55. Verse 28 And God blessed them, and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, ¹ and over every living thing that creeps upon the earth.

Because the most ancient people applied the term Marriage to understanding and will, or faith and love, when joined together, they gave the name Fruitfulness to any good resulting from that marriage, and Multiplication to any truth. For this reason similar expressions occur in the Prophets, as in Ezekiel,

I will multiply upon you man and beast, and they will multiply and be fruitful, and I will resettle you ² to be as in your ancient times, and I will bless you more than in your former times, and you will know that I am Jehovah, and I will cause man to walk upon you, even My people Israel. Ezekiel 36:8-11.

Here 'man' is used to mean the spiritual man, who is also called Israel, 'ancient times' the Most Ancient Church, 'former times' the Ancient Church which came after the Flood. The reason why 'multiplying', which relates to truth, comes first and why 'being fruitful', which relates to good, follows is that the subject is the person who is to be regenerated, not one who has been regenerated.

[2] When the understanding is coupled to the will, or faith to love, the individual is called by the Lord in Isaiah 'a married land',

Your land will no more be called Desolate, but you will be named My-good-pleasure-is-in-her, and your land, Married; for Jehovah will take His pleasure in you, and your land will be married. Isaiah 62:4.

The resulting fruits which are matters of truth are called 'sons', and the fruits which are matters of good are called 'daughters'. This recurs very frequently in the Word.

[3] The earth is 'being filled' when there are many goods and truths, for when the Lord is 'blessing' and 'saying' - that is, when He is at work - the increase of good and truth is limitless, as the Lord says,

The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field; it is indeed the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of all plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air ³ come and nest in its branches. Matthew 13:31-32.

'A grain of mustard seed' is the good a person has before he becomes spiritual. It is 'the smallest of all seeds' because he imagines that he himself is the source of the good he does. In reality what he does of himself is nothing but evil, yet because he is in a state of being regenerated there is some element of good, though it is quite 'the smallest of all'. Later on when faith is being joined to love it grows larger and becomes 'a plant'. Once it has finally been joined to love it develops into a tree, and at that point 'the birds of the air, ³ which here are truths or intellectual concepts, 'nest in its branches', which are facts.

[4] A person is involved in conflict not only when becoming spiritual, but also when he is spiritual. Hence the statement, 'Subdue the earth, and have dominion over it'.

Footnotes:

299. A book written within and on the back. That this signifies the state of life of all in heaven and on the earth, in general and in particular, is evident from the signification of a book, in this case of the book of life, as denoting what is inscribed or implanted by the Lord in the spirit of man, that is, in the heart and soul, or what is the same thing, in the love and faith (concerning which see above, n. 199): hence by the book is here signified the state of life of all in heaven and on earth, and by its being written, is signified what is implanted by the Lord; (that to write signifies to implant, may be seen also above, n. 222); and from the signification of within and on the back, as denoting its being in the heart and soul, or in the love and faith. For with man and spirit love is within, because it constitutes his life; whereas faith, unless it is in his love, is not within, but behind or at the back; for the faith which is faith, makes entirely one with the love, for what a man loves belongs to his faith, but what he does not love does not belong to his faith. That appears, indeed, to be faith which any one thinks from the memory, and teaches from doctrine, but if he loves it only from a natural and not a spiritual love, it is the sight only of the thought of the external man, which sight counterfeits faith; but this faith, being without life before it is implanted in the internal man and its love, is not in the man, but behind him, or at his back. The faith implanted in the internal man and its love, is to believe and love the truth because it is truth, and not to love it chiefly for the sake of a reputation for learning, and of honour or gain therefrom. From these considerations it is evident what is signified by being written within and on the back.

[2] The subject treated of in this chapter is, that the Lord alone knows the states of the life of all in general and of each in particular, and that no one [knows this] besides Him. This is representatively set forth by the book written, which no one could open, read, and look into, but the Lamb alone, that is, the Lord. The reason why no one knows this except the Lord alone, is, because He is God alone, and because He formed the angelic heaven to the image of Himself, and man to the image of heaven: therefore He knows all things of heaven in general, and He who knows all things of heaven in general, also knows everything in particular; for a man who is in truths from good, and an angel, is an image of heaven, for he is a form of it; hence it also follows, that no one knows the states of any one in particular but he who knows the general state of all, for the one depends inseparably upon the other. But these things cannot be described in a few words; therefore see what is shown in the work concerning Heaven and Hell, where they are more distinctly and clearly described, in the following articles: That the Divine of the Lord makes heaven (n. 7-12); That every angel is a heaven in the least form (n. 51-58); That the whole heaven in the aggregate has reference to one man (n. 59-67); Similarly each society there (n. 68-72); That hence every angel is in a perfect human form (n. 73-77); That heaven, which is from the Divine Human of the Lord, in the whole and in part, has reference to man (n. 78-86); That there is a correspondence of all things of heaven with all things of man (n. 87-102); Concerning the conjunction of heaven with mankind (n. 291-302).

[3] It must be noted that here and elsewhere in the Word a book is mentioned, but by this a scroll (volumen) is meant; for in ancient times they wrote upon parchments, which were rolled together, and the parchment was called a book, and a scroll of a book, as may be seen in the Word.

As in Ezekiel:

"I looked, when behold, a hand sent unto me; and lo, in it a scroll of a book written within and without" (2:9, 10).

And in David:

"Then said I, Lo, I come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me" (Psalms 40:7).

Wherefore also, it is said in Isaiah:

"All the host of the heavens shall waste away, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll" (34:4).

Also in the Apocalypse:

"The heaven departed, as a book when it is rolled together" (6:14).

From these considerations it can be known how the book, which John saw, was written within and on the back.