The Bible

 

Genesis 3

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1 Men Slangen var træskere end alle Markens andre Dyr, som Gud HE EN havde gjort og den sagde til Kvinden: "Mon Gud virkelig ham sagt: I må ikke spise af noget Træ i Haven?"

2 Kvinden svarede: "Vi har Lov at spise af Frugten på Havens Træer;

3 kun af Frugten fra Træet midt i Haven, sagde Gud, må I ikke spise, ja, I må ikke røre derved, thi så skal I !"

4 Da sagde Slangen til Kvinden: "I skal ingenlunde ;

5 men Gud ved, at når I spiser deraf, åbnes eders Øjne, så I blive som Gud til at kende godt og ondt!"

6 Kvinden blev nu var, at Træet var godt at spise af, en Lyst for Øjnene og godt at få Forstand af; og hun tog af dets Frugt og spiste og gav også sin Mand, der stod hos hende, og han spiste.

7 Da åbnedes begges Øjne, og de kendte, at de var nøgne. Derfor syede de Figenblade sammen og bandt dem om sig.

8 Da Dagen blev sval, hørte de Gud HE EN vandre i Haven, og Adam og hans Hustru skjulte sig for ham inde mellem Havens Træer.

9 Da kaldte Gud HE EN på Adam og råbte: "Hvor er du?"

10 Han svarede: "Jeg hørte dig i Haven og blev angst, fordi jeg var nøgen, og så skjulte jeg mig!"

11 Da sagde han: "Hvem fortalte dig, at du var nøgen. Mon du har spist af det Træ, jeg sagde, du ikke måtte spise af?"

12 Adam svarede: "Kvinden, som du satte ved min Side, gav mig af Træet, og så spiste jeg."

13 Da sagde Gud HE EN til Kvinde: "Hvad har du gjort!" Kvinden svarede: "Slangen forførte mig, og så spiste jeg."

14 Da sagde Gud HE EN til Slangen: "Fordi du har gjort dette, være du forbandet blandt al Kvæget og blandt alle Markens Dyr! På din Bug skal du krybe, og Støv skal du æde alle dit Livs Dage!

15 Jeg sætter Fjendskab mellem dig og Kvinden, mellem din Sæd og hendes Sæd; den skal knuse dit Hoved, og du skal hugge den i Hælen!"

16 Til Kvinden sagde han: "Jeg vil meget mangfoldiggøre dit Svangerskabs Møje; med Smerte skal du føde Børn; men til din Mand skal din Attrå være, og han skal herske over dig!"

17 Og til Adam sagde han: "Fordi du lyttede til din Hustrus Tale og spiste af Træet, som jeg sagde, du ikke måtte spise af, skal Jorden være forbandet for din Skyld; med Møje skal du skaffe dig Føde af den alle dit Livs Dage;

18 Torn og Tidsel skal den bære dig, og Markens Urter skal være din Føde;

19 i dit Ansigts Sved skal du spise dit Brød, indtil du vender tilbage til Jorden; thi af den er du taget; ja, Støv er du, og til Støv skal du vende tilbage!"

20 Men Adam kaldte sin Hustru Eva, thi hun blev Moder til alt levende.

21 Derpå gjorde Gud HE EN Skindkjortlet til Adam og hans Hustru og klædte dem dermed.

22 Men Gud HE EN sagde: "Se, Mennesket er blevet som EN af os til at kende godt og ondt. Nu skal han ikke række Hånden ud og tage også af Livets Træ og spise og leve evindelig!"

23 Så forviste Gud HE EN ham fra Edens Have, for at han skulde dyrke Jorden, som han var taget af;

24 og han drev Mennesket ud, og østen for Edens Have satte han Keruberne med det glimtende Flammesværd til at vogte Vejen til Livets Træ.

   


The Project Gutenberg Association at Carnegie Mellon University

From Swedenborg's Works

 

True Christianity #470

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470. We Are Not Life, but We Are Vessels for Receiving Life from God

There is a generally held belief that there is life in us, that it belongs to us, and that therefore we are not only vessels for receiving life but we ourselves are life. This common belief derives from the way things appear to be, because we are alive, that is, we sense, think, speak, and act completely as if we had autonomy. Therefore the statement that we are not life, but are vessels for receiving life, cannot help but seem like something completely unheard of before, or like a paradox that goes against our sense-oriented thinking because it goes against the way things appear to be. I have blamed this misleading belief on the way things appear to be - the belief that we are in fact life, and therefore that life has been created as part of us and grafted onto us from birth. But the real reason for this misleading belief (which is based on the way things appear to be) is that many people today are earthly, and few are spiritual. The earthly self makes judgments based on appearances and resulting false impressions, when in fact these run directly counter to the truth, which is that we are not life but are vessels for receiving life.

[2] The fact that we are not life but are vessels for receiving life from God is demonstrated by the following clear points of evidence: All things that have been created are intrinsically finite. Human beings, because they are finite, could only have been created from finite things. Therefore in the Book of Creation it says that Adam was made from the ground and its dust [Genesis 2:7; 3:19]. In fact, he was named for the ground, since "Adam" means the soil of the earth. And every human being actually consists of nothing other than types of materials that are in the earth or are in the atmosphere from the earth. The elements that are in the atmosphere from the earth we absorb through our lungs and through the pores all over our bodies; we absorb the denser substances through foods made up of earthly elements.

[3] As for the human spirit, however, that too has been created from things that are finite. What is the human spirit but a vessel for the life that the mind possesses? The finite things of which it is made are spiritual substances. These substances exist in the spiritual world, but they have also been incorporated into our earth in a hidden way. If these spiritual substances were not present within material substances, seeds would not be loaded with hidden instructions and would not miraculously develop, without deviation, from the first shoot all the way to the production of fruit and new seeds. Worms would not be generated from emanations from the ground and from the gases exuded by plants with which the atmosphere is saturated.

[4] It is unreasonable to think that the Infinite could create anything other than what is finite; and that human beings, because they are finite, are anything other than forms that the Infinite is able to bring to life from the life he has within himself. Indeed, this is what is meant by the following: "Jehovah God formed the human being, the dust from the earth, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life" (Genesis 2:7). Because God is infinite, he is life in itself. This life is not something he can create and then transfer into a human being - that would make the human being God. The serpent or Devil, and from him, Eve and Adam, had the insane thought that this had actually happened. This is why the serpent said, "On the day you eat some of the fruit of this tree, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God" (Genesis 3:5).

[5] At the end of the earliest church, when it came to its final close, people latched onto the dreadful conviction that God had transfused and transferred himself into human beings. I know so because I have heard it from their own mouths. On account of their horrendous belief that they are gods, they remain profoundly hidden in an underground chamber. No one can get near it without collapsing as a result of inner dizziness. (The fact that Adam and his wife mean and describe the earliest church was made known under the previous heading [466].)

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