The Bible

 

Genesis 7

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1 And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.

2 Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.

3 Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth.

4 For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.

5 And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him.

6 And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.

7 And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.

8 Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,

9 There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.

10 And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.

11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.

12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.

13 In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;

14 They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort.

15 And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life.

16 And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.

17 And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth.

18 And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters.

19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.

20 Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.

21 And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man:

22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.

23 And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.

24 And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Secrets of Heaven #701

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701. Genesis 7

1. And Jehovah said to Noah, "Enter the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen you before me as a just person in this generation.

2. Of every clean animal you are to take yourself seven each, seven each, a man and his wife; and of the animal that is not clean, two each, a man and his wife; 1

3. and of the bird of the heavens seven each, seven each, a male and a female, to keep their seed alive on the face of the whole earth.

4. Because in seven more days I will be making rain fall on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will obliterate all substance 2 that I have made from the face of the ground."

5. And Noah did everything that Jehovah had commanded him.

6. And Noah was a son of six hundred years when the flood of water took place on the earth. 3

7. And Noah entered the ark, as did his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him, because of the waters of the flood.

8. Of the clean animal and of the animal that is not clean and of the bird and of everything that creeps on the ground,

9. two each, two each entered to Noah in the ark, a male and a female, as God had commanded Noah.

10. And it happened in seven days that the waters of the flood came on the earth.

11. In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the springs of the great abyss burst and heaven's floodgates opened.

12. And there was a downpour on the earth for forty days and forty nights.

13. On that very day Noah entered the ark, as did Shem and Ham and Japheth, Noah's sons, and Noah's wife and his sons' three wives with them,

14. they, and every kind of wild animal, and every kind of beast, and every kind of creeping thing creeping on the earth, and every kind of bird, every flying thing, every winged creature.

15. And they entered to Noah in the ark, two each, two each of all flesh that had the breath of life in it.

16. And those entering — a male and a female of all flesh — entered as God had commanded him. And Jehovah closed it behind him.

17. And the flood was forty days on the earth, and the waters grew and lifted the ark and it rose off the earth.

18. And the water strengthened and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark went on the face of the water.

19. And the water strengthened greatly, greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains that were under the whole heaven were covered.

20. Fifteen cubits upward the water towered, and it covered the mountains.

21. And all flesh creeping on the earth passed away — including the bird and the beast and the wild animal and every crawling thing crawling on the earth — and every human.

22. Everything that had the breath of living spirit in its nostrils, of all that was on dry land, died.

23. And all substance that was on the face of the ground was obliterated, from human to animal to creeping thing to the bird of the heavens, and they were obliterated from the earth. And Noah alone was left, and what was with him in the ark.

24. And the water strengthened on the earth for one hundred fifty days.

701. Summary

THE general topic here is the preparation of the new church. As it had to be prepared in respect to intellectual things earlier, so here it has to be prepared in respect to the things of the will (verses 1-5).

Footnotes:

1. (in the text of Genesis 7:2). The phrase "a man and his wife," which occurs twice in this verse, refers to the animals; it is a literal rendering of the Latin virum et uxorem ejus, which is in turn a literal rendering of the original Hebrew אִישׁ‭ ‬וְאִשְׁתּוֹ ('îš vǝ'ištô). The phrase is elsewhere translated "the male and his female" (in the King James Version) or "the male and its mate" (in the New Revised Standard Version). [RS]

2. (in the text of Genesis 7:4). The Hebrew word for "substance," יְקוּם (yǝqûm), can mean "living things" or possessions in general, as in Deuteronomy 11:6 (Brown, Driver, and Briggs 1996, under יְקוּם). [RS]

3. (in the text of Genesis 7:6). On the Hebraism "a son of (so many) years," see note 2 in §459. [LHC]

  
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Many thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation and its New Century Edition team.