The Bible

 

Genesis 1:17

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17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #28

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28. Verse 10 And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas; and God saw that it was good.

It is very common in the Word for 'waters' to mean cognitions and facts, and consequently for 'seas' to mean a gathering together of them, as in Isaiah,

The earth will be full of the knowledge of Jehovah as the waters covering the sea. Isaiah 11:9.

And in the same prophet, with reference to a lack of cognitions and facts,

The waters will dry up from the sea, the river will be parched and dry, and the streams will diminish. Isaiah 19:5-6.

In Haggai, with reference to a new Church,

I will shake the heavens and the earth, and the sea and the dry land; and I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory. Haggai 2:6-7.

And with reference to someone who is to be regenerated, in Zechariah,

There will be one day - it is known to Jehovah - not day and not night, for at evening time there will be light; and on that day living waters will flow out from Jerusalem, part of them to the eastern sea, and part of them to the western sea. Zechariah 14:7-8.

In David where the person is described who, having been vastated, is to be regenerated, and to worship the Lord, Jehovah does not despise His bound ones. Heaven and earth will praise Him, the seas and everything that creeps in them! Psalms 69:33-34.

That 'the earth' means that which receives is seen in Zechariah,

Jehovah is He who stretches out the heavens, and founds the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him. Zechariah 12:1.

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #909

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909. 'Birds' means things of his understanding and 'beasts' those of his will, [both of] which belong to the internal man; and 'every creeping thing that creeps over the earth' means corresponding things of a like nature residing with his external man. This becomes clear from the meaning of 'a bird', dealt with already in 40, 776, and of 'a beast' in 45, 46, 142, 143, 246. That 'creeping thing that creeps over the earth' means corresponding things residing with the external man is clear from this. Indeed 'creeping thing that creeps' here stands in relation both to 'birds', or things of the understanding, and to 'beasts', or those of the will. The most ancient people used to call the sensory powers and the appetites of the body 'creeping things that creep' because they are indeed just like reptiles that creep along the ground. They also likened the human body to the earth or to the ground. Indeed they actually called it the earth or the ground, as in the present verse where nothing other than the external man is meant by 'the earth'.

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