The Bible

 

Genesis 1:15

Study

       

15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

Commentary

 

Whale

  

'A whale,' as in Jeremiah 51:34, signifies people who possess the universal aspects of the knowledges of faith, as known, and apply them to evil purposes. 'Whales,' or 'great fishes,' are sometimes mentioned in the prophets, and are used to signify the universal aspects of knowledges

(References: Arcana Coelestia 42)


Commentary

 

Waters

  

'Waters' particularly signify the spiritual parts of a person, or the intellectual aspects of faith, and also their opposites.

'The waters above the firmament,' as in Genesis 1:7, signify the knowledges in the internal self, and 'the waters beneath the firmament' signify the knowledges of the external self.

'Waters,' as in Ezekiel 47:9, refer to the New Jerusalem, and they signify spiritual things from a celestial origin.

'Many waters,' as in Revelation 17:1, signify truths of the Word adulterated. 'Waters' or 'rivers' signify spiritual, rational, or scientific things pertaining to truth.

'Waters … that go softly,' as in Isaiah 8:6-7, signify spiritual things, and 'waters … strong and many,' signify falsities.

'Waters,' as in Psalms 104:3, signify divine truths.

'Waters' signify truths in the natural self, and in the opposite sense, falsities.

'The waters were dried up from off the earth,' as in Genesis 8:7, signifies the apparent dissipation of falsities.

(References: Apocalypse Explained 17; Apocalypse Revealed 50; Genesis 8)