The Bible

 

Genesis 6

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1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born unto them,

2 that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all that they chose.

3 And Jehovah said, My spirit shall not strive with man for ever, for that he also is flesh: yet shall his days be a hundred and twenty years.

4 The Nephilim were in the earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of God came unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them: the same were the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown.

5 And Jehovah saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

6 And it repented Jehovah that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

7 And Jehovah said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the ground; both man, and beast, and creeping things, and birds of the heavens; for it repenteth me that I have made them.

8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of Jehovah.

9 These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, [and] perfect in his generations: Noah walked with God.

10 And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

11 And the earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.

12 And God saw the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.

13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

14 Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.

15 And this is how thou shalt make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.

16 A light shalt thou make to the ark, and to a cubit shalt thou finish it upward; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.

17 And I, behold, I do bring the flood of waters upon this earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is in the earth shall die.

18 But I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.

19 And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.

20 Of the birds after their kind, and of the cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.

21 And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.

22 Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #734

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734. In what has gone before, verses 13-end of the previous chapter dealt with truths of the understanding which the member of the Church called Noah was supplied with by the Lord prior to his being regenerated, while verses 1-5 of this chapter deal after that with goods of the will, which were also conferred on him by the Lord. And because both are dealt with it looks like a repetition. Now however verses 6-11 deal with the temptation of that man, the present verse in particular dealing with the first state and so with the onset of temptation. And anyone is able to see that further repetition occurs, for in this verse it is said that 'Noah was a son of six hundred years when the flood came to be over the earth' but in verse 11 that it occurred 'in the six hundredth year of his life, in the second month, and on the seventeenth day'. So too with verse 7 in which it is said that 'Noah entered into the ark with his sons and their wives' and the similar statement in verse 13 later on. Also verses 8-9, in which it is said that the beasts entered into the ark to Noah' and the similar statements in verses 14-16. From these considerations it is clear that this verse is in like manner a repetition of matters that have appeared already. What more can anyone see who keeps to the sense of the letter alone except the repetition of some historical event? But here as in other places not one tiny word is in any way superfluous or meaningless, for it is the Lord's Word. There is not any repetition therefore unless it is used to mean something different from before. In fact here, as previously, it is initial temptation, which involves things of his understanding, that is meant, and after that temptation of him as regards things of his will. With anyone who is to be regenerated these temptations are consecutive, for being tempted as regards things of the understanding is altogether different from being tempted as regards those of the will. Temptation as regards things of the understanding is mild, whereas temptation as regards those of the will is severe.

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