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 #521

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521. As to the words “he was no more, for God took him” signifying the preservation of that doctrine for the use of posterity, the case with Enoch, as already said, is that he reduced to doctrine what in the Most Ancient Church had been a matter of perception, and which in the time of that church was not allowable; for to know by perception is a very different thing from learning by doctrine. They who are in perception have no need to learn by formulated doctrine that which they know already. For example: he who knows how to think well, has no occasion to be taught to think by any rules of art, for in this way his faculty of thinking well would be impaired, as is the case with those who stick fast in scholastic dust. To those who learn by perception, the Lord grants to know what is good and true by an inward way; but to those who learn from doctrine, knowledge is given by an external way, or that of the bodily senses; and the difference is like that between light and darkness. Consider also that the perceptions of the celestial man are such as to admit of no description, for they enter into the most minute and particular things, with all variety according to states and circumstances. But as it was foreseen that the perceptive faculty of the Most Ancient Church would perish, and that afterwards mankind would learn by doctrines what is true and good, or by darkness would come to light, it is here said that “God took him” that is, preserved the doctrine for the use of posterity.

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