The Bible

 

Genesis 1:4

Study

       

4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #893

Study this Passage

  
/ 10837  
  

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.

  
/ 10837  
  

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

Commentary

 

#146 Original Sin Is That the Same Thing as Unoriginal Sin?

By Jonathan S. Rose

Title: Original Sin

Topic: First Coming

Summary: We explore the common idea of original sin. Who or what was Adam? Was he one person or many? And what gets passed on from our parents and how do we deal with it?

Use the reference links below to follow along in the Bible as you watch.

References:
Genesis 1:26; 2:7; 3:1, 12; 4:14; 5:1-2
Psalms 51:4-5, 7, 10, 17
Hebrews 4:15
Romans 5:12-17
1 Corinthians 15:21, 27, 45
Deuteronomy 24:16
Exodus 20:5

Play Video
Spirit and Life Bible Study broadcast from 7/17/2013. The complete series is available at: www.spiritandlifebiblestudy.com