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 #7828
7828. 'The first shall it be for you in the months of the year' means the starting point of all states following for evermore. This is clear from the meaning of 'being the first', when used in reference to months of the year and in the internal sense to states of life, as the starting point; from the meaning of 'the months' as states, dealt with immediately above in 7827; and from the meaning of 'the year' as the period of life from start to finish, dealt with in 2906. Here, since it is speaking about members of the spiritual Church in the next life, whose period of life has a starting point but no finish, 'the year' means the period of life from the start and continuing for evermore (as 'year' can also mean, see end of 2906). The reason why this month became 'the head of months' and the first of all is that it means the starting point in the deliverance of those belonging to the spiritual Church who till then were in a state of captivity, since they were held back on the lower earth, where they were molested by the evil ones represented by Pharaoh and the Egyptians. The reason why their first state when they were delivered is the chief one of all and why it is the starting point of all following for evermore is that those who were there were delivered by the Lord's Coming into the world. They could not possibly have been saved without the Lord's Coming into the world; and their deliverance took place when the Lord rose again. From this it is evident that that state - when they were delivered - was for them the chief of all states. It was to be the same after that for all who belonged to the spiritual Church. They too could not have been saved unless the Lord had come into the world and glorified His Human, that is, made it Divine. With regard to those who belonged to the spiritual Church before the Lord's Coming, that they were held back on the lower earth, and that the Lord delivered and saved them, see 6854, 6914; and in general, that members of the spiritual Church were saved by the Lord's Coming, 2661, 1716, 6372, 7035, 7091 (end). So it is that the words under consideration here mean in the highest sense that the glorification and resurrection of the Lord, of His Human, are the source of all salvation.
