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Genesis 8

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1 And God remembered Noah, and all the beasts, and all the cattle that were with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged;

2 the fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained;

3 and the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of a hundred and fifty days the waters decreased.

4 And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.

5 And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.

6 And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made:

7 and he sent forth a raven, and it went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.

8 And he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;

9 but the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him to the ark; for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: and he put forth his hand, and took her, and brought her in unto him into the ark.

10 And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark;

11 and the dove came in to him at eventide; and, lo, in her mouth an olive-leaf plucked off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.

12 And he stayed yet other seven days, and sent forth the dove; and she returned not again unto him any more.

13 And it came to pass in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dried.

14 And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dry.

15 And God spake unto Noah, saying,

16 Go forth from the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee.

17 Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee of all flesh, both birds, and cattle, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth.

18 And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him:

19 every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, whatsoever moveth upon the earth, after their families, went forth out of the ark.

20 And Noah builded an altar unto Jehovah, and took of every clean beast, and of every clean bird, and offered burnt-offerings on the altar.

21 And Jehovah smelled the sweet savor; and Jehovah said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake, for that the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more everything living, as I have done.

22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

   

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Arcana Coelestia #803

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803. 'Birds, beasts, wild animals, and every creeping thing that creeps over the earth' means their persuasions, among which 'birds' means affections for falsity, 'beasts' evil desires, wild animals' pleasures, 'creeping thing that creeps' bodily and earthly interests. This becomes clear from what has been shown already about the meaning of birds and beasts - about birds in 40, and above at verses 14-15, of this chapter, and about beasts as well in those same verses, and also in 45, 46, 142, 143, 246. Since birds mean intellectual concepts, rational concepts, and factual knowledge, they also mean things that are the contrary, such as perverted rational concepts, falsities, and affections for falsity. The persuasions of the people before the Flood are described fully here, that is to say, they had within them affections for falsity, evil desires, pleasures, and bodily and earthly interests. All of these things are present in persuasions, though a person is not directly conscious of this, for he imagines that a false assumption, or persuasion of falsity, is some uncomplicated or quite general entity. He is much mistaken however, for the situation is altogether different. Every one of a person's affections derives its existence and character from the things of his understanding and at the same time from those of his will. As a result the whole person as regards all things of his understanding and all those of his will is present in every one of his affections, indeed in the most individual or least parts of them.

[2] This has been made quite clear to me from many experiences. For example, to mention but one, a spirit in the next life is able to recognize a person's character from merely one idea in that person's thinking. Indeed angels have the ability from the Lord to know anyone's character in an instant by merely looking at him; and they never make a mistake. From this it is clear that every one of a person's ideas, every affection, indeed every least part of his affection, is an image and replica of himself. That is, it contains something, closely or remotely, of the whole of his understanding and of the whole of his will. This then is how the dreadful persuasions of the people before the Flood are described: They had within them affections for falsity, also affections for evil (which are evil desires), as well as pleasures, and last of all bodily and earthly interests. All of these are present within such persuasions; and not only within persuasions in general but also within the most individual or least parts of persuasions, in which bodily and earthly interests are predominant. If anyone knew how much one false assumption or one persuasion of falsity contained he would be horrified. It is in a way an image of hell. But if they are the product of innocence or of ignorance, those falsities in him are easily dispersed.

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