Arcana Coelestia #131
131. Genesis 2:18-25
18. And Jehovah God said, It is not good that the man 1 should be alone. I will make for him a help suitable for him.
19. And Jehovah God formed out of the ground every beast of the field, and every bird of the air, 2 and He brought it to the man to see what he would call it; and whatever the man called it, the living creature, 3 that was its name.
20. And the man gave names to every beast, and to the birds of the air, 2 and to every wild animal of the field; but for man there was not found a help suitable for him.
21. And Jehovah God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he fell asleep; and He took one of his ribs, and He closed up the flesh in its place.
22. And Jehovah God built the rib which He took from the man into a woman, and brought her to the man.
23. And the man said, By this change, it is bone from my bones and flesh from my flesh; for this she will be called Wife, because she was taken out of man (vir).
24. Therefore a man (vir) will leave his father and his mother and will cling to his wife, and they will be one flesh.
25. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and they were not ashamed.
CONTENTS
The subject is the descendants of the Most Ancient Church, who set their heart on the proprium.
Footnotes:
1. Unless otherwise indicated man in these verses 18-25 represents the Latin homo.
2. literally, bird of the heavens (or the skies)
3. literally, the living soul
Land
'Land' in the Word, denotes the church, for the things which signify the church also signify the things relating to the church, for these constitute the church. The reason why 'land' denotes the church in the Word is because the land of Canaan was the land in which the church had been since the most ancient times. Hence, when 'land' is named in the Word, it means the land of Canaan, which then means the church. For when the expression 'the land' appears there, people in the spiritual world do not concern themselves with the idea of a land, only with the idea of the nation inhabiting it. And yet not with an idea of that nation but with an idea of the essential nature of it.
'Land' or 'earth,' as in Genesis 20:15, signifies the doctrine of love and charity.
'Land' signifies the celestial principle of love in Genesis 24:4.
In Genesis 26:12, 'land' signifies rational things.
In Genesis 28:13, this signifies the good of the natural.
The 'land' represents the divine of the rational principle in Genesis 30:25.
(References: Arcana Coelestia 5577)
