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Genesis 6

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1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them,

2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all whom they chose.

3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.

4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them: the same became mighty men, who were of old, men of renown.

5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

6 And the LORD repented that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created, from the face of the earth, both man and beast, and the creeping animal, and the fowls of the air; for I repent that I have made them.

8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man, and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.

10 And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

11 The earth also was corrupt before God; and the earth was filled with violence.

12 And God looked upon the earth, and behold, it was corrupt: for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

13 And God said to Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them: and behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

14 Make thee an ark of gopher-wood: rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.

15 And this is the fashion in which thou shalt make it: the length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.

16 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in its side: with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.

17 And behold, I, even I do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, in which is the breath of life, from under heaven: and every thing that is on the earth shall die.

18 But with thee will I establish my covenant: and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.

19 And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee: they shall be male and female.

20 Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping animal of the earth after its kind, two of every sort shall come to thee, to keep them alive.

21 And take thou to thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.

22 Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 598

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598. 'He found grace in Jehovah's eyes' means that the Lord foresaw that the human race could in that way be saved. The mercy of the Lord entails and looks to the salvation of the whole human race; and so does His grace. Consequently, the salvation of the human race is meant. 'Noah' means not only a new Church but also the faith of that Church, which was a faith that inhered in charity. The Lord accordingly foresaw that it would be possible for the human race to be saved by means of faith that inhered in charity. Such faith will be dealt with later on.

[2] In the Word however a distinction is made between mercy and grace, a distinction which depends in fact on differences in those who are their recipients. Mercy applies to those who are celestial, but grace to those who are spiritual, for celestial people acknowledge nothing other than mercy, while spiritual acknowledge hardly anything other than grace. Celestial people do not know what grace is, while the spiritual scarcely know what mercy is, for they make mercy and grace to be one and the same. The reason for the difference springs from each one's humility. People in whom there is humility of heart plead for the Lord's mercy, but those in whom there is humility of mind (cogitatio) seek His grace. Or if the latter do plead for mercy they do so in a state of temptation or with the lips only and not with the heart. Since the new Church called Noah was not celestial but spiritual, it is not said to have found mercy but to have found grace in Jehovah's eyes.

[3] The distinction made in the Word between mercy and grace is clear from very many places where Jehovah is said to be merciful and gracious, as in Psalms 103:8; 111:4; 112:4; Joel 2:13. The same distinction is made elsewhere, as in Jeremiah,

Thus said Jehovah, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness, when He went to give rest to Israel. From afar Jehovah appeared to me. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with mercy. Jeremiah 31:2-3.

Here 'grace' has reference to what is spiritual and 'mercy' to what is celestial. In Isaiah,

Therefore Jehovah will wait to grant you grace, and therefore He will exalt Himself to be merciful to you. Isaiah 30:18.

Here similarly 'grace' has regard to what is spiritual and 'mercy' to what is celestial. And further on [in Genesis] where Lot is addressing the angels,

Behold now, Your servant has found grace in Your eyes, and You have magnified Your mercy which You have shown to me in causing my soul to live. Genesis 19:19.

Here also it is clear that since he is spoken of as 'having found grace in Your eyes' grace has regard to spiritual things which are matters of faith or of the understanding. And since the expressions 'to have magnified mercy' and 'to have caused my soul to live' are used, it is equally clear that mercy has regard to celestial things, which are matters of love or of the will.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.