The Bible

 

Genesis 1:11

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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.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #40

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40. 'Creeping things which the waters bring forth' means facts which belong to the external man, while 'birds' generally means rational concepts and also intellectual concepts, of which the latter belong to the internal man. That creeping things from the waters, or fish, mean facts is clear in Isaiah,

I came, and there was no man. By My rebuke I will dry up the sea, I will make the rivers a desert. Their fish will stink because there is no water and will die of thirst. I will clothe the heavens with darkness. Isaiah 50:2-3.

[2] This is plainer still in Ezekiel where the Lord describes the new temple, or new Church in general, and the member of the Church, or person who has been regenerated, for every regenerate person is a temple of the Lord,

The Lord Jehovih 1 said to me, Those waters which will go out to the boundary eastwards will come towards the sea, having been directed into the sea, and the waters will be fresh. And it will be that every living creature which swarms will live, wherever the water of the rivers reaches, and there will be very many fish, for these waters are going there and will become fresh; and everything will live where the river goes. And it will be that fishermen from En-gedi to En-eglaim will stand beside it, with nets spread out. Its fish according to their kinds will be very many, like the fish of the great sea. Ezekiel 47:8-10.

'Fishermen from En-gedi to En-eglaim with their nets stretched out' means people who are to teach the natural man about the truths of faith.

[3] In the Prophets 'birds' invariably means rational concepts and intellectual concepts, as in Isaiah,

Calling a bird of prey from the east, a man of My counsel from a distant land. Isaiah 46:11.

In Jeremiah,

I looked, and behold there was no man, and all the birds of the air 2 had fled. Jeremiah 4:25.

In Ezekiel,

I will plant the sprig of a lofty cedar, and it will bring forth a branch, and bear fruit, and it will become a noble cedar, and under it will dwell every bird of every sort, 3 in the shade of its branches they will dwell. Ezekiel 17:23.

And in Hosea, when the subject is a new Church, or regenerate person,

And I will make for them a covenant on that day, with the wild animals of the field, and with the birds of the air, 2 and with things moving on the ground. Hosea 2:18.

Anyone may see that because the Lord 'is making a new covenant' with them, 'wild animal' is not used to mean a wild animal, nor 'bird' to mean a bird.

Footnotes:

1. The Latin has Jehovah; for the form Jehovih see 1793

2. literally, bird of the heavens (or the skies)

3. literally, of every wing

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #6065

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6065. 'Their flocks and their herds' means forms of the good of truth, interior and exterior ones. This is clear from the meaning of 'flocks' as interior forms of good, and of 'herds' as exterior forms of good, both dealt with in 5913, 6048. The reason forms of the good of truth are what is meant is that spiritual good, which is represented by 'Israel', is the good of truth, 4598. Forms of good as they exist in heaven or with man have two different origins; that is to say, they originate in the will or in the understanding. Good that originated in the will existed among the most ancient people who belonged to the celestial Church, whereas good that originated in the understanding existed among the ancients who belonged to the spiritual Church. The first kind of good exists with those in the inmost or third heaven, the second kind with those in the middle or second heaven. What the difference is between them, and the nature of that difference, has been stated many times in explanations. Good that has its origin in the will is good from which truth is derived, whereas good that has its origin in the understanding is good which is a product of truth, that is, it is the good of truth. Essentially this good is nothing else than truth put into practice.

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