The Bible

 

Genesis 3

Study

   

1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

20 And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.

21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #206

Study this Passage

  
/ 10837  
  

206. Who are more convinced that they have had their eyes opened and that like God they know what good and evil are than people who love themselves and who at the same time possess worldly learning? Yet is anyone more blind than they are? Merely question them and it will be seen that they do not even know about, let alone believe in, the existence of the spirit. What spiritual and celestial life are, they do not know at all. Nor do they acknowledge the reality of eternal life, for they believe that when they die they will, like animals, cease to exist. The Lord they do not acknowledge at all; they worship themselves and nature solely. Those who wish to be more guarded in what they say speak of a Supreme Being ruling over everything, but do not know what that Being is.

[2] These are their basic assumptions which they confirm in a multitude of ways by means of sensory evidence and of facts which they have at their command. If they dared, they would even do it for all the world to see. Although such people wish to be acknowledged as gods, that is, as sages, they would reply, if asked whether they knew what having no proprium was, that it was having no being, and if deprived of proprium that they would be nothing. If asked what living from the Lord was, they would consider it to be a set of delusions. If questioned whether they knew what conscience was, they would say it is purely a figment of the imagination which can be of service in keeping the common people under control. If questioned whether they knew what perception was, they would do no more than laugh and call it some kind of emotionalism. This is the kind of wisdom they possess; these are the kind of opened eyes they have; and these are the kind of gods they are. Starting from assumptions such as these, which they imagine to be clear as daylight, they go further and in this way reason about mysteries of faith. And what can the outcome be but abysmal thick darkness? More than anybody else these are serpents who mislead the world. But this was not yet the nature of these descendants of the Most Ancient Church. Verses 14-19 of this chapter deal with them when they had reached that point.

  
/ 10837  
  

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