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 #480

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480. It is clear from Genesis 1:26-27 as well, that 'they were called Man on the day in which they were created', that is to say, at the end of the sixth day, which answers to the evening of the Sabbath, or start of the Sabbath or seventh day. For as shown already, the seventh day or Sabbath is the celestial man.

  
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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. 1 - That this signifies the complete extinction of Divine Truth and Divine Good, is evident from the signification of bodies, namely, of the witnesses, as denoting those who have extinguished in themselves all Divine Truth and Divine Good. For the two witnesses, whom they slew, signify the goods of love and of charity and the truths of doctrine and of faith, see above (n. 228, 635); consequently their bodies, when slain, signify that these have been extinguished. But because the good of love and of charity and the truth of doctrine and of faith cannot be extinguished except with those who are in falsities of doctrine and in evils of life, therefore these are meant, since others do not see that the goods of love and the truths of doctrine are extinguished. For every one sees the things which are of the Lord, and thence the things which pertain to heaven and the church, according to the quality of his state, and it is from this that he sees, therefore he cannot see otherwise than in agreement with that quality. Thus he who denies the Lord and His Divine in heaven and in the church does not see them, because he regards them negatively, therefore he does not see the witnesses alive, but their bodies as carcases, that is, he considers the goods of love and truths of doctrine as nothing, consequently also extinguished. The above is evident from the signification of three days and a half, as denoting what is complete, in this case, a complete extinction.

[2] "Three and a half" denotes what is complete, because three signifies an entire period or duration from beginning to end, consequently, where the church is treated of, as in the present case, three and a half signifies even unto its end, and at the same time to a new beginning wherefore it is said that after three days and a half the spirit of life from God entered into them and that they stood upon their feet, which signifies the beginning of a new church after the end of the old. For all the good of love and truth of doctrine is extinguished at the end of the church, but then there is a resuscitation which takes place with those in whom a new church is established by the Lord, which is also signified by the spirit of life which entered into them. A full or complete state is also signified by three days and a half, for the reason that this number has a similar signification to that of the number seven, for it is its half; and a number halved, like a number doubled, has a signification similar to that of the number itself that is halved or doubled; and the number seven signifies all, also what is full and complete, and it is used in reference to what is holy pertaining to heaven and the church. The signification of this number may be seen treated of above (n. 20, 24, 257, 300). That the greater numbers, as they are composed of smaller numbers, have a signification similar to that of the simple numbers from which they arise by multiplication, may be also seen above (n. 430:1-4), and that three signifies an entire period greater or less from beginning to end may be seen above (n. 532).

Footnotes:

1. Note in Photolithographic copy- "3 1:2: - 1 Kings xvii; viii; Luke 4:25."

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