The Bible

 

Genesis 2

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1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.

2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.

3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,

5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.

6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.

7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

8 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

10 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.

11 The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;

12 And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.

13 And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.

14 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.

15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.

21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;

22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Marriage #20

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20. (7) Heavenly joy is founded upon conjugial love.

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #1458

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1458. 'Towards the south' means into goods and truths, thus into a state that is bright as regards interior things. This is clear from the meaning of 'the south'. That 'the south' means a state that is bright arises from the fact that the four quarters, as with periods of time, do not actually exist in the next life, only the states meant by the four quarters and periods of time. The successive states of ideas in the understanding are like the states that belong to the times of the day and to the seasons of the year, and also to those of the four quarters. The successive states of a day are evening, night, morning, and midday; the states of the year are autumn, winter, spring, and summer; and the states of the four quarters are those of the sun in relation to west, north, east, and south. Similar to these are the successive states of ideas in the understanding. And what is remarkable, in heaven those whose state is one of wisdom and intelligence are in light. The intensity of that light is in exact proportion to their state, with those in the greatest light whose state is one of highest wisdom and intelligence; but the wisdom there is that which goes with love and charity, and the intelligence that which goes with faith in the Lord. That there is light in the next life to which the light of the world scarcely stands comparison is to me evident from much experience, and this will in the Lord's Divine mercy be presented later on. And because there exists in heaven such a correspondence between light and things of the understanding, nothing else is meant in the internal sense here and elsewhere in the Word by 'the south'. Here 'the south' means intelligence acquired through cognitions. Cognitions are celestial and spiritual truths, which are just so many radiations of light in heaven and which present themselves visibly by means of the light, as has been stated. Because the Lord was now to be endowed with cognitions so that He might become the Light itself of heaven as regards His Human Essence as well, it is here said that 'he travelled, going on and travelling, towards the south'.

[2] That 'the south' means those things becomes clear from similar examples in the Word, as in Isaiah,

I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Do not withhold. Bring My sons from afar and My daughters from the end of the earth. Isaiah 43:6.

'The north' stands for those without knowledge, 'the south' for those who possess cognitions, 'sons' stands for truths, and 'daughters' for goods. In the same prophet,

If you bring food out of store for the hungry 1 and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your thick darkness will be as the noonday. 2 Isaiah 58:10.

'Bringing food out of store for the hungry and satisfying the afflicted soul' stands for good deeds of charity in general. 'Your light will rise in the darkness' stands for the fact that truth has made them intelligent, and 'your thick darkness will be as the noonday' 2 that good has made them wise. 'The south' means good by virtue of its warmth, and truth by virtue of its light.

[3] In Ezekiel,

In the visions of God He brought me into the land of Israel and set me down on a very high mountain, on which there was so to speak the structure of a city on the south. Ezekiel 40:2.

This refers to the new Jerusalem or the Lord's kingdom, which because it is bathed in the light of wisdom and intelligence is 'on the south'. In David,

Jehovah will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your judgement as the noonday. 2 Psalms 37:6.

In the same author,

You will not be afraid of the terror of the night, of the arrow that flies by day, of the pestilence that walks in thick darkness, of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. 2 Psalms 91:5-6

'Not being afraid of the destruction that lays waste at noonday' 2 stands for not fearing the condemnation which comes upon those who possess cognitions but pervert them. In Ezekiel,

Son of man, set your face 3 towards the south and drop [your words] to the south and prophesy towards the forest of the field in the south; and you shall say to the forest of the south, All faces in it from south to north will be scorched in it. Ezekiel 20:46-47

'The forest of the south' stands for those who possess the light of truths but extinguish it, and so stands for those within the Church who are such as these.

[4] In Daniel,

Out of one of them there came forth a little horn, and it grew much towards the south, and towards the east, and towards the glorious [land]. And it grew even towards the host of heaven. Daniel 8:9-10.

This stands for people who assail goods and truths. In Jeremiah,

Give glory to Jehovah your God before He causes darkness and before your feet stumble on the twilight mountains, and you look for light and He turns it into the shadow of death and places it in thick darkness. The cities of the south will be shut up, with none opening them. Jeremiah 13:16, 19.

'Cities of the south' stands for cognitions of truth and good. In Obadiah,

Those carried away from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad will inherit the cities of the south. Obad. verse 20.

Here similarly 'the cities of the south' stands for truths and goods, and so for the truths and goods themselves to which they are heirs. The subject here is the Lord's kingdom.

[5] As regards 'Abram travelled, going on and travelling, towards the south' meaning, as has been stated, the Lord's advance into goods and truths, thus into a state that is bright as regards interiors, cognitions are what open up the path to seeing celestial and spiritual things. By means of cognitions a path is opened up from the internal man to the external man in which recipient vessels reside, as many as there are cognitions of good and truth. It is into the latter as their own particular vessels that celestial things flow.

Footnotes:

1. literally, bring out for the hungry your soul

2. literally, the south

3. literally, faces

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