The Bible

 

Genesis 2:4

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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,

Commentary

 

Beast

  
"Noah and His Ark" by Charles Willson Peale

In Genesis 1:24, beasts signify the things of man's will or loves. (Arcana Coelestia 44, 46)

In Genesis 9:10, beasts signify all that was living in the man of the Ancient Church, and also what belonged to his new will; likewise the lower things of his understanding and the will therefrom. (Arcana Coelestia 1026-1029)

In Psalm 104:20, beasts signify affections longing to be instructed, or spiritually nourished. (Apocalypse Explained 650[10])

In Luke 10:35, since the beast was a donkey, this signifies to instruct another according to his capability. (Apocalypse Explained 1154)

The beast of the south (Isaiah 30:6) signifies people who are principled in the knowledges of good and of truth, but do not apply them to life and instead to science.

Every beast and creeping thing (Genesis 8:19) signifies the goodnesses of the internal and external man.

"Beasts" represent the affection for doing good things, a true desire to do them from the heart. In the negative sense, "beasts" stand for the lust to do evil.

The beast ascending out of the sea (Revelation 13:1) signifies reasonings from the natural man confirming the separation of faith from life.

(References: Apocalypse Explained 13, 773; Revelation 13:11)


From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #148

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148. The reason man's proprium - a proprium indeed that he cherishes - is called a rib, which is a breast bone, is that among the most ancient people the breast meant charity, for it has the heart and lungs within it, and bones meant those things that were less valuable because they contain only a very small amount of life. 'Flesh' however meant that which did possess some life. The reason why they had this meaning is a very deep arcanum known to the most ancient people, which will in the Lord's Divine mercy be dealt with later on.

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