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Genesis 2

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1 And the heavens and the earth were completed, and all the army of them.

2 And on the seventh day God completed His work* which He had made; and He ceased* on the seventh day from all His work which He had made.

3 And God blessed the seventh day, and made· it ·holy, because in it He ceased from all His work which God created to make.

4 These are the births of the heavens and of the earth when He created them, in the day in which Jehovah* God made the earth and the heavens.

5 And every shrub of the field was not·​·yet in the earth, and every herb of the field was not·​·yet growing, for Jehovah God had not caused it to rain on the earth. And there was no man to till the ground.

6 And He made a mist to go·​·up from the land, and watered all the faces of the ground.

7 And Jehovah God formed man*, dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of lives*, and man became a living soul.

8 And Jehovah God planted a garden in Eden from the east, and there He set man whom He had formed.

9 And out·​·of the ground Jehovah God made to grow every tree desirable for seeing, and good for food; the tree of lives also, in the midst of the garden; and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

10 And a river went·​·out from Eden to water the garden, and from thence it was separated, and was made* into four heads.

11 The name of the first is Pishon; it surrounds all the land of Havilah, where there is gold.

12 And the gold of that land is good; the bdellium and the onyx stone is there.

13 And the name of the second river is Gihon; it surrounds all the land of Cush.

14 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel; it is the one going eastward·​·toward Assyria; and the fourth river, it is Euphrates.

15 And Jehovah God took man, and placed him in the garden of Eden, to till it and to keep it.

16 And Jehovah God commanded man*, saying, Of every tree of the garden eating thou shalt eat.

17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest of it, dying thou shalt die.

18 And Jehovah God said, It is not good that man should be alone; I will make for him a help as with him.

19 And Jehovah God formed out·​·of the ground every animal of the field, and every fowl of the heavens, and brought it to man to see what he would call it; and whatever man called a living soul, that was its name.

20 And man gave* names to every beast, and to the fowl of the heavens, and to every wild·​·animal of the field; but for man there was not found a help as with him.

21 And Jehovah God caused a deep·​·sleep to fall upon man, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed the flesh instead·​·of it.

22 And the rib which Jehovah God had taken from man, He built* into a woman* and brought her to man.

23 And man said, This one, this time is bone from my bones and flesh from my flesh; for this she shall be called a wife, for this was taken out·​·of a man*.

24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

25 And the two of them were naked, man and his wife, and were· not ·ashamed.

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

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Apocalypse Explained # 110

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110. Which is in the midst of the paradise of God, signifies that all the knowledges of good and truth in heaven and in the church look thereto and proceed therefrom. This is evident from the signification of "the midst," as being the center to which all things that are round about look and from which they proceed (of which above, n. 97 [1-2]) and from the signification of "paradise," as being the knowledges of good and truth and intelligence therefrom (Arcana Coelestia 100, 108, 1588, 2702, 3220); and because these are signified by "paradise," therefore by the "paradise of God" heaven is signified, and as heaven, so also the church is signified, for the church is the Lord's heaven on the earth. Heaven and the church are called the "paradise of God," because the Lord is in the midst of them, and from Him is all intelligence and wisdom. Since it has not been known heretofore that all things in the Word are written by correspondences, consequently that there are spiritual things in every particular that is mentioned therein, it is believed that by the "paradise" treated of in the second chapter of Genesis, a paradisal garden is meant. But no earthly paradise is there meant, but the heavenly paradise which those possess who are in intelligence and wisdom from the knowledges of good and truth (See above, n. 109); and in the work on Heaven and Hell 176, 185).

[2] From this it can be seen not only what is signified by the "paradise" or "garden in Eden," but also by the "paradises" or "gardens of God" elsewhere in the Word, as in Isaiah:

Jehovah shall comfort Zion, He will comfort all her waste places, even that He may make her wilderness into Eden, and her desert into a garden of Jehovah; joy and gladness shall be found therein (Isaiah 51:3).

In Ezekiel:

Thou hast been in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering (Ezekiel 28:13).

These things are said of Tyre, because by "Tyre" in the Word a church that is in the knowledges of truth and good and in intelligence therefrom is signified (See Arcana Coelestia 1201); its intelligence therefrom is "Eden, the garden of God," likewise "the precious stone" from which is its "covering" (See n. 114, 9863, 9865, 9868, 9873). In the same:

Behold Asshur a cedar in Lebanon. The cedars have not hid it in the garden of God; nor was any tree in the garden of God equal to it in beauty. I have made it beautiful by the multitude of its branches; and all the trees of Eden in the garden of God envied it (Ezekiel 31:3, 8, 31:8-9).

By "Asshur" in the Word those who have become rational by the knowledges of good and truth, thus whose minds are illustrated from heaven, are meant. (That "Asshur" is the rational of man, see Arcana Coelestia 119, 1186.)

[3] Something shall now be said to explain how it is to be understood that all knowledges of good and truth look to the good of love to the Lord and proceed therefrom, which is the significance of these words: "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God." The good of love to the Lord is the Lord Himself, since the Lord is in the good of His love with man, spirit, and angel. That all knowledges of good and truth look thereto, or to the Lord, is known in the Christian church; for the doctrine of the church teaches that there is no salvation apart from the Lord, and also that all salvation is in the Lord.

The knowledges of good and truth, or doctrinals from the Word, teach how man can come to God and be conjoined to Him. (That no one can be conjoined to God except from the Lord and in the Lord, see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 283, 296.) From this it can be seen that all things taught by the church from the Word look to the Lord and to love to Him, as the end to which [ad quem]. That all knowledges of good and truth, or all doctrinals from the Word, proceed from the Lord is also known in the church, for it is there taught that everything of love and everything of faith is from heaven, and that nothing is from man; and that no one can love God and believe in Him from himself. To love God and to believe in Him involve all things that the church teaches, called doctrinals and knowledges, since from these is God loved and believed in. There is no love and faith without previous knowledges; for without knowledges man would be empty.

[4] From this it follows that as everything of love and of faith proceeds from the Lord, so do all knowledges of good and truth which make and form love and faith. Because all knowledges of good and truth look to the Lord, and proceed from Him, and this is what is signified by "the tree of life in the midst of the paradise of God," therefore all the trees in paradise are called "trees of life" and "trees of Jehovah;" in Revelation "trees of life":

In the midst of the street and of the river (flowing out from the throne of God and of the Lamb) on this side and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve fruits (Revelation 22:2).

In David they are called "trees of Jehovah":

The trees of Jehovah are satisfied, the cedars of Lebanon which He hath planted (Psalms 104:16).

From this also it is clear that by the "tree of life in the midst of paradise" is meant every tree there, in other words, every man in the midst of whom, that is, in whom is the Lord. From what has been shown here and in the preceding article, what is signified by the words, "The Lord will give to him that overcometh to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God," may be learned.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for their permission to use this translation.