansley) n. 633
633. Forty and two months.- That this signifies even to the end of the old church, and the beginning of the new, is evident from the signification of months as denoting states, in this case the states of the church; for times, whether hours, days, months, years, or ages, signify states, and such states are designated by the numbers by which those times are determined, as in this case by the number forty-two (concerning this see above, n. 571, 610); and from the signification of forty-two as denoting the end of the former and the beginning of a new church. The reason this number has such a signification is, that it means six weeks, and by six weeks is signified the same as by six days of one week, that is, a state of combat and labour, consequently the end, when the church is altogether vastated, or when evil is consummated; and by the seventh week, which then follows, is signified the beginning of a new church. For the number forty-two results from the multiplication of six into seven, six times seven being forty-two, therefore it signifies the same as six weeks, and six weeks the same as six days of one week, that is, a state of combat and labour, as stated, and also a full state, in the present case, a full consummation of good and truth, or a complete vastation of the church.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 9843
9843. ‘Six of their names on one stone’ means the entire essential nature of truths springing from good. This is clear from the meaning of the number ‘six’ as all, dealt with in 3960(end), 7973, 8148, at this point all the truths that spring from good, dealt with below; from the meaning of ‘the names’ as the essential nature, as immediately above in 9842; and from the meaning of ‘on the stone’ as being imprinted on the memory, also dealt with above, in 9841. The reason why all the truths springing from good are meant is that there were two stones on which the names of the sons of Israel were engraved. One stone went on the right shoulder and the other on the left shoulder, and things that exist on a person’s right side correspond to the good from which truths spring, or to truths that spring from good, and those on a person’s left side to truths through which good comes, see 9604 (end), 9736. Thus the names of the sons of Israel engraved on the stone that went on the right shoulder meant truths springing from good, and those on the one that went on the left meant truths through which good comes.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 9561
9561. ‘Thus for the six branches going out of the lampstand’ means the power of truth derived from good so far as all things in the spiritual heaven are concerned. This is clear from the meaning of ‘six’ as all in their entirety, as above in 9555; from the meaning of ‘branches’ as truths derived from good, and consequently power, dealt with above in 9555, 9558; and from the meaning of ‘the lampstand’ as the spiritual heaven, also dealt with above, in 9548. From these meanings it is evident that ‘the six branches going out of the lampstand’ means the power of truth derived from good so far as all things in the spiritual heaven are concerned.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 10373
10373. ‘For in six days Jehovah made heaven and earth’ means the state of conflict and labour while the Church is being established. This is clear from the meaning of ‘six days’, when the subject is the establishment of the Church and a person’s regeneration, as the state of conflict against evils and falsities, thus the state which comes before and is preparatory to the joining together of goodness and truth, dealt with above in 10366, 10367; and from the meaning of ‘heaven and earth’ as the Church.
True Christian Religion (Rose) n. 301
301
The Third Commandment
Remember the Sabbath Day in Order to Keep It Holy;
for Six Days You Will Labor and Do All Your Work,
but the Seventh Day Is the Sabbath for Jehovah Your God
This is the third commandment, as you can see in Exodus 20:8, 9, 10; and Deuteronomy 5:12, 13, 14. In the earthly meaning, which is the literal meaning, it indicates that there are six days that belong to us and our labors, and a seventh day that belongs to the Lord and to the peaceful rest that he gives us. In the original language “Sabbath” means rest.
The Sabbath was the holiest thing among the children of Israel because it represented the Lord. The six days represented his labors and battles with the hells. The seventh day represented his victory over the hells and the resulting rest. That day was holiness itself because it represented the completion of the Lord’s entire redemption.
True Christian Religion (Rose) n. 302
302
In the spiritual meaning, this commandment refers to our being reformed and regenerated by the Lord. The six days of labor mean battling against the flesh and its cravings and also against the evils and falsities that are in us from hell. The seventh day means our becoming connected to the Lord and our being regenerated as a result. As long as this battle continues, we have spiritual labor; but when we have been regenerated, we rest.