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 #568

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568. 'Daughters' means the things that constituted the will of that man, and so means evil desires. This is clear from what has been stated and shown about sons and daughters at verse 4 of the previous chapter, where 'sons' meant truths and 'daughters' goods. 'Daughters' or goods constitute the will. But as is a person's character so is his understanding and his will, and so therefore his 'sons and daughters'. At the moment the subject is the corrupt human type who has no will but merely evil desire instead, which people imagine to be the will and actually call the will. For any attribute is determined by the nature of the subject to which it is attributed. As shown already, the human type to whom 'daughters' are attributed here is a corrupt type.

[2] The reason 'daughters' means things constituting the will, which are evil desires when the will for good is non-existent, while 'sons' means those constituting the understanding, which are delusions when the understanding of truth is non-existent, is that the female disposition and make-up is such that the will or evil desire reigns rather than understanding. Every one of their fibres runs in that direction; and it is their very nature. The male make-up however is such that the understanding or reason reigns; every one of their fibres too runs in that direction, and it is their very nature. Consequently the marriage of the two sexes is like that of the will and the understanding in the individual. And because nowadays the will for good does not exist, but only evil desire, when yet it is possible for something of the understanding or reason to exist, so many laws were for that reason laid down in the Jewish Church concerning the husband's rights and the wife's obedience.

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