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創世記第7章

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1 耶和華挪亞:你和你的全家都要進入方舟;因為在這世代中,我見你在我面前是人。

2 凡潔淨的畜類,你要帶母;不潔淨的畜類,你要帶一公一母;

3 空中的飛也要帶母,可以留種,活在全上;

4 因為再過,我要降四十晝夜,把我所造的各種活物都從上除滅。

5 挪亞就遵著耶和華所吩咐的行了。

6 洪水氾濫在上的時候,挪亞整歲。

7 挪亞就同他的妻和兒子兒婦都進入方舟,躲避洪水。

8 潔淨的畜類和不潔淨的畜類,飛並地上一切的昆蟲,

9 是一對一對的,有公有母,到挪亞那裡進入方舟,正如所吩咐挪亞的。

10 過了那洪水氾濫在上。

11 當挪亞歲,二十七日那一天,大淵的泉源都裂開了上的窗戶也敞開了

12 四十晝夜降大雨在上。

13 正當那日,挪亞和他個兒子、含、雅弗,並挪亞的妻子個兒婦,都進入方舟。

14 他們和百,各從其類,一切牲畜,各從其類,爬在上的昆蟲,各從其類,一切禽,各從其類,都進入方舟。

15 凡有血、有氣息的活物,一對一對地到挪亞那裡,進入方舟。

16 凡有血進入方舟的,都是有公有母,正如所吩咐挪亞的。耶和華就把他在方舟裡頭。

17 洪水氾濫在四十,水往上長,把方舟從上漂起。

18 水勢浩大,在上大大往上長,方舟在水面上漂來漂去。

19 水勢在上極其浩大,都淹沒了。

20 勢比高過十五肘,嶺都淹沒了。

21 凡在上有血動物,就是飛牲畜、走,和爬在上的昆蟲,以及所有的人,都死了。

22 凡在旱地上、鼻孔有氣息的生靈都死了

23 上各類的活物,連人帶牲畜、昆蟲,以及空中的飛,都從上除滅了,只留下挪亞和那些與他同在方舟裡的。

24 水勢浩大,在上共一五十

   

来自斯威登堡的著作

 

Arcana Coelestia#10570

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10570. 'And I and Your people will be made more distinguished than all the people who are on the face of the ground' means the consequent pre-eminence over all throughout the whole world where the Church exists. This is clear from the meaning of 'being made more distinguished than all the people who are on the face of the ground' as pre-eminence over all throughout the whole world. The reason why where the Church exists is also meant is that 'the ground' means the Church, which is dealt with below.

[2] It was this end in view - that they should be made more distinguished than all throughout the whole world - that caused the Israelite nation to worship Jehovah and enabled them to be outwardly holy. This is clear from what has been shown previously regarding that nation. The fact that such people are able to be outwardly holy and to seem to others to be worshippers of God is clear from the idolaters spoken of in the historical narratives of the Word, who were able in like manner to do the outward things. But anyone may see and deduce that those idolaters possessed no inner holiness from the consideration that the Divine Truths which have been revealed in the Word are what make worship internal, when people know them and lead a life in keeping with them. For if a person were able to worship God in a holy way without those Truths there would be no need for any of the Church's teachings, nor for any preaching.

[3] Since that nation was such that their end in view - to be pre-eminent over others - enabled them to be outwardly holy, and since among people such as these the things that are representative of celestial and spiritual realities, which the outward things of their worship were, can be conveyed to angels and a link with heaven can thereby be established, that nation was accepted. But anyone who supposes that this made them worshippers of God is very much mistaken; for they were worshippers of self and the world, and idolaters at heart. And because they were such, neither was any revelation given them of the interior things of worship, which have to do with faith in the Lord and love to Him. This is evident from the books in the Old Testament, and also from the fact that they did not acknowledge the Lord when He came into the world, and indeed still do not acknowledge Him; and if presented with teachings about the Lord contained in the prophetical parts, even then they do not accept them. They desire a Messiah who will exalt them above all throughout the whole world, not a Messiah whose kingdom is in heaven and who looks from there to the salvation also of all on earth. From all this it becomes clear what that nation has been like since the earliest ages, and why it is that it says here that by Jehovah's going with them they would be made more distinguished than all the people who are on the face of the ground.

[4] By the words 'on the face of the ground' wherever the Church exists should be understood; for 'the ground' has the same meaning as 'the earth', namely the Church (for the meaning of 'the earth', or 'the land', as the Church, see in the places referred to in 9325). But 'the ground' means the Church for the same reason as 'the field' does, that is, because it receives various kinds of seeds, which then grow into plants and bear fruit, by which the truths and forms of the good of faith and love are meant. For the human being is a recipient of these just as the ground is of seeds. The earth is called a Church however on account of the people inhabiting it, with whom the Church exists. But since the ground implies that which extends spatially just as the earth or the land does, translators use the word 'earth' instead of 'ground'. Here they say 'on the face of the earth' instead of 'on the face of the ground', as they do in other places. And yet in the original language the term that denotes the ground is derived from an entirely different root from the one that the term denoting the earth springs from.

[5] The fact that 'the ground' means the Church, just as 'the earth' or 'the land' does, is clear from various places in the Word, of which let only some be quoted, such as this in Jeremiah,

The nobles sent their inferiors for water, they came to the pits, and they found no water; their vessels returned empty, because the ground was broken up in pieces, no rain had come to be on the land. Jeremiah 14:3-4.

Here 'the ground' means the Church, and so does 'the land', for the subject in the internal sense is the lack of truth and resulting ruination of the Church. 'Water' means truths; 'pits' where those truths, thus religious teachings, are stored; 'vessels' recipients of them; and 'rain' the influx of them from heaven. 'The land' is where the Church is situated, and 'the ground' the actual Church, which is said to be 'broken up in pieces' owing to drought, that is, to the lack of truth from heaven.

[6] In Isaiah,

It will happen at the end of seventy years, that Jehovah will visit Tyre, and she will return to her harlot's reward and commit whoredom with all the kingdoms of the earth on the face of the ground. At length her merchandise and her harlot's reward will be holy to Jehovah. Isaiah 23:17-18.

'Tyre' means the Church in respect of its cognitions or knowledge of truth and good, and so in the abstract sense means those cognitions. These are called 'a harlot's reward' when they are taught for the sake of gain, position, and reputation for knowing them, thus when they are put on sale so to speak, and are not taught for truth's own sake. In the Word this is called harlotry and whoredom. 'Committing whoredom with all the kingdoms of the earth' means doing so with all the truths of the Church; 'on the face of the ground' means wherever the Church is situated. Since cognitions of truth and good continue to be cognitions of truth and good and so continue to be Divine, even when they are used for gain by a person who teaches and puts them up for sale, and they are consequently 'a harlot's reward', it says that 'her merchandise and her harlot's reward will be holy to Jehovah'. Everyone whose thought extends beyond the sense of the letter can see that a harlot's reward should not be understood in these verses, nor whoredom committed with all the kingdoms of the earth, nor that such a thing will be holy to Jehovah.

[7] In David,

You send forth Your spirit, they are created, and You renew the face of the ground. Psalms 104:30.

'Jehovah's spirit' means the Divine Truth emanating from the Lord, 9818; 'being created' means being created anew, that is, being regenerated, 10373; 'renewing the face of the ground' reforming and establishing the Church, 'the face of the ground' meaning wherever anything of the Church can be received. The like is meant in other places where the expression 'the face of the ground' occurs, such as Genesis 7:4; 8:8, 13; Exodus 32:12; Numbers 12:3; Deuteronomy 6:15; 7:6; 1 Samuel 20:15; 2 Samuel 14:7.

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