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Genesis第4章

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1 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bore Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.

2 And she again bore his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering to the LORD.

4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect to Abel, and to his offering:

5 But to Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

6 And the LORD said to Cain, Why art thou wroth? and Why is thy countenance fallen?

7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And to thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.

9 And the LORD said to Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?

10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth to me from the ground.

11 And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand;

12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield to thee its strength: A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.

13 And Cain said to the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear.

14 Behold, thou hast driven me this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it will come to pass, that every one that findeth me will slay me.

15 And the LORD said to him, Therefore whoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him seven-fold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.

16 And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.

17 And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived, and bore Enoch: and he built a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son Enoch.

18 And to Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech.

19 And Lamech took to him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.

20 And Adah bore Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle.

21 And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ.

22 And Zillah, she also bore Tubalcain, an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubalcain was Naamah.

23 And Lamech said to his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice, ye wives of Lamech, hearken to my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt.

24 If Cain shall be avenged seven-fold, truly Lamech seventy and seven-fold.

25 And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.

26 And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.

   

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Conjugial Love#135

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135. After this they took the piece of paper and read the third topic for discussion, namely, what the tree of life symbolizes, what the tree of the knowledge of good and evil symbolizes, and what eating from them means. And they all asked the people on the east to explain this mystery, because it required a deeper understanding, and people who come from the east have a flaming light, that is to say, a wisdom that comes of love, which is the wisdom meant by the garden in Eden in which the two trees were placed.

The people on the east, then, replied, "We will speak. But because no one acquires anything from himself but from the Lord, we will speak from Him, though it will still seem to come from us as though it originated with us."

Then they said, "A tree symbolizes a person; and its fruit, goodness of life. The tree of life therefore symbolizes a person living from God, or God living in the person. And because love and wisdom and charity and faith or good and truth constitute the life of God in a person, the tree of life symbolizes these qualities, from which a person has eternal life. The tree of life which people will be given to eat from, in the book of Revelation, has a similar symbolism (Revelation 2:7, 22:2,14).

[2] "The tree of the knowledge of good and evil symbolizes a person believing that he lives on his own and not from God, thus that the love and wisdom, charity and faith, or good and truth in the person are his and not God's - believing this because he thinks and wills, and speaks and acts, in all likeness and appearance as if on his own. Because a person with this belief comes into the persuasion that God has introduced Himself or infused His Divinity into him, therefore the serpent said:

...God knows that in the day you eat (of the fruit of the tree) your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. (Genesis 3:5)

[3] "Eating from the two trees symbolizes acquisition and assimilation. Eating from the tree of life symbolizes acquisition of eternal life, and eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil symbolizes acquisition of damnation. Therefore Adam and his wife were both cursed along with the serpent. The serpent means the devil in respect to self-love and pride in its own intelligence. This love takes possession of the tree, and people who are caught up in pride as a result of that love are the trees it possesses.

"People fall into an enormous error, therefore, who believe that Adam was wise and did good from his own nature, and that this was his state of integrity, when Adam himself was cursed for precisely that belief. For this is what is symbolized by his eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That was why he then fell from his state of integrity, which he had had as a result of his believing that he was wise and did good from God and not from himself, for that is what is meant by his eating from the tree of life.

"The Lord alone, when He was in the world, was wise of Himself and did good of Himself, because the Divine itself was in Him and was His from birth. Consequently He also became Redeemer and Savior by His own power."

[4] On the basis of these remarks and explanations, the people formed the following conclusion:

"The tree of life, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and eating from them," they said, "symbolize that the source of life for man is to have God in him, and that he then gains heaven and eternal life. On the other hand, the source of death for man is the persuasion and belief that the source of life for man is not God but himself, on which account he gains hell and eternal death, which is damnation."

  
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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.