The Bible

 

Genesis 6

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1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them,

2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all whom they chose.

3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.

4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them: the same became mighty men, who were of old, men of renown.

5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

6 And the LORD repented that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created, from the face of the earth, both man and beast, and the creeping animal, and the fowls of the air; for I repent that I have made them.

8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man, and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.

10 And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

11 The earth also was corrupt before God; and the earth was filled with violence.

12 And God looked upon the earth, and behold, it was corrupt: for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

13 And God said to Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them: and behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

14 Make thee an ark of gopher-wood: rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.

15 And this is the fashion in which thou shalt make it: the length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.

16 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in its side: with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.

17 And behold, I, even I do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, in which is the breath of life, from under heaven: and every thing that is on the earth shall die.

18 But with thee will I establish my covenant: and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.

19 And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee: they shall be male and female.

20 Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping animal of the earth after its kind, two of every sort shall come to thee, to keep them alive.

21 And take thou to thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.

22 Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #612

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612. Noah was a man righteous, and perfect 1 in his generations. That this signifies that he was such that he could be endowed with charity, is evident from the signification of “just and perfect” “just” (or “righteous”) having regard to the good of charity, and “perfect” to the truth of charity; and also from the essential of that church being charity, concerning which, of the Lord’s Divine mercy hereafter. That “just” (or “righteous”) has regard to the good of charity, and “perfect” to the truth of charity, is evident from the Word, as in Isaiah:

They will seek Me daily and desire knowledge of My ways, as a nation that doeth righteousness, and forsaketh not the judgment of their God; they will ask of Me the judgments of righteousness, and will long for the approach of God (Isaiah 58:2).

Here “judgment” denotes the things which are of truth, and “righteousness” those which are of good. “Doing judgment and righteousness” became as it were an established formula for doing what is true and good (as in Isaiah 56:1; Jeremiah 22:3, 13, 15; 23:5; 33:14, 16, 19). The Lord said:

The righteous 2 shall shine forth as the sun, in the kingdom of My father (Matthew 13:43),

“the righteous” meaning those who are endowed with charity; and concerning the consummation of the age He said:

The angels shall go forth and shall sever the wicked from among the righteous (Matthew 13:49).

Here also the “righteous” denote those who are in the good of charity.

[2] But “perfect” signifies the truth which is from charity, for there is truth from many another origin; but that which is from the good of charity from the Lord is called “perfect” and a “perfect man” as in David:

Who shall sojourn in Thy tent, who shall dwell in the mountain of Thy holiness? He that walketh perfect, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart (Psalms 15:1-2).

The “perfect” [or “complete”] man is here described. Again:

With the holy Thou wilt show Thyself holy; with the perfect man Thou wilt show Thyself perfect (Psalms 18:25),

where the “perfect man” is one who is so from holiness, or the good of charity. And again:

Jehovah will withhold no good from them that walk in perfectness [integritate] (Psalms 84:11).

[3] That a “perfect man” is one who is true from good, or who speaks and does truth from charity, is evident from the words “walk” and “way” being often applied to what is perfect, that is, to wholeness or entirety, and also the words “upright” or “uprightness” which words pertain to truth. As in David:

I will teach the perfect in the way how far he shall come unto me. I will walk within my house in the perfectness of my heart (Psalms 101:2);

and in the sixth verse:

He that walketh in the way of the perfect, he shall minister unto me (Psalms 101:6).

Again:

Blessed are the perfect in the way, who walk in the law of Jehovah (Psalms 119:1).

And again:

Perfectness and uprightness shall guard me (Psalms 25:21).

And in another place:

Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace (Psalms 37:37).

It is evident from these passages that he is called “righteous” who does what is good, and that he is called “perfect” who does what is true therefrom, which also is to “do righteousness and judgment.” “Holiness” and “righteousness” are the celestial of faith; “perfectness” and “judgment” are the spiritual thence derived.

Footnotes:

1. “Perfect” is used here in the sense of “whole,” “entire.” Swedenborg’s word is integer. [Reviser.]

2. The Latin has only one word for our two English words “just” and “righteous” and it is the same with “justice” and “righteousness.” [Reviser.]

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