Arcana Coelestia quae in Scriptura Sacra seu Verbo Domini sunt, detecta: Hic Primum quae in Genesi. Una cum Mirabilis Quae visa sunt In Mundo Spiritum, & in Coelo Angelorum.

Pars Prima.

MDCCXLIX.

Matthaeus 6:33: QUAERITE PRIMO REGNUM DEI, ET JUSTITIAM EJUS, ET OMNIA ADJICIENTUR VOBIS.

ARCANA CAELESTIA, quae in Scriptura Sacra seu Verbo Domini detecta sunt, continentur in explicatione, quae SENSUS INTERNUS Verbi est, ; de quo sensu qualis sit, videantur quae de illo ab experientia ostensa sunt, n. 1767–1777; n. 1869–1879; et praeterea in contextu, n. 1–5, 64–66, 167, 605, 920, 937, 1143, 1224, 1404, 1405, 1408, 1409, 1502 fin, 1540, 1659, 1756, 1783, 1807.

MIRABILIA, quae visa in mundo spirituum et in caelo angelorum, cuivis capiti praemissa et subnexa sunt: in Parte hac Prima.

1 De Resuscitatione Hominis a mortuis, et introitu ejus in vitam aeternam, n. 168–181. ¹

2 De Resuscitati introitu in vitam aeternam, n. 182–189.

3 Continuatio de introitu hominis in vitam aeternam, n. 314–319.

4 Qualis vita Animae seu Spiritus tunc, n. 320–323.

5 Exempla quaedam a Spiritibus, quid cogitaverint in vita corporis de Anima aut Spiritu, n. 443–448.

6 De Caelo et Gaudio caelesti, n. 449–459.

7 Continuatio de Caelo et Gaudio caelesti, n. 537–546.

8 Continuatio de Caelo et Gaudio caelesti, n. 547–553.

9 De Societatibus quae Caelum constituunt, n. 684–691.

10 De Inferno, n. 692–700.

11 De Infernis eorum qui in Odiis, Vindictis et Crudelitate vitam transegerunt, n. 814–823.

12 De Infernis eorum qui in Adulteriis et Lasciviis vitam transegerunt; tum de Infernis Dolosorum, et Praestigiatricium, n. 824–831.

13 De Infernis Avarorum; et de spurca Hierosolyma, et Latronibus in deserto: tum de Infernis excrementitiis eorum qui in meris Voluptatibus vixeunt, n. 938–946.

14 De aliis Infernis, quae a prioribus distincta sunt, n. 947–970.

15 De Vastationibus, n. 1106–1113.

16 De Ecclesia Antiquissima, quae appellata Homo seu Adam, n. 1114–1129.

17 De Antediluvianis qui perierunt, n. 1265–1272.

18 De Situ Maximi Hominis, tum de Loco et Distantia in altera vita, n. 1273–1278.

19 Continuatio de Situ et Loco, ut et de Distantia et Tempore in altera vita, n. 1376–1382.

20 De Perceptione Spirituum et Angelorum; et de Sphaeris in altera vita, n. 1383–1400.

21 Continuatio de Perceptionibus, et de Sphaeris in altera vita, n. 1504–1520.

22 De Luce in qua vivunt Angeli, n. 1521–1534.

23 Continuatio de Luce in qua vivunt Angeli; deque illorum Paradisiacis et Habitaculis, n. 1619–1633.

24 De Loquela Spirituum et Angelorum, n. 1634–1650.

25 Continuatio de Loquela Spirituum et diversitatibus ejus, n. 1757–1764.

26 De Scriptura Sacra seu Verbo, quod Divina recondat, quae patent coram Spiritibus bonis et Angelis, n. 1767–1777.

27 Continuatio de Scriptura Sacra seu Verbo, n. 1869–1879.

— Quaedam de Spiritibus et Angelis in genere, n. 1880–1885.

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Background Notes:

Emanuel Swedenborg wrote “Arcana Coelestia”, in Latin, between 1748 and 1753. It was published in London, England, in eight separate volumes issued from 1749-1756. The publisher was John Lewis.

The work is a thorough, systematic exegesis of the Books of Genesis and Exodus from the Bible, explaining the inner meaning of those ancient texts. Its full title is: Arcana Caelestia : quae in Scriptura Sacra seu Verbo Domini sunt detecta ; nempe quae in Genesi et Exodo uno cum mirabilibus quae visa sunt in mundo spirituum et in caelo angelorum.

Only the first volume of the First Latin Edition was proofread by Swedenborg; volumes 2-8 were printed from a fair copy sent to the printer in England while Swedenborg was in France (in the case of volume 2) and in Sweden (for volumes 3–8). The rough drafts of volumes 2-8 are still extant, since Swedenborg kept them as backups -- the only other copies in the world besides the ones he had entrusted to international package delivery.

A Second Latin Edition was edited by Dr. Johann Friedrich Immanuel Tafel, in the mid 1800s, in Tübingen, Germany.

The Third Latin Edition, which is the source of the text presented here, was published over a period of 24 years, from 1949 until 1973, by the Swedenborg Society in London. It was edited by a series of editors, as detailed here:

Volume 1. Geneseos, cap. I-XV (n. 1-1885). Published in 1949. Edited by P. H. Johnson, assisted by E. C. Mongredien.

Volume 2. Geneseos, cap. XVI-XXI (n. 1886-2759). Published in 1952. Edited by P. H. Johnson, assisted by E. C. Mongredien.

Volume 3. Geneseos, cap. XXII-XXX (n. 2760-4055). Published in 1953. Edited by P. H. Johnson, assisted by E. C. Mongredien.

Volume 4. Geneseos, cap. XXXI-XL (n. 4056-5190). Published in 1956. Edited by P. H. Johnson, assisted by E. C. Mongredien.

Volume 5. Geneseos, cap. XLI-L (n. 5191-6626). Published in 1961. Edited by E. C. Mongredien.

Volume 6. Exodi, cap. I-XV (n. 6627-8386). Published in 1968. Edited by John E. Elliott, Norman Ryder and Erik Sandström.

Volume 7. Exodi, cap. XVI-XXIV (n. 8387-9442). Published in 1971. Edited by John E. Elliott, assisted by Norman Ryder.

Volume 8. Exodi cap. XXV-XL (n. 9443-10837). Published in 1973. Edited by John E. Elliott, assisted by Norman Ryder.

The text of the Third Latin Edition was scanned and OCR’d by the STAIRS Project at the Academy of the New Church, and it was included in a desktop software package, NewSearch in the early 1990's. It was later used in a related online version at www. heavenlydoctrines. org. The scanning technology available at the time didn’t support Hebrew characters or Greek characters, or italic text, so those features were not preserved in the transition from print to online versions of this edition. Hopefully a future editing will remedy that.

The New Christian Bible Study Project received the text and permission to use it from the Academy of the New Church and the Swedenborg Society. We have imported it into our database and cross-linked it to its many scripture references and internal cross-references, making it widely accessible and easy to compare with other translations.

The editors of the Third Latin Edition, as they worked to compare the Manuscript and the previous Latin additions, made more than 24, 000 footnotes. In the printed edition these footnotes used a set of abbreviations to save space, but these abbreviations - while of great use to experienced Swedenborg scholars and translators - are somewhat difficult for newer Latin readers. To reduce the difficulty, the New Christian Bible Study Project has opted to convert the abbreviations back into a less coded and hopefully more accessible set of footnotes. Given the large number of footnotes, the automation of the decoding process, and the difficulty in interpreting some of the abbreviations, there may be errors or notes that don’t read smoothly. If, as a user, you encounter these, we would welcome suggested corrections.

In the Third Latin Edition, John E. Elliot, the editor, added notes for readers, including three to this effect:

1. Swedenborg often omitted parts of verses which didn’t bear on the subject in question. Such omissions have been marked thus: ...

2. Verse numbers at the end of a quotation frequently include portions not actually quoted, but which contain words relevant to the subject.

3. Where the chapter/verse numbers differ between the Hebrew/Latin Bible that Swedenborg used and those of the Authorised Version (aka the KJV), the latter are inserted thus [KJV 1, 2]. Where the Third Latin Edition uses [A. V. 1, 2], the editors at the New Christian Bible Study Project have used [KJV 1, 2], for increased clarity.

Swedenborg used Roman numerals for citing chapter numbers in the Word. The editors at the New Christian Bible Study Project have opted to convert these chapter numbers to Arabic numbers, for increased clarity and usability.

Footnotes:

920. In hoc versu describitur cultus Antiquae Ecclesiae in genere, et quidem per ‘altare et holocaustum’, quae fuerunt principalia omnis cultus repraesentativi: sed hic primum dicendum qualis fuit cultus Antiquissimae Ecclesiae, et inde quomodo ortus est cultus Domini per repraesentativa. Antiquissimae Ecclesiae homini non fui alius cultus quam internus qualis est in caelo, nam communicabat apud eos caelum cum homine ut unum facerent; communicatio illa erat perceptio, de qua prius saepe dictum; ita quia angelici, interni homines erant; externa quae erant corporis et mundi quidem sentiebant sed non curabant; in objectis singulis sensuum aliquid Divinum e caeleste percipiebant; ut pro exemplo, cum altum quendam montem viderent, non montis ideam percipiebant, sed altitudinis, et ex altitudine caelum et Dominum; inde factum quod Dominus dictus ‘habitare in altissimis’, et Ipse ‘Altissimus et Excelsissimus’ appellatus, et postea cultus Domini super montibus habitus; similiter in ceteris; ut cum perciperent mane, tunc non ipsum mane diei percipiebant, sed caeleste quod est instar mane et aurorae in mentibus; inde Dominus appellata ‘Mane, Oriens et Aurora’; similiter cum arborem et ejus fructum e folia; haec nihil curabant, sed in illis videbant quasi repraesentatum hominem, in ‘fructum amorem et charitatem, in ‘foliis’ fidem; inde quoque non solum comparatus est homo Ecclesiae arbori, ut et paradiso et quae apud eum fructui et foliis, sed etiam ita appellatus:

[2] tales sunt qui in caelesti et angelica idea sunt: notum cuique esse potest quod idea communis regat omnia particularia, ita omnia objecta sensuum, tam illa quae vident quam quae audiunt; et quidem ita ut objecta nihil curent nisi quatenus ea influunt in ejus ideam communem; ut qui animo laetus est, omnia quae audit et videt, apparent ei sicut laeta e ridentia; qui autem animo tristis est, ei apparent omnia quae vide et audit, sicut tristia et dolorifica; ita in omnibus ceteris; nam affectio communis est in singulis, et facit ut videat et audiat singula in affectione communi; cetera ne quidem apparent sed sunt tanquam forent absentia aut nihili: ita se habuit cum Antiquissimae Ecclesiae homine; quicquid oculis vidit, hoc ei caeleste fuit; ac ita apud illum omnia et singula quasi vivebant.

[3] Exinde constare Potest qualis ejus cultus Divinus fuit, quod fuerit internus, et nullatenus externus. Cum vero declinabat Ecclesia, ut in posteris, et perceptio illa, seu communicatio cum caelo, perire inciperet, aliter se res habere coepit; in objectis sensuum non amplius percipiebant caeleste, ut prius, sed mundanum, et tantum magis quantum minus perceptionis residuum haberent; et tandem in posteritate ultima, quae erat proxime ante diluvium, in objectis nihil aliud quam mundanum, corporeum et terrestre capiebant: ita separabatur caelum ab homine, nec communicabat nisi admodum remote; communicatio tunc homini facta cum inferno, et inde idea communis e qua ideae omnium particularium, ut dictum; tunc cum aliqua idea caelestis obveniebat, ea nihili apud eos erat, usque tandem ut ne quidem agnoscere vellent quod daretur aliquid spirituale et caeleste; ita status hominis mutatus et inversus factus est.

[4] Quia a Domino praevisum quod talis fieret status hominis, etiam provisum fuit quod doctrinalia fidei haberent conservata ut inde scirent quid caeleste et quid spirituale. Doctrinalia illa ex Antiquissimae Ecclesiae homine collegerunt illi qui Cain dicti et qui Hanoch, de quibus actum; quare de Caino dicitur, quod signum ei impositum ne quis eum occideret; et de Hanoch, quod sumptus a Deo, de quibus videantur cap. iv ad vers. 15, n. 393, 394; et cap. v ad vers. 24. Doctrinalia haec constabant solum in significativis, et sic quasi in aenigmaticis, quid nempe significarent illa quae super terra; ut quid montes, quod caelestia et Dominum; quid mane et oriens, quod quoque caelestia et Dominum; quid diversi generis arbores et earum fructus, quod hominem et ejus caelestia; et sic quid cetera: in talibus constabant doctrinalia eorum quae collecta fuerunt a significativis Antiquissimae Ecclesiae; exinde eorum scripta quoque talia fuerunt: et quia in talibus Divinum et caeleste, quia etiam antiquum, admirabantur et conspicere sibi videbantur, cultus eorum ex similibus inceptus et permissus est; inde eorum cultus super montibus, inque lucis, in medio arborum; inde eorum statuae subdiales; et tandem altaria et holocausta, quae principalia omnis cultus postea facta sunt. Hic cultus inceptus est ab Antiqua Ecclesia et inde emanabat ad posteros adque omnes gentes circumcirca; praeter alia plura, de quibus, ex Divina Domini Misericordia, in sequentibus.