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

 

Arcana Coelestia #4

Studere hoc loco

  
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4. As long as the mind confines itself to the sense of the letter alone one cannot possibly see that its contents are such. Take for instance these first sections of Genesis: From the sense of the letter the only subject matter people recognize is the creation of the world, and the Garden of Eden which is called Paradise, and Adam as the first man to be created. Who thinks anything different? The fact that these things contain arcana however which have never been revealed up to now will be sufficiently clear from what follows - especially clear from the fact that the subject of Genesis 1 is, in the internal sense, the NEW CREATION of man, that is, in general his REGENERATION, and in particular the Most Ancient Church. And the subject is presented in such a way that not the smallest part of any expression fails to have a representation, carry a spiritual meaning, or embody something within itself.

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

from the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia #1985

Studere hoc loco

  
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1985. Genesis 17

1. And Abram was a son of ninety-nine years, and Jehovah appeared to Abram and said to him, I am God Shaddai; walk before Me and be blameless.

2. And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you more and more.

3. And Abram fell on his face, 1 and God spoke to him, saying,

4. As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you will be the father of a multitude of nations.

5. And no longer will your name be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.

6. And I will make you more and more fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come out of you.

7. And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your seed after you throughout their generations for an eternal covenant, to be God to you and to your seed after you.

8. And I will give to you, and to your seed after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an eternal possession; and I will be their God.

9. And God said to Abraham, And you shall keep My covenant, you and your seed after you throughout their generations.

10. This is My covenant which you shall keep between Me and you, and your seed after you: Every male among you is to be circumcised.

11. And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and it will be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.

12. And a son eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every male throughout your generations, he who is born in the house, and he who is the purchase of silver, from every son who is a foreigner and not of your seed.

13. He must be circumcised 2 who is born in your house or who is the purchase of your silver; and My covenant shall be in your flesh as an eternal covenant.

14. And the uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul will be cut off from his peoples; he has broken My covenant.

15. And God said to Abraham, Sarai your wife you will not call by her name Sarai, for Sarah will be her name.

16. And I will bless her, and I will also give you a son by her. And I will bless him, and he will become nations; kings of peoples will be from her.

17. And Abraham fell on his face 1 and laughed, and said in his heart, Will one be born to a son of a hundred years? And will Sarah, a daughter of ninety years, give birth?

18. And Abraham said to God, O that Ishmael might live before You!

19. And God said, Truly Sarah your wife is going to bear you a son, and you will call his name Isaac. And I will establish My covenant with him as an eternal covenant, for his seed after him.

20. And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I will bless him and I will make him fruitful and I will multiply him more and more Twelve princes will he beget, and I will make him into a great nation.

21. And I will establish My covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at the set time next year.

22. And He finished speaking to him, and God went up from over Abraham.

23. And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all born in his house, and every one purchased with his silver, every male among the men (vir) of Abraham's house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskin on that same day, just as God had spoken to him.

24. And Abraham was a son of ninety-nine years when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.

25. And Ishmael his son was a son of thirteen years when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.

26. On that very day Abraham was circumcised, and Ishmael his son.

27. And all the men of his house, he that was born in the house and he who was the purchase of silver, from the son who is a foreigner, were circumcised together with him.

CONTENTS

The subject here is the union of the Lord's Divine Essence with His Human Essence, and of His Human Essence with His Divine Essence, and also the conjunction of the Lord with the human race by means of His Human Essence.

V:

1. literally, faces

2. literally, By being circumcised he shall be circumcised

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