Arcana Coelestia #893
893. Verse 13 And it happened in the six hundred and first year, at the beginning, on the first of the month, that the waters dried up from over the earth, and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and saw out, and behold, the face 1 of the ground was dry.
'It happened in the six hundred and first year' means a finishing point. 'At the beginning, on the first of the month' means a starting point. 'The waters dried up from over the earth' means that falsities were not at that time apparent. 'And Noah removed the covering of the ark, and saw out' means the light, once falsities had been removed, shed by the truths of faith, which he acknowledged and in which he had faith. 'And behold, the face 1 of the ground was dry' means regeneration.
Бележки под линия:
1. literally, the faces
[893a] 1
That 'it happened in the six hundred and first year means a finishing point is clear from the meaning of the number six hundred, dealt with at Chapter 7:6, in 737, as a beginning, and in particular in that verse as the beginning of temptation. The end of it is specified by the same number, with a whole year having now passed by. It took place therefore at the end of a year, and this also is why the words are added 'at the beginning, on the first of the month', meaning a starting point. In the Word any complete period is specified either by a day, or a week, or a month, or a year, and even by a hundred or a thousand years - for example, 'the days' mentioned in Genesis 1, which meant stages in the regeneration of the member of the Most Ancient Church. For in the internal sense day and year mean nothing else than a period of time; and meaning a period of time they also mean a state. Consequently a year stands in the Word for a period of time and for a state, as in Isaiah,
To proclaim the year of Jehovah's good pleasure, and the day of vengeance for our God; to comfort all who mourn. Isaiah 61:2.
This refers to the Lord's Coming. In the same prophet,
The day of vengeance was in My heart, and the year of My redeemed had come. Isaiah 63:4.
Here too 'day' and 'year' stand for a period of time and for a state. In Habakkuk,
Your work, O Jehovah, in the midst of the years make it live, in the midst of the years do You make it known. Habakkuk 3:2.
Here 'years' stands for a period of time and for a state. In David,
'You are God Himself, and Your years have no end. Psalms 102:27.
This statement, in which 'years' stands for periods of time, means that time does not exist with God. The same applies in the present verse where 'the year' of the flood in no way means any one particular year but a period of time that is not determined by a specific number of years. At the same time it means a state. See what has been said already about 'years' in 482, 487, 488, 493.
1. This paragraph is not numbered in the Latin.
Arcana Coelestia #3035
3035. 'Jehovah, the God of heaven' means the Lord's Divine itself. This is clear from what has been stated above in 3023 - that 'Jehovah, the God of heaven' is the Lord's Divine itself, for the name 'Jehovah', which occurs so many times in the Old Testament Word, was used to mean the Lord alone. Every single detail there refers in the internal sense to Him, and every single religious observance of the Church represented Him, see 1736, 2921. Furthermore the most ancient people who belonged to the celestial Church did not mean by 'Jehovah' anyone other than the Lord, 1343. Here and elsewhere in the sense of the letter it seems as though someone other, who is higher, is meant by Jehovah; but the sense of the letter is such that it sets forth as separate entities things which the internal sense presents as one. The reason for this is that man who has to be taught from the sense of the letter is unable to have the idea of one without first of all having the idea of several. For with man that which is a single whole is formed from several parts, or what amounts to the same, things existing simultaneously come into being consecutively. Many attributes exist in the Lord, and all are Jehovah, and therefore the sense of the letter regards these as separate entities, whereas heaven never does so. Heaven acknowledges one God with an idea that does not divide Him; nor does it acknowledge anyone other than the Lord.
