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Genesis 3

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1 ὁ δὲ ὄφις ἦν φρονιμώτατος πάντων τῶν θηρίων τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ὧν ἐποίησεν κύριος ὁ θεός καὶ εἶπεν ὁ ὄφις τῇ γυναικί τί ὅτι εἶπεν ὁ θεός οὐ μὴ φάγητε ἀπὸ παντὸς ξύλου τοῦ ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ

2 καὶ εἶπεν ἡ γυνὴ τῷ ὄφει ἀπὸ καρποῦ ξύλου τοῦ παραδείσου φαγόμεθα

3 ἀπὸ δὲ καρποῦ τοῦ ξύλου ὅ ἐστιν ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ παραδείσου εἶπεν ὁ θεός οὐ φάγεσθε ἀπ' αὐτοῦ οὐδὲ μὴ ἅψησθε αὐτοῦ ἵνα μὴ ἀποθάνητε

4 καὶ εἶπεν ὁ ὄφις τῇ γυναικί οὐ θανάτῳ ἀποθανεῖσθε

5 ᾔδει γὰρ ὁ θεὸς ὅτι ἐν ᾗ ἂν ἡμέρᾳ φάγητε ἀπ' αὐτοῦ διανοιχθήσονται ὑμῶν οἱ ὀφθαλμοί καὶ ἔσεσθε ὡς θεοὶ γινώσκοντες καλὸν καὶ πονηρόν

6 καὶ εἶδεν ἡ γυνὴ ὅτι καλὸν τὸ ξύλον εἰς βρῶσιν καὶ ὅτι ἀρεστὸν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς ἰδεῖν καὶ ὡραῖόν ἐστιν τοῦ κατανοῆσαι καὶ λαβοῦσα τοῦ καρποῦ αὐτοῦ ἔφαγεν καὶ ἔδωκεν καὶ τῷ ἀνδρὶ αὐτῆς μετ' αὐτῆς καὶ ἔφαγον

7 καὶ διηνοίχθησαν οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ τῶν δύο καὶ ἔγνωσαν ὅτι γυμνοὶ ἦσαν καὶ ἔρραψαν φύλλα συκῆς καὶ ἐποίησαν ἑαυτοῖς περιζώματα

8 καὶ ἤκουσαν τὴν φωνὴν κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ περιπατοῦντος ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ τὸ δειλινόν καὶ ἐκρύβησαν ὅ τε αδαμ καὶ ἡ γυνὴ αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ προσώπου κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ ξύλου τοῦ παραδείσου

9 καὶ ἐκάλεσεν κύριος ὁ θεὸς τὸν αδαμ καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ αδαμ ποῦ εἶ

10 καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ τὴν φωνήν σου ἤκουσα περιπατοῦντος ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ καὶ ἐφοβήθην ὅτι γυμνός εἰμι καὶ ἐκρύβην

11 καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ τίς ἀνήγγειλέν σοι ὅτι γυμνὸς εἶ μὴ ἀπὸ τοῦ ξύλου οὗ ἐνετειλάμην σοι τούτου μόνου μὴ φαγεῖν ἀπ' αὐτοῦ ἔφαγες

12 καὶ εἶπεν ὁ αδαμ ἡ γυνή ἣν ἔδωκας μετ' ἐμοῦ αὕτη μοι ἔδωκεν ἀπὸ τοῦ ξύλου καὶ ἔφαγον

13 καὶ εἶπεν κύριος ὁ θεὸς τῇ γυναικί τί τοῦτο ἐποίησας καὶ εἶπεν ἡ γυνή ὁ ὄφις ἠπάτησέν με καὶ ἔφαγον

14 καὶ εἶπεν κύριος ὁ θεὸς τῷ ὄφει ὅτι ἐποίησας τοῦτο ἐπικατάρατος σὺ ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν κτηνῶν καὶ ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν θηρίων τῆς γῆς ἐπὶ τῷ στήθει σου καὶ τῇ κοιλίᾳ πορεύσῃ καὶ γῆν φάγῃ πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας τῆς ζωῆς σου

15 καὶ ἔχθραν θήσω ἀνὰ μέσον σου καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον τῆς γυναικὸς καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ σπέρματός σου καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ σπέρματος αὐτῆς αὐτός σου τηρήσει κεφαλήν καὶ σὺ τηρήσεις αὐτοῦ πτέρναν

16 καὶ τῇ γυναικὶ εἶπεν πληθύνων πληθυνῶ τὰς λύπας σου καὶ τὸν στεναγμόν σου ἐν λύπαις τέξῃ τέκνα καὶ πρὸς τὸν ἄνδρα σου ἡ ἀποστροφή σου καὶ αὐτός σου κυριεύσει

17 τῷ δὲ αδαμ εἶπεν ὅτι ἤκουσας τῆς φωνῆς τῆς γυναικός σου καὶ ἔφαγες ἀπὸ τοῦ ξύλου οὗ ἐνετειλάμην σοι τούτου μόνου μὴ φαγεῖν ἀπ' αὐτοῦ ἐπικατάρατος ἡ γῆ ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις σου ἐν λύπαις φάγῃ αὐτὴν πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας τῆς ζωῆς σου

18 ἀκάνθας καὶ τριβόλους ἀνατελεῖ σοι καὶ φάγῃ τὸν χόρτον τοῦ ἀγροῦ

19 ἐν ἱδρῶτι τοῦ προσώπου σου φάγῃ τὸν ἄρτον σου ἕως τοῦ ἀποστρέψαι σε εἰς τὴν γῆν ἐξ ἧς ἐλήμφθης ὅτι γῆ εἶ καὶ εἰς γῆν ἀπελεύσῃ

20 καὶ ἐκάλεσεν αδαμ τὸ ὄνομα τῆς γυναικὸς αὐτοῦ ζωή ὅτι αὕτη μήτηρ πάντων τῶν ζώντων

21 καὶ ἐποίησεν κύριος ὁ θεὸς τῷ αδαμ καὶ τῇ γυναικὶ αὐτοῦ χιτῶνας δερματίνους καὶ ἐνέδυσεν αὐτούς

22 καὶ εἶπεν ὁ θεός ἰδοὺ αδαμ γέγονεν ὡς εἷς ἐξ ἡμῶν τοῦ γινώσκειν καλὸν καὶ πονηρόν καὶ νῦν μήποτε ἐκτείνῃ τὴν χεῖρα καὶ λάβῃ τοῦ ξύλου τῆς ζωῆς καὶ φάγῃ καὶ ζήσεται εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα

23 καὶ ἐξαπέστειλεν αὐτὸν κύριος ὁ θεὸς ἐκ τοῦ παραδείσου τῆς τρυφῆς ἐργάζεσθαι τὴν γῆν ἐξ ἧς ἐλήμφθη

24 καὶ ἐξέβαλεν τὸν αδαμ καὶ κατῴκισεν αὐτὸν ἀπέναντι τοῦ παραδείσου τῆς τρυφῆς καὶ ἔταξεν τὰ χερουβιμ καὶ τὴν φλογίνην ῥομφαίαν τὴν στρεφομένην φυλάσσειν τὴν ὁδὸν τοῦ ξύλου τῆς ζωῆς

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #308

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308. What 'the east' means and what 'the garden of Eden' means has been shown already and therefore there is no need to pause over them here. But the fact that 'cherubim' means the Lord's providing against a person's insanely entering into mysteries of faith from the proprium, sensory evidence, and factual knowledge as the starting point, and against his profaning those mysteries, and in so doing perishing, becomes clear from several places in the Word where mention is made of cherubim. Because the Jews were the kind of people who, if they had had any clear knowledge about the Lord's Coming, about the fact that the representatives, or types, in that Church meant the Lord, about life after death, about the inner man, and if they had had any clear knowledge of the internal sense of the Word, they would have committed profanation and would have perished for ever; the Lord's protection against this therefore was represented by the cherubim on the Mercy Seat over the Ark, and by those on the curtains of the Tabernacle, and on its veil, and similarly in the Temple. And the provision of the cherubim meant the Lord's care and protection of them, Exodus 25:18-21; 26:1, 31;1 Kings 6:23-29, 32, 35. For the Ark, which contained the covenant, had the same meaning as the tree of life 1 does here, that is, the Lord and heavenly things which are altogether His. Consequently the Lord is also many times called 'the God of Israel seated upon the cherubim'; and it was from between the cherubim that He spoke to Aaron and Moses, Exodus 25:22; Numbers 7:89.

[2] A plain description of this exists in Ezekiel where the following is stated,

The glory of the God of Israel was raised up from above the cherub over which it had been, towards the threshold of the house. He called out to the man clothed in linen. And He said to him, Pass through the middle of the city, through the middle of Jerusalem, and put a mark upon the foreheads of the men who groan and sigh over all the abominations committed in the middle of it. And to the others He said, Pass through the city after him and smite; let not your eye spare, and show no clemency; slay outright old men, young men, virgins, little children, and women. Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain. 2 Ezekiel 9:3-7.

And later on,

He said to the man clothed in linen, Go into the wheel underneath the cherub, and fill the palms of your hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim and spread them over the city. A cherub stretched out his hand from between the cherubim to the fire that was between the cherubim, and he took [some of it] and put it into the palms of the man clothed in linen; and he took it and went out. Ezekiel 10:1-7.

From these verses it is clear that the Lord's providence which guards against people's penetrating mysteries of faith is meant by 'the cherubim', and that people were therefore abandoned to their insane desires, which in this quotation are also meant by 'the fire which was spread over the city', and by 'nobody's being spared'.

Footnotes:

1. literally, of lives

2. literally, the pierced

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

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