Arcana Coelestia #42
42. Verse 21 And God created the great sea monsters, and every living creature that creeps, which the waters produced abundantly according to their kinds; and all winged birds according to their kinds; and God saw that it was good.
As has been stated, 'fish' means facts, here facts quickened and brought to life through faith from the Lord. 'Sea monsters' means those facts' general sources, below which and from which details derive. Nothing whatever exists in the universe that does not depend on some general source for its commencement and continuance. In the Prophets sea monsters or whales are mentioned several times, and in those places they mean those general sources of facts. Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, who represents human wisdom or intelligence - that is, knowledge in general - is called 'a great sea monster', as in Ezekiel,
Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster lying in the midst of his 1 rivers, who has said, It is my river and I have made myself. Ezekiel 29:3.
[2] And elsewhere in Ezekiel,
Raise a lamentation over Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and say to him, You are like a monster in the seas, and you have come forth in your rivers, and have troubled the waters with your feet. Ezekiel 32:2
These words mean people who wish to penetrate the mysteries that are part of faith by means of facts, and so from themselves. In Isaiah,
On that day Jehovah will make a visitation with His hard and great and strong sword upon Leviathan the full-length serpent, 2 and upon Leviathan the twisting serpent, and He will slay the monsters that are in the sea. Isaiah 27:1.
'Slaying the monsters in the sea' means preventing people's knowing facts even in their general aspects. In Jeremiah,
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babel has devoured me, he has troubled me, he has made me an empty vessel, he has swallowed me up like a sea monster, he has filled his belly with my delicacies, he has cast me out. Jeremiah 51:34.
This stands for the fact that mankind did swallow cognitions of faith, which are 'the delicacies' here, just as the sea monster swallowed up Jonah. In that story the sea monster stands for people who treat general cognitions of faith as mere facts, and behave accordingly.
Footnotes:
1. The Latin means your; but the Hebrew means his which Swedenborg has in other places where he quotes this verse.
2. i.e. a serpent that is on the move and not coiled up
Leviticus 19
1
Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
2
"Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and tell them, 'You shall be holy; for I Yahweh your God am holy.
3
"'Each one of you shall respect his mother and his father. You shall keep my Sabbaths. I am Yahweh your God.
4
"'Don't turn to idols, nor make molten gods for yourselves. I am Yahweh your God.
5
"'When you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted.
6
It shall be eaten the same day you offer it, and on the next day: and if anything remains until the third day, it shall be burned with fire.
7
If it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an abomination. It will not be accepted;
8
but everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has profaned the holy thing of Yahweh, and that soul shall be cut off from his people.
9
"'When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest.
10
You shall not glean your vineyard, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and for the foreigner. I am Yahweh your God.
11
"'You shall not steal. "'You shall not lie. "'You shall not deceive one another.
12
"'You shall not swear by my name falsely, and profane the name of your God. I am Yahweh.
13
"'You shall not oppress your neighbor, nor rob him. "'The wages of a hired servant shall not remain with you all night until the morning.
14
"'You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind; but you shall fear your God. I am Yahweh.
15
"'You shall do no injustice in judgment: you shall not be partial to the poor, nor show favoritism to the great; but you shall judge your neighbor in righteousness.
16
"'You shall not go up and down as a slanderer among your people. "'You shall not endanger the life of your neighbor. I am Yahweh.
17
"'You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him.
18
"'You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people; but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am Yahweh.
19
"'You shall keep my statutes. "'You shall not crossbreed different kinds of animals. "'you shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed; "'neither shall there come upon on you a garment made of two kinds of material.
20
"'If a man lies carnally with a woman who is a slave girl, pledged to be married to another man, and not ransomed, or given her freedom; they shall be punished. They shall not be put to death, because she was not free.
21
He shall bring his trespass offering to Yahweh, to the door of the Tent of Meeting, even a ram for a trespass offering.
22
The priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering before Yahweh for his sin which he has committed: and the sin which he has committed shall be forgiven him.
23
"'When you come into the land, and have planted all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as forbidden. Three years shall they be forbidden to you. It shall not be eaten.
24
But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, for giving praise to Yahweh.
25
In the fifth year you shall eat its fruit, that it may yield its increase to you. I am Yahweh your God.
26
"'You shall not eat any meat with the blood still in it; neither shall you use enchantments, nor practice sorcery.
27
"'You shall not cut the hair on the sides of your heads, neither shall you clip off the edge of your beard.
28
"'You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you. I am Yahweh.
29
"'Don't profane your daughter, to make her a prostitute; lest the land fall to prostitution, and the land become full of wickedness.
30
"'You shall keep my Sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary; I am Yahweh.
31
"'Don't turn to those who are mediums, nor to the wizards. Don't seek them out, to be defiled by them. I am Yahweh your God.
32
"'You shall rise up before the gray head, and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God. I am Yahweh.
33
"'If a stranger lives as a foreigner with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong.
34
The stranger who lives as a foreigner with you shall be to you as the native-born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you lived as foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.
35
"'You shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in measures of length, of weight, or of quantity.
36
You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin. I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
37
"'You shall observe all my statutes, and all my ordinances, and do them. I am Yahweh.'"
