Bibliorum

 

Genesis 1

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1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first Day.

6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.

14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.

19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

from the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg

 

Apocalypse Explained #554

Studere hoc loco

  
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554. And their faces were as the faces of men.- That this signifies that they appear to themselves as spiritual affections for truth, is evident from the signification of faces, as denoting the interiors of the mind and affection; see above (n. 412); and from the signification of man, as denoting the spiritual affection for truth, and thence intelligence and wisdom; see above (n. 280). And because faces are types of the interiors of man, they therefore signify the same as men themselves, namely, affections of truth. But in the present case it is said that they appear to themselves as affections for truth, and thence to be intelligent and wise, because it is stated of the locusts that their faces were seen as the faces of men.

[2] The locusts appeared with such faces, on account of the strong persuasive [power] which sensual men possess who are in falsities from evil, and who are signified by the locusts, the persuasive [power] itself presenting such appearance, but this only before themselves, and before such others as are also in falsities from evil, but not before the angels of heaven. The reason of this is, that the angels are in the light of heaven, and whatsoever they see, they see from that light; and the light of heaven, because it is Divine Truth, dissipates everything that is imaginative originating in the persuasive [power]. Sensual men appear to themselves to be such, because sensual men persuade themselves that they are in truths from good above others, although they are in falsities from evil; for they cannot view anything interiorly from heaven, but only outwardly from the world, and those who see from the world alone see only from an illusory light, from which they imagine themselves to be wiser and more intelligent than others, not knowing wherein intelligence and wisdom consist, and whence they come. It is from this persuasive faith that they believe themselves to be in the spiritual affection for truth, this therefore is signified by the faces of the locusts appearing like the faces of men.

[3] But these things must be illustrated by experience from the spiritual world. All in the heavens, are men as to their faces and the other parts of the body, for they are in the spiritual affection for truth, and the spiritual affection for truth is itself in form a man, because this affection is from the Lord, who is the only Man, and because from Him the entire heaven conspires to the human form; hence it is that the angels are the forms of their own affections, which also appear from their faces. But these things are amply explained in Heaven and Hell 59-102). But in hell, where all are external and sensual, because in falsities from evil, they also appear to themselves as men, even as to their faces, but only amongst their own; but when they are seen in the light of heaven, they appear as monsters, with horrible faces, and sometimes in place of the face only something hairy, or with a horrible grate of teeth, and sometimes ghastly pale, as though dead, in which there is not any living human faculty, for they are forms of hatred, revenge, and cruelty, in which there is spiritual death, because in opposition to the life which is from the Lord. That they appear amongst themselves with a face like men, is the result of fantasy and persuasion therefrom. Concerning these appearances see also in Heaven and Hell 553).

  
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Translation by Isaiah Tansley. Many thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

from the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg

 

Apocalypse Explained #773

Studere hoc loco

  
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773. APOCALYPSE. CHAPTER 13.

1. And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten diadems, and upon his heads a name of blasphemy.

2. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion; and the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority.

3. And I saw one of his heads as if it had been wounded to death; and the stroke of his death was healed; and the whole earth wondered after the beast.

4. And they worshipped the dragon which gave authority unto the beast; and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him?

5. And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and there was given unto him authority to work forty-two months.

6. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle and them that dwell in heaven.

7. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints and to overcome them; and there was given to him authority over every tribe and tongue and nation.

8. And all that dwell on the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

9. If anyone hath an ear let him hear.

10. If anyone shall lead into captivity he shall go into captivity; if anyone shall kill with the sword he must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

11. And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

12. And all the authority of the first beast he exerciseth before him; and he maketh the earth and them that dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose stroke of his death was healed.

13. And he doeth great signs, so that he even maketh fire to come down from heaven unto the earth before men;

14. And he seduceth them that dwell on the earth by reason of the signs that were given him to do before the beast; saying to them that dwell on earth that they should make an image to the beast which hath the stroke of the sword and did live.

15. And it was given unto him to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast may both speak, and may cause that as many as do not worship the image of the beast be killed.

16. And he causeth all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free and the bond, that there be given them a mark upon their right hand or upon their foreheads;

17. And that no one be able to buy or to sell if he hath not the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

18. Here is wisdom. He that hath intelligence let him count the number of the beast; for it is the number of man; and his number is six hundred sixty-six.

EXPOSITION

Verse 1. And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten diadems, and upon his heads a name of blasphemy.

1. "And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea," signifies reasonings from the natural man confirming the separation of faith from life n. 774; "having seven heads," signifies knowledge [scientia] of holy things, which are falsified and adulterated n. 775; "and ten horns," signifies much power n. 776; "and upon his horns 1 ten diadems," signifies power from the appearances of truth in abundance (n. 777); "and upon his heads a name of blasphemy," signifies the falsifications of the Word n. 778.

V:

1. The Latin has "heads" for "horns," but see just above and below in 777.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for their permission to use this translation.