Arcana Coelestia #893
893. Verse 13 And it happened in the six hundred and first year, at the beginning, on the first of the month, that the waters dried up from over the earth, and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and saw out, and behold, the face 1 of the ground was dry.
'It happened in the six hundred and first year' means a finishing point. 'At the beginning, on the first of the month' means a starting point. 'The waters dried up from over the earth' means that falsities were not at that time apparent. 'And Noah removed the covering of the ark, and saw out' means the light, once falsities had been removed, shed by the truths of faith, which he acknowledged and in which he had faith. 'And behold, the face 1 of the ground was dry' means regeneration.
Footnotes:
1. literally, the faces
[893a] 1
That 'it happened in the six hundred and first year means a finishing point is clear from the meaning of the number six hundred, dealt with at Chapter 7:6, in 737, as a beginning, and in particular in that verse as the beginning of temptation. The end of it is specified by the same number, with a whole year having now passed by. It took place therefore at the end of a year, and this also is why the words are added 'at the beginning, on the first of the month', meaning a starting point. In the Word any complete period is specified either by a day, or a week, or a month, or a year, and even by a hundred or a thousand years - for example, 'the days' mentioned in Genesis 1, which meant stages in the regeneration of the member of the Most Ancient Church. For in the internal sense day and year mean nothing else than a period of time; and meaning a period of time they also mean a state. Consequently a year stands in the Word for a period of time and for a state, as in Isaiah,
To proclaim the year of Jehovah's good pleasure, and the day of vengeance for our God; to comfort all who mourn. Isaiah 61:2.
This refers to the Lord's Coming. In the same prophet,
The day of vengeance was in My heart, and the year of My redeemed had come. Isaiah 63:4.
Here too 'day' and 'year' stand for a period of time and for a state. In Habakkuk,
Your work, O Jehovah, in the midst of the years make it live, in the midst of the years do You make it known. Habakkuk 3:2.
Here 'years' stands for a period of time and for a state. In David,
'You are God Himself, and Your years have no end. Psalms 102:27.
This statement, in which 'years' stands for periods of time, means that time does not exist with God. The same applies in the present verse where 'the year' of the flood in no way means any one particular year but a period of time that is not determined by a specific number of years. At the same time it means a state. See what has been said already about 'years' in 482, 487, 488, 493.
1. This paragraph is not numbered in the Latin.
Arcana Coelestia #3286
3286. 'On behalf of his wife because she was barren' means that the Divine Natural did not as yet exist. This is clear from the meaning of 'a wife' as Divine Truth joined to the Divine Good of the Rational, which Truth, as shown in the previous chapter, is represented by 'Rebekah'; and from the meaning of 'barren' as the non-existence as yet of the Divine Natural. For the truth of the matter is that the Divine Natural came into being from the Divine Good of the Rational as the father and from Divine Truth there as the mother. While the Divine Natural does not as yet exist the Truth of the Rational is called 'barren', here 'a barren wife'.
[2] In man's case the situation is that while he is being regenerated the Lord instills good, that is, goodwill to the neighbour, into his rational. This goodwill or good has truth from the natural man allied to it. Once this is completed his natural has still to be regenerated, as anyone may recognize from the fact that the internal or rational man often conflicts with the external or natural; and as long as conflict exists the natural is not regenerate. And while the natural remains unregenerate the rational as regards truth is barren. As is the case in general so it is similarly in every particular instance in which the rational does not agree with the natural; in every such instance the rational as regards truth is called barren.
[3] The work of regeneration revolves for the most part around making the natural man correspond to the rational man, not only in general but also in particular. And the natural man is brought into such correspondence by the Lord by means of the rational. That is to say, good is instilled into the rational, and within this good as the soil truths are planted, after which by means of rational truths the natural is brought into obedience. When it is obedient it in that case corresponds; and to the extent it corresponds a person has been regenerated.
