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Genesis 6

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1 And after a time, when men were increasing on the earth, and had daughters,

2 The sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair; and they took wives for themselves from those who were pleasing to them.

3 And the Lord said, My spirit will not be in man for ever, for he is only flesh; so the days of his life will be a hundred and twenty years.

4 There were men of great strength and size on the earth in those days; and after that, when the sons of God had connection with the daughters of men, they gave birth to children: these were the great men of old days, the men of great name.

5 And the Lord saw that the sin of man was great on the earth, and that all the thoughts of his heart were evil.

6 And the Lord had sorrow because he had made man on the earth, and grief was in his heart.

7 And the Lord said, I will take away man, whom I have made, from the face of the earth, even man and beast and that which goes on the earth and every bird of the air; for I have sorrow for having made them.

8 But Noah had grace in the eyes of God.

9 These are the generations of Noah. Noah was an upright man and without sin in his generation: he went in the ways of God.

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

11 And the earth was evil in God's eyes and full of violent ways.

12 And God, looking on the earth, saw that it was evil: for the way of all flesh had become evil on the earth.

13 And God said to Noah, The end of all flesh has come; the earth is full of their violent doings, and now I will put an end to them with the earth.

14 Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood with rooms in it, and make it safe from the water inside and out.

15 And this is the way you are to make it: it is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high.

16 You are to put a window in the ark, a cubit from the roof, and a door in the side of it, and you are to make it with a lower and second and third floors.

17 For truly, I will send a great flow of waters over the earth, for the destruction from under the heaven of all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything on the earth will come to an end.

18 But with you I will make an agreement; and you will come into the ark, you and your sons and your wife and your sons' wives with you.

19 And you will take with you into the ark two of every sort of living thing, and keep them safe with you; they will be male and female.

20 Two of every sort of bird and cattle and of every sort of living thing which goes on the earth will you take with you to keep them from destruction.

21 And make a store of every sort of food for yourself and them.

22 And all these things Noah did; as God said, so he did.

   

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Arcana Coelestia #10441

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10441. 'And repent [of the evil] against Your people' means having mercy on them. This is clear from the meaning of 'repenting', when it has reference to Jehovah, as having mercy. The reason why 'repenting' means having mercy is that Jehovah does not ever repent, since He foresees and makes provision for all things from eternity. Repentance is a reaction that can take place only in someone who has no knowledge of the future and who sees, as events unfold, that he has made a mistake. Nevertheless the Word speaks of Jehovah's reacting in that kind of way because the sense of the letter consists of ideas of things as man sees them. For it is intended for very simple people and for young children, who at first go no further than that sense. Also young children and very simple people's interests lie in the most external things, from which they start out and in which after this their inner thoughts and feelings terminate. For this reason the Word in the letter must be understood differently by those who have become wiser.

[2] The situation with the Word is similar to that with the human being. Everything within him terminates in flesh and bones; these are the container of everything there. Unless they existed in place of a foundation or support a person could not remain in being; for he would have no final level in which all things within him could terminate and on which they could rest. The situation is similar with the Word. This must have a final level in which everything within it terminates; that final level is the sense of the letter, and the inner things are the heavenly matters belonging to the internal sense. From all this it is now evident that the way things appear to man is the reason why Jehovah is said to repent, when in fact He does not repent.

[3] The fact that Jehovah is said to repent is clear from a large number of places in the Word, such as the following: In Jeremiah,

If [a nation] does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, I will repent of the good with which I said I would benefit it. Jeremiah 18:10.

In the same prophet,

It may be that they will listen and every man turn from his evil way, that I may repent of the evil which I am thinking to do to them on account of the wickedness of their doings. Jeremiah 26:3.

In Ezekiel,

When My anger is accomplished and I make My wrath rest on them, I will repent. Ezekiel 5:13.

In Amos,

Jehovah repented. It shall not happen, He said. Amos 7:3, 6.

In Moses,

Jehovah will judge His people, and repent over 1 His servants. Deuteronomy 32:36.

In Jonah,

The king of Nineveh said, Who knows, God may turn and be moved to repentance 2 , and turn from the heat of His anger, and we may not perish! And they turned from their evil way; therefore God repented of the evil which He had said He would do to them, so that He did not do it. Jonah 3:9-10.

In the Book of Genesis,

Jehovah repented that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. Genesis 6:6.

In the first Book of Samuel,

I have repented that I have made Saul king, for he has turned away from following Me. 1 Samuel 15:11, 35.

[4] From these places which speak of Jehovah's having repented, when in fact He cannot repent since He knows all things before He does them, it is evident that 'repenting' means having mercy. The fact that Jehovah never repents is also clear from the Word, as in Moses,

Jehovah 3 is not a man (vir), that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will not act? Or has He spoken, and will not carry it out? Numbers 23:19.

And in the first Book of Samuel,

The Invincible One of Israel does not lie, nor does He repent, for He is not a man (homo), that He should repent. 1 Samuel 15:29.

The fact that when Jehovah is said to repent His mercy is meant is clear in Joel,

Jehovah is gracious and merciful, long-suffering, and great in compassion, and One who is accustomed to repent of evil. Joel 2:13.

And in Jonah,

God is gracious and merciful, long-suffering, and great in kindness, and One who repents of evil. Jonah 4:2.

Fußnoten:

1. i.e. has compassion on

2. literally, be led by repentance

3. The Hebrew at this point uses the word meaning God.

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