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 #56

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56. Verse 29 And God said, Behold, I give you every plant yielding seed which is upon the face 1 of the whole earth, and every tree in which there is fruit, the tree producing seed will be for you for food. A celestial man takes delight in none but celestial things, and because these suit his life they are called celestial food. A spiritual man takes delight in spiritual things, and because they suit his life they are called spiritual food. The same applies to a natural man and natural things, and because they suit his life they too are called food, and are chiefly facts. Here, since the subject is the spiritual man, his spiritual food is described by representatives, that is to say, spiritual food is represented by 'the plant yielding seed' and by 'the tree in which there is fruit', which in general are called 'the tree producing seed'. His natural food is described in the next verse.

Footnotes:

1. literally, the faces

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

Commentary

 

Third day

  

'The third day' as in Genesis 22:4, signifies something complete and a beginning of sanctification. 'Day,' in the Word, signifies a state, as do all references to time. When 'third' is added, it signifies the end of that state and the beginning of the following state. In the internal sense of the Word, 'three days' and 'the third day' signify the same thing. The Lord rose again on the third day, which is also why the Lord distinguished the stages of his life into three in Luke 8:32. The Lord also endured the last temptation on the cross, on 'the third hour of the day' in Mark 15:25. In Exodus 19:16, 'the third day' signifies the end of a state of preparation for reception, and so an end of purification. In Hosea 6:2, 8, 'the third day' has the same meaning as 'the seventh day,' which is a state of peace.

(References: Arcana Coelestia 8811; Luke 8; Mark 15)