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

 

Coronis (An Appendix to True Christian Religion) #25

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25. THE FIRST STATE OF THIS MOST ANCIENT CHURCH, OR ITS RISE AND MORNING, is described in the first chapter of Genesis by these words:

God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and God created man in His own image; in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them (Gen. 1:26-27);

and also by these in the second chapter:

Jehovah God formed man dust of the earth, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of lives; and man became a living soul (Gen. 2:7).

That its rise, or morning, is described by his being made, or created, "in the image of God," is because every man, when he is first born, and while an infant, is an "image of God" interiorly; for the faculty of receiving and of applying to himself those things which proceed from God, is implanted in him; and since he is also formed "dust of the earth" exteriorly, and there is thence in him an inclination to lick that dust like the serpent (Gen. 3:14), therefore, if he remains an external or natural man, and does not become at the same time internal, or spiritual, he destroys the "image of God," and puts on the image of the serpent which seduced Adam. But, on the other hand, the man who strives and labours to become an "image of God," subdues the external man in himself, and interiorly in the natural becomes spiritual, thus spiritual-natural; and this is effected by a new creation, that is, regeneration by the Lord. Such a man is an "image of God," because he wills and believes that he lives from God and not from himself: on the contrary, man is an image of the serpent as long as he wills and believes that he lives from himself and not from God. What is man but an "image of God" when he wills and believes that he is in the Lord and the Lord in him (John 6:56; 14:20; 15:4-5, 7; 17:26), and that he can do nothing of himself (John 3:27; 15:5)? What is a man but an "image of God" when, by a new birth, he becomes a "son of God" (John 1:12-13)? Who does not know that the image of the father is in the son? The rise, or morning, of this Church is described by Jehovah God's "breathing into his nostrils the breath of lives," and by his thus "becoming a living soul," because by "lives," in the plural, are meant love and wisdom, which two are essentially God; for, in proportion as a man receives and applies to himself those two essentials of life, which proceed continually from God, and continually flow into the souls of men, in the same proportion he becomes "a living soul"; for "lives" are the same as love and wisdom. Hence it is evident, that the rise and morning of the life of the men of the Most Ancient Church, who taken collectively are represented by Adam, is described by those two shrines of life.

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #6015

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6015. 'In the carts which Pharaoh sent to carry him' means the matters of doctrine obtained from the Church's factual knowledge. This is clear from the meaning of 'the carts' as matters of doctrine, dealt with in 5945; and from the representation of 'Pharaoh' as the Church's factual knowledge in general. For 'Egypt' means the Church's factual knowledge, 1462, 4749, 4964, 4966, and therefore the king of that land means such knowledge in general, as he does elsewhere in the Word, though in the majority of places perverted factual knowledge is meant by Egypt and so also by Pharaoh. The representation of 'Pharaoh' as factual knowledge in general is evident in Isaiah,

The princes of Zoan are foolish, the wise counsellors of Pharaoh; counsel has become brutish. How do you say to Pharaoh, I am a son of the wise, a son of the kings of old? Isaiah 19:11.

Here 'Pharaoh' stands for the Church's factual knowledge in general, which was why he was called 'a son of the wise' and 'a son of the kings of old'. 'The wise' and 'the kings of old' stand for the truths that the Ancient Church possessed. But that factual knowledge made nonsensical is meant, for it says 'The princes of Zoan have become foolish; counsel has become brutish'.

[2] In the same prophet,

They depart to go down to Egypt but have not asked at My mouth, to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt. Therefore the strength of Pharaoh will become shame for you, and trust in the shadow of Egypt ignominy. Isaiah 30:2-3.

'Strengthening themselves in the strength of Egypt, and trusting in the shadow of Egypt' stands for relying in matters of faith on factual knowledge and having no belief in any spiritual truth unless it is what factual knowledge and sensory evidence so declare. But that is a perversion of order. The truths of faith must occupy first place, and supporting factual knowledge must take second place; for if the latter occupy first place, no belief in any truth whatever exists.

[3] In Jeremiah,

Jehovah Zebaoth, the God of Israel, said, Behold, I am making a visitation upon Amen in No, and upon Pharaoh, and upon Egypt, and upon its gods, and upon its kings - especially upon Pharaoh and those trusting in him. Jeremiah 46:25.

Here also 'Pharaoh' stands for factual knowledge in general. 'Those trusting in him' stands for people who rely on factual knowledge but do not rely on the Word, that is, on the Lord in the Word. Such a reliance leads to a complete perversion in the things people are taught to believe, which in turn leads to falsity and also to the refusal to accept that what is Divine and heavenly is anything at all. These people in particular are all too ready to say, Let me see these things with my own eyes; or, Produce the facts to prove the truth of it, and then I will believe it. But even if they did see them or such proof was produced they would not believe, because an unaccepting attitude of mind governs everything.

[4] In the same prophet,

Against Pharaoh. 1 Behold, waters rising out of the north which will become a deluging stream, and they will deluge the land and all that fills it, the city and those who dwell in it, so that men cry out and every inhabitant of the land wails because of the sound of the beat of the hoofs of the horses his mighty ones and the noise of his chariot, the rumble of its wheels. Jeremiah 47:1-3.

It is plain from every detail stated here regarding Pharaoh that 'Pharaoh' is factual knowledge in general, existing in this instance in a perverted state of order, which destroys the truths of faith. 'A deluging stream' is factual knowledge destroying an understanding of truth, and so is knowledge that lays waste. 'They will deluge the land and all that fills it' is the entire Church. 'The city and those who dwell in it' is the truth the Church possesses, and the good this truth leads to. 'The beat of the hoofs of the horses' is the lowest kind of factual knowledge gained directly from sensory impressions. 'The noise of his chariot' is false teaching derived from that knowledge. 'The rumble of its wheels' is sensory impressions and the false notions going with them that advance themselves.

[5] In Ezekiel,

The Lord Jehovih said, Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster who is lying in the midst of his rivers, who has said, The river is mine and I have made myself. Therefore I will put hooks in your jaws, and cause the fish of your rivers to stick to your scales. Ezekiel 29:2-4.

Here also 'Pharaoh' stands for factual knowledge in general, which in a similar way is evident from each detail that is stated regarding him.

[6] In the same prophet,

Raise a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt. You are like monsters in the seas, and you have come forth with your rivers, and have troubled the waters with your feet; you have stirred up their rivers. When I have blotted you out, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars, I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give its light. All the bright lights [in the heavens] I will darken over you, and I will put darkness over your land. Ezekiel 32:1, 3, 7-8.

The details of this description, like many more in the Prophets, cannot be understood by anyone, it is evident, without the internal sense. No one can understand what is meant when it says that Pharaoh is like monsters in the seas, has come forth with 2 his rivers, and has troubled the waters with his feet. Nor can anyone know what is meant when it says that the heavens will be covered above him, the stars will be darkened, and all the bright lights will be darkened; also that the sun will be covered with a cloud, the moon will not give its light, and darkness will be put over his land. But the internal sense shows what all these details mean; it shows that factual knowledge perverts the truths of the Church if a person uses it to enter the mysteries of faith without believing anything unless factual knowledge, indeed sensory evidence, causes him to see it. This is the internal sense of this description, as the explanation of each separate detail shows.

[7] Pharaoh is called 'king of Egypt' by virtue of the truth factual knowledge holds within it. For factual knowledge is truth as it exists in the natural, and 'king' is truth, see 1672, 1728, 2015, 2069, 3009, 3670, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044; also, much the same is meant by the king of a people as by the people themselves, 4789, so that much the same is meant by 'Pharaoh' as by 'Egypt', but the same thing in general. ('Egypt' has been shown many times to mean factual knowledge.) Pharaoh is compared to 'monsters in the seas' because 'a monster' or 'a sea monster' means general sources of facts, 42, While 'seas' means gatherings together of them, 28. Then it is said that he has come forth with his rivers because ideas displaying intelligence are meant by 'rivers', 108, 109, 2702, 3051, but here ideas displaying insanity since they flow from sensory impressions and factual knowledge, 5196. After this it is said that he troubled the waters with his feet and stirred up their rivers because 'waters' means spiritual truths, 680, 739, 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976, 5668, and 'feet' things belonging to the natural, 2162, 3147, 3761, 3986, 4280, 4938-4952, so that 'troubling the waters with one's feet' is defiling and perverting the truths of faith by means of factual knowledge which the natural possesses. And 'stirring up their rivers' is doing the same to intelligence.

[8] Finally it is said that when he is blotted out the heavens will be covered, because 'the heavens' means a person's interiors, since these are his heavens. They are 'closed' when factual knowledge holds sway over the truths of faith, that is, when the natural holds sway over the spiritual. When this is the situation the cognitions or knowledge of truth and good perish, meant by 'I will darken the stars of the heavens, and all the bright lights'; for 'the stars' are those cognitions, see 2495, 2849, 4697, and 'the lights' are forms of good and truth, 30-38. The inability of the good of love to flow in any longer at that time is meant by 'I will cover the sun with a cloud', and the inability of the good of faith to flow in by 'the moon will not give its light' - 'the sun' being the good of love, and 'the moon the good of faith, see 1519, 1530, 2120, 2495, 3636, 3643, 4060, 4696. The occupation therefore of the natural mind by falsities alone is meant by 'I will put darkness over your land' - 'darkness' being falsities, 1839, 1860, 4418, 4531, and 'Pharaoh's land' or 'the land of Egypt' being the natural mind, 5276, 5278, 5280, 5288, 5701. From all this one may now see what the meaning is within the details of this prophecy. Since 'Pharaoh' means factual knowledge in general he also means the natural in general, 5799.

Footnotes:

1. These verses in Jeremiah 47 refer to the Philistines, though Pharaoh is mentioned in verse 1. Chapter Jeremiah 46 deals specifically with Egypt and Pharaoh.

2. Reading cum (with) for ex (from)

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