The Bible

 

Genesis 1

Study

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

 

Midst

  

The "midst" of something in the Bible represents the thing that is most central and most important to the spiritual state being described, the motivation that drives everything else. In general this will be something we love or feel, because at the core of things we are what we love; our loves define us.

(References: Apocalypse Revealed 44, 90, 268; Arcana Coelestia 2252, 2940, 10153, 10365, 10557, 10635, 10641)

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #511

Study this Passage

  
/ 1232  
  

511. Was cast into the sea.- This signifies into the natural man, as is evident from the signification of the sea, as denoting what is scientific (scientificum) in general, which is in the natural man, consequently, the natural man as to what is scientific therein, concerning which see above (n. 270, 342). The reason of this signification of the sea, is, that water signifies truth, and truth in the natural man is called scientific; but truth in itself, is spiritual, and in the spiritual man it makes one with the affection for truth, for it is the form of the affection there. As far therefore as this affection, with its form, is thence in the scientifics which are in the natural man, so far the scientifics contain in themselves truths, and are scientific truths; for the scientifics of the natural man, considered in themselves, are not truths, but only the containing vessels of truth, wherefore scientifics are also signified by vessels in the Word.

[2] That the natural man is signified by the sea, is clear from the passages in the Word quoted above (n. 275, 342); from which it is evident that the sea, as to the water, signifies what is scientific (scientificum) in general, and the sea, considered with respect to its waves, signifies the disputation and reasoning which arise through scientifics; and because each of these is in the natural man, therefore, the sea signifies the natural man itself. But the state of the natural man is entirely according to the affection of man's love. When spiritual affection rules in man, or the affection for good and truth for the sake of good and truth, and this flows in through the spiritual man into the natural man, then the natural man is a spiritual-natural man, for he is then subordinate and subject to the spiritual man, and because they thus act as a one, both are in heaven. But when affection merely natural rules with man, then in the natural man there is not any truth, and no scientific therein is true, but dead and false. The reason is, that the scientifics there are then conjoined with affections merely natural, all of which have their origin from the loves of self and of the world; and yet real truths, being in themselves spiritual, conjoin themselves only with spiritual affections, as stated above. When truths conjoin themselves with affections merely natural, then they are no longer truths but falsities, for the affection merely natural falsifies them. Conjunctions of truth with affections merely natural, correspond to whoredoms and adulteries of various kinds, and are also meant in the spiritual sense of the Word by the varieties of whoredoms and the degrees of adulteries; there are conjunctions of the truths of the Word with the love of self and the love of the world, which correspond to these things.

[3] The signification of the sea, which denotes the natural man, and all things therein, is also from correspondence. For seas appear in various places in the spiritual world, especially about the outermost borders where the spiritual societies, or heaven itself, terminate. Seas exist there, because in the borders of heaven, and beyond them, are those who were merely natural men; they also appear there in deep places, where they have their abodes; these natural men however are not evil, for evil natural men are in the hells. The quality of those who are in those seas is evident from the seas which are seen there, but chiefly from the colour of the waters, which tend to obscurity or to clearness; if to obscurity, sensual spirits are therein, who are the lowest natural, and if to clearness, the spirits therein are interior natural. But the waters of the seas which are over the hells, are dense, black, and sometimes red; and the infernal crew therein appear like snakes and serpents, and like monsters, such as are in the seas.

  
/ 1232  
  

Translation by Isaiah Tansley. Many thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.