The Bible

 

Matthew 7:10

Study

       

10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?

Commentary

 

Build

  
Cardinal Cisneros directs the construction of the Hospital of the Charity, by Alejandro Ferrant

There are really two meanings for "build" in the Bible. When something is being built for the first time, or built in the most typical sense, it means collecting relatively external ideas to build up a doctrinal system. In other cases, though, "build" is used in reference to something that has been destroyed. In such cases, "build" refers to removing our desires for evil so we can began a new stage of spiritual growth. In these cases "build" is often used together with "raise up," which means removing false ways of thinking in the same process.

(References: Arcana Coelestia 153, 1488, 4390)

Commentary

 

Man (male)

  
by Claude Lefebvre

The relationship between men and women is deep and nuanced, and one entire book of the Writings -- Conjugial Love -- is devoted to the subject. So we can hardly offer a full explanation here. In a very general sense, though, the Writings say that men are creatures of intellect, driven by the love of growing wise; women, meanwhile are creations of affection, driven by the love of wisdom and the good that wisdom can do. They are formed this way to reflect the Lord's Divine Love and Divine Wisdom, and so that they can form marriages that reflect the unity of Divine Love and Divine Wisdom. Marking differences between men and women can be a touchy thing, but realistically it's easy to see that men tend to love acquiring knowledge whether it has any practical application or not. Many of them can spout out sports statistics or hold court on the workings of the internal combustion engine, even though it is knowledge they are not likely to ever use. They find such knowledge interesting for its own sake. It follows, then, that when the Bible speaks of men, the men represent facts, ideas, knowledge, truth, intellect and wisdom -- or in the negative sense falsity, twisted logic, and reasoning that is devoid of concern for others.