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.
Фусноти:
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.
Heaven and Hell #122
122. The sun of the world appears to the angels as a dense darkness from being opposite to the Sun of heaven, and the moon as a darkness from being opposite to the Moon of heaven, and this constantly. The reason is that the world's fieriness corresponds to the love of self, and the illumination from it corresponds to what is false from that love. The love of self is the direct opposite of the Divine love, what is false from that love is the direct opposite of the Divine truth, and the opposite of the Divine love and the Divine truth is, to the angels, dense darkness. Therefore, in the Word, to worship the sun and moon of this world and bow down to them, signifies to love self and the falsities that are from the love of self, and such will be cut off.
(Deuteronomy 4:19; 17:3-5, Jeremiah 8:1-2, Ezekiel 8:15-16, 18, Revelation 16:8, Matthew 13:6) 1 .
Фусноти:
1. [Swedenborg's footnote] The sun of the world is not visible to the angels, but, in its place, something dark at the back, opposite to the Sun of heaven, which is the Lord (Arcana Coelestia 7078, 9755).
The sun in the opposite sense signifies the love of self (Arcana Coelestia 2441); in which sense, by adoring the sun, is signified to worship those things that are contrary to heavenly love, or to the Lord (Arcana Coelestia 2441, 10584).
To those who are in the hells, the Sun of heaven is thick darkness (Arcana Coelestia 2441).
