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.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #478

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478. The reason he is called Adam is that the Hebrew word Adam means man. But the fact that Adam was never used as a proper name, only Man, is quite clear from the consideration that both here and earlier he is spoken of in the plural and not in the singular, and that the term refers to both man and woman. The two together are called Man. Anyone may see from these words that both are included, for it is said, 'He called their name Man on the day in which they were created', and similarly in 1:26, 28, 'Let Us make man in Our image, and they will have dominion over the fish of the sea. This shows also that the subject is not about someone who, when created, was the first human being of all, but about the Most Ancient Church.

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #658

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658. Their bodies three days and a half, signifies the complete extinction of Divine truth and of Divine good. 1 This is evident from the signification of "bodies" (that is, of the "witnesses"), as being those who have extinguished with themselves all Divine truth and Divine good; for "the two witnesses," whom they killed, signify the goods of love and charity and the truths of doctrine and faith (See above, n. 228, 635); consequently "their bodies when killed" signify that these have been extinguished; but because the good of love and charity and the truth of doctrine and faith can be extinguished only with those who are in falsities of doctrine and in evils of life, these are meant, since others do not see that the goods of love and the truths of doctrine are extinguished; for everyone sees the things that are of the Lord, and thus of heaven and the church, according to what his state is, since from that he sees; consequently he can see no otherwise than in accord with what that is. Thus he who denies the Lord and His Divine in heaven and in the church sees them not, because he sees from the negative; therefore such a one does not see the witnesses alive, but their bodies as carcasses, that is, the goods of love and the truths of doctrine as no truths and goods, consequently as extinguished. The above is evident also from the signification of "three days and a half," as meaning what is complete, here complete extinction.

[2] "Three and a half" means completeness, because "three" signifies an entire period or duration from beginning to end, consequently where the church is treated of, as here, "three and a half" signifies even to the end, and at the same time to a new beginning of it; therefore it is added "after three days and a half the spirit of life from God entered into them and they stood upon their (Luke 4:25) feet," which signifies the beginning of a New Church after the end of the old. For at the end of the church all the good of love and the truth of doctrine is extinguished, but then there is a resuscitation, which is effected with those with whom a New Church is established by the Lord, and this is signified by "the spirit of life" that entered into them. "Three days and a half" signifies a complete or full state for this reason also, that this number has a similar signification as the number "seven," for it is half of it, and a number halved, or a number doubled, has a similar signification as the number that is halved or doubled; and the number "seven" signifies all, likewise what is full and complete, and is predicated of what is holy pertaining to heaven and the church. Respecting the signification of this number see above (n. 20, 24, 257, 300). That the greater numbers that are composed of smaller ones have a similar signification as the simple numbers from which they arise by multiplication, may be also seen above (n. 430); and that "three" signifies an entire period greater or less from beginning to end (above, n. 532).

Footnotes:

1. ([MARGINAL NOTE:] 3 1/2:1 Kings 17;1 Kings 18; Luke 4:25.)

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