The Bible

 

Genesis 5

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1 This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day when God made man, he made him in the image of God;

2 Male and female he made them, naming them Man, and giving them his blessing on the day when they were made.

3 Adam had been living for a hundred and thirty years when he had a son like himself, after his image, and gave him the name of Seth:

4 And after the birth of Seth, Adam went on living for eight hundred years, and had sons and daughters:

5 And all the years of Adam's life were nine hundred and thirty: and he came to his end.

6 And Seth was a hundred and five years old when he became the father of Enosh:

7 And he went on living after the birth of Enosh for eight hundred and seven years, and had sons and daughters:

8 And all the years of Seth's life were nine hundred and twelve: and he came to his end.

9 And Enosh was ninety years old when he became the father of Kenan:

10 And after the birth of Kenan, Enosh went on living for eight hundred and fifteen years, and had sons and daughters:

11 And all the years of Enosh were nine hundred and five: and he came to his end.

12 And Kenan was seventy years old when he became the father of Mahalalel:

13 And after the birth of Mahalalel, Kenan went on living for eight hundred and forty years, and had sons and daughters:

14 And all the years of Kenan's life were nine hundred and ten; and he came to his end.

15 And Mahalalel was sixty-five years old when he became the father of Jared:

16 And after the birth of Jared, Mahalalel went on living for eight hundred and thirty years, and had sons and daughters:

17 And all the years of Mahalalel's life were eight hundred and ninety-five: and he came to his end.

18 And Jared was a hundred and sixty-two years old when he became the father of Enoch:

19 And Jared went on living after the birth of Enoch for eight hundred years, and had sons and daughters:

20 And all the years of Jared's life were nine hundred and sixty-two: and he came to his end.

21 And Enoch was sixty-five years old when he became the father of Methuselah:

22 And after the birth of Methuselah, Enoch went on in God's ways for three hundred years, and had sons and daughters:

23 And all the years of Enoch's life were three hundred and sixty-five:

24 And Enoch went on in God's ways: and he was not seen again, for God took him.

25 And Methuselah was a hundred and eighty-seven years old when he became the father of Lamech:

26 And after the birth of Lamech, Methuselah went on living for seven hundred and eighty-two years, and had sons and daughters:

27 And all the years of Methuselah's life were nine hundred and sixty-nine: and he came to his end.

28 And Lamech was a hundred and eighty-two years old when he had a son:

29 And he gave him the name of Noah, saying, Truly, he will give us rest from our trouble and the hard work of our hands, because of the earth which was cursed by God.

30 And after the birth of Noah, Lamech went on living for five hundred and ninety-five years, and had sons and daughters:

31 And all the years of Lamech's life were seven hundred and seventy-seven: and he came to his end.

32 And when Noah was five hundred years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #519

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519. At that time there were people who formulated doctrine out of what had been matters of perception in the Most Ancient Church and in the Churches that came after it, and this doctrine was to serve as a yardstick by which people could recognize what good and truth were. Such people were called 'Enoch', and this is meant by these words, 'and Enoch walked with God'. They also applied this name to that doctrine of theirs, for this indeed was meant by the name Enoch, which is 'instructing'. The matter is also clear from the meaning of the expression walking' and from the fact that he is said to have walked, not with Jehovah, but 'with God'. 'Walking with God' is teaching and living according to the doctrine of faith, whereas 'walking with Jehovah' is leading a life of love. 'Walking' is a customary expression to mean living, as in the phrases walking in the law, walking in statutes, walking in the truth. Strictly speaking, walking has regard to the path of truth, and therefore of faith or the doctrine of faith. From the places that are quoted below it becomes to some extent clear what 'walking' means in the Word.

[2] In Micah,

He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does Jehovah require of you but to carry out judgement and the love of mercy, and to humble yourself by walking with your God? Micah 6:8.

Here too 'walking with God' means living according to the requirements set out here. But although the expression 'with God' is used here the preposition employed is different from the one used in reference to Enoch, which really means 'from with God', and so is a phrase which is ambiguous. 1 In David,

You have delivered my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living. Psalms 56:13.

Here 'walking before God' is walking in the truth of faith, which is 'the light of the living'. Similarly in Isaiah,

The people walking in darkness see a great light. Isaiah 9:2.

In Moses the Lord says,

I will walk in your midst and be your God, and you will be My people. Leviticus 26:11.

This stood for the requirement that they should live according to the teaching of the law.

In Jeremiah,

They will spread them 2 before the sun and the moon and all the hosts of heaven, which they have loved and which they have served, and which they have walked after, and which they have sought. Jeremiah 8:2

A clear distinction is made here between the things that belong to love and those that belong to faith. Those that belong to love are referred to by 'loving and serving', those that belong to faith by 'walking and seeking after'. For in the Prophets careful attention is paid to the use of words; one word is nowhere used in place of another In the Word 'walking with Jehovah' or 'before Jehovah' means leading a life of love.

Footnotes:

1. i.e. the Hebrew preposition 'im is used in Micah 6:8 but 'eth in Genesis 5:22.

2. i.e. the bones of those mentioned in Jeremiah 8:1.

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