From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #58

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58. Verse 30 And to every wild animal of the earth and to every bird of the air, 1 and to everything creeping over the earth in which there is a living soul [I give] every plant for food; and it was so.

The natural food of this same [spiritual man] is being described here. His natural level is here meant by 'wild animal of the earth' and by 'bird of the air, to which 'the edible and green plant 2 has been given for food'. Both kinds of food, natural and spiritual, are referred to in David as follows,

Jehovah causes the grass to grow for the beast, and the plant for man's service, that he may bring forth bread from the earth. Psalms 104:14.

Here 'beast' stands for both wild animals of the earth and birds of the air, 1 both being mentioned in verses 11-12 of that Psalm.

Footnotes:

1. literally, bird of the heavens (or the skies)

2. See 996[3]

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Revealed #604

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604. 13:16 And it causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave. This symbolizes all the people in the Protestant Reformed church, of whatever condition, degree of education, or degree of intelligence.

The small and great here mean people of a lesser or greater degree of status, thus of whatever condition. The rich and poor mean people of more or less knowledge and learning (no. 206), thus of whatever degree of education. Free and slave mean people who acquire wisdom on their own or who gain it from others (no. 337), thus of whatever degree of intelligence.

So then, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, mean all the people in the Protestant Reformed church of whatever condition, degree of education, or degree of intelligence. This is the meaning in the spiritual sense.

  
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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.