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 #8892

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8892. 'And all that is in them' means of all that are there, that is to say, vivifying them. This is clear without explanation.

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #3081

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3081. 'A virgin, and no man had known her' means pure from everything false. This is clear from the meaning of 'a virgin'. The word 'virgin' occurs in various places in the Word, where it means the Lord's kingdom, and also the Church, and therefore means every person who is the Lord's kingdom or who is the Church; and it receives this meaning from conjugial love which exists in chaste virgins. Conjugial love in the spiritual sense is the affection for good present in truth, and the affection for truth grounded in good, from which affections, when joined so to speak in marriage, conjugial love flows, see 2508, 2618, 2727-2729. And because conjugial love, as has been stated, is seen in a virgin, the Lord's kingdom, which is also compared to and actually called a marriage, is called a virgin. The reason 'no man had known her' means pure from everything false is that 'a man' (vir) in the Word means not only rational truth but also in the contrary sense falsity, see 265, 749, 1007, so that 'known by a man' means defiled by falsity, and 'not known by a man' pure from falsity. The word 'man' (vir) is not used here in the sense of a husband.

[2] 'A virgin' in the Word means those who are in the Lord's kingdom, or what amounts to the same, who have the Lord's kingdom within them. This is clear in John,

These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins, these are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes; for they are spotless before God's throne. Revelation 14:4-5.

[3] Plainly, these are called 'virgins, who follow the Lamb', that is, who are in the Lord's kingdom; and they are also said to be 'spotless'. In the proper sense they are 'virgins' who are governed by love to the Lord - that is, who are celestial - and so who are moved by an affection for good. They too are called 'virgins' who are governed by charity towards the neighbour - that is, who are spiritual - and so are moved by the affection for truth, as becomes clear from the following places in the Word: In Isaiah,

She has spurned you, she has scorned you, the virgin daughter of Zion; she wags her head behind you, the daughter of Jerusalem. Isaiah 37:22.

These words are addressed to the king of Asshur. 'The virgin daughter of Zion' stands for the celestial Church, 'the daughter of Jerusalem' for the spiritual Church.

[4] In Jeremiah,

Again I will build you, and you will be built, O virgin of Israel! Again you will adorn yourself with your timbrels and will go forth in the dance of the merrymakers. And their life 1 will become like a watered garden, and they will not sorrow any more: Then will the virgin rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old together. Jeremiah 31:4, 12-13.

'Virgin of Israel' stands for the spiritual Church. The affection for truth which springs from good which exists with that Church is described here and elsewhere as 'timbrels' and 'dances'. In the same prophet,

The roads of Zion mourn, her priests groan, her virgins are dejected. The Lord has trodden the winepress for the virgin daughter of Judah. See my grief - my virgins and my young men have gone into captivity. Lamentations 1:4, 15, 18.

'Virgins' stands for affections for good and truth. Elsewhere in the same prophet,

Women have been ravished in Zion, virgins in the cities of Judah. Lamentations 5:11.

'Virgins' stands for affections for good.

[5] In Amos,

They will run to and fro to seek the Word of Jehovah, and will not find it. On that day the beautiful virgins and the young men will faint for thirst. Amos 8:12-13.

'The beautiful virgins' stands for affections for truth, 'the young men' for truths, or what amounts to the same, those with whom truths exist, of whom it is said that 'they will run to and fro to seek the Word of Jehovah, and will not find it', and so 'will faint for thirst'.

[6] In Zechariah,

Jehovah their God will save them on that day; as a flock - His people. For how great is his goodness, and how great his beauty! Grain will make the young men flourish, and new wine the virgins. Zechariah 9:16-17.

'The young men' stands for truths, 'the virgins' for affections. In David,

All glorious is the king's daughter within, in her clothing with gold interweavings; in embroidered robes she is led to the king. Virgins following her, her friends, have been brought to You. Psalms 45:13-14.

'The king's daughter' stands for the Lord's spiritual kingdom. 'Virgins following her, her friends' stands for affections for truth.

[7] In the same author,

They have seen Your goings, O God, the goings of my God in the sanctuary. The singers went before, players of the stringed instrument after, in the midst of the young women playing timbrels. Psalms 68:24-25.

'The young women playing timbrels' also stands for affections for truth. But young women are distinguished from virgins by innocence, the word 'virgins' being used because of conjugial love, thus of those in whom innocence is present since conjugial love is innocence itself, see 2736. This explains why in the verses quoted from John they are said 'to follow the Lamb wherever He goes', for 'the Lamb' is used to mean the Lord's innocence. Furthermore all in heaven are called virgins from the innocence present in their good. According to the amount and particular nature of the innocence present in that good 'they follow the Lamb'.

Footnotes:

1. literally, soul

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