Postanak 2
1
Tako bude dovršeno nebo i zemlja sa svom svojom vojskom.
2
I sedmoga dana Bog dovrši svoje djelo koje učini. I počinu u sedmi dan od svega djela koje učini.
3
I blagoslovi Bog sedmi dan i posveti, jer u taj dan počinu od svega djela svoga koje učini.
4
To je postanak neba i zemlje, tako su stvarani. Kad je Jahve, Bog, sazdao nebo i zemlju,
5
još nije bilo nikakva poljskoga grmlja po zemlji, još ne bijaše niklo nikakvo poljsko bilje, jer Jahve, Bog, još ne pusti dažda na zemlju i nije bilo čovjeka da zemlju obrađuje.
6
Ipak, voda je izvirala iz zemlje i natapala svu površinu zemaljsku.
7
Jahve, Bog, napravi čovjeka od praha zemaljskog i u nosnice mu udahne dah života. Tako postane čovjek živa duša.
8
I Jahve, Bog, zasadi vrt na istoku, u Edenu, i u nj smjesti čovjeka koga je napravio.
9
Tada Jahve, Bog, učini te iz zemlje nikoše svakovrsna stabla - pogledu zamamljiva a dobra za hranu - i stablo života, nasred vrta, i stablo spoznaje dobra i zla.
10
Rijeka je izvirala iz Edena da bi natapala vrt; odatle se granala u četiri kraka.
11
Prvom je ime Pišon, a optječe svom zemljom havilskom, u kojoj ima zlata.
12
Zlato je te zemlje dobro, a ima ondje i bdelija i oniksa.
13
Drugoj je rijeci ime Gihon, a optječe svu zemlju Kuš.
14
Treća je rijeka Tigris, a teče na istok od Ašura; četvrta je Eufrat.
15
Jahve, Bog, uzme čovjeka i postavi ga u edenski vrt da ga obrađuje i čuva.
16
Jahve, Bog, zapovjedi čovjeku: "Sa svakoga stabla u vrtu slobodno jedi,
17
ali sa stabla spoznaje dobra i zla da nisi jeo! U onaj dan u koji s njega okusiš, zacijelo ćeš umrijeti!"
18
I reče Jahve, Bog: "Nije dobro da čovjek bude sam: načinit ću mu pomoć kao što je on."
19
Tada Jahve, Bog, načini od zemlje sve životinje u polju i sve ptice u zraku i predvede ih čovjeku da vidi kako će koju nazvati, pa kako koje stvorenje čovjek prozove, da mu tako bude ime.
20
Čovjek nadjene imena svoj stoci, svim pticama u zraku i životinjama u polju. No čovjeku se ne nađe pomoć kao što je on.
21
Tada Jahve, Bog, pusti tvrd san na čovjeka te on zaspa, pa mu izvadi jedno rebro, a mjesto zatvori mesom.
22
Od rebra što ga je uzeo čovjeku napravi Jahve, Bog, ženu pa je dovede čovjeku.
23
Nato čovjek reče: "Gle, evo kosti od mojih kostiju, mesa od mesa mojega! Ženom neka se zove, od čovjeka kad je uzeta!"
24
Stoga će čovjek ostaviti oca i majku da prione uza svoju ženu i bit će njih dvoje jedno tijelo.
25
A bijahu oboje goli - čovjek i njegova žena - ali ne osjećahu stida.
Arcana Coelestia #4588
4588. 'That the midwife said to her, Do not be afraid' means perception received from the natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'saying' in the historical narratives of the Word as perception, dealt with in 1791, 1815, 1819, 1822, 1898, 1919, 2080, 2619, 2862, 3395, 3509, and from the meaning of 'the midwife' as the natural. The reason 'the midwife' here means the natural is that when anyone undergoes interior temptations, that is, when the interior man undergoes temptations, the natural is like a midwife. For unless the natural assists no birth of interior truth is possible, since it is the natural that receives interior truths into its bosom once these are born; indeed it is the natural that enables them to push their way out. The same applies to instances of spiritual birth, in that reception must take place wholly within the natural. This is the reason why, when a person is being regenerated, the natural is first of all made ready to receive, and to the extent it is then able to receive, interior truths and goods are able to emerge and multiply. This also explains why, if the natural man has not been made ready during the life of the body to receive the truths and goods of faith, that person cannot receive them in the next life and so cannot be saved. This is the implication of the common saying 'As the tree falls, so it must lie', meaning, What a person is when he dies, so he comes to be. For a person has with him in the next life his whole natural memory, that is, the memory belonging to his external man, though he is not allowed to use it in that life, 2469-2494. In the next life therefore that memory serves as the groundwork on which interior truths and goods rest; but if that groundwork is not able to support the goods and truths which flow into it from within, interior goods and truths are either annihilated, or perverted, or cast aside. From all this it may be seen that the natural is like a midwife.
[2] The likeness of the natural to a midwife, inasmuch as it is a recipient when the interior man gives birth, becomes clear also from the internal sense of what is recorded concerning the midwives who, contrary to Pharaoh's orders, allowed the sons of the Hebrew women to live. This is described in Moses as follows,
The king of Egypt spoke to the midwives of the Hebrew women, and he said, When you act as midwives to the Hebrew women and see them on the stools, if it is a son you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter she shall be allowed to live. And the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt told them, but allowed the sons to live. And the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them Why have you done this thing and allowed the sons to live? And the midwives said to Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are lively; before the midwife reaches them they have given birth. And God did well to the midwives; and the people multiplied and became extremely numerous. And it happened because the midwives feared God, that He made them houses. Exodus 1:15-21.
'The daughters and sons' to whom the Hebrew women gave birth represent the goods and truths of a new Church; 'the midwives' represent the natural, inasmuch as this is the recipient of goods and truths; 'the king of Egypt' represents factual knowledge in general, 1164, 1165, 1186, that wipes out truths, as happens when factual knowledge enters into matters of faith by a wrong path, which it does when nothing except that dictated by sensory experience and factual knowledge is believed. The fact that 'the midwives' in that passage means receptions of truth, within the natural, will in the Lord's Divine mercy be corroborated when the contents of that chapter in Exodus come up for explanation.
