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Genesis 3

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1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which Jehovah God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of any tree of the garden?

2 And the woman said unto the serpent, Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat:

3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

5 for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil.

6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat; and she gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat.

7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig-leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

8 And they heard the voice of Jehovah God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Jehovah God amongst the trees of the garden.

9 And Jehovah God called unto the man, and said unto him, Where art thou?

10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

13 And Jehovah God said unto the woman, What is this thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

14 And Jehovah God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, cursed art thou above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

15 and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy pain and thy conception; in pain thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in toil shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

18 thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

19 in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

20 And the man called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.

21 And Jehovah God made for Adam and for his wife coats of skins, and clothed them.

22 And Jehovah God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever-

23 therefore Jehovah God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden the Cherubim, and the flame of a sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

   

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Apocalypse Revealed # 936

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936. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. This symbolizes the resulting rational truths by which people caught up in evils and the accompanying falsities are brought to think sanely and to live decently.

The leaves of the tree symbolize rational truths, as will be seen below. Nations symbolize people governed by goods and the accompanying truths, and in an opposite sense people caught up in evils and the accompanying falsities (no. 483). Here they symbolize people caught up in evils and the accompanying falsities, because we are told that the leaves were for healing them, and people caught up in evils and the accompanying falsities cannot be healed by the Word, because they do not read it. However, if they have the judgment, they can be healed by rational truths.

The same symbolic meanings found in this verse are found in the following verses in Ezekiel:

Behold, there was water, flowing from under the threshold of the temple (which turned into a river), along (whose) bank... were very many trees (good for food) on one side and the other..., (whose) leaves do not fall, and whose fruit is not consumed. They bear fruit again every month..., (on which account) their fruit is good for food, and their leaves for healing. (Ezekiel 47:1, 7, 12)

The subject there is also a new church.

Leaves symbolize rational truths because a tree symbolizes a person (nos. 89, 400), and every part of the tree - its branches, leaves, flowers, fruits, and seeds - then symbolizes accordant elements in the person. The branches symbolizes a person's sensory and natural truths, the leaves his rational truths, the flowers the first spiritual truths in his rational mind, the fruits the goods of love and charity, and seeds the final elements in the person and also the first.

[2] That leaves symbolize rational truths is clearly apparent from things seen in the spiritual world. For trees are also seen there, with leaves and fruits. Gardens and parks are found there that consist of trees. In the case of people possessing goods of love and at the same time truths of wisdom, fruit trees are seen with an abundance of beautiful leaves. But in the case of people who possess the truths of some wisdom, and who speak in accordance with reason, but lack goods of love, the trees appear full of leaves, but without any fruits. And in the case of people without any goods or truths of wisdom, the only trees seen are bare of any leaves, like trees in winter in the world. An irrational person is just such a tree.

[3] Rational truths are truths which most readily welcome spiritual truths, for a person's rational mind is the first receptacle of spiritual truths. Indeed, seated in a person's rational mind is his perception of truth in a form that the person does not himself see by deliberation, as he does the ideas that reside beneath his rational mind in a lower level of thought that is connected with his outer sight.

Leaves also symbolize rational truths in Genesis 3:7; 8:11; Isaiah 34:4; Jeremiah 8:13; 17:8; Ezekiel 47:12; Daniel 4:12, 14; Psalm 1:3; Leviticus 26:36; Matthew 21:19, 24:32; Mark 13:28. However, their symbolic meanings vary according to the kinds of trees. The leaves of the olive tree and grape vine symbolize rational truths seen as a result of celestial and spiritual light; the leaves of the fig tree symbolize rational truths seen as a result of a natural sight, and the leaves of the fir tree, poplar, oak, and pine symbolize rational truths seen a a result of a sensual sight. The leaves of the latter strike terror in the spiritual world when blown to and fro by a strong wind. These are the leaves meant in Leviticus 26:36 and Job 13:25. However, not so the leaves of the former.

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.