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

 

Plain

  

'A plain' signifies the extremes of the Word regarding doctrine, and also the extremes of the church, or people in extremes of truths and goods. It also signifies good and truth in the natural self, because 'the people who dwell in plains,' or 'beneath mountains and hills' are in the extreme heaven. In Genesis 19:17, this signifies all doctrinal matters.

In Genesis 11:2, this signifies that their worship became more impure and profane. (Arcana Coelestia 1292)

In Jeremiah 21:13, this signifies the faith in which is no charity. (Arcana Coelestia 4715) Plain and valley signifies the ultimates of the Word. (Apocalypse Explained 411) Plain signifies good and truth in the natural man, because people in the First Heaven dwell in plain or valley. (Apocalypse Explained 449)

(References: Apocalypse Explained 400)


From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #1292

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1292. That 'they found a valley in the land of Shinar' means that worship became more unclean and unholy is clear from the meaning of 'a valley' and from the meaning of 'the land of Shinar'. As regards the meaning of 'a valley', in the Word 'mountains' means love or charity because these are the highest points, or what amounts to the same, inmost features of worship, as shown already in 795. Consequently 'a valley' means that which is below the mountains, that is, the lower, or what amounts to the same, exterior aspect of worship. 'The land of Shinar' however means external worship which has unholiness within it, as shown already in 1183. Thus in this verse the statement that 'they found a valley in the land of Shinar' means that worship became more unclean and unholy.

[2] Verse one dealt with the Church having one lip and its words being one that is, one doctrine in general and in particular. This verse however deals with the decline of the Church - 'they travelled from the east' that is, they began to depart from charity. For to the extent that the Church, or a member of the Church, departs from charity, its worship departs from what is holy, or its worship approaches what is unclean and unholy. The reason 'they found a valley in the land of Shinar' means the decline of the Church, that is, of worship, into unholiness is that a valley is a low-lying area between mountains, which, as has been stated, mean the holy things of love or of charity within worship. This also becomes clear from the meaning of 'a valley' in the Word where in the original language several expressions for valley occur which mean, when used in that sense, things present in worship that are less or more unholy.

[3] That 'valleys' means such things is clear in Isaiah,

The burden of the valley of vision; for the Lord Jehovih Zebaoth has a day of tumult and of trampling and of confusion in the valley of vision. Isaiah 22:1, 5.

'The valley of vision' stands for delusions and for reasonings by which worship is rendered false and at length profaned. In Jeremiah,

How do you say, I have not been defiled, I have not walked after the baals? Look at your way in the valley. Jeremiah 2:23.

'The valley' stands for unclean worship. In the same prophet, They have built the high places of Topheth, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom. Therefore, behold, the days are coming when it will no more be called Topheth or the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter. Jeremiah 7:31, 34; 19:6.

'The valley of Hinnom' stands for hell, also for the profanation of truth and good.

[4] In Ezekiel,

Thus said the Lord Jehovih to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys Behold, I, even I, am bringing a sword places. Ezekiel 6:3.

In the same prophet,

I will give to Gog a place there for burial in Israel, the valley of those that pass over towards the east of the sea. And they will call it the valley of the multitude of Gog. Ezekiel 39:11, 15.

This refers to worship in external things, 'the valley' standing for such worship. But when worship has not yet become unholy to that extent, it is described by the word for a valley used here in Genesis 11:2, as in Isaiah,

I will open rivers on the sloping heights, and I will place springs in the midst of valleys; I will make the wilderness into a pool of water, and the dry land into streams of water. Isaiah 41:18.

This refers to people who are in ignorance, that is, without cognitions of faith and charity, and who yet have charity. 'valley' here stands for those people, as does 'valley' in Ezekiel 37:1.

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