Arcana Coelestia #893
893. Verse 13 And it happened in the six hundred and first year, at the beginning, on the first of the month, that the waters dried up from over the earth, and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and saw out, and behold, the face 1 of the ground was dry.
'It happened in the six hundred and first year' means a finishing point. 'At the beginning, on the first of the month' means a starting point. 'The waters dried up from over the earth' means that falsities were not at that time apparent. 'And Noah removed the covering of the ark, and saw out' means the light, once falsities had been removed, shed by the truths of faith, which he acknowledged and in which he had faith. 'And behold, the face 1 of the ground was dry' means regeneration.
각주:
1. literally, the faces
[893a] 1
That 'it happened in the six hundred and first year means a finishing point is clear from the meaning of the number six hundred, dealt with at Chapter 7:6, in 737, as a beginning, and in particular in that verse as the beginning of temptation. The end of it is specified by the same number, with a whole year having now passed by. It took place therefore at the end of a year, and this also is why the words are added 'at the beginning, on the first of the month', meaning a starting point. In the Word any complete period is specified either by a day, or a week, or a month, or a year, and even by a hundred or a thousand years - for example, 'the days' mentioned in Genesis 1, which meant stages in the regeneration of the member of the Most Ancient Church. For in the internal sense day and year mean nothing else than a period of time; and meaning a period of time they also mean a state. Consequently a year stands in the Word for a period of time and for a state, as in Isaiah,
To proclaim the year of Jehovah's good pleasure, and the day of vengeance for our God; to comfort all who mourn. Isaiah 61:2.
This refers to the Lord's Coming. In the same prophet,
The day of vengeance was in My heart, and the year of My redeemed had come. Isaiah 63:4.
Here too 'day' and 'year' stand for a period of time and for a state. In Habakkuk,
Your work, O Jehovah, in the midst of the years make it live, in the midst of the years do You make it known. Habakkuk 3:2.
Here 'years' stands for a period of time and for a state. In David,
'You are God Himself, and Your years have no end. Psalms 102:27.
This statement, in which 'years' stands for periods of time, means that time does not exist with God. The same applies in the present verse where 'the year' of the flood in no way means any one particular year but a period of time that is not determined by a specific number of years. At the same time it means a state. See what has been said already about 'years' in 482, 487, 488, 493.
1. This paragraph is not numbered in the Latin.
Arcana Coelestia #5356
5356. 'In the land of my affliction' means where the temptations were undergone. This is clear from the meaning of 'the land', in this case the land of Egypt, as the natural, dealt with in 5276, 5278, 5280, 5288, 5301; and from the meaning of 'affliction' as temptation, dealt with in 1846. From these meanings it is evident that 'in the land of my affliction' means in the natural where the temptations were undergone and therefore the place where truth from good was multiplied. Since that fruitfulness, or multiplication of truth from good, is brought about primarily by means of temptations, such words have therefore been used here. The reason why fruitfulness is brought about primarily by means of temptations is that temptations take away self-love and love of the world, and so evils too; and once these have been taken away, an affection for goodness and truth from the Lord flows in, see just above in 5354.
[2] Another thing temptations do is to provide a person with the kind of discernment he has about what is good and true; they provide it through the opposites that evil spirits introduce at such times. From his discernment of those opposites a person can make comparisons which enable him to see what the whole is like. For no one can know what good is unless he also knows what is not good; and he does not know what truth is unless he knows what is not true. Also, temptations serve to strengthen goods and truths; for in temptations a person battles against evils and falsities, and through being victorious in such he goes on to hold on more firmly to those goods and truths. In addition to this temptations also serve to subdue evils and falsities so completely that they do not dare to rise up again. Thus temptations serve to cast evils and falsities away to the fringes, where they hang downwards, in a limp condition. But forms of good together with truths are in the centre, and in the measure that the zeal of genuine affection is present they are raised upwards - up to heaven, towards the Lord who does the raising up.
