The Bible

 

Genesis 1:11

Study

       

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.

Commentary

 

Land

  

'Land' in the Word, denotes the church, for the things which signify the church also signify the things relating to the church, for these constitute the church. The reason why 'land' denotes the church in the Word is because the land of Canaan was the land in which the church had been since the most ancient times. Hence, when 'land' is named in the Word, it means the land of Canaan, which then means the church. For when the expression 'the land' appears there, people in the spiritual world do not concern themselves with the idea of a land, only with the idea of the nation inhabiting it. And yet not with an idea of that nation but with an idea of the essential nature of it.

'Land' or 'earth,' as in Genesis 20:15, signifies the doctrine of love and charity.

'Land' signifies the celestial principle of love in Genesis 24:4.

In Genesis 26:12, 'land' signifies rational things.

In Genesis 28:13, this signifies the good of the natural.

The 'land' represents the divine of the rational principle in Genesis 30:25.

(References: Arcana Coelestia 5577)


Commentary

 

Air

  
A bubble of air and a look of wonder.

Air" in the Bible represents thought, but in a very general way – our capacity to perceive ideas and the way we tend to think, rather than our specific ideas about specific things. We see the world around us through the air, and seeing corresponds to understanding. We hear through the air, and hearing corresponds to being taught and obeying. Birds fly in the air, and they represent specific thoughts and ideas. And breathing itself – taking in air and passing oxygen to the blood – represents our understanding of true spiritual ideas.

In Genesis 1:26, when used with fowls or birds of the air refers to the air we breathe, but sky, or heavens where are stars, and together these terms refer to both the spiritual and natural man, and to their food, or goods and truths. (Arcana Coelestia 57, 58)

In Genesis 3:8, the only Old Testament reference to air is in the phrase "cool of the day" (at the time of the evening breeze) which signifies the period when the church still had some spiritual perception. (Arcana Coelestia 221)

In Revelation 9:2; 16:17, air signifies the divine truth, darkened by infernal falsities. (Apocalypse Explained 541, Apocalypse Revealed 423)

In Revelation 16:17, everyone in the spiritual world breathes air according to his faith. (Apocalypse Revealed 708, Apocalypse Explained 1012, Apocalypse Revealed 708)