The Bible

 

Genesis 1

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1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first Day.

6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.

14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.

19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Commentary

 

Fly

  

To fly, and go forth abroad, as in Genesis 39:12, signifies that separation was made, or that there was no longer anything common. To fly, when related to the Lord, also signifies omnipresence.

To fly from the face of any one, as in Genesis 16:6, signifies indignation.

To fly, and to fall, as in Genesis 14:10, signifies to be conquered.

To fly, as in Psalm 18:11, signifies to enlighten the middle heaven. To fly, when spoken of the Lord, signifies to foresee and to provide.

To fly, as a cloud, and as doves to their windows, as in Isaiah 60:7, 8, signifies inquiry and investigation into truth, from the literal sense of the Word.

To fly, in the midst of heaven, as in Revelation 8:13, signifies to instruct and foretell.

(References: Apocalypse Revealed 244; Genesis 6, 10, 12, 14, 16, 39; Psalms 11, 18; Revelation 8, 12, Revelation 12:14, 13, 14)


From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #758

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758. He persecuted the woman that brought forth the male, signifies that those who are meant by "the dragon" would from hatred and enmity reject and revile the church which is the New Jerusalem, because it has the doctrine of life. This is evident from the signification of "persecuting," as being, in reference to those who are meant by "the dragon," to reject and revile from hatred and enmity (of which presently); also from the signification of "the woman," as being the church that is called the New Jerusalem (of which above, n. 707, 721, 730); also from the signification of "the male," as being the doctrine of that church, which is the doctrine of life (See above, n. 724, 725). From this it is clear that "the dragon persecuting the woman that brought forth the male" signifies that those who are meant by the dragon will from hatred and enmity reject and revile the church which is the New Jerusalem, because it has the doctrine of life. That "to persecute" signifies here to reject and revile from hatred and enmity follows from what precedes, that "the dragon stood near the woman who was about to bring forth, that he might devour her offspring," and that "he fought with Michael and his angels," and that when he was cast unto the earth "he had great anger," and that from this anger, which signifies hatred, "he persecuted the woman;" that his "anger" signifies hatred see above n. 754. His hatred is further described in what follows by the words, "he cast out after the woman out of his mouth water as a river, that it might swallow her up;" and at last, when he had tried all in vain, "he was wroth, and went away to make war with the remnant of her seed."

[2] Those who are meant by "the dragon" have such hatred against those who are meant by "the woman," because those who are in faith separated from charity have such hatred against those who are in charity, and as those who are in separated faith have conjunction with the hells, their hatred is like that of the hells against the heavens. The source of this hatred shall also be briefly explained. All who are in the hells are in the loves of self and the world, but all who are in the heavens are in love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor, and these loves are direct opposites. Those who are in the loves of self and of the world love nothing but what is their own [proprium], and what is man's own is nothing but evil; but those who are in love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor do not love what is their own, for they love the Lord above self, and the neighbor beyond self. Moreover, they are withheld from what is their own, and are held in the Lord's own [proprium], which is the Divine. Furthermore, all the delights of life are delights of loves; the delights of the loves of self and of the world are the delights of various kinds of hatred, but the delights of love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor are the delights of various kinds of charity, and the former are the direct opposites of the latter; and as those who are in the hells act in all their activities from the delights of their loves, which, as has been said, are the delights of various kinds of hatred, it is evident why the dragon has such hatred against the woman; for "the dragon" means those who are in the love of self; and this is why he is called "the great red dragon," "great red" signifying that love. He is also called "the devil" and "Satan," "the devil" meaning every evil that is from hell, and "Satan" every falsity therefrom, and evil is in hatred against good, and falsity is in hatred against truth. He is also called "the old serpent," which means the sensual, which is the ultimate of man's life, and in that sensual all such hatred has its seat. Those who are in faith separated from charity have a like hatred against those who are in charity; which hatred is not manifested in this world, but in the spiritual world when they become spirits. That this is a deadly hatred, and that it is the very delight of the life of evil spirits, may be seen above n. 754; but that such delight is turned into what is direfully infernal may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell 485-490.

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