The Bible

 

Genesis 1:22

Study

       

22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #500

Study this Passage

  
/ 10837  
  

500. Verse 9 And Enosh lived ninety years; and he beget Kenan.

As has been stated, 'Enosh' means a third Church, even less celestial than the Church of Seth, but nevertheless one of the Most Ancient Churches. 'Kenan' means a fourth Church which came after the previous ones.

  
/ 10837  
  

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

Commentary

 

The Lord

  
The Ascension, by Benjamin West

The Bible refers to the Lord in many different ways seemingly interchangeably. Understood in the internal sense, though, there are important differences. To some degree, the meanings all start with "Jehovah," which is the Lord's actual name. It represents the perfect, eternal, infinite love which is the Lord's actual essence. As such it also represents the good will that flows from the Lord to us and His desire for us to be good. "God," meanwhile, represents the wisdom of the Lord and the true knowledge and understanding He offers to us. The term "the Lord" is very close in meaning to "Jehovah," and in many cases is interchangeable (indeed, translators have a tendency to go back and forth). When the two are used together, though, "the Lord" refers to the power of the Lord's goodness, the force it brings, whereas "Jehovah" represents the goodness itself. In the New Testament, the name "Jehovah" is never used; the term "the Lord" replaces it completely. There are two reasons for that. First, the Jews of the day considered the name "Jehovah" too holy to speak or write. Second, they would not have been able to grasp the idea that the Lord -- who was among them in human form at the time -- was in fact Jehovah Himself. This does ultimately lead to a difference in the two terms by the end of the Bible. Thought of as "Jehovah," the Lord is the ultimate human form and has the potential for assuming a physical human body; thought of as "the Lord" He actually has that human body, rendered divine by the events of his physical life.