The Bible

 

Genesis 1:30

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30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

Commentary

 

Whale

  

'A whale,' as in Jeremiah 51:34, signifies people who possess the universal aspects of the knowledges of faith, as known, and apply them to evil purposes. 'Whales,' or 'great fishes,' are sometimes mentioned in the prophets, and are used to signify the universal aspects of knowledges

(References: Arcana Coelestia 42)


From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #9601

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9601. 'And the breadth four cubits' means the marriage of truth to good. This is clear from the meaning of 'the breadth' as truth, dealt with in 1613, 3433, 3434, 4482, 9487; and from the meaning of 'four' as a joining together, dealt with in 1686, 8877, and so a marriage since truth and good joined together is called the heavenly marriage, 2173, 2618, 2728, 2729, 2803. 'Four' means a joining together or a marriage because this number is the product of two multiplied by itself, and 'two' means a joining together, 5194, 8423, multiple numbers being similar in meaning to the simple ones that are their factors, as stated immediately above in 9600. All numbers in the Word mean spiritual realities, see the places referred to in 9488.

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