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

 

Six

  

Like most numbers in the Bible, "six" can have various meanings depending on context, but has a couple that are primary. When used in relation to time -- six days, six hours, six years, etc. -- six generally represents a state of labor, struggle and conflict, especially the conflict involved with spiritual growth. The six days of creation, for instance, represent the stages we go through in our lives, working toward the peaceful seventh day, in which our evil desires are removed from us and we can rest. In most other references, six represents all desires for good and all the true ideas that come from those desires for good -- or in the contrary sense, all evil and all the resulting false thinking.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #10573

Study this Passage

  
/ 10837  
  

10573. Verses 18-23 And he said, Cause me, I beg You, to see Your glory. And He said, I will cause all My goodness to pass by 1 your face, and I will proclaim the name of Jehovah before you; and I will be gracious to whom I am gracious, and I will show mercy to whom I show mercy. And He said, You cannot see My face, for no one will see Me and live 2 . And Jehovah said, Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock. And so it will be, as My glory passes through, that I will put you in a cleft of the rock and cover My palm over you until I have passed through. And I will take My palm away, and you will see My back parts; and My face will not be seen.

'And he said, Cause me, I beg You, to see Your glory' means discernment on the external level of Divine Truth within. 'And He said, I will cause all My goodness to pass by your face' means causing everything Divine which composes heaven and the Church to pass by the external [separated from the internal as it existed with Moses and the nation he headed]. 'And I will proclaim the name of Jehovah before you' means the holiness of the Divine worship there. 'And I will be gracious to whom I am gracious, and I will show mercy to whom I show mercy' means that Divine Truth and Good will be revealed to those who are receptive. 'And He said, You cannot see My face' means that things which are interior and Divine in the Church, worship, and the Word cannot be revealed to the Israelite nation. 'For no one will see Me and live' means that the essential nature of the Divine Himself can be seen only through the Lord in heaven. 'And Jehovah said, Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock' means a state of faith in God. 'And so it will be, as My glory passes through' means the interior things of the Word, the Church, and worship. 'That I will put you in a cleft of the rock' means obscurity and falsity of faith such as exists with those whose interest lies in external things and not in what is internal. 'And cover My palm over you until I have passed through' means shutting off what is internal. 'And I will take My palm away, and you will see My back parts; and My face will not be seen' means that they would see the external things of the Word, the Church, and worship, but not the internal.

Footnotes:

1. literally, pass by before

2. literally, for the human being does not see Me and live

  
/ 10837  
  

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