De Bijbel

 

Genesis 1

Studie

1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first Day.

6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.

14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.

19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Commentaar

 

Gezicht

  
Photo by Caleb Kerr

Het is dan ook logisch dat de gezichten van mensen in de Bijbel hun innerlijk voorstellen, de gedachten, liefdes en verlangens die zij het diepst koesteren. We wenden ons gezicht naar de grond om nederigheid te tonen als we buigen in aanbidding; we wenden ons gezicht naar de bergen als we inspiratie zoeken; we wenden ons gezicht naar onze vijanden als we klaar zijn om verleiding te weerstaan. Wanneer de dingen moeilijk zijn, moeten wij "de feiten onder ogen zien", of ze innerlijk aanvaarden. En het zijn niet alleen de ogen; het is werkelijk het gezicht als geheel dat dit overbrengt. Zoals Swedenborg het uitdrukt, is het gezicht "de geestelijke wereld van de mens gepresenteerd in zijn natuurlijke wereld" (Hemel en Hel, nr. 91). Onze gezichten onthullen onze innerlijke gedachten en gevoelens op ontelbare manieren, wat de reden is waarom psychologen, pokerspelers en criminele onderzoekers zoveel tijd besteden aan het bestuderen ervan. "De ogen zijn de vensters van de ziel." Dat is een sentiment met wortels ergens in de duistere oudheid, maar een die hopeloos cliché is geworden omdat het zowel poëtisch is als overduidelijk waar. We hebben het gevoel dat als we in iemands ogen kunnen kijken, we echt kunnen weten wat ze van binnen zijn. Wanneer het gezicht van de Heer het onderwerp is, stelt dit het innerlijk van de Heer voor, dat volmaakte liefde en volmaakte barmhartigheid is. En wanneer mensen zich van de Heer afkeren en zijn liefde weigeren, wordt dit beschreven als de Heer die "zijn aangezicht verbergt".

(Referenties: Hemel En Hel 91)


De Bijbel

 

Psalms 8:4

Studie

       

4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?