The Bible

 

Genesis 5

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1 This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;

2 male and female created he them, and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.

3 And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, and begat [a son] in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:

4 and the days of Adam after he begat Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters.

5 And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.

6 And Seth lived a hundred and five years, and begat Enosh:

7 and Seth lived after he begat Enosh eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters:

8 and all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years: and he died.

9 And Enosh lived ninety years, and begat Kenan.

10 and Enosh lived after he begat Kenan eight hundred and fifteen years, and begat sons and daughters:

11 and all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years: and he died.

12 And Kenan lived seventy years, and begat Mahalalel:

13 and Kenan lived after he begat Mahalalel eight hundred and forty years, and begat sons and daughters:

14 and all the days of Kenan were nine hundred and ten years: and he died.

15 And Mahalalel lived sixty and five years, and begat Jared:

16 And Mahalalel lived after he begat Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters:

17 and all the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred ninety and five years: and he died.

18 And Jared lived a hundred sixty and two years, and begat Enoch:

19 and Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:

20 And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died.

21 And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:

22 and Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:

23 and all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:

24 and Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.

25 And Methuselah lived a hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech:

26 and Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters.

27 And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died.

28 And Lamech lived a hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son:

29 and he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us in our work and in the toil of our hands, [which cometh] because of the ground which Jehovah hath cursed.

30 And Lamech lived after he begat Noah five hundred ninety and five years, and begat sons and daughters:

31 And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years: and he died.

32 And Noah was five hundred years old: And Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #337

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337. THE INTERNAL SENSE

Since the subject in this chapter is the degeneration of the Most Ancient Church - that is, the falsification of doctrine - and consequently the heresies and sects which the names of Cain and his descendants cover, it must be realized that nobody can begin to understand how doctrine was falsified, that is, understand the nature of the heresies and sects of that Church, unless he has a proper knowledge of the nature of the true Church. From the latter the nature of those heresies and sects can be recognized. The Most Ancient Church has been dealt with quite extensively already; and it has been shown that it was the celestial man, and that it acknowledged no other faith than faith that originated in love to the Lord and towards the neighbour. It was through that love from the Lord that they possessed faith, that is, a perception of everything that was a matter of faith. Consequently they were not even willing to mention faith for fear of separating it from love, as shown already in 200-203.

[2] Such is the nature of the celestial man, that nature being described also by means of representatives in David where the Lord is referred to as 'the King', and the celestial man as 'the King's son',

Give the King Your judgements, and the King's son Your righteousness. The mountains will bring peace to the people, and the hills, in righteousness. They will fear You with the sun and towards the face 1 of the moon, a generation of generations. In his days the righteous man will flourish, and much peace, until the moon will be no more. Psalms 72:1, 3, 5, 7.

'The sun' means love, 'the moon' faith, 'mountains' and 'hills' the Most Ancient Church. 'A generation of generations' means the Church that came after the Flood. The statement 'until the moon will be no more' is made because faith will then be love. See also what is written in Isaiah 30:26.

[3] Such was the nature of the Most Ancient Church and such its doctrine. Nowadays things are altogether different, for now faith comes first. But by means of faith the Lord imparts charity, at which point charity becomes the chief thing. Consequently doctrine in most ancient times was falsified when people made profession of faith and in so doing separated faith from love. People who falsified doctrine in this way, or who separated faith from love, that is, made profession of faith alone, were at that time called 'Cain'; and such a thing with them was a gross error.

Footnotes:

1. literally, faces

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