The Bible

 

Postanak 6

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1 A kad se ljudi počeše množiti na zemlji, i kćeri im se narodiše.

2 Videći sinovi Božji kćeri čovečije kako su lepe uzimaše ih za žene koje hteše.

3 A Gospod reče: Neće se duh moj do veka preti s ljudima, jer su telo; neka im još sto dvadeset godina.

4 A beše tada divova na zemlji; a i posle, kad se sinovi Božji sastajahu sa kćerima čovečijim, pa im one rađahu sinove; to behu silni ljudi, od starine na glasu.

5 I Gospod videći da je nevaljalstvo ljudsko veliko na zemlji, i da su sve misli srca njihovog svagda samo zle,

6 Pokaja se Gospod što je stvorio čoveka na zemlji, i bi mu žao u srcu.

7 I reče Gospod: Hoću da istrebim sa zemlje ljude, koje sam stvorio, od čoveka do stoke i do sitne životinje i do ptica nebeskih; jer se kajem što sam ih stvorio.

8 Ali Noje nađe milost pred Gospodom.

9 Ovo su događaji Nojevi: Noje beše čovek pravedan i bezazlen svog veka; po volji Božjoj svagda življaše Noje.

10 I rodi Noje tri sina: Sima, Hama i Jafeta.

11 A zemlja se pokvari pred Bogom, i napuni se zemlja bezakonja.

12 I pogleda Bog na zemlju, a ona beše pokvarena; jer svako telo pokvari put svoj na zemlji.

13 I reče Bog Noju: Kraj svakom telu dođe preda me, jer napuniše zemlju bezakonja; i evo hoću da ih zatrem sa zemljom.

14 Načini sebi kovčeg od drveta gofera, i načini pregratke u kovčegu; i zatopi ga smolom iznutra i spolja.

15 I načini ga ovako; u dužinu neka bude trista lakata, u širinu pedeset lakata, i u visinu trideset lakata;

16 Pusti dosta svetlosti u kovčeg; i krov mu svedi ozgo od lakta; i udari vrata kovčegu sa strane; i načini ga na tri boja: donji, drugi i treći.

17 Jer evo pustiću potop na zemlju da istrebim svako telo u kome ima živa duša pod nebom; šta je god na zemlji sve će izginuti.

18 Ali ću s tobom učiniti zavet svoj: i ući ćeš u kovčeg ti i sinovi tvoji i žena tvoja i žene sinova tvojih s tobom.

19 I od svega živog, od svakog tela, uzećeš u kovčeg po dvoje, da sačuvaš u životu sa sobom, a muško i žensko neka bude.

20 Od ptica po vrstama njihovim, od stoke po vrstama njenim, i od svega što se miče na zemlji po vrstama njegovim, od svega po dvoje neka uđe s tobom, da ih sačuvaš u životu.

21 I uzmi sa sobom svega što se jede, i čuvaj kod sebe, da bude hrane tebi i njima.

22 I Noje učini, kako mu zapovedi Bog, sve onako učini.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #737

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737. 'Noah was a son of six hundred years' means his initial state of temptation. This is clear from the fact from here down to Eber in Chapter 11 nothing else is meant by numbers, years of age, or names than real things, as was the case also with the ages and names of all those mentioned in Chapter 5. Here 'six hundred years' means the initial state of temptation. This becomes clear from its prime factors which are ten and six multiplied again by ten. When the same factors are involved it makes no difference whether the number arrived at is large or small. As for ten, this has been shown already at 6:3 to mean remnants, while the meaning of six here as labour and conflict is clear from places throughout the Word. For the situation is this: What has gone before dealt with man's preparation for temptation, that is to say, he was supplied by the Lord with truths of the understanding and with goods of the will. These truths and goods are remnants, but they are not brought forth so as to be acknowledged until man is being regenerated. In the case of those who are being regenerated by means of temptations the remnants existing with any man are for the angels present with him. From these remnants they draw out those things with which they protect him against the evil spirits who activate falsities with him and in this way attack him. It is because remnants are meant by 'ten' and conflict by 'six' that six hundred years are spoken of, a number in which ten and six are the prime factors and which means a state of temptation.

[2] As regards conflict being the particular meaning of 'six', this is clear from Genesis 1, which describes the six days of man's regeneration prior to his becoming celestial. During those six days there was constant conflict, but on the seventh day came rest. Consequently there are six days of labour, and the seventh is the sabbath, a word which means rest. This also is why a Hebrew slave was to serve for six years and in the seventh was to go free, Exodus 21:2; Deuteronomy 15:12; Jeremiah 34:14, and why for six years they were to sow the land and gather in the produce, but in the seventh they were to leave it alone, Exodus 23:10-12. The same applied to a vineyard. It is also the reason why in the seventh year the land was to have a sabbath of rest, a sabbath to Jehovah, Leviticus 25:3-4. Because 'six' means labour and conflict it also means the dispersion of falsity, as in Ezekiel,

Behold, six men coming from the direction of the upper gate, which looks towards the north, every man with a weapon of dispersion in his hand. Ezekiel 9:2.

And in the same prophet, against Gog,

I will cause you to turn about, and I will split you into six, and cause you to come up from the uttermost parts of the north. Ezekiel 39:2.

Here 'six' and 'splitting into six' stand for dispersion, 'the north' for falsities, and 'Gog' for people who seize on doctrinal matters based on things of an external nature with which they destroy internal worship. From Job,

He will deliver you in six troubles, and in a seventh no evil will touch you. Job 5:19.

This stands for the conflict that constitutes temptations.

[3] 'Six' occurs in other parts of the Word where it does not mean labour, conflict, or the dispersion of falsity, but the holiness of faith. In these instances it is related to twelve, which means faith and all things of faith in their entirety, and to three which means that which is holy. Consequently there is also a genuine derivative meaning to the number six, as in Ezekiel 40:5, where the man's measuring rod with which he measured the holy city of Israel was six cubits long; and in other places. The reason for this derivative is that in the conflict of temptation the holiness of faith is present, and also that six days of labour and conflict look forward to the holy seventh day.

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