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 #487

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487. 'Days means periods of time and states in general. This has been shown in Chapter 1, where the 'days of creation' have no other meaning. In the Word it is very common for a whole period of time to be called 'a day', as it clearly is in the present verse and in verses 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 27, 31, below; and therefore the states that belong to periods of time in general are meant by 'days' as well. And when 'years' is attached, then periods of years mean the natures of those states, and so the states in particular.

[2] The most ancient people had their own particular numbers which they would use to mean different aspects of the Church - for instance, the numbers three, seven, ten, twelve, and many which they obtained from these and other numbers - and in so doing incorporated states of the Church. These numbers therefore contain arcana that would require considerable effort to unravel. Really a number was an evaluation of the states of the Church. The same feature occurs throughout the Word, especially in the prophetical. And the religious ceremonies of the Jewish Church also entail numbers specifying periods of time as well as quantities; for example, in connection with sacrifices, minchahs, oblations, and other practices, which in every case have special reference to holy things. Consequently eight hundred in this verse, nine hundred and thirty in the next, and the numbers of years mentioned in the verses that follow after that, embody in particular more matters than can possibly be retold; matters, that is to say, which have to do with changes in the state of their Church in relationship to their own general state. Later on, in the Lord's Divine mercy, the meaning of the simple numbers up to twelve will be given, for without knowing these first of all no one can grasp what compound numbers mean.

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #9227

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9227. 'On the eighth day you shall give it to Me' means that in the initial phase of the following state when they lead a life of good they dwell with the Lord. This is clear from the meaning of 'the eighth day' as the initial phase of the following state, dealt with in 2044, 8400 (end); and from the meaning of 'giving to Jehovah' as giving to the Lord since 'Jehovah' is used in the Word to mean the Lord, 1736, 2921, 3023, 3035, 5663, 6303, 6945, 6956, 8274, 8864. The reason why when they lead a life of good they dwell with the Lord is meant is that the internal sense deals with both states experienced by a person who is being regenerated. The first state is when the person is led by means of the truths of faith towards the good of charity, and the second state is when he has come into that good. Since the person then dwells with the Lord, these things are therefore meant by 'you shall give it to Me'.

A person has two states while being regenerated, the first when he is led by means of the truths of faith towards the good of charity, and the second when he has come into the good of charity, see 7923, 7992, 8505, 8506, 8510, 8512, 8516, 8643, 8648, 8658, 8685, 8690, 8701.

A person is in heaven and so dwells with the Lord when he has come into the good of charity, 8516, 8539, 8722, 8772, 9139.

[2] Something more must be stated briefly concerning the nature of these two states with a person who is being regenerated. It has been shown already in 9224 that truths which are called matters of faith enter by the external route with a person, and that good which is the good of charity and love enters by the internal route. The external route lies through hearing into the memory, and from the memory into the person's understanding, the understanding being a person's inward sight. The truths which are to become matters of faith enter by the external route to the end that they may be introduced into the will and so be made the person's own. The good which flows in from the Lord by the internal route flows into the will, for the will is the person's inward self. The good coming from the Lord meets, in the outer reaches of the will, the truths that have entered by the external route, and by joining itself to them causes the truths to be converted into good. And to the extent that this takes place order is turned around, that is, the person is not led by truths but by good, consequently is led by the Lord.

[3] From all this one may see the way in which a person is raised from the world to heaven when being regenerated. For everything that enters through hearing enters in from the world; and the things that have been deposited in the memory, then come from the memory and present themselves to the understanding, are seen in the light of the world, which is called natural illumination. But the things which enter the will or come to belong to the will are in the light of heaven, the light of heaven being the truth of good from the Lord. When these things go out of the will into actions they go back into the light of the world; but they now take on in this light a completely different appearance. For initially the world was present within each one of those things, but afterwards heaven is present within each one. These considerations also show why a person is not in heaven until he does truths because he wills them, and so because he has charity and affection for them.

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