The Bible

 

Genesis 7

Study

   

1 καὶ εἶπεν κύριος ὁ θεὸς πρὸς νωε εἴσελθε σὺ καὶ πᾶς ὁ οἶκός σου εἰς τὴν κιβωτόν ὅτι σὲ εἶδον δίκαιον ἐναντίον μου ἐν τῇ γενεᾷ ταύτῃ

2 ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν κτηνῶν τῶν καθαρῶν εἰσάγαγε πρὸς σὲ ἑπτὰ ἑπτά ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν κτηνῶν τῶν μὴ καθαρῶν δύο δύο ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ

3 καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν πετεινῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ τῶν καθαρῶν ἑπτὰ ἑπτά ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν πετεινῶν τῶν μὴ καθαρῶν δύο δύο ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ διαθρέψαι σπέρμα ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν

4 ἔτι γὰρ ἡμερῶν ἑπτὰ ἐγὼ ἐπάγω ὑετὸν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν τεσσαράκοντα ἡμέρας καὶ τεσσαράκοντα νύκτας καὶ ἐξαλείψω πᾶσαν τὴν ἐξανάστασιν ἣν ἐποίησα ἀπὸ προσώπου τῆς γῆς

5 καὶ ἐποίησεν νωε πάντα ὅσα ἐνετείλατο αὐτῷ κύριος ὁ θεός

6 νωε δὲ ἦν ἐτῶν ἑξακοσίων καὶ ὁ κατακλυσμὸς ἐγένετο ὕδατος ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς

7 εἰσῆλθεν δὲ νωε καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἡ γυνὴ αὐτοῦ καὶ αἱ γυναῖκες τῶν υἱῶν αὐτοῦ μετ' αὐτοῦ εἰς τὴν κιβωτὸν διὰ τὸ ὕδωρ τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ

8 καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν πετεινῶν καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν κτηνῶν τῶν καθαρῶν καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν κτηνῶν τῶν μὴ καθαρῶν καὶ ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν ἑρπετῶν τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς

9 δύο δύο εἰσῆλθον πρὸς νωε εἰς τὴν κιβωτόν ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ καθὰ ἐνετείλατο αὐτῷ ὁ θεός

10 καὶ ἐγένετο μετὰ τὰς ἑπτὰ ἡμέρας καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ ἐγένετο ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς

11 ἐν τῷ ἑξακοσιοστῷ ἔτει ἐν τῇ ζωῇ τοῦ νωε τοῦ δευτέρου μηνός ἑβδόμῃ καὶ εἰκάδι τοῦ μηνός τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ταύτῃ ἐρράγησαν πᾶσαι αἱ πηγαὶ τῆς ἀβύσσου καὶ οἱ καταρράκται τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἠνεῴχθησαν

12 καὶ ἐγένετο ὁ ὑετὸς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς τεσσαράκοντα ἡμέρας καὶ τεσσαράκοντα νύκτας

13 ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ταύτῃ εἰσῆλθεν νωε σημ χαμ ιαφεθ υἱοὶ νωε καὶ ἡ γυνὴ νωε καὶ αἱ τρεῖς γυναῖκες τῶν υἱῶν αὐτοῦ μετ' αὐτοῦ εἰς τὴν κιβωτόν

14 καὶ πάντα τὰ θηρία κατὰ γένος καὶ πάντα τὰ κτήνη κατὰ γένος καὶ πᾶν ἑρπετὸν κινούμενον ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς κατὰ γένος καὶ πᾶν πετεινὸν κατὰ γένος

15 εἰσῆλθον πρὸς νωε εἰς τὴν κιβωτόν δύο δύο ἀπὸ πάσης σαρκός ἐν ᾧ ἐστιν πνεῦμα ζωῆς

16 καὶ τὰ εἰσπορευόμενα ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ ἀπὸ πάσης σαρκὸς εἰσῆλθεν καθὰ ἐνετείλατο ὁ θεὸς τῷ νωε καὶ ἔκλεισεν κύριος ὁ θεὸς ἔξωθεν αὐτοῦ τὴν κιβωτόν

17 καὶ ἐγένετο ὁ κατακλυσμὸς τεσσαράκοντα ἡμέρας καὶ τεσσαράκοντα νύκτας ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς καὶ ἐπληθύνθη τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ ἐπῆρεν τὴν κιβωτόν καὶ ὑψώθη ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς

18 καὶ ἐπεκράτει τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ ἐπληθύνετο σφόδρα ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς καὶ ἐπεφέρετο ἡ κιβωτὸς ἐπάνω τοῦ ὕδατος

19 τὸ δὲ ὕδωρ ἐπεκράτει σφόδρα σφοδρῶς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς καὶ ἐπεκάλυψεν πάντα τὰ ὄρη τὰ ὑψηλά ἃ ἦν ὑποκάτω τοῦ οὐρανοῦ

20 δέκα πέντε πήχεις ἐπάνω ὑψώθη τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ ἐπεκάλυψεν πάντα τὰ ὄρη τὰ ὑψηλά

21 καὶ ἀπέθανεν πᾶσα σὰρξ κινουμένη ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς τῶν πετεινῶν καὶ τῶν κτηνῶν καὶ τῶν θηρίων καὶ πᾶν ἑρπετὸν κινούμενον ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς καὶ πᾶς ἄνθρωπος

22 καὶ πάντα ὅσα ἔχει πνοὴν ζωῆς καὶ πᾶς ὃς ἦν ἐπὶ τῆς ξηρᾶς ἀπέθανεν

23 καὶ ἐξήλειψεν πᾶν τὸ ἀνάστημα ὃ ἦν ἐπὶ προσώπου πάσης τῆς γῆς ἀπὸ ἀνθρώπου ἕως κτήνους καὶ ἑρπετῶν καὶ τῶν πετεινῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ ἐξηλείφθησαν ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς καὶ κατελείφθη μόνος νωε καὶ οἱ μετ' αὐτοῦ ἐν τῇ κιβωτῷ

24 καὶ ὑψώθη τὸ ὕδωρ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἡμέρας ἑκατὸν πεντήκοντα

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #805

Study this Passage

  
/ 10837  
  

805. 'Everything which had the breath of the spirit of life 1 in its nostrils' means people belonging to the Most Ancient Church who had the breath of life 1 in their nostrils, that is, the life of love and of faith deriving from love. This is clear from what has been stated already in 96, 97. Life is what the most ancient people meant by 'breath in the nostrils' or breathing, which is the life of the body corresponding to spiritual things, just as the motion of the heart is the life of the body corresponding to celestial things. Here because the subject is the people before the Flood who from what they inherited from their forefathers had within them seed from a celestial origin, though that seed had been annihilated or suffocated, the statement 'everything that had the breath of the spirit of life 1 in its nostrils' is used.

[2] These words also conceal something quite deeply hidden, which has been dealt with already in 97. It is this: The member of the Most Ancient Church possessed internal breathing, and so possessed breathing that accorded with and was similar to the breathing of angels, which will in the Lord's Divine mercy be described later on. The nature of that breathing varied according to every one of the states of the internal man; but it was altered in the process of time among their descendants down to this final generation of them in whom everything angelic perished. At that point they were no longer capable of breathing in company with the angelic heaven. This was the real reason for their annihilation, and why it is now said that 'they breathed their last' and that 'they died in whom there was the breath of the spirit of life 1 in their nostrils'. After those times internal breathing came to an end, and with it communication with heaven, and consequently celestial perception; and external breathing took its place. And since communication with heaven came to an end in this way, members of the Ancient or new Church were no longer capable of being celestial men, as the most ancient people had been, but spiritual. These matters however will in the Lord's Divine mercy be dealt with later on.

Footnotes:

1. literally, of lives

  
/ 10837  
  

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