The Bible

 

Jonah 2

Study

   

1 Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God out of the fish's belly,

2 And said, I cried by reason of my affliction to the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardst my voice.

3 For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods encompassed me: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.

4 Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again towards thy holy temple.

5 The waters encompassed me, even to the soul: the depth inclosed me on every side, the weeds were wrapped about my head.

6 I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God.

7 When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came to thee, into thy holy temple.

8 They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.

9 But I will sacrifice to thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that which I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.

10 And the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #751

Study this Passage

  
/ 1232  
  

751. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them.- That this signifies the salvation and consequent joy of those who become spiritual by the reception of Divine Truth, is evident from the signification of rejoicing, as denoting joy on account of salvation; from the signification of the heavens, as denoting those who are spiritual (concerning which we shall speak presently); and from the signification of ye that dwell, as denoting those who live, here spiritually. That to dwell signifies to live, may be seen above (n. 133, 479, 662). The heavens signify those who are spiritual, because all who are in the heavens are spiritual, and because men who have become spiritual are also in the heavens, although they are in the world as to the body; therefore ye that dwell in the heavens means not only angels, but also men, for every man with whom the interior mind, which is called the spiritual mind, has been opened, is in the heavens, indeed, he also sometimes appears amongst the angels there. That this is so, has not been known in the world up to the present time. It must therefore be understood, that man as to his spirit is among spirits and angels, and indeed in that society of them into which he is to come after death. The reason of this is that the spiritual mind of man is formed exactly according to the image of heaven, and in such a way that it is a heaven in least form; consequently that mind, although still in the body, must nevertheless be where its form is. But this has been more fully dealt with in Heaven and Hell 51-58), where it is shown that every angel, and also every man as to his interiors, if he be spiritual, is a heaven in its least form, corresponding to heaven in its greatest form. For this reason where the Word treats of the creation of heaven and earth, the internal and external church is in general meant, and, in particular, the internal and external man, that is the spiritual and natural man. From these things it is evident that the heavens and those that dwell in them signify all who are there, and also those men who are becoming spiritual by the reception of Divine Truth in doctrine and life.

  
/ 1232  
  

Translation by Isaiah Tansley. Many thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

The Bible

 

Genesis 37:21

Study

       

21 Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hand, and said, "Let's not take his life."