The Bible

 

Genesis 1:26

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26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #43

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43. Verse 22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas; and let birds be multiplied upon the earth.

Everything that has life in it from the Lord is fruitful and multiplies without limit. This does not happen during a person's lifetime, but in the next life it does so to an astonishing extent. In the Word 'to be fruitful' has reference to matters of love, while 'to multiply' has reference to matters of faith. The fruit of love contains the seed by which it multiplies itself to so great an extent. The Lord' s blessing also means, in the Word, fruitfulness and multiplication, for they are the outcome of that blessing.

Verse 23 And there was evening, and there was morning, a fifth day.

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #6231

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6231. 'And he said to me, Behold, I am making you fruitful and will cause you to be multiplied' means a bestowal of life through the good of charity and the truth of faith. This is clear from the meaning of 'being made fruitful' as that which has regard to the good of charity, and of 'being multiplied' as that which has regard to the truth of faith, dealt with in 43, 55, 913, 983, 2846, 2847. Since these are what bestow life on a person, the expression 'a bestowal of life through them' is used.

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