# Arcana Coelestia (Potts)/Genesis 2

CHAPTER THE SECOND.
67. As of the Lord's Divine mercy it has been given me to know the internal meaning of the Word, in which are contained deepest arcana that have not before come to any one's knowledge, nor can come unless the nature of the other life is known (for very many things of the Word's internal sense have regard to, describe, and involve those of that life), I am permitted to disclose what I have heard and seen during some years in which it has been granted me to be in the company of spirits and angels.
68. I am well aware that many will say that no one can possibly speak with spirits and angels so long as he lives in the body; and many will say that it is all fancy, others that I relate such things in order to gain credence, and others will make ​other objections. But by all this I am not deterred, for I have seen, I have heard, I have felt.
69. Man was so created by the Lord as to be able while living in the body to speak with spirits and angels, as in fact was done in the most ancient times; for, being a spirit clothed with a body, he is one with them. But because in process of time men so immersed themselves in corporeal and worldly things as to care almost nothing for aught besides, the way was closed. Yet as soon as the corporeal things recede in which man is immersed, the way is again opened, and he is among spirits, and in a common life with them.
70. As it is permitted me to disclose what for several years I have heard and seen, it shall here be told, first, how the case is with man when he is being resuscitated; or how he enters from the life of the body into the life of eternity. In order that I might know that men live after death, it has been given me to speak and be in company with many who were known to me during their life in the body; and this not merely for a day or a week, but for months, and almost a year, speaking and associating with them just as in this world. They wondered exceedingly that while they lived in the body they were, and that very many others are, in such incredulity as to believe that they will not live after death; when in fact scarcely a day intervenes after the death of the body before they are in the other life; for death is a continuation of life.
71. But as these matters would be scattered and disconnected if inserted among those contained in the text of the Word, it is permitted, of the Lord's Divine mercy, to append them in some order, at the beginning and end of each chapter; besides those which are introduced incidentally.
72. At the end of this chapter, accordingly, I am allowed to tell how man is raised from the dead and enters into the life of eternity.
CHAPTER II.
1. And the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the army of them.
2. And on the seventh day God finished His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made.
3. And God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it, because that in it He rested from all His work which God in making created.
4. These are the nativities of the heavens and of the earth when He created them, in the day in which Jehovah God made the earth and the heavens.
5. And there was no shrub of the field as yet in the earth, and there was no herb of the field as yet growing, because Jehovah God had not caused it to rain upon the earth. And there was no man to till the ground.
6. And He made a mist to ascend from the earth, and watered all the faces of the ground.
7. And Jehovah God formed man, dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of lives, and man became a living soul.
8. And Jehovah God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed.
9. And out of the ground made Jehovah God to grow every tree desirable to behold, and good for food; the tree of lives also, in the midst of the garden; and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
10. And a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from thence it was parted, and was into four heads.
11. The name of the first is Pishon; that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.
12. And the gold of that land is good; there is bdellium and the onyx stone.
13. And the name of the second river is Gihon; the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Gush.
​14. And the name of the third river is Hiddekel; that is it which goeth eastward toward Assyria; and the fourth river is Euphrates.
15. And Jehovah God took the man, and put him in the garden of Eden, to till it and take care of it.
16. And Jehovah God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden eating thou mayest eat.
17. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof, dying thou shalt die.
THE CONTENTS.
73. When from being dead a man has become spiritual, then from spiritual he becomes celestial, as is now treated of (verse 1).
74. The celestial man is the seventh day, on which the Lord rests (verses 2, 3).
75. His knowledge and his rationality (scientificum et rationale ejus) are described by the shrub and the herb out of the ground watered by the mist (verses 5, 6).
76. His life is described by the breathing into him of the breath of lives (verse 7).
77. Afterwards his intelligence is described by the garden in Eden, in the east; in which the trees pleasant to the sight are perceptions of truth, and the trees good for food are perceptions of good. Love is meant by the tree of lives, faith by the tree of knowledge (scientiae) (verses 8, 9).
78. Wisdom is meant by the river in the garden. From thence were four rivers, the first of which is good and truth; the second is the knowledge (cognitio) of all things of good and truth, or of love and faith. These are of the internal man. The third is reason, and the fourth is memory -knowledge (scientia), which are of the external man. All are from wisdom, and this is from love and faith in the Lord (verses 10-14).
79. The celestial man is such a garden. But as the garden is the Lord's, it is permitted this man to enjoy all these things, and yet not to possess them as his own (verse 15).
​80. He is also permitted to acquire a knowledge of what is good and true by means of every perception from the Lord, but he must not do so from himself and the world, nor search into the mysteries of faith by means of the things of sense and of memory-knowledge (sensualia et scientifica); which would cause the death of his celestial nature (verses 16, 17).
THE INTERNAL SENSE.
81. This chapter treats of the celestial man, as the preceding one did of the spiritual, who was formed out of a dead man. But as it is unknown at this day what the celestial man is, and scarcely what the spiritual man is, or a dead man, it is permitted me briefly to state the nature of each, that the difference may be known. First, then, a dead man acknowledges nothing to be true and good but what belongs to the body and the world, and this he adores. A spiritual man acknowledges spiritual and celestial truth and good; but he does so from a principle of faith, which is likewise the ground of his actions, and not so much from love. A celestial man believes and perceives spiritual and celestial truth and good, acknowledging no other faith than that which is from love, from which also he acts. [2] Secondly: The ends which influence a dead man regard only corporeal and worldly life, nor does he know what eternal life is, or what the Lord is; or should he know, he does not believe. The ends which influence a spiritual man regard eternal life, and thereby the Lord. The ends which influence a celestial man regard the Lord, and thereby His kingdom and eternal life. [3] Thirdly: A dead man, when in combat almost always yields, and when not in combat, evils and falsities have dominion over him, and he is a slave. His bonds are external, such as the fear of the law, of the loss of life, of wealth, of gain, and of the reputation which he values for their sake. The spiritual man is in combat, but is always victorious; the bonds by which he is restrained are internal, and are called the bonds of conscience. The celestial man is not in combat, and when assaulted by evils and falsities, he despises them, and is therefore called ​a conqueror. He is apparently restrained by no bonds, but is free. His bonds, which are not apparent, are perceptions of good and truth.
82. Verse 1. And the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the army of them. By these words is meant that man is now rendered so far spiritual as to have become the "sixth day;" "heaven" is his internal man, and "earth" his external; "the army of them" are love, faith, and the knowledges thereof, which were previously signified by the great luminaries and the stars. That the internal man is called "heaven," and the external "earth," is evident from the passages of the Word already cited in the preceding chapter, to which may be added the following from Isaiah:—
I will make a man more rare than solid gold, even a man than the precious gold of Ophir; therefore I will smite the heavens with terror, and the earth shall be shaken out of its place (xiii. 12, 13).
Thou forgettest Jehovah thy Maker, that stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundations of the earth; but I will put My words in thy mouth, and I will hide thee in the shadow of My hand, that I may stretch out the heaven, and lay the foundation of the earth (li. 13, 16).
From these words it is evident that both "heaven" and "earth" are predicated of man; for although they refer primarily to the Most Ancient Church, yet the interiors of the Word are of such a nature that whatever is said of the church may also be said of every individual member of it, who, unless he were a church, could not possibly be a part of the church, just as he who is not a temple of the Lord cannot be what is signified by the temple, namely, the church and heaven. It is for this reason that the Most Ancient Church is called "man," in the singular number.
83. The "heavens and the earth and all the army of them" are said to be "finished," when man has become the "sixth day," for then faith and love make a one. When they do this, love, and not faith, or in other words the celestial principle, and not the spiritual, begins to be the principal, and this is to be a celestial man.
84. Verses 2, 3. And on the seventh day God finished His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day ​from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it; because that in it He rested from all His work which God in making created. The celestial man is the "seventh day," which, as the Lord has worked during the six days, is called "His work;" and as all combat then ceases, the Lord is said to "rest from all His work." On this account the seventh day was sanctified, and called the Sabbath, from a Hebrew word meaning "rest." And thus was man created, formed, and made. These things are very evident from the words.
85. That the celestial man is the "seventh day," and that the seventh day was therefore hallowed, and called the Sabbath, are arcana which have not hitherto been discovered. For none have been acquainted with the nature of the celestial man, and few with that of the spiritual man, whom in consequence of this ignorance they have made to be the same as the celestial man, notwithstanding the great difference that exists between them, as may be seen in n. 81. As regards the seventh day, and as regards the celestial man being the "seventh day" or "Sabbath," this is evident from the fact that the Lord Himself is the Sabbath; and therefore He says:—
The Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath (Mark ii. 27),
which words imply that the Lord is Man himself, and the Sabbath itself. His kingdom in the heavens and on the earth is called, from Him, a Sabbath, or eternal peace and rest. [2] The Most Ancient Church, which is here treated of, was the Sabbath of the Lord above all that succeeded it. Every subsequent inmost church of the Lord is also a Sabbath; and so is every regenerate person when he becomes celestial, because he is a likeness of the Lord. The six days of combat or labor precede. These things were represented in the Jewish Church by the days of labor, and by the seventh day, which was the Sabbath; for in that church there was nothing instituted which was not representative of the Lord and of His kingdom. The like was also represented by the ark when it went forward, and when it rested, for by its journeyings in the wilderness were represented combats and temptations, and by its rest a state of peace; and therefore, when it set forward, Moses said:—
Rise up, Jehovah, and let Thine enemies be scattered, and let them that hate Thee flee before Thy faces. And when it rested, he said, Return, Jehovah, unto the ten thousands of the thousands of Israel (Num. x. 35, 36).
It is there, said of the ark that it went from the Mount of Jehovah "to search out a rest for them" (verse 33). [3] The rest of the celestial man is described by the Sabbath in Isaiah:—
If thou bring back thy foot from the Sabbath, so that thou doest not thy desire in the day of My holiness, and callest the things of the Sabbath delights to the holy of Jehovah, honorable; and shall honor it, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own desire, nor speaking a word; then shalt thou be delightful to Jehovah, and I will cause thee to be borne over the lofty things of the earth, and will feed thee with the heritage of Jacob (lviii. 13, 14).
Such is the quality of the celestial man that he acts not according to his own desire, but according to the good pleasure of the Lord, which is his " desire." Thus he enjoys internal peace and happiness—here expressed by "being uplifted over the lofty things of the earth"—and at the same time external tranquillity and delight, which is signified by "being fed with the heritage of Jacob."
86. When the spiritual man, who has become the "sixth day," is beginning to be celestial, which state is here first treated of, it is the "eve of the Sabbath," represented in the Jewish Church by the keeping holy of the Sabbath from the evening. The celestial man is the "morning" to be spoken of presently.
87. Another reason why the celestial man is the "Sabbath," or "rest," is that combat ceases when he becomes celestial. The evil spirits retire, and good ones approach, as well as celestial angels; and when these are present, evil spirits cannot possibly remain, but flee far away. And since it was not the man himself who carried on the combat, but the Lord alone for the man, it is said that the Lord "rested."
88. When the spiritual man becomes celestial, he is called the "work of God," because the Lord alone has fought for him, and has created, formed, and made him; and therefore it is here said, "God finished His work on the seventh day;" and twice, that "He rested from all His work." By the Prophets man is repeatedly called the "work of the hands and of the ​fingers of Jehovah;" as in Isaiah, speaking of the regenerate man:—
Thus hath said Jehovah the Holy One of Israel, and his Former, Seek ye signs of Me, signs concerning My sons, and concerning the work of My hands command ye Me. I have made the earth, and created man upon it; I, even My hands have stretched out the heavens, and all their army have I commanded. For thus hath said Jehovah that createth the heavens, God Himself that formeth the earth and maketh it; He establisheth it, He created it not a void, He formed it to be inhabited; I am Jehovah and there is no God else besides Me (xlv. 11, 12, 18, 21).
Hence it is evident that the new creation, or regeneration, is the work of the Lord alone. The expressions to "create," to "form," and to "make," are employed quite distinctively, both in the above passage—"creating the heavens, forming the earth, and making it" and in other places in the same Prophet, as:—
Every one that is called by My name, I have created him for My glory, I have formed him, yea, I have made him (xliii. 7),
and also in both the preceding and this chapter of Genesis; as in the passage before us: "He rested from all His work which God in making created." In the internal sense this usage always conveys a distinct idea; and the case is the same where the Lord is called "Creator," "Former," or "Maker."
89. Verse 4. These are the nativities of the heavens and of the earth, when He created them, in the day in which Jehovah God made the earth and the heavens. The "nativities of the heavens and of the earth," are the formations of the celestial man. That his formation is here treated of is very evident from all the particulars which follow, as that no herb was as yet growing; that there was no man to till the ground, as well as that Jehovah God formed man, and afterwards, that He made every beast and bird of the heavens, notwithstanding that the formation of these had been treated of in the foregoing chapter; from all which it is manifest that another man is here treated of. This however is still more evident from the fact, that now for the first time the Lord is called "Jehovah God," whereas in the preceding passages, which treat of the spiritual man, He is called simply "God;" and, further, that now "ground" and "field" are mentioned, while in the ​preceding passages only "earth" is mentioned. In this verse also "heaven" is first mentioned before "earth," and afterwards "earth" before "heaven;" the reason of which is that "earth" signifies the external man, and "heaven" the internal, and in the spiritual man reformation begins from "earth," that is, from the external man, while in the celestial man, who is here treated of, it begins from the internal man, or from "heaven."
90. Verses 5, 6. And there was no shrub of the field as yet in the earth, and there was no herb of the field as yet growing, because Jehovah God had not caused it to rain upon the earth; and there was no man to till the ground. And He made a mist to ascend from the earth, and watered all the faces of the ground. By the "shrub of the field," and the "herb of the field," are meant in general all that his external man produces. The external man is called "earth" while he remains spiritual, but "ground" and also "field" when he becomes celestial. "Rain," which is soon after called "mist," is the tranquillity of peace when combat ceases.
91. But what these things involve cannot possibly be perceived unless it is known what man's state is while from being spiritual he is becoming celestial, for they are deeply hidden. While he is spiritual, the external man is not yet willing to yield obedience to and serve the internal, and therefore there is a combat; but when he becomes celestial, then the external man begins to obey and serve the internal, and therefore the combat ceases, and tranquillity ensues. (See n. 87.) This tranquillity is signified by "rain" and " mist," for it is like a vapor with which the external man is watered and bedewed from the internal; and it is this tranquillity, the offspring of peace, which produces what are called the "shrub of the field," and the "herb of the field," which, specifically, are things of the rational mind and of the memory (rationalia et scientifica) from a celestial spiritual origin.
92. The nature of the tranquillity of peace of the external man, on the cessation of combat, or of the unrest caused by cupidities and falsities, can be known only to those who are acquainted with a state of peace. This state is so delightful that it surpasses every idea of delight: it is not only a cessation of Combat, but is life proceeding from interior peace, and ​affecting the external man in such a manner as cannot be described; the truths of faith, and the goods of love, which derive their life from the delight of peace, are then born.
93. The state of the celestial man, thus gifted with the tranquillity of peace—refreshed by the rain—and delivered from the slavery of what is evil and false, is thus described by the Lord in Ezekiel:—
I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil wild beast to cease out of the land, and they shall dwell confidently in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods; and I will make them and the places round about My hill a blessing; and I will cause the rain to come down in his season; rains of blessing shall they be. And the tree of the field shall yield its fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, and they shall be upon their ground in confidence, and shall know that I am Jehovah, when I have broken the reins of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those that make them to serve them; and ye My flock, the flock of My pasture, ye are a man, and I am your God (xxxiv. 25-27, 31).
And that this is effected on the "third day," which in the Word signifies the same as the "seventh," is thus declared in Hosea:—
After two days will He vivify us; in the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live before Him; and we shall know, and shall follow on to know Jehovah: His going forth is prepared as the dawn, and He shall come unto us as the rain, as the late rain watering the earth (vi. 2, 3).
And that this state is compared to the "growth of the field," is declared by Ezekiel, when speaking of the Ancient Church:—
I have caused thee to multiply as the growth of the field, and thou hast increased and hast grown up, and hast come to excellent ornaments (xvi. 7).
And it is also compared to
A shoot of the Lord's planting, and a work of the hands of Jehovah God (Isa. lx. 21).
94. Verse 7. And Jehovah God formed man, dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath (spiraculum) of lives, and man became a living soul. To "form man, dust from the ground," is to form his external man, which before was not man; for it is said (verse 5) that there was "no man to till the ground." To "breathe into his nostrils the breath of lives," is to give him the life of faith and love; and by "man ​became a living soul," is signified that his external man also was made alive.
95. The life of the external man is here treated of—the life of his faith or understanding in the two former verses, and the life of his love or will in this verse. Hitherto the external man has been unwilling to yield to and serve the internal, being engaged in a continual combat with him, and therefore the external man was not then "man." Now, however, being made celestial, the external man begins to obey and serve the internal, and it also becomes "man," being so rendered by the life of faith and the life of love. The life of faith prepares him, but it is the life of love which causes him to be "man."
96. As to its being said that "Jehovah God breathed into his nostrils," the case is this: In ancient times, and in the Word, by "nostrils" was understood whatever was grateful in consequence of its odor, which signifies perception. On this account it is repeatedly written of Jehovah, that He "smelled an odor of rest" from the burnt-offerings, and from those things which represented Him and His kingdom; and as the things relating to love and faith are most grateful to Him, it is said that "He breathed through his nostrils the breath of lives." Hence the anointed of Jehovah, that is, of the Lord, is called the "breath of the nostrils" (Lam. iv. 20). And the Lord Himself signified the same by "breathing on His disciples," as written in John:—
He breathed on them and said, Receive ye the Holy Spirit (xx. 22).
97. The reason why life is described by "breathing" and by "breath," is also that the men of the Most Ancient Church perceived states of love and of faith by states of respiration, which were successively changed, in their posterity. Of this respiration nothing can as yet be said, because at this day such things are altogether unknown. The most ancient people were well acquainted with it, and so are those who are in the other life, but no longer any one on this earth, and this was the reason why they likened spirit or life to "wind." The Lord also does this when speaking of the regeneration of man, in John:—
The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the voice thereof, and knowest not whence it cometh, or whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the spirit (iii. 8).
So in David:—
{{smaller block|By the word of Jehovah were the heavens made, and all the army of them by the breath of His mouth (Ps. xxxiii. 6).
And again:—
Thou gatherest their breath, they expire, and return to their dust; Thou sendest forth Thy spirit, they are created, and Thou renewest the faces of the ground (Ps. civ. 29, 30).
That the "breath (spiraculum)" is used for the life of faith and of love, appears from Job:—
He is the spirit in man, and the breath of Shaddai giveth them understanding (xxxii. 8).
Again in the same:—
The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of Shaddai hath given me life (xxxiii. 4).
98. Verse 8. And Jehovah God planted a garden eastward (ab oriente) in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. By a "garden" is signified intelligence; by "Eden," love; by the "east," the Lord; consequently by the "garden of Eden eastward," is signified the intelligence of the celestial man, which flows in from the Lord through love.
99. Life, or the order of life, with the spiritual man, is such that although the Lord flows in, through faith, into the things of his understanding, reason, and memory (in ejus intellectualia, rationalia, et scientifica), yet as his external man fights against his internal man, it appears as if intelligence did not flow in from the Lord, but from the man himself, through the things of memory and reason (per scientifica et rationalia). But the life, or order of life, of the celestial man, is such that the Lord flows in through love and the faith of love into the things of his understanding, reason, and memory (in ejus intellectualia, rationalia, et scientifica), and as there is no combat between, the internal and the external man, he perceives that this is really so. Thus the order which up to this point had been inverted with the spiritual man, is now described as restored with the celestial man, and this order, or man, is called ​a "garden in Eden in the east." In the supreme sense, the "garden planted by Jehovah God in Eden in the east" is the Lord Himself. In the inmost sense, which is also the universal sense, it is the Lord's kingdom, and the heaven in which man is placed when he has become celestial. His state then is such that he is with the angels in heaven, and is as it were one among them; for man has been so created that while living in this world he may at the same time be in heaven. In this state all his thoughts and ideas of thoughts, and even his words and actions, are open, even from the Lord, and contain within them what is celestial and spiritual; for there is in every man the life of the Lord, which causes him to have perception.
100. That a "garden" signifies intelligence, and "Eden" love, appears also from Isaiah:—
Jehovah will comfort Zion, He will comfort all her waste places, and He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of Jehovah; joy and gladness shall be found therein, confession and the voice of singing (li. 3).
In this passage, "wilderness," "joy," and "confession," are terms expressive of the celestial things of faith, or such as relate to love; but "desert," "gladness," and "the voice of singing," of the spiritual things of faith, or such as belong to the understanding. The former have relation to "Eden," the latter to "garden;" for with this Prophet two expressions constantly occur concerning the same thing, one of which signifies celestial, and the other spiritual things. What is further signified by the "garden in Eden," may be seen in what follows at verse 10.
101. That the Lord is the "east" also appears from the Word, as in Ezekiel:—
He brought me to the gate, even the gate that looketh the way of the east, and behold the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east; and His voice was as the voice of many waters, and the earth shone with His glory (xliii. 1, 2, 4).
It was in consequence of the Lord's being the "east" that a holy custom prevailed in the representative Jewish Church, before the building of the temple, of turning their faces toward the east when they prayed.
​102. Verse 9. And out of the ground made Jehovah God to grow every tree desirable to behold, and good for food; the tree of lives also, in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge (scientiae) of good and evil. A "tree" signifies perception; a "tree desirable to behold," the perception of truth, a "tree good for food," the perception of good; the "tree of lives," love and the faith thence derived; the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil," faith derived from what is sensuous, that is, from mere memory-knowledge (scientia).
103. The reason why "trees" here signify perceptions is that the celestial man is treated of, but it is otherwise when the subject is the spiritual man, for on the nature of the subject depends that of the predicate.
104. At this day it is unknown what Perception is. It is a certain internal sensation, from the Lord alone, as to whether a thing is true and good; and it was very well known to the Most Ancient Church. This perception is so perfect with the angels, that by it they are aware and have knowledge of what is true and good; of what is from the Lord, and what from themselves; and also of the quality of any one who comes to them, merely from his approach, and from a single one of his ideas. The spiritual man has no perception, but has conscience. A dead man has not even conscience; and very many do not know what conscience is, and still less what perception is.
105. The "tree of lives" is love and the faith thence derived; "in the midst of the garden," is in the will of the internal man. The will, which in the Word is called the "heart," is the primary possession of the Lord with man and angel. But as no one can do good of himself, the will or heart is not man's, although it is predicated of man; cupidity, which he calls will, is man's. Since then the will is the "midst of the garden," where the tree of lives is placed, and man has no will, but mere cupidity, the "tree of lives" is the mercy of the Lord, from whom come all love and faith, consequently all life.
106. But the nature of the "tree of the garden," or perception; of the "tree of lives," or love and the faith thence derived; and of the "tree of knowledge," or faith originating in what is sensuous and in mere memory-knowledge, will be shown in the following pages.
​107. Verse 10. And a river went out of Eden, to water the garden, and from thence it was parted, and was into four heads. A "river out of Eden," signifies wisdom from love, for "Eden" is love; "to water the garden," is to bestow intelligence; to be "thence parted into four heads," is a description of intelligence by means of the four rivers, as follows.
108. The most ancient people, when comparing man to a "garden," also compared wisdom, and the things relating to wisdom, to "rivers;" nor did they merely compare them, but actually so called them, for such was their way of speaking. It was the same afterwards in the Prophets, who sometimes compared them, and sometimes called them so. As in Isaiah:—
Thy light shall arise in darkness, and thy thick darkness shall be as the light of day; and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like an outlet of waters, whose waters lie not (lviii. 10, 11).
Treating of those who receive faith and love. Again, speaking of the regenerate:—
As the valleys are they planted, as gardens by the river's side; as lignaloes which Jehovah hath planted, as cedar-trees beside the waters (Num. xxiv. 6).
In Jeremiah:—
Blessed is the man who trusteth in Jehovah; he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that sendeth forth her roots by the river (xvii. 7, 8).
In Ezekiel the regenerate are not compared to a garden and a tree, but are so called:—
The waters made her to grow, the deep of waters uplifted her, the river ran round about her plant, and sent out its channels to all the trees of the field; she was made beautiful in her greatness, in the length of her branches, for her root was by many waters. The cedars in the garden of God did not hide her; the fir-trees were not like her boughs, and the plane-trees were not like her branches, nor was any tree in the garden of God equal to her in her beauty; I have made her beautiful by the multitude of her branches, and all the trees of Eden that were in the garden of God envied her (xxxi. 4, 7-9).
From these passages it is evident that when the most ancient people compared man, or the things in man, to a "garden," they added the "waters" and "rivers" by which he might be ​watered, and by these waters and rivers meant such things as would cause his growth.
109. That although wisdom and intelligence appear in man, they are, as has been said, of the Lord alone, is plainly declared in Ezekiel by means of similar representatives:—
Behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward; for the face of the house is the east; and he said, These waters issue out to the border toward the east, and go down into the plain, and come to the sea, which being led into the sea, the waters shall be healed; and it shall come to pass that every living soul which creepeth, whithersoever the water of the rivers shall come, shall live. And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, there come up all trees for food, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed; it is born again in its months, because these its waters issue out of the sanctuary, and the fruit thereof shall be for food, and the leaf thereof for medicine (xlvii. 1, 8, 9, 12).
Here the Lord is signified by the "east," and by the "sanctuary," whence the waters and rivers issued. In like manner in John:—
He showed me a pure river of water of life, bright as crystal, going forth out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street thereof, and of the river on this side and that, was the tree of life, which bare twelve [manner of] fruits, and yielded her fruit every month; and the leaf of the tree was for the healing of the nations (Rev. xxii. 1, 2).
110. Verses 11, 12. The name of the first is Pishon; that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; and the gold of that land is good; there is bdellium, and the onyx stone. The "first" river, or "Pishon," signifies the intelligence of the faith that is from love; "the land of Havilah" signifies the mind; "gold" signifies good; "bdellium and the onyx stone," truth. "Gold" is mentioned twice because it signifies the good of love and the good of faith from love; and "bdellium and the onyx stone" are mentioned because the one signifies the truth of love, and the other the truth of faith from love. Such is the celestial man.
111. It is however a very difficult matter to describe these things as they are in the internal sense, for at the present day no one knows what is meant by faith from love, and what by the wisdom and intelligence thence derived. For external men scarcely know of anything but memory-knowledge (scientia), ​which they call intelligence and wisdom, and faith. They do not even know what love is, and many do not know what the will and understanding are, and that they constitute one mind. And yet each of these things is distinct, yea, most distinct, and the universal heaven is ordinated by the Lord in the most distinct manner according to the differences of love and faith, which are innumerable.
112. Be it known moreover that there is no wisdom which is not from love, thus from the Lord; nor any intelligence except from faith, thus also from the Lord; and that there is no good except from love, thus from the Lord; and no truth except from faith, thus from the Lord. What are not from love and faith, and thus from the Lord, are indeed called by these names, but they are spurious.
113. Nothing is more common in the Word than for the good of wisdom or of love to be signified and represented by "gold." All the gold in the ark, in the temple, in the golden table, in the candlestick, in the vessels, and upon the garments of Aaron, signified and represented the good of wisdom or of love. So also in the Prophets, as in Ezekiel:—
In thy wisdom and in thine intelligence thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver in thy treasures (xxviii. 4),
where it is plainly said that from wisdom and intelligence are "gold and silver," or the good and the true, for "silver" here signifies truth, as it does also in the ark and in the temple. In Isaiah:—
The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come, they shall bring gold and incense, and they shall show forth the praises of Jehovah (lx. 6).
Thus also:—
The wise men from the east, who came to Jesus when He was born, fell down and worshiped Him; and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto Him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh (Matt. ii. 1, 11).
Here also "gold" signifies good; "frankincense and myrrh," things that are grateful because from love and faith, and which are therefore called "the praises of Jehovah." Wherefore it is said in David:—
He shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba; prayer also shall be made for him continually, and every day shall He bless him (Ps. lxxii. 15).
114. The truth of faith is signified and represented in the Word by precious "stones," as by those in the breast-plate of judgment, and on the shoulders of Aaron's ephod. In the breast-plate, "gold, blue, bright crimson, scarlet double-dyed, and fine-twined linen," represented such things as are of love, and the precious "stones" such as are of faith from love; as did likewise the two "stones of memorial" on the shoulders of the ephod, which were onyx stones, set in ouches of gold (Exod. xxviii. 9-22). This signification of precious stones is also plain from Ezekiel, where, speaking of a man possessed of heavenly riches, which are wisdom and intelligence, it is said:—
Full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty, thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the ruby, the topaz, the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper; the sapphire, the chrysoprase, the emerald, and gold; the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was in thee; in the day that thou wast created they were prepared; thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created (xxviii. 12, 13, 15),
which words it must be evident to every one do not signify stones, but the celestial and spiritual things of faith; yea, each stone represented some essential of faith.
115. When the most ancient people spoke of "lands," they understood what was signified by them, just as those at the present day who have an idea that the land of Canaan and Mount Zion signify heaven, do not so much as think of any land or mountain when these places are mentioned, but only of the things which they signify. It is so here with the "land of Havilah," which is mentioned again in Genesis xxv. 18, where it is said of the sons of Ishmael, that they "dwelt from Havilah even unto Shur, which is before Egypt, as thou goest toward Assyria." Those who are in a heavenly idea perceive from these words nothing but intelligence, and what flows from intelligence. So by to "compass" as where it is said that the river Pishon "compasseth the whole land of Havilah" they perceive a flowing in; as also in the onyx stones on the shoulders of Aaron's ephod being encompassed with ouches of gold ​(Exod. xxviii. 11), they perceive that the good of love should inflow into the truth of faith. And so in many other instances.
116. Verse 13. And the name of the second river is Gihon; the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Gush. The "second river," which is called "Gihon," signifies the knowledge (cognitio) of all things that belong to the good and the true, or to love and faith, and the "land of Gush" signifies the mind or faculty. The mind is constituted of the will and the understanding; and what is said of the first river has reference to the will, and what of this one to the understanding to which belong the knowledges (cognitiones) of good and of truth.
117. The "land of Cush," or Ethiopia, moreover, abounded in gold, precious stones, and spices, which, as before said, signify good, truth, and the things thence derived which are grateful, such as are those of the knowledges of love and faith. This is evident from the passages above cited (n. 113) from Isa. lx. 6; Matt. ii. 1, 11; David, Ps. lxxii. 15. That similar things are meant in the Word by "Cush" or "Ethiopia," and also by "Sheba," is evident from the Prophets, as in Zephaniah, where also the "rivers of Cush" are mentioned:—
In the morning He will give His judgment for light; for then will I turn to the people with a clear language, that they may all call upon the name of Jehovah, to serve Him with one shoulder; from the passage of the rivers of Cush My suppliants shall bring Mine offering (iii. 5, 9, 10).
And in Daniel, speaking of the king of the north and of the south:—
He shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the desirable things of Egypt; and the Lybians and the Ethiopians shall be under his steps (xi. 43),
where "Egypt" denotes memory-knowledges (scientifica), and the "Ethiopians" knowledges (cognitiones). [2] So in Ezekiel:—
The merchants of Sheba and Raamah, these were thy merchants, in the chief of all spices, and in every precious stone, and in gold (xxvii. 22),
by whom in like manner are signified knowledges (cognitiones) of faith. So in David, speaking of the Lord, consequently of the celestial man:—
In his days shall the righteous flourish, and abundance of peace until there shall be no moon; the kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents; the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer a gift (Ps. lxxii. 7, 10).
These words, as is plain from their connection with the preceding and subsequent verses, signify celestial things of faith. Similar things were signified by the queen of Sheba, who came to Solomon, and proposed hard questions, and brought him spices, gold, and precious stones (1 Kings x. 1, 2). For all things contained in the historical parts of the Word, as well as in the Prophets, signify, represent, and involve arcana.
118. Verse 14. And the name of the third river is Hiddekel; that is it which goeth eastward toward Asshur; and the fourth river it is Phrath. The "river Hiddekel" is reason, or the clearsightedness of reason. "Asshur" is the rational mind; the "river which goeth eastward toward Asshur," signifies that the clearsightedness of reason comes from the Lord through the internal man into the rational mind, which is of the external man; "Phrath," or Euphrates, is memory-knowledge (scientia), which is the ultimate or boundary.
119. That "Asshur" signifies the rational mind, or the rational of man, is very evident in the Prophets, as in Ezekiel:—
Behold, Asshur was a cedar in Lebanon, with fair branches and a shady grove, and lofty in height; and her offshoot was among the thick boughs. The waters made her grow, the deep of waters uplifted her, the river ran round about her plant (xxxi. 3, 4).
The rational is called a "cedar in Lebanon;" the "offshoot among the thick boughs," signifies the knowledges of the memory, which are in this very plight. This is still clearer in Isaiah:—
In that day shall there be a path from Egypt to Asshur, and Asshur shall come into Egypt, and Egypt into Asshur, and the Egyptians shall serve Asshur. In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Asshur, a blessing in the midst of the land, that Jehovah Zebaoth shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt My people, and Asshur the work of My hands, and Israel Mine inheritance (xix. 23-25).
By "Egypt" in this and various other passages is signified memory-knowledges, by "Asshur" reason, and by "Israel" intelligence.
​120. As by "Egypt," so also by "Euphrates," are signified memory-knowledges (scientiae seu scientifica), and also the sensuous things from which these knowledges come. This is evident from the Word in the Prophets, as in Micah:—
My she-enemy hath said, Where is Jehovah thy God? The day in which He shall build thy walls (macerias), that day shall the decree be far removed; that day also He shall come even to thee from Asshur, and to the cities of Egypt, and to the river (Euphrates) (vii. 10-12).
So did the prophets speak concerning the coming of the Lord who should regenerate man so that he might become like the celestial man. In Jeremiah:—
What hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? or what hast thou to do in the way of Asshur, to drink the waters of the river (Euphrates)? (ii. 18),
where "Egypt" and "Euphrates" likewise signify memory-knowledges, and "Asshur" reasonings thence derived. In David:—
Thou hast made a vine to go forth out of Egypt; Thou hast cast out the nations; Thou hast planted her; Thou hast sent out her shoots even to the sea, and her twigs to the river (Euphrates) (Ps. lxxx. 8, 11),
where also the "river Euphrates" signifies what is sensuous and of the memory (sensuali et scientifico). For the Euphrates was the boundary of the dominions of Israel toward Assyria, as the knowledge of the memory is the boundary of the intelligence and wisdom of the spiritual and celestial man. The same is signified by what was said to Abraham:—
Unto thy seed will I give this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates (Gen. xv. 18).
These two boundaries have a like signification.
121. The nature of celestial order, or how the things of life proceed, is evident from these rivers, namely, from the Lord, who is the "East," and that from Him proceeds wisdom, through wisdom intelligence, through intelligence reason, and so by means of reason the knowledges of the memory are vivified. This is the order of life, and such are celestial men; and therefore, since the elders of Israel represented celestial men, they were called "wise, intelligent, and knowing" (Deut. ​i. 13, 15). Hence it is said of Bezaleel, who constructed the ark, that he was
Filled with the spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge (scientia), and in all work (Exod. xxxi. 3; xxxv. 31; xxxvi. 1, 2).
122. Verse 15. And Jehovah God took the man, and put him in the garden of Eden, to till it and take care of it. By the "garden of Eden" are signified all things of the celestial man, as described; by to "till it and take care of it," is signified that it is permitted him to enjoy all these things, but not to possess them as his own, because they are the Lord's.
123. The celestial man acknowledges, because he perceives, that all things both in general and in particular are the Lord's. The spiritual man does indeed acknowledge the same, but with the mouth, because he has learned it from the Word. The worldly and corporeal man neither acknowledges nor admits it; but whatever he has he calls his own, and imagines that were he to lose it, he would altogether perish.
124. That wisdom, intelligence, reason, and knowledge (scientia), are not of man, but of the Lord, is very evident from all that the Lord taught; as in Matthew, where the Lord compares Himself to a householder, who planted a vineyard, and hedged it round, and let it out to husbandmen (xxi. 33); and in John:—
The Spirit of truth shall guide you into all truth; for He shall not speak of Himself, but what things soever He shall hear, He shall speak; He shall glorify Me, for He shall receive of Mine, and shall declare it unto you (xvi. 13, 14).
And in another place:—
A man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven (iii. 27).
That this is really so is known to every one who is acquainted with even a few of the arcana of heaven.
125. Verse 16. And Jehovah God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden, eating thou mayest eat. To "eat of every tree," is to know from perception what is good and true; for, as before observed, a "tree" signifies perception. The men of the Most Ancient Church had the knowledges of true faith by means of revelations, for they conversed with the Lord ​and with angels, and were also instructed by visions and dreams, which were most delightful and paradisal to them. They had from the Lord continual perception, so that when they reflected on what was treasured up in the memory they instantly perceived whether it was true and good, insomuch that when anything false presented itself, they not only avoided it but even regarded it with horror: such also is the state of the angels. In place of this perception of the Most Ancient Church, however, there afterwards succeeded the knowledge (cognitio) of what is true and good from what had been previously revealed, and afterwards from what was revealed in the Word.
126. Verse 17. But of the tree of the knowledge (scientia) of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof, dying thou shalt die. These words, taken together with those just explained, signify that it is allowable to become acquainted with what is true and good by means of every perception derived from the Lord, but not from self and the world; that is, we are not to inquire into the mysteries of faith by means of the things of sense and of the memory (per sensualia et scientifica), for in this case the celestial of faith is destroyed.
127. A desire to investigate the mysteries of faith by means of the things of sense and of the memory, was not only the cause of the fall of the posterity of the Most Ancient Church, as treated of in the following chapter, but it is also the cause of the fall of every church; for hence come not only falsities, but also evils of life.
128. The worldly and corporeal man says in his heart, If I am not instructed concerning the faith, and everything relating to it, by means of the things of sense, so that I may see, or by means of those of the memory (scientifica), so that I may understand, I will not believe; and he confirms himself in this by the consideration that natural things cannot be contrary to spiritual. Thus he is desirous of being instructed from things of sense in what is celestial and Divine, which is as impossible as it is for a camel to go through the eye of a needle; for the more he desires to grow wise by such means, the more he blinds himself, till at length he believes nothing, not even that there ​is anything spiritual, or that there is eternal life. This comes from the principle which he assumes. And this is to "eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil," of which the more any one eats, the more dead he becomes. But he who would be wise from the Lord, and not from the world, says in his heart that the Lord must be believed, that is, the things which the Lord has spoken in the Word, because they are truths; and according to this principle he regulates his thoughts. He confirms himself by things of reason, of knowledge, of the senses, and of nature (per rationalia, scientifica, sensualia et naturalia), and those which are not confirmatory he casts aside.
129. Every one may know that man is governed by the principles he assumes, be they ever so false, and that all his knowledge and reasoning favor his principles; for innumerable considerations tending to support them present themselves to his mind, and thus he is confirmed in what is false. He therefore who assumes as a principle that nothing is to be believed until it is seen and understood, can never believe, because spiritual and celestial things cannot be seen with the eyes, or conceived by the imagination. But the true order is for man to be wise from the Lord, that is, from His Word, and then all things follow, and he is enlightened even in matters of reason and of memory-knowledge (in rationalibus et scientificis). For it is by no means forbidden to learn the sciences, since they are useful to his life and delightful; nor is he who is in faith prohibited from thinking and speaking as do the learned of the world; but it must be from this principle to believe the Word of the Lord, and, so far as possible, confirm spiritual and celestial truths by natural truths, in terms familiar to the learned world. Thus his starting-point must be the Lord, and not himself; for the former is life, but the latter is death.
130. He who desires to be wise from the world, has for his "garden" the things of sense and of memory-knowledge (sensualia et scientifica); the love of self and the love of the world are his "Eden;" his "east" is the west, or himself; his "river Euphrates" is all his memory-knowledge (scientificum), which is condemned; his "second river," where is "Assyria," is infatuated reasoning productive of falsities; his "third river," where is "Ethiopia," is the principles of evil and falsity thence ​derived, which are the knowledges of his faith; his "fourth river" is the wisdom thence derived, which in the Word is called "magic." And therefore "Egypt"―which signifies memory-knowledge (scientia)―after the knowledge became magical, signifies such a man, because, as may be seen from the Word, he desires to be wise from self. Of such it is written in Ezekiel:―
Thus hath said the Lord Jehovih, Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great whale that lieth in the midst of his rivers, who hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made myself. And the land of Egypt shall be for a solitude, and a waste, and they shall know that I am Jehovah, because he hath said, The river is mine, and I have made (xxix. 3, 9).
Such men are also called "trees of Eden in hell," in the same Prophet, where also Pharaoh, or the Egyptian, is treated of in these words:—
When I shall have made him descend into hell with them that descend into the pit; to whom art thou thus made like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet shalt thou be made to descend with the trees of Eden into the lower earth, in the midst of the uncircumcised, with them that be slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his crew (xxxi. 16, 18),
where the "trees of Eden" denote knowledges (scientifica et cognitiones) from the Word, which they thus profane by reasonings.
18. And Jehovah God said, It is not good that the man should be alone, I will make him a help as with him.
19. And Jehovah God formed out of the ground every beast of the field, and every fowl of the heavens, and brought it to the man to see what he would call it; and whatsoever the man called every living soul, that was the name thereof.
20. And the man gave names to every beast, and to the fowl of the heavens, and to every wild animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a help as with him.
21. And Jehovah God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in the place thereof.
​22. And the rib which Jehovah God had taken from the man, He built into a woman, and brought her to the man.
23. And the man said, This now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; therefore she shall be called wife, because she was taken out of man (vir).
24. Therefore shall a man (vir) leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh.
25. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
THE CONTENTS.
131. The posterity of the Most Ancient Church, which inclined to their Own, is here treated of.
132. Since man is such as not to be content to be led by the Lord, but desires to be led also by himself and the world, or by his Own, therefore the Own which was granted him is here treated of (verse 18).
133. And first it is given him to know the affections of good and the knowledges of truth with which he is endowed by the Lord; but still he inclines to his Own (verses 19, 20).
134. Wherefore he is let into a state of his Own, and an Own is given him, which is described by the rib built into a woman (verses 21 to 23).
135. Celestial and spiritual life are adjoined to the man's Own, so that they appear as a one (verse 24).
136. And innocence from the Lord is insinuated into this Own, so that it still might not be unacceptable (verse 25).
THE INTERNAL SENSE.
137. The first three chapters of Genesis treat in general of the Most Ancient Church which is called "Man" (homo), from its first period to its last, when it perished: the preceding part of this chapter treats of its most flourishing state, when it was a celestial man; here it now treats of those who inclined to their Own, and of their posterity.
138. Verse 18. And Jehovah God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help as with him. By "alone" is signified that he was not content to be led by the Lord, but desired to be led by self and the world; by a "help as with him," is signified man's Own, which is subsequently called a "rib built into a woman."
139. In ancient times those were said to "dwell alone" who were under the Lord's guidance as celestial men, because such were no longer infested by evils, or evil spirits. This was represented in the Jewish Church also by their dwelling alone when they had driven out the nations. On this account it is sometimes said of the Lord's church, in the Word, that she is "alone," as in Jeremiah:—
Arise, get you up to a quiet nation that dwelleth confidently, saith the Lord, which hath neither gates nor bar; they dwell alone (xlix. 31).
In the prophecy of Moses:—
Israel hath dwelt confidently alone (Deut. xxxiii. 28).
And still more clearly in the prophecy of Balaam:—
Lo, the people dwelleth alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations (Num. xxiii. 9),
where "nations" signify evils. This posterity of the Most Ancient Church was not disposed to dwell alone, that is, to be a celestial man, or to be led by the Lord as a celestial man, but, like the Jewish Church, desired to be among the nations. And because they desired this, it is said, "it is not good that the man should be alone," for he who desires is already in evil, and it is granted him.
140. That by "a help as with him" is signified man's Own, is evident both from the nature of this Own, and from what ​follows. As however the man of the church who is here treated of was well disposed, an Own was granted him, but of such a kind that it appeared as it were his own, and therefore it is said "a help as with him."
141. Innumerable things might be said about man's Own in describing its nature with the corporeal and worldly man, with the spiritual man, and with the celestial man. With the corporeal and worldly man, his Own is his all, he knows of nothing else than his Own, and imagines, as before said, that if he were to lose this Own he would perish. With the spiritual man also his Own has a similar appearance, for although he knows that the Lord is the life of all, and gives wisdom and understanding, and consequently the power to think and to act, yet this knowledge is rather the profession of his lips than the belief of his heart. But the celestial man discerns that the Lord is the life of all and gives the power to think and to act, for he perceives that it is really so. He never desires his Own, nevertheless an Own is given him by the Lord, which is conjoined with all perception of what is good and true, and with all happiness. The angels are in such an Own, and are at the same time in the highest peace and tranquillity, for in their Own are those things which are the Lord's, who governs their Own, or them by means of their Own. This Own is the veriest celestial itself, whereas that of the corporeal man is infernal. But concerning this Own more hereafter.
142. Verses 19, 20. And Jehovah God formed out of the ground every beast of the field, and every fowl of the heavens, and brought it to the man to see what he would call it; and whatsoever the man called every living soul, that was the name thereof. And the man gave names to every beast, and to the fowl of the heavens, and to every wild animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a help as with him. By "beasts" are signified celestial affections, and by "fowls of the heavens," spiritual affections; that is to say, by "beasts" are signified things of the will, and by "fowls" things of the understanding. To "bring them to the man to see what he would call them," is to enable him to know their quality, and his "giving them names," signifies that he knew it. But notwithstanding that he knew the quality of the affections of good and of the knowledges of ​truth that were given him by the Lord, still he inclined to his Own, which is expressed in the same terms as before—that "there was not found a help as with him."
143. That by "beasts" and "animals" were anciently signified affections and like things in man, may appear strange at the present day; but as the men of those times were in a celestial idea, and as such things are represented in the world of spirits by animals, and in fact by such animals as they are like, therefore when they spoke in that way they meant nothing else. Nor is anything else meant in the Word in those places where beasts are mentioned either generally or specifically. The whole prophetic Word is full of such things, and therefore one who does not know what each beast specifically signifies, cannot possibly understand what the Word contains in the internal sense. But, as before observed, beasts are of two kinds—evil or noxious beasts, and good or harmless ones—and by the good beasts are signified good affections, as for instance by sheep, lambs, and doves; and as it is the celestial, or the celestial spiritual man, who is treated of, such are here meant. That "beasts" in general signify affections, may be seen above, confirmed by some passages in the Word (n. 45, 46), so that there is no need of further confirmation.
144. That to "call by name" signifies to know the quality, is because the ancients, by the "name," understood the essence of a thing, and by "seeing and calling by name," they understood to know the quality. The reason was that they gave names to their sons and daughters according to the things which were signified, for every name had something peculiar in it, from which, and by which, they might know the origin and the nature of their children, as will be seen in a future, part of this work, when, of the Lord's Divine mercy, we come to treat of the twelve sons of Jacob. As therefore the names implied the source and quality of the things named, nothing else was understood by "calling by name." This was the customary mode of speaking among them, but one who does not understand this may wonder that such things should be signified.
145. In the Word also by "name" is signified the essence of a thing, and by "seeing and calling by name" is signified to know the quality. As in Isaiah:—
I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, Jehovah, who call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. For Jacob My servant's sake, and Israel My chosen, I have even called thee by thy name, I have surnamed thee, and thou hast not known Me (xlv. 3, 4).
In this passage, to "call by name," and to "surname" signifies to foreknow the quality. Again:—
Thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of Jehovah shall declare (lxii. 2),
signifying to become of another character, as appears from the preceding and subsequent verses. Again:—
Fear not, O Israel, for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art Mine (xliii. 1),
denoting that He knew their quality. Again in the same Prophet:—
Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their army by number. He will call them all by name (xl. 26),
meaning that He knew them all. In the Revelation:—
Thou hast a few names even in Sardis who have not denied their garments: he that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment, and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels (iii. 4, 5).
And in another place:—
Whose names are not written in the Lamb's book of life (xiii. 8).
By "names" in these passages are by no means meant names, but qualities; nor is the name of any one ever known in heaven, but his quality.
146. From what has been stated, the connection of what is signified may be seen. In verse 18 it is said, "It is not good that the man should be alone, I will make him a help as with him," and presently "beasts" and "birds" are spoken of, which nevertheless had been treated of before, and immediately it is repeated that "for the man there was not found a help as with him," which denotes that although he was permitted to know his quality as to the affections of good, and knowledges of truth, still he inclined to his Own; for those who are such as to desire what is their own, begin to despise the things of the ​Lord, however plainly they may be represented and shown to them.
147. Verse 21. And Jehovah God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in the place thereof. By a "rib," which is a bone of the chest, is meant man's Own, in which there is but little vitality, and indeed an Own which is dear to him; by "flesh in the place of the rib," is meant an Own in which there is vitality; by a "deep sleep" is meant the state into which he was let so that he might seem to himself to have what is his own, which state resembles sleep, because while in it he knows not but that he lives, thinks, speaks, and acts, from himself. But when he begins to know that this is false, he is then roused as it were out of sleep, and becomes awake.
148. The reason why what is man's own (and indeed an Own which is dear to him) is called a "rib," which is a bone of the chest, is that among the most ancient people the chest signified charity, because it contains both the heart and the lungs; and bones signified the viler things, because they possess a minimum of vitality; while flesh denoted such as had vitality. The ground of these significations is one of the deepest arcana known to the men of the Most Ancient Church, concerning which of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter.
149. In the Word also, man's Own is signified by "bones," and indeed an Own vivified by the Lord, as in Isaiah:—
Jehovah shall satisfy thy soul in droughts, and make thy bones alert, and thou shall be like a watered garden (lviii. 11).
Again:—
Then shall ye see, and your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall sprout as the blade (lxvi. 14).
In David:—
All my bones shall say, Jehovah, who is like unto Thee? (Ps. xxxv. 10).
This is still more evident from Ezekiel, where he speaks of bones receiving flesh, and having spirit put into them:—
[2] The Own of man, when viewed from heaven, appears like a something that is wholly bony, inanimate, and very ugly, consequently as being in itself dead, but when vivified by the Lord it looks like flesh. For man's Own is a mere dead thing, although to him it appears as something, indeed as everything. Whatever lives in him is from the Lord's life, and if this were withdrawn he would fall down as dead as a stone; for man is only an organ of life, and such as is the organ, such is the life's affection. The Lord alone has what is His Own; by this Own He redeemed man, and by this Own He saves him. The Lord's Own is Life, and from His Own, man's Own, which in itself is dead, is made alive. The Lord's Own is also signified by the Lord's words in Luke:—
A spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see Me have (xxiv. 39).
It was also meant by not a bone of the paschal lamb being broken (Exod. xii. 46).
150. The state of man when in his Own, or when he supposes that he lives from himself, is compared to "deep sleep," and indeed by the ancients was called deep sleep; and in the Word it is said of such that they have "poured out upon them the spirit of deep sleep" (Isa. xxix. 10), and that they sleep a sleep (Jer. li. 57). That man's Own is in itself dead, and that no one has any life from himself, has been shown so clearly in the world of spirits, that evil spirits who love nothing but their Own, and obstinately insist that they live from themselves, were convinced by sensible experience, and were forced to confess that they do not live from themselves. For a number of years I have been permitted in an especial manner to know how the case is with what is man's own, and it has been granted to me to perceive clearly that I could think nothing from myself, but that every idea of thought flows in, and sometimes I could perceive how and whence it flowed in. The man who supposes that he lives from himself is therefore in what ​is false, and by believing that he lives from himself appropriates to himself everything evil and false, which he would never do if his belief were in accordance with the real truth of the case.
151. Verse 22. And the rib which Jehovah God had taken from the man He built into a woman, and brought her to the man. By to "build" is signified to raise up what has fallen; by the "rib," man's Own not vivified; by a "woman," man's Own vivified by the Lord; by "He brought her to the man," that what is his own was granted him. The posterity of this church did not wish, like their parents, to be a celestial man, but to be under their own self-guidance; and, thus inclining to their Own, it was granted to them, but still an Own vivified by the Lord, and therefore called a "woman," and afterwards a "wife."
152. It requires but little attention in any one to discern that woman was not formed out of the rib of a man, and that deeper arcana are here implied than any person has heretofore been aware of. And that by the "woman" is signified man's Own, may be known from the fact that it was the woman who was deceived; for nothing ever deceives man but his Own, or what is the same, the love of self and of the world.
153. The rib is said to be "built into a woman," but it is not said that the woman was "created," or "formed," or "made," as before when treating of regeneration. The reason of this is that to "build" is to raise up that which has fallen; and in this sense it is used in the Word, where to "build" is predicated of evils; to "raise up," of falsities; and to "renew," of both; as in Isaiah:—
They shall build the wastes of eternity, they shall set up again the ancient desolations, and they shall renew the cities of the waste, the desolations of generation and generation (lxi. 4).
"Wastes" in this and other passages signify evils; "desolations," falsities; to "build" is applied to the former, to "set up again" to the latter, and this distinction is carefully observed in other places by the prophets, as where it is said in Jeremiah:—
Yet still will I build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel (xxxi. 4).
​154. Nothing evil and false is ever possible which is not man's Own, and from man's Own, for the Own of man is evil itself, and consequently man is nothing but evil and falsity. This has been evident to me from the fact that when the things of man's Own are presented to view in the world of spirits, they appear so deformed that it is impossible to depict anything more ugly, yet with a difference according to the nature of the Own, so that he to whom the things of the Own are visibly exhibited is struck with horror, and desires to flee from himself as from a devil. But truly the things of man's Own that have been vivified by the Lord appear beautiful and lovely, with variety according to the life to which the celestial of the Lord can be applied; and indeed those who have been endowed with charity, or vivified by it, appear like boys and girls with most beautiful countenances; and those who are in innocence, like naked infants, variously adorned with garlands of flowers encircling their bosoms, and diadems upon their heads, living and sporting in a diamond-like aura, and having a perception of happiness from the very inmost.
155. The words "a rib was built into a woman," have more things inmostly concealed in them than it is possible for any one ever to discover from the letter; for the Word of the Lord is such that its inmost contents regard the Lord Himself and His kingdom, and from this comes all the life of the Word. And so in the passage before us, it is the heavenly marriage that is regarded in its inmost contents. The heavenly marriage is of such a nature that it exists in the Own, which, when vivified by the Lord, is called the "bride and wife" of the Lord. Man's Own thus vivified has a perception of all the good of love and truth of faith, and consequently possesses all wisdom and intelligence conjoined with inexpressible happiness. But the nature of this vivified Own, which is called the "bride and wife" of the Lord, cannot be concisely explained. Suffice it therefore to observe that the angels perceive that they live from the Lord, although when not reflecting on the subject they know no other than that they live from themselves; but there is a general affection of such a nature that at the least departure from the good of love and truth of faith they perceive a change, and consequently they ​are in the enjoyment of their peace and happiness, which is inexpressible, while they are in their general perception that they live from the Lord. It is this Own also that is meant in Jeremiah, where it is said:—
Jehovah hath created a new thing in the earth, a woman shall compass a man (xxxi. 22).
It is the heavenly marriage that is signified in this passage also, where by a "woman" is meant the Own vivified by the Lord, of which woman the expression "to compass" is predicated, because this Own is such that it encompasses, as a rib made flesh encompasses the heart.
156. Verse 23. And the man said, This now is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; therefore she shall be called wife, because she was taken out of man (vir). "Bone of bones and flesh of flesh," signify the Own of the external man; "bone," this Own not so much vivified, and "flesh," the Own that is vivified. Man (vir), moreover, signifies the internal man, and from his being so coupled with the external man as is stated in the subsequent verse, the Own which was before called "woman," is here denominated "wife." "Now," signifies that it was thus effected at this time because the state was changed.
157. Inasmuch as "bone of bones and flesh of flesh" signified the Own of the external man in which was the internal, therefore in ancient times all those were called "bone of bones and flesh of flesh" who could be called their own (proprii), and were of one house, or of one family, or in any degree of relationship. Thus Laban said of Jacob,
Surely thou art my bone and my flesh (Gen. xxix. 14).
And Abimelech said of his mother's brethren, and of the family of the house of his mother's father,
Remember that I am your bone and your flesh (Judges ix. 2).
The tribes of Israel also said of themselves to David,
Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh (2 Sam. v. 1).
158. That man (vir) signifies the internal man, or what is the same, one who is intelligent and wise, is plain from Isaiah:—
I behold, and there is no man (vir), even among them, and there is no counselor (xli. 28),
meaning none wise and intelligent. Also in Jeremiah:—
Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see if ye can find a man, if there be any executing judgment, seeking the truth (v. 1).
"One who executes judgment" means a wise person; and "one who seeks the truth," an intelligent one.
159. But it is not easy to perceive how the case is with these things unless the state of the celestial man is understood. In the celestial man the internal man is distinct from the external, indeed so distinct that the celestial man perceives what belongs to the internal man, and what to the external, and how the external man is governed through the internal by the Lord. But the state of the posterity of this celestial man, in consequence of desiring their Own, which belongs to the external man, was so changed that they no longer perceived the internal man to be distinct from the external, but imagined the internal to be one with the external, for such a perception takes place when man inclines to his Own.
160. Verse 24. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh. To "leave father and mother," is to recede from the internal man, for it is the internal which conceives and brings forth the external; to "cleave unto his wife," is that the internal may be in the external; to "be one flesh," that they are there together; and because before, the internal man, and the external from the internal, was spirit, but now they have become flesh. Thus was celestial and spiritual life adjoined to the Own, that they might be as one.
161. This posterity of the Most Ancient Church was not evil, but was still good; and because they desired to live in the external man, or in their Own, this was permitted them by the Lord, what is spiritual celestial however being mercifully insinuated therein. How the internal and external act as a one, or how they appear as a one, cannot be known unless the influx of the one into the other is known. In order to conceive some idea of it, take for example an action. Unless in an action there is charity, that is, love and faith, and in these ​the Lord, that action cannot be called a work of charity, or the fruit of faith.
162. All the laws of truth and right flow from celestial beginnings, or from the order of life of the celestial man. For the whole heaven is a celestial man because the Lord alone is a celestial man, and as He is the all in all of heaven and the celestial man, they are thence called celestial. As every law of truth and right descends from celestial beginnings, or from the order of life of the celestial man, so in an especial manner does the law of marriages. It is the celestial (or heavenly) marriage from and according to which all marriages on earth must be derived; and this marriage is such that there is one Lord and one heaven, or one church whose head is the Lord. The law of marriages thence derived is that there shall be one husband and one wife, and when this is the case they represent the celestial marriage, and are an exemplar of the celestial man. This law was not only revealed to the men of the Most Ancient Church, but was also inscribed on their internal man, wherefore at that time a man had but one wife, and they constituted one house. But when their posterity ceased to be internal men, and became external, they married a plurality of wives. Because the men of the Most Ancient Church in their marriages represented the celestial marriage, conjugial love was to them a kind of heaven and heavenly happiness, but when the Church declined they had no longer any perception of happiness in conjugial love, but in pleasure from a number, which is a delight of the external man. This is called by the Lord "hardness of heart," on account of which they were permitted by Moses to marry a plurality of wives, as the Lord Himself teaches:—
For the hardness of your heart Moses wrote you this precept, but from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they twain shall be one flesh; wherefore they are no more twain but one flesh; what therefore God hath joined together let not man put asunder (Mark x. 5-9).
163. Verse 25. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. Their being "naked, and not ashamed," signifies that they were innocent, for the Lord had ​insinuated innocence into their Own, to prevent its being unacceptable.
164. The Own of man, as before stated, is mere evil, and when exhibited to view is most deformed, but when charity and innocence from the Lord are insinuated into the Own, it then appears good and beautiful (as before observed, n. 154). Charity and innocence not only excuse the Own (that is, what is evil and false in man), but as it were abolish it, as may be observed in little children, in whom what is evil and false is not merely concealed, but is even pleasing, so long as they love their parents and one another, and their infantile innocence shows itself. Hence it may be known why no one can be admitted into heaven unless he possesses some degree of innocence; as the Lord has said:—
Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. And He took them up in His arms, put His hands upon them, and blessed them (Mark x. 14-16).
165. That the "nakedness of which they were not ashamed" signifies innocence, is proved by what follows, for when integrity and innocence departed they were ashamed of their nakedness, and it appeared to them disgraceful, and they therefore hid themselves. The same is evident also from the representations in the world of spirits, for when spirits wish to exculpate themselves and prove their guiltlessness, they present themselves naked in order to testify their innocence. Especially is it evident from the innocent in heaven, who appear as naked infants decorated with garlands according to the nature of their innocence; while those who have not so much innocence are clad in becoming and shining garments (of diamond silk as you might say), as the angels were occasionally seen by the prophets.
166. Such are some of the things contained in this chapter of the Word, but those here set forth are but few. And as the celestial man is treated of, who at the present day is known to ​scarcely any one, even these few things cannot but appear obscure to some.
167. If any one could know how many arcana each particular verse contains, he would be amazed, for the number of arcana contained is past telling, and this is very little shown in the letter. To state the matter shortly: the words of the letter, exactly as they are, are vividly represented in the world of spirits, in a beautiful order. For the world of spirits is a world of representatives, and whatever is vividly represented there is perceived, in respect to the minute things contained in the representatives, by the angelic spirits who are in the second heaven; and the things thus perceived by the angelic spirits are perceived abundantly and fully in inexpressible angelic ideas by the angels who are in the third heaven, and this in boundless variety in accordance with the Lord's good pleasure. Such is the Word of the Lord.
CONCERNING THE RESUSCITATION OF MAN FROM THE DEAD, AND HIS ENTRANCE INTO ETERNAL LIFE.
168. Being permitted to describe in connected order how man passes from the life of the body into the life of eternity, in order that the way in which he is resuscitated might be known, this has been shown me, not by hearing, but by actual experience.
169. I was reduced into a state of insensibility as to the bodily senses, thus almost into the state of dying persons, retaining however my interior life unimpaired, attended with the power of thinking, and with sufficient breathing for life, and finally with a tacit breathing, that I might perceive and remember what happens to those who have died and are being resuscitated.
170. Celestial angels were present who occupied the region of the heart, so that as to the heart I seemed united with them, and so that at length scarcely anything was left to me except thought, and the consequent perception, and this for some hours.
​171. I was thus removed from communication with spirits in the world of spirits, who supposed that I had departed from the life of the body.
172. Besides the celestial angels, who occupied the region of the heart, there were also two angels sitting at my head, and it was given me to perceive that it is so with every one.
173. The angels who sat at my head were perfectly silent, merely communicating their thoughts by the face, so that I could perceive that another face was as it were induced upon me; indeed two, because there were two angels. When the angels perceive that their faces are received, they know that the man is dead.
174. After recognizing their faces, they induced certain changes about the region of the mouth, and thus communicated their thoughts, for it is customary with the celestial angels to speak by the province of the mouth, and it was permitted me to perceive their cogitative speech.
175. An aromatic odor was perceived, like that of an embalmed corpse, for when the celestial angels are present, the cadaverous odor is perceived as if it were aromatic, which when perceived by evil spirits prevents their approach.
176. Meanwhile I perceived that the region of the heart was kept very closely united with the celestial angels, as was also evident from the pulsation.
177. It was insinuated to me that man is kept engaged by the angels in the pious and holy thoughts which he entertained at the point of death; and it was also insinuated that those who are dying usually think about eternal life, and seldom of salvation and happiness, and therefore the angels keep them in the thought of eternal life.
178. In this thought they are kept for a considerable time by the celestial angels before these angels depart, and those who are being resuscitated are then left to the spiritual angels, with whom they are next associated. Meanwhile they have a dim idea that they are living in the body.
179. As soon as the internal parts of the body grow cold, the vital substances are separated from the man, wherever they may be, even if inclosed in a thousand labyrinthine interlacings, for such is the efficacy of the Lord's mercy (which I ​had previously perceived as a living and mighty attraction), that nothing vital can remain behind.
180. The celestial angels who sat at the head remained with me for some time after I was as it were resuscitated, but they conversed only tacitly. It was perceived from their cogitative speech that they made light of all fallacies and falsities, smiling at them not indeed as matters for derision, but as if they cared nothing about them. Their speech is cogitative, devoid of sound, and in this kind of language they begin to speak with the souls with whom they are at first present.
181. As yet the man, thus resuscitated by the celestial angels, possesses only an obscure life; but when the time comes for him to be delivered to the spiritual angels, then after a little delay, when the spiritual angels have approached, the celestial depart; and it has been shown me how the spiritual angels operate in order that the man may receive the benefit of light, as described in the continuation of this subject prefixed to the following chapter.
* ↑ In the original languages, "wind," "spirit," and "breath" are all expressed by the same word. [Reviser.]
* ↑ The Latin is tentoria, "tents," seemingly a misprint for santalos. [Reviser.]
* ↑ The Latin word proprium is the term used in the original text that in this and other places has been rendered by the expression "Own." The dictionary meaning of proprius, as an adjective, is "one's own," "proper," "belonging to one's self alone," "special," "particular," "peculiar." The neuter of this which is the word proprium, when used as a noun means "possession," "property;" also "a peculiarity," "characteristic mark," "distinguishing sign," "characteristic." The English adjective "own" is defined by Webster to mean "belonging to," " belonging exclusively or especially to," "peculiar;" so that our word "own" is a very exact equivalent of proprius, and if we make it a noun by writing it "Own," in order to answer to the Latin proprium, we effect a very close translation. [Reviser.]