The Bible

 

Genesis 2

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1 And the heavens and the earth are completed, and all their host;

2 and God completeth by the seventh day His work which He hath made, and ceaseth by the seventh day from all His work which He hath made.

3 And God blesseth the seventh day, and sanctifieth it, for in it He hath ceased from all His work which God had prepared for making.

4 These [are] births of the heavens and of the earth in their being prepared, in the day of Jehovah God's making earth and heavens;

5 and no shrub of the field is yet in the earth, and no herb of the field yet sprouteth, for Jehovah God hath not rained upon the earth, and a man there is not to serve the ground,

6 and a mist goeth up from the earth, and hath watered the whole face of the ground.

7 And Jehovah God formeth the man -- dust from the ground, and breatheth into his nostrils breath of life, and the man becometh a living creature.

8 And Jehovah God planteth a garden in Eden, at the east, and He setteth there the man whom He hath formed;

9 and Jehovah God causeth to sprout from the ground every tree desirable for appearance, and good for food, and the tree of life in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

10 And a river is going out from Eden to water the garden, and from thence it is parted, and hath become four chief [rivers];

11 the name of the one [is] Pison, it [is] that which is surrounding the whole land of the Havilah where the gold [is],

12 and the gold of that land [is] good, there [is] the bdolach and the shoham stone;

13 and the name of the second river [is] Gibon, it [is] that which is surrounding the whole land of Cush;

14 and the name of the third river [is] Hiddekel, it [is] that which is going east of Asshur; and the fourth river is Phrat.

15 And Jehovah God taketh the man, and causeth him to rest in the garden of Eden, to serve it, and to keep it.

16 And Jehovah God layeth a charge on the man, saying, `Of every tree of the garden eating thou dost eat;

17 and of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou dost not eat of it, for in the day of thine eating of it -- dying thou dost die.'

18 And Jehovah God saith, `Not good for the man to be alone, I do make to him an helper -- as his counterpart.'

19 And Jehovah God formeth from the ground every beast of the field, and every fowl of the heavens, and bringeth in unto the man, to see what he doth call it; and whatever the man calleth a living creature, that [is] its name.

20 And the man calleth names to all the cattle, and to fowl of the heavens, and to every beast of the field; and to man hath not been found an helper -- as his counterpart.

21 And Jehovah God causeth a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he sleepeth, and He taketh one of his ribs, and closeth up flesh in its stead.

22 And Jehovah God buildeth up the rib which He hath taken out of the man into a woman, and bringeth her in unto the man;

23 and the man saith, `This [is] the [proper] step! bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh!' for this it is called Woman, for from a man hath this been taken;

24 therefore doth a man leave his father and his mother, and hath cleaved unto his wife, and they have become one flesh.

25 And they are both of them naked, the man and his wife, and they are not ashamed of themselves.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Conjugial Love #135

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135. After this they took the piece of paper and read the third topic for discussion, namely, what the tree of life symbolizes, what the tree of the knowledge of good and evil symbolizes, and what eating from them means. And they all asked the people on the east to explain this mystery, because it required a deeper understanding, and people who come from the east have a flaming light, that is to say, a wisdom that comes of love, which is the wisdom meant by the garden in Eden in which the two trees were placed.

The people on the east, then, replied, "We will speak. But because no one acquires anything from himself but from the Lord, we will speak from Him, though it will still seem to come from us as though it originated with us."

Then they said, "A tree symbolizes a person; and its fruit, goodness of life. The tree of life therefore symbolizes a person living from God, or God living in the person. And because love and wisdom and charity and faith or good and truth constitute the life of God in a person, the tree of life symbolizes these qualities, from which a person has eternal life. The tree of life which people will be given to eat from, in the book of Revelation, has a similar symbolism (Revelation 2:7, 22:2,14).

[2] "The tree of the knowledge of good and evil symbolizes a person believing that he lives on his own and not from God, thus that the love and wisdom, charity and faith, or good and truth in the person are his and not God's - believing this because he thinks and wills, and speaks and acts, in all likeness and appearance as if on his own. Because a person with this belief comes into the persuasion that God has introduced Himself or infused His Divinity into him, therefore the serpent said:

...God knows that in the day you eat (of the fruit of the tree) your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. (Genesis 3:5)

[3] "Eating from the two trees symbolizes acquisition and assimilation. Eating from the tree of life symbolizes acquisition of eternal life, and eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil symbolizes acquisition of damnation. Therefore Adam and his wife were both cursed along with the serpent. The serpent means the devil in respect to self-love and pride in its own intelligence. This love takes possession of the tree, and people who are caught up in pride as a result of that love are the trees it possesses.

"People fall into an enormous error, therefore, who believe that Adam was wise and did good from his own nature, and that this was his state of integrity, when Adam himself was cursed for precisely that belief. For this is what is symbolized by his eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That was why he then fell from his state of integrity, which he had had as a result of his believing that he was wise and did good from God and not from himself, for that is what is meant by his eating from the tree of life.

"The Lord alone, when He was in the world, was wise of Himself and did good of Himself, because the Divine itself was in Him and was His from birth. Consequently He also became Redeemer and Savior by His own power."

[4] On the basis of these remarks and explanations, the people formed the following conclusion:

"The tree of life, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and eating from them," they said, "symbolize that the source of life for man is to have God in him, and that he then gains heaven and eternal life. On the other hand, the source of death for man is the persuasion and belief that the source of life for man is not God but himself, on which account he gains hell and eternal death, which is damnation."

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.