The Bible

 

Genesis 5

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1 This [is] an account of the births of Adam: In the day of God's preparing man, in the likeness of God He hath made him;

2 a male and a female He hath prepared them, and He blesseth them, and calleth their name Man, in the day of their being prepared.

3 And Adam liveth an hundred and thirty years, and begetteth [a son] in his likeness, according to his image, and calleth his name Seth.

4 And the days of Adam after his begetting Seth are eight hundred years, and he begetteth sons and daughters.

5 And all the days of Adam which he lived are nine hundred and thirty years, and he dieth.

6 And Seth liveth an hundred and five years, and begetteth Enos.

7 And Seth liveth after his begetting Enos eight hundred and seven years, and begetteth sons and daughters.

8 And all the days of Seth are nine hundred and twelve years, and he dieth.

9 And Enos liveth ninety years, and begetteth Cainan.

10 And Enos liveth after his begetting Cainan eight hundred and fifteen years, and begetteth sons and daughters.

11 And all the days of Enos are nine hundred and five years, and he dieth.

12 And Cainan liveth seventy years, and begetteth Mahalaleel.

13 And Cainan liveth after his begetting Mahalaleel eight hundred and forty years, and begetteth sons and daughters.

14 And all the days of Cainan are nine hundred and ten years, and he dieth.

15 And Mahalaleel liveth five and sixty years, and begetteth Jared.

16 And Mahalaleel liveth after his begetting Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and begetteth sons and daughters.

17 And all the days of Mahalaleel are eight hundred and ninety and five years, and he dieth.

18 And Jared liveth an hundred and sixty and two years, and begetteth Enoch.

19 And Jared liveth after his begetting Enoch eight hundred years, and begetteth sons and daughters.

20 And all the days of Jared are nine hundred and sixty and two years, and he dieth.

21 And Enoch liveth five and sixty years, and begetteth Methuselah.

22 And Enoch walketh habitually with God after his begetting Methuselah three hundred years, and begetteth sons and daughters.

23 And all the days of Enoch are three hundred and sixty and five years.

24 And Enoch walketh habitually with God, and he is not, for God hath taken him.

25 And Methuselah liveth an hundred and eighty and seven years, and begetteth Lamech.

26 And Methuselah liveth after his begetting Lamech seven hundred and eighty and two years, and begetteth sons and daughters.

27 And all the days of Methuselah are nine hundred and sixty and nine years, and he dieth.

28 And Lamech liveth an hundred and eighty and two years, and begetteth a son,

29 and calleth his name Noah, saying, `This [one] doth comfort us concerning our work, and concerning the labour of our hands, because of the ground which Jehovah hath cursed.'

30 And Lamech liveth after his begetting Noah five hundred and ninety and five years, and begetteth sons and daughters.

31 And all the days of Lamech are seven hundred and seventy and seven years, and he dieth.

32 And Noah is a son of five hundred years, and Noah begetteth Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #488

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488. That “days” signify states in general, and “years” states in special, appears from the Word, as in Ezekiel:

Thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years (Ezekiel 22:4),

speaking of those who commit abominations, and fill up the measure of their sins, of whose state in general are predicated “days” and in special “years.”

So in David:

Thou shalt add days to the days of the king, and his years as of generation and generation (Psalms 61:6),

speaking of the Lord and of His kingdom, where also “days” and “years” signify the state of His kingdom. Again:

I have considered the days of old, the years of the ages (Psalms 77:5),

where “days of old” signify states of the Most Ancient Church, and “years of the ages” states of the Ancient Church.

In Isaiah:

The day of vengeance is in My heart, and the year of My redeemed is come (Isaiah 63:4),

speaking of the last times, where the “day of vengeance” signifies a state of damnation, and the “year of the redeemed” a state of blessedness. Again:

To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn (Isaiah 61:2),

where both “days” and “years” signify states.

In Jeremiah: Renew our days as of old (Lamentations 5:21),

where state is plainly meant.

[2] In Joel:

The day of Jehovah cometh, for it is nigh at hand, a day of darkness and of thick darkness, a day of cloud and of obscurity; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be after it, even to the years of generation and generation (Joel 2:1-2), where “day” signifies a state of darkness and of thick darkness, of cloud and of obscurity, with each one in particular, and with all in general.

In Zechariah: I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day; in that day shall ye cry a man to his companion under the vine, and under the fig tree (Zechariah 3:9-10).

And in another place:

It shall be one day which is known to Jehovah, not day nor night, and it shall come to pass that at evening time it shall be light (Zechariah 14:7),

where it is plain that state is meant, for it is said that there shall be a day that is “neither day nor night, at evening time it shall be light.” The same appears from expressions in the Decalogue:

Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may be well with thee upon the ground (Deuteronomy 5:16; 25:15),

where to have the “days prolonged” does not signify length of life, but a happy state.

[3] In the literal sense it must needs appear as if “day” signifies time, but in the internal sense it signifies state. The angels, who are in the internal sense, do not know what time is, for they have no sun and moon that distinguish times; consequently they do not know what days, and years are, but only what states are and the changes thereof; and therefore before the angels, who are in the internal sense, everything relating to matter, space, and time disappears, as in the literal sense of this passage in Ezekiel:

The day is near, even the day of Jehovah is near, a day of cloud; it shall be the time of the nations (Ezekiel 30:3),

and of this in Joel:

Alas for the day! for the day of Jehovah is at hand, and as vastation shall it come (Joel 1:15),

where a “day of cloud” signifies a cloud, or falsity; the “day of the nations” signifies the nations, or wickedness; the “day of Jehovah” signifies vastation. When the notion of time is removed, there remains the notion of the state of the things which existed at that time. The case is the same with regard to the “days” and “years” that are so often mentioned in this chapter.

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