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.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #46

Study this Passage

  
/ 10837  
  

46. That 'beasts' means affections residing with man - evil affections in evil men and good affections in good men - becomes clear from many examples in the Word, as in Ezekiel,

Behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, so that you will be tilled and sown; and I will multiply upon you man and beast, and they will be multiplied and be fruitful, and I will resettle you 1 to be as in your ancient times. Ezekiel 36:9-11.

This refers to regeneration. In Joel,

Fear not, you beasts of My field, for the dwelling-places of the wilderness have been made green. Joel 2:22.

In David,

I was stupid, a beast 2 was I with God. Psalms 73:12.

In Jeremiah,

Behold, the days are coming when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast, and I will watch over them to build and to plant. Jeremiah 31:27-28.

This refers to regeneration.

[2] 'Wild animals' (fera) has a similar meaning, as in Hosea,

I will make for them a covenant on that day, with the wild animals of the field, and with the birds of the air, 3 and with the creeping things of the earth. Hosea 2:18.

In Job,

You will not fear the wild animals of the earth, for your covenant will be with the stones of the field, and the wild beasts of the field will be at peace with you. Job 5:22-23.

In Ezekiel,

I will make with them 4 a covenant of peace, and I will banish the evil wild animal from the land, so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness. Ezekiel 34:25.

In Isaiah,

The wild animals of the field will honour me, for I have given water in the desert. Isaiah 43:20.

In Ezekiel,

In its branches all the birds of the air 3 made their nests and under its branches every wild animal of the field gave birth, and in its shadow dwelt all great nations. Ezekiel 31:6.

This refers to Assyria, which means the spiritual man and is compared to the Garden of Eden. In David,

Praise Jehovah, all his angels, praise Him from the earth, sea monsters, fruit trees, wild animals, and all beasts, creeping things, and flying birds! Psalms 148:2-4, 7, 9-10.

Here the list is precisely the same - sea monsters, fruit trees, wild animals, beasts, creeping things, and birds. Unless they all mean things that are alive in human beings, they cannot possibly be referred to as praising Jehovah.

[3] A careful distinction is made in the Prophets between beasts and wild animals of the earth, and between beasts and wild animals of the field. The practice of calling goods 'beasts' extends to calling people in heaven who are nearest to the Lord 'living creatures', both in Ezekiel and in John,

All the angels stood around the throne, and the elders, and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God. 5 Revelation 7:11; 19:4.

The expression 'creatures' is also used of people who are to have the gospel preached to them because they are to be created anew, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Mark 16:15.

Footnotes:

1. literally, I will cause you to inhabit

2. literally, beasts

3. literally, bird of the heavens (or the skies)

4. The Latin means with you; but the Hebrew means with them which Swedenborg has in other places where he quotes this verse.

5. The Latin means the Lamb; but the Greek means God which Swedenborg has in other places where he quotes this verse.

  
/ 10837  
  

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #4601

Study this Passage

  
/ 10837  
  

4601. 'That Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine' means the profanation of good by means of faith separated from charity; 'and Israel heard' means that this faith was cast aside. This is clear from the representation of 'Reuben' as faith present in doctrine and in the understanding, which is the attribute of the Church that is born first, dealt with in 3861, 3866, at this point when that faith has been separated from charity, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'lying with Bilhah his father's concubine' as the profanation of good, for committing adultery means perverting or adulterating forms of good, 2466, 2729, 3399, but 'lying with a father's concubine' profaning them; and from the meaning of 'Israel heard' as the fact that this faith was cast aside. In the proper sense the expression 'Israel heard' means that the spiritual Church knew this and assented to it, for 'hearing' means hearkening, while 'Israel' means the spiritual Church. But the fact that the true Church does not assent to it will be evident from what is going to be said about Reuben. In the internal sense however the meaning is that that faith was cast aside, for although Jacob's feelings and thoughts concerning this unmentionable and outrageous deed are not stated, his utter disgust and abhorrence is evident from his prophecy concerning Reuben,

Reuben, you my firstborn, are my strength and the beginning of my might, excelling in eminence, and excelling in power. Unstable as water, may you not excel, for you went up to your father's bed; then you profaned It. He went up to my couch. Genesis 49:3-4.

The same is also evident from the fact that because of what he did Reuben was deprived of the birthright, 1 Chronicles 5:1. These considerations show that 'Israel heard' means that that faith was cast aside. As regards the birthright meaning the faith of the Church, see 352, 2435, 3325.

[2] The profanation of good by faith separated from charity takes place when people acknowledge and believe the truth of the Church and its good and yet lead lives contrary to these. Indeed with those who in understanding and consequently in life separate matters of faith from those of charity, evil is joined to truth and falsity to good; and it is this joining together that is called profanation. The situation is different with those who, though they know what the truth and good of faith are, nevertheless do not in their hearts have any belief in these. See what has been stated and shown already concerning profanation in 301-303, 571, 582, 593, 1001, 1003, 1008, 1010, 1059, 1327, 1328, 2051, 2426, 3398, 3399, 3402, 3489, 3898, 4050, 4289; also that the profanation of good by faith separated from charity was represented by Cain when he killed Abel, by Ham when he was cursed by his father, and by the Egyptians when they were drowned in the Red Sea, 3325, 1 as well as here by Reuben, 3325, 3870.

[3] In order that members of the spiritual Church might be saved the Lord miraculously separated the understanding part of their minds from the will part and imparted to the understanding the ability to accept a new will, 863, 875, 895, 927, 928, 1023, 1043, 1044, 2256, 4328, 4493. When therefore the understanding takes hold of and perceives the [truth and] good of faith and makes these its own, and yet the person's own will - that is, his will to do evil - reigns and rules, truth comes to be joined to evil and good to falsity. This joining of truth to evil and of good to falsity is profanation and is meant by eating and drinking in an unworthy manner in the Holy Supper. From people like this the good meant by the body and the truth meant by the blood [cannot] be separated; for when these have been joined to falsity and evil as described, they cannot be separated ever at all, and as a consequence the deepest hell awaits those persons. But those who know what the truth and good of faith are and yet in their hearts have no belief in them, as is the case with the vast majority of people at the present day, are unable to profane them because the understanding does not accept them and absorb them into itself.

[4] The subject here is the casting aside of this faith, for in what follows immediately after this the subject is truths and goods in their genuine order, and immediately after that the joining of these to the rational or understanding part, 'the sons of Jacob' who in the verses immediately after this are mentioned by name being truths and goods in that order, 'Isaac' the rational or understanding part, and 'Jacob's coming with his sons to Isaac' being in the internal sense that joining to the understanding part.

Footnotes:

13325 refers to the death of the firstborn but not to the drowning in the Red Sea.

  
/ 10837  
  

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