Arcana Coelestia, Volume 2 E-Book

Emanuel Swedenborg

• Herausgeber: Jazzybee Verlag
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Seitenzahl: 1181

Beschreibung

This is an exposition of the internal or spiritual sense of the books of Genesis and Exodus, according to the law of correspondences. It unfolds the spiritual significance of the creation; of the stories of Adam and Eve, and of the deluge; of the lives of the patriarchs; of the captivity of the chosen people in Egypt and of their deliverance therefrom, and of their subsequent history; of the ritual of the Jewish religion, its sacrifices and observances:—and in general, traces the foreshadowing through both books of the incarnation and glorification of the Lord Jesus Christ. Many passages from other parts of the Word are also fully explained. Relations of things heard and seen in the spiritual world are interspersed, explaining the process of dying, and of man's resuscitation and conscious entrance into the interior life; the nature of the soul; of heaven and heavenly joy;and of hell, its nature and its miseries. It also treats of the Grand Man, or the whole angelic heaven, and the correspondence of the societies therein with the different organs and senses of the body; the origin and correspondence of diseases; the spirits and inhabitants of the various planets, and of other earths in the starry heavens. All of which are related to a true understanding of the Divine Word. This is book #2 out of 12 and covers Genesis 10 - 17

Leseprobe

Arcana Coelestia (Heavenly Arcana)

Volume 2: Genesis 10 - 17

Emanuel Swedenborg

Contents:

Emanuel Swedenborg – A Biographical Primer

Arcana Coelestia, Volume 2

Chapter 10.

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13.

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Arcana Coelestia, Vol. 2, E. Swedenborg

Jazzybee Verlag Jürgen Beck

86450 Altenmünster, Loschberg 9

Germany

ISBN: 9783849640644

www.jazzybee-verlag.de

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Emanuel Swedenborg – A Biographical Primer

By Thomas Hitchcock

Swedish philosopher, born in Stockholm, Jan. 29, 1688, died in London, England, March 29, 1772. He was the son of Jesper Swedberg, bishop of Skara, the name being changed to Swedenborg in 1719 on the occasion of the ennobling of the family. This advancement entitled him, as head of the family, to a seat in the house of nobles of the Swedish diet, but did not confer the title of baron, as has been supposed. Emanuel was educated at Upsal, completing his studies in 1709. After two years of travel in England, Holland, and France, he went to reside at Greifswald in Pomerania, then a Swedish town, and busied himself with scientific research. He also wrote some Latin fables, which were published under the title of Camena Borea. A collection of Latin poems, written by him during his travels, was also published about the same time in a volume entitled Ludus Heliconius. In 1716 he returned to Sweden and established a periodical called Dædalus Hyperboreus, devoted to mathematics and mechanics, which appeared irregularly for two years. During this time he had become intimate with Christopher Polhem, an eminent engineer, and Polhem introduced him to Charles XII., who appointed him assessor extraordinary of the college of mines, and associate engineer with Polhem. For two years Swedenborg maintained close personal relations with the king, and assisted him much in his military operations. During the siege of Frederickshald, at which Charles met his death, Swedenborg constructed, under Polhem's direction, the machines by which several vessels were transported overland from Strömstad to the Iddefiord, 14 miles. At the king's suggestion, it is said, Polhem betrothed his daughter to Swedenborg; but as the young lady preferred another man, Swedenborg relinquished his claim and never married. From 1717 to 1722 he published pamphlets on scientific subjects; among them one describing a method of determining longitude by means of the moon. In 1721 he made a short tour on the continent, visiting mines and smelting works. On his return in 1722 he was promoted to be full assessor of mines, and for the next 12 years he devoted himself to the duties of that office, refusing the professorship of mathematics at Upsal in 1724. In 1734 he published Opera Philosophica et Mineralia in three large folio volumes, illustrated with numerous plates, viz.: vol. i., Principia; vol. ii., De Ferro; vol. iii., De Cupro et Orichalco. In the same year also appeared his Prodromus de Infinito. In 1736 he began another tour of travel, which, with study and writing, occupied him for several years. In 1740-'41 he published his Œconomia Regni Animalis, in two parts, and in 1744-'5 his Regnum Animale, in three parts. Between 1729 and 1741 he was elected successively a member of the academy of sciences at Upsal, corresponding member of the imperial academy of sciences at St. Petersburg, and member of the academy of sciences at Stockholm. His series of scientific publications ended in 1745 with the treatise De Cultu et Amore Dei, &c., in which is set forth, under the form of a prose poem or allegory, his theory of the process of creation. Thereafter, as he says, he was called by God to the work of revealing to men a new system of religious truth. For that end he was permitted to converse with spirits and angels, and behold the wonders of the spiritual world. That he might be more free to perform his task, he resigned his assessorship, retaining half the salary by way of pension. He devoted himself first to the study of the Bible in the original, and then to the writing of books explanatory of his new doctrines, which were published entirely at his own expense. From 1749 to 1756 appeared the Arcana Cœlestia (8 vols. 4to), containing a commentary on Genesis and Exodus, interspersed with accounts of “wonderful things seen and heard in heaven and in hell.” This was followed in 1758 by the De Cœlo et Inferno, De Telluribus in Mundo, De Ultimo Judicio, De Nova Hierosolyma, and De Equo Albo. In 1763 were published the four doctrinal treatises: Doctrina Vitæ, De Fide, De Domino, and De Scriptura Sacra, with a Continuatio de Ultimo Judicio, and the treatise De Divino Amore et de Divina Sapientia. In 1764, the Divina Providentia appeared; in 1766, the Apocalypsis Revelata; in 1768, De Amore Conjugiali; in 1769, Summaria Expositio Doctrinæ and De Commercio Animæ et Corporis; and in 1771, the Vera Christiana Religio. Besides these, he left at his death an immense mass of manuscripts, of which the following have been since printed: Itinerarium, Clavis Hieroglyphica, Opuscula, Apocalypsis Explicata, Adversaria in Libros Veteris Testamenti, Diarium Spirituale, Index Biblicus, Sensus Internus Prophetarum et Psalmorum, Dicta Probantia, De Athanasio Symbolo, De Charitate, Canones, Coronis Veræ Christianæ Religionis, and Invitatio ad Novam Ecclesiam. Copies of a few of these manuscripts have recently been reproduced by the photolithographic process, by subscription, not so much for circulation as for the sake of preserving the contents of the originals from destruction by decay. — Swedenborg's manner of life was simple and modest. He spent much of his time, in later years, in Holland and England, for which countries he expressed great admiration on account of the freedom of speech and writing permitted there. He made no efforts to gain proselytes to his doctrines further than by printing and distributing his writings, and never referred to his intercourse with the spiritual world except when questioned. Several instances are reported of his obtaining information from departed souls respecting affairs unknown even to their families, and describing events in distant places in advance of news by the ordinary means of communication. It is related that, as he lay on his deathbed in London, Ferelius, a Swedish clergyman, solemnly adjured him to tell the truth in regard to his teachings. Swedenborg raised himself half upright in bed, and placing his hand on his breast said with emphasis: “As true as you see me before you, so true is everything I have written. I could have said more had I been permitted. When you come into eternity, you will see all things as I have stated and described them, and we shall have much to say concerning them to each other.” He then received the holy supper from Ferelius, and presented him with a copy of his Arcana Cœlestia. A day or two afterward he peacefully breathed his last. His body was buried in a vault of the Swedish church in Prince's square, a little east of the tower. A eulogium was pronounced upon him in the Swedish house of nobles in October, 1772, by Samuel Sandels, which accords him high praise, not merely for learning and talent, but also for uprightness and fidelity in the discharge of his duties as a public functionary. Several of his acquaintances have also left written testimony to his virtuous character. — Swedenborg's scientific works have long since ceased to be of practical value, but are still highly interesting as collections of facts, and as exhibiting their author's peculiar method of philosophizing. The system he followed was substantially that of Descartes, of whom he continued to the end of his life to speak with admiration, and this led him to conclusions resembling in some striking points those of Spinoza, who was likewise a Cartesian. His “Economy of the Animal Kingdom” is the best of his many productions anterior to his theological career. In it he attempts to deduce a knowledge of the soul from an anatomical and physiological knowledge of the body, and evolves many doctrines which he afterward elaborated in his theological works. Indeed, some of his disciples hold that his seership was the natural result of his intellectual and moral development, and by no means an abnormal condition of mind. According to his own account, it came upon him gradually, and neither astonished nor alarmed him, although in its early stages he was subject to great mental excitement, the phenomena of which may have given rise to exaggerated stories of his insanity. The works written by him subsequent to this change in his mind are quite as systematic and coherent as his earlier productions, and only his claim to a divine mission, and his frequent descriptions of what he saw and heard in the spiritual world, mark them as peculiar. They are consistent from first to last, and though they appeared at intervals during a period of 27 years, they nowhere deviate from the fundamental principles laid down at the outset. — The general features of Swedenborg's theology are presented in his treatise called the “True Christian Religion.” He teaches that God is one in essence and in person, and has been revealed to men as the Lord Jesus Christ. In the Lord is a trinity, not of persons but of principles, and it is these principles which are spoken of in the Scriptures as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. The Father is the divine love, the Son the divine wisdom, and the Holy Ghost the divine operation or energy acting upon the universe. The Lord is infinite, eternal, self-existent, omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent, and not only the creator but the sustainer of all creation, which without him would cease to exist. For the sake of redeeming mankind he assumed a natural body born of the Virgin Mary, and glorified it or made it divine, so that it is now invisible to men, and also usually to the angels except as the sun of heaven. Redemption consisted, not in suffering vicariously the punishment of men's sins (for that could not be done, and, if it could, would be useless), but in actual combats, by means of the assumed humanity, with the powers of hell, and overcoming them. This victory restored to man spiritual freedom, which had begun to be impaired by diabolic possessions as narrated in the Gospels, and enabled him to work out his salvation. This he does by looking to the Lord, with faith in him, by repentance, and above all by a life according to the commandments of the decalogue. The chief points that Swedenborg insists on in religion are faith in the Lord and the avoidance of evils as sins against him. Upon everything else, such as outward worship, prayer and meditation, and works of eleemosynary charity, he lays but little stress. The essence of charity is love to the neighbor and occupation in some useful employment. The Word, he says, is the divine truth itself, written to reveal the Lord to man and to serve as a medium of conjunction between earth and heaven. This Word consists of the books of Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Leviticus, Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, the Psalms, the prophecies, the four Gospels, and the Apocalypse. The other books bound up with these in our Bibles are not the Word, although good and useful to the church. The distinction between the two consists in this: that the Word contains an internal or spiritual sense, which the rest of the Bible has not. This spiritual sense is symbolical, and may be discerned by the application of the law of symbolism resulting from the universal correspondence of natural with spiritual things. Thus, the garden of Eden and all things mentioned as existing in it symbolize the human soul and its affections and thoughts; and the disobedience of Adam and Eve, the alienation of mankind at a remote period from their original state of innocence. Hence, too, the decalogue forbids not merely outward sins, but the inward spiritual sins corresponding to them, and the Psalms and prophecies relate not merely to David and the Jews, but to experiences of the human soul independent of dates and localities. At the same time the literal sense alone can be relied on as a basis of doctrine, and Swedenborg is careful to cite it profusely in support of his teachings. The reason he gives for his mission is that the knowledge of true doctrine had been lost and the church destroyed by a false theology and accompanying evils of life. By the promulgation of the truth revealed to him a new church has been established by the Lord, and thus the prophecies in the Apocalypse of the descent of the New Jerusalem have been fulfilled in their symbolical sense. The second coming of the Lord, predicted in Matt, xxiv., has also been accomplished in the same way, a last judgment having been effected in the spiritual world in the year 1757, so that we are now living under a new dispensation. The treatise on “Heaven and Hell” embodies Swedenborg's teachings on the nature of those two realms, and their relations to this world. They exist, he says, not in some other region of space, but within the natural world, as the soul of man exists within his body, being in fact in the souls of men and resting in them as our souls rest in our bodies. At death the body, which is the material envelope of the soul, is cast aside, never to be resumed, and consequently its resurrection is not to be looked for. The soul is the man himself, and is a perfect human being, with a spiritual body of its own, and rises into a conscious perception of the spiritual world, of which the man had previously been unconsciously an inhabitant. He sees and feels and possesses all the other senses, and retains all his personal characteristics. After a longer or shorter preparation in an intermediate state called the world of spirits, which lies between heaven and hell, he is drawn by his own elective affinity to the place where he belongs, and remains there to eternity. Both heaven and hell consist of innumerable societies, each composed of human beings of similar and concordant affections; and both are divided into three distinct regions, according to the degrees of perfection or depravity of their inhabitants. The Arcana Cœlestia, Swedenborg's largest work, is mainly an exposition of the internal or symbolical sense of Genesis and Exodus, with accounts of his experiences in the spiritual world, and various doctrinal teachings interspersed between the chapters. “The Apocalypse Revealed” and “The Apocalypse Explained” are similar expositions of the Apocalypse. In his “Conjugial Love” Swedenborg expounds his doctrine of the relations of the sexes. Males, he says, are masculine and females feminine in soul as well as in body. The masculine element is love clothed with wisdom, while the feminine is wisdom clothed with love. Hence the characteristic of man is wisdom or understanding, and that of woman love or affection. Marriage is the conjunction of two souls who complement each other, and by their union make one complete being, just as the will and the understanding make the individual. Hence the only true marriage is of one man and one woman, and it exists in the next world as well as in this. Polygamy is a degraded state, but not a sin with those whose religion permits it; but adultery is destructive of the life of the soul, and closes heaven against those who confirm themselves in it. The treatises on the “Divine Love and Wisdom” and the “Divine Providence” embody Swedenborg's spiritual philosophy, and exhibit the symmetrical relations of the various parts of his religious system. Love, he says, is the life of man. God alone is Love itself and Life itself, and angels and men are but recipients of life from him. He is very Man, and our humanity is derived from him, so that it is literally true that we are created in his image and likeness. His infinite love clothes itself with infinite wisdom and manifests itself in ceaseless operation, producing, maintaining, and reproducing the boundless universe, with all its innumerable parts and inhabitants. In like manner men, being made in the image of God, also have love or the will, and wisdom or the understanding, and the two produce in them their finite operation. It being the nature of love to desire objects upon which to exercise itself, God could not but create the universe. The creation of this and other solar systems, all of which are inhabited, was effected by a spiritual sun, which is the first emanation proceeding from God, and which is seen in the spiritual world as our sun is seen by us. By means of this spiritual sun natural suns were created, and from them atmospheres, waters, earths, plants, animals, and finally man. Angels, spirits, and devils are men who have been born and died on this or some similar planet. Hence, all things were created from God, and not out of nothing. The spiritual world is related to the natural as cause is to effect, and the supreme first cause of all is God himself. These three, end, cause, and effect, constitute three distinct or discrete degrees, which are repeated in various forms in all created things, and on a grand scale in the universe as a whole. Creation, being from God, is, like the individual man, an image of him, and hence is in the human form in its greatest and least parts, and with more or less approximation to perfection. As we are finitely men, because God is an infinite Man, so all animals, plants, and even minerals wear a resemblance to man, and throughout all nature there is an incessant effort to evolve the human form. In the sight of God and the angels, larger and smaller bodies of human beings and the societies of heaven and hell appear organized like men, and Swedenborg calls the universe the Grand Man (Maximus Homo). As infinite love was the end and infinite wisdom the cause of creation, so the divine life and power are constantly active in sustaining and directing it. This activity is the Divine Providence, and it reaches to every smallest particular of nature and humanity. Man has freedom, because without it he could not be an adequate recipient of the divine love, and by the abuse of his freedom he has introduced evil into the world. The Divine Providence seeks, without destroying this freedom, to lead man back to his original integrity. Hence all the wonderful dealings of God with man recorded in the Scriptures; hence the incarnation; and hence the various forms of religion which exist in the world, all of which embody more or less the essentials of salvation, namely, the worship of God and abstinence from evils as sins against him. The smaller treatises of Swedenborg are mostly extracts from his larger works, with amplifications and additions. — The fullest account of him and his writings is that of William White (2 vols., London, 1867, since republished in one volume). See, also, “Documents concerning Swedenborg,” by R. L. Tafel (London, 1875 et seq.). All of his theological and some of his scientific works have been translated into English. The theological works have also been reprinted in Latin by Dr. J. F. I. Tafel, of Tübingen, Germany, and partially translated and published in French, German, Italian, Danish, and Swedish. Societies for promoting their circulation are in operation both in the United States and in Europe. The principal writers who have undertaken the exposition of Swedenborg's doctrines in England are John Clowes, Robert Hindmarsh, C. A. Tulk, Samuel Noble, J. J. G. Wilkinson, and Jonathan Bayley; in France, E. Richer and J. F. Les Boys-des-Guays; and in the United States, George Bush, Theophilus Parsons, E. H. Sears, Henry James, B. F. Barrett, W. B. Hayden, and Chauncey Giles. For an account of the ecclesiastical organization based upon Swedenborg's doctrines.

Arcana Coelestia, Volume 2

CHAPTER 10.

CONCERNING THE MOST ANCIENT CHURCH, WHICH WAS CALLED MAN, OR ADAM Angels and spirits, or men after death, when permitted by the Lord, can meet all whom they have known in this world, or whom they have heard of-whomsoever they desire-can see them as present, and can converse with them. Wonderful to say, they are at hand in a moment and are most intimately present; so that it is possible to converse not only with friends, who usually find one another, but also with others that have been respected and esteemed. By the Divine mercy of the Lord it has been granted me to converse not only with those whom I had known when they lived in the body, but also with those of especial note in the Word; also with those who were of the Most Ancient Church, which was that called "Man," or "Adam," and with some who were of the subsequent churches, in order that I might know that by the names in the first chapters of Genesis churches are meant; and also that I might know what was the character of the men of the churches of that time. The accounts therefore that follow are what it has been given me to know about the Most Ancient Churches.

1115.

They who were of the Most Ancient Church, which was called Man, or Adam, and were celestial men, are very high above the head, and dwell together there in the greatest happiness. They said that others rarely come to them, except some at times, as they expressed it, "from the universe;" and that they were on high above the head not because they were of a lofty spirit, but in order that they might govern those who are there.

1116.

Dwellings were shown me of those who were of the second and third posterities of this Most Ancient Church. They are magnificent, extending to a great length, and diversified with beautiful colors of bright crimson and azure blue. For the angels have most magnificent dwellings, such as cannot be described, as I have often seen. To their eyes so real is their appearance that nothing can be more real. But whence such real appearances come will be shown of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter. They live in an aura, so to speak, of resplendent pearly and sometimes of diamond-like light. For there are wonderful auras in the other life, of inexpressible variety. They greatly err who do not believe that such things exist there, and indefinitely more than anyone ever could or can conceive. They are indeed representative, like the things sometimes seen by the prophets; but yet are so real that they who are in the other life hold them to be real, and the things which are in the world to be relatively unreal.

1117.

They live in the most intense light. The light of this world can scarcely be compared to that in which they live. That light was shown me by a light as of flame that as it were streamed down before my eyes; and they who were of the Most Ancient Church said that the light is such with them, but still more intense.

1118.

There was shown me by a certain influx which I cannot describe, what the nature of their speech was when they lived in this world-that it was not articulate, like the vocal speech of our time, but tacit; and was produced not by external but by internal respiration. It was also granted me to perceive the nature of their internal respiration-that it advanced from the navel toward the heart, and so through the lips, without sound; and that it did not enter into the ear of another and strike upon what is called the drum of the ear by an external way, but by a certain way within the mouth, in fact by a passage there which is now called the Eustachian tube. And it was shown me that by such speech they could much more fully express the sentiments of the mind and the ideas of thought than can possibly be done by articulate sounds, or vocal words, which likewise are directed by the respiration, but external. For there is nothing in any word that is not directed by applications of the respiration. But with them this was done much more perfectly, because by the internal respiration; which, from the fact that it is interior, is at once far more perfect, and more applicable and conformable to the very ideas of thought. Besides, they also conversed by slight movements of the lips, and correspondent changes of the face; for being celestial men, whatever they thought shone forth from their faces and eyes, which were varied conformably. They could by no means put on an expression of countenance different from that which was in agreement with their thoughts. Simulation, and still more deceit, was to them a monstrous iniquity.

1119.

It has been shown me to the life how the internal respiration of the most ancient people silently flowed into a kind of external and thus tacit speech, perceived by another in his interior man. They said that this respiration varied with them, according to the state of their love and faith in the Lord. They gave also as a reason that it could not be otherwise, because they had communication with heaven; for they respired with the angels in whose company they were. Angels have a respiration to which internal respiration corresponds; and it likewise varies with them. For when anything befalls them which is contrary to love and faith in the Lord, their respiration is restrained; but when they are in the happiness of love and faith, their respiration is free and full. There is something like this also with every man, but in accordance with his corporeal and worldly loves and also with his principles. When anything opposes these, there is a restriction of the respiration; and when they are favored, the respiration is free and full. These, however, are variations of external respiration. But concerning the respiration of the angels, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter.

1120.

It has also been shown that the internal respiration of the men of the Most Ancient Church, which was from the navel toward the interior region of the breast, in the course of time, or in their posterity, was changed, and receded more toward the back region, and toward the abdomen, thus more outward and downward; and that at length, in the last posterity of that church, which existed immediately before the flood, scarcely anything of internal respiration remained; and when at last there remained none of this in the breast, they were suffocated of their own accord; but that in some, external respiration then began, and with it articulate sound, or the language of spoken words. Thus with the men before the flood the respiration was in accordance with the state of their love and faith; and at last, when there was no love and no faith, but a persuasion of falsity, internal respiration ceased; and with this, the immediate communication with angels, and perception.

1121.

I have been informed by sons of the Most Ancient Church concerning the state of their perception, that they had perception of all things that belong to faith, almost as have the angels with whom they had communication; for the reason that their interior man, or spirit, by means also of the internal respiration, was joined to heaven; and that love to the Lord and love toward the neighbor are attended with this; for man is thus conjoined with angels through their veriest life, which consists in such love. They said that they had the law written upon them, because they were in love to the Lord and love toward the neighbor; and such being the case, whatever the laws prescribe was in agreement with their perception, and whatever the laws forbid was contrary to it. Nor did they doubt that all laws, human as well as Divine, are founded in love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor, and regard these as their fundamental. Wherefore, as they had this fundamental in them, from the Lord, they could not but know all things that were from it. They believe too that those who live in the world at this day, who love the Lord and the neighbor, have also the law written upon them, and are acceptable citizens everywhere on earth, as the same are in the other life.

1122.

I have been further informed that the men of the Most Ancient Church had most delightful dreams, and also visions, and that it was insinuated into them at the same time what they signified. Hence their paradisal representations, and many other things. The objects of the external senses therefore, which are earthly and worldly, were nothing to them; nor had they any perception of delight in them, but only in what they signified and represented; and therefore when they looked at earthly objects they did not think about them at all, but only about the things which they signified and represented, which were most delightful to them; for they were such things as are in heaven, from which they see the Lord Himself.

1123.

I have conversed with the third generation of the Most Ancient Church, who said that in their time, when they lived in the world, they expected the Lord, who would save the whole human race; and that it was then a common saying among them that the seed of the woman would tread down the serpent's head. They said that from that time the greatest delight of their life was to procreate offspring; so that their sweetest deliciousnesses were to love their consort for the sake of offspring, which they called most delightful deliciousnesses and most delicious delights, adding that the perception of these delights and deliciousnesses was from influx out of heaven, because the Lord was to be born.

1124.

There were near me some of the posterity that lived before the flood-not of those who perished, but of those who were somewhat better than they. At first they flowed in gently and imperceptibly enough; but it was given me to perceive that inwardly they were evil, and that they inwardly acted contrary to love. There exhaled from them a sphere of the odor of a dead body, so that the spirits who were around me fled away. They imagined themselves to be so subtle that no one would perceive what they thought. I spoke with them about the Lord, as to whether or not they had expected Him, as their fathers did. They said that they had represented the Lord to themselves as an old man, holy, with a gray beard; and also that they became holy from Him, and in like manner bearded; whence arose such veneration for beards among their posterity. They added that now also they are able to adore Him, but from themselves. But then an angel came, whose presence they could not endure.

1125.

It has also been granted me to converse with those who were of the church called "Enosh," concerning which in Genesis 4:26. Their influx was gentle, and their conversation unassuming. They said that they live in charity with one another, and perform offices of friendship to others who come among them. But it was evident that their charity was the charity of friendship.  They live quietly, as good citizens, and do no injury to anyone.

1126.

There appeared to me a narrow room; and the door being opened a tall man came into view, clothed in white, the whiteness being intense. I wondered who he was, and was told that a man clothed in white signified those who were called "Noah," who were the first of all of the Ancient Church, which was the church after the flood; and that they were thus represented because they were few.

1127.

It has been granted me to converse with those of the Ancient Church, or of the church after the flood, who were called "Shem." They inflowed gently through the region of the head into the region of the breast, toward the heart, but not to the heart. The quality of spirits can be known from their influx.

1128.

There appeared one veiled over as with a cloud, about whose face were many wandering stars, which signify falsities. I was told that such were the posterity of the Ancient Church when it began to perish, especially among those who instituted worship by sacrifices, and by images.

1129.

Some account of the antediluvians who perished follows at the end of this chapter. CHAPTER 10. 1. And these are the nativities of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood. 2. The sons of Japheth: Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras. 3. And the sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah. 4. And the sons of Javan: Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. 5. From these were spread abroad the isles of the nations in their lands, everyone according to his tongue, according to their families, as to their nations. 6. And the sons of Ham: Cush, and Mizraim, and Put, and Canaan. 7. And the sons of Cush: Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabteca. And the sons of Raamah: Sheba, and Dedan. 8. And Cush begat Nimrod. He began to be a mighty one in the earth. 9. He was mighty in hunting before Jehovah; wherefore it was said, As Nimrod, mighty in hunting before Jehovah. 10. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. 11. Out of that land went forth Asshur, and built Nineveh, and the city of Rehoboth, and Calah. 12. And Resen, between Nineveh and Calah; this is that great city. 13. And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim. 14. And Pathrusim, and Casluhim, from whom went forth the Philistines, and Caphtorim. 15. And Canaan begat Zidon, his firstborn, and Heth. 16. And the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgashite. 17. And the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite. 18. And the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite. And afterwards were the families of the Canaanites spread abroad. 19. And the border of the Canaanites was from Zidon, in coming to Gerar, even unto Gaza; in coming to Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Admah, and Zeboiim, even unto Lasha. 20. These are the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their tongues, in their lands, in their nations. 21. And there was born to Shem also; he is the father of all the sons of Eber; the elder brother of Japheth. 22. The sons of Shem: Elam, and Asshur, and Arpachshad, and Lud, and Aram. 23. And the sons of Aram: Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash. 24. And Arpachshad begat Shelah; and Shelah begat Eber. 25. And unto Eber were born two sons; the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother's name was Joktan. 26. And Joktan begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Jerah. 27. And Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah. 28. And Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba. 29. And Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan. 30. And their dwelling was from Mesha, in coming to Sephar, the mountain of the east. 31. These are the sons of Shem, according to their families, according to their tongues, in their lands, according to their nations. 32. These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their nativities, in their nations; and from these were spread abroad the nations in the earth after the flood.

1130.

THE CONTENTS The subject treated of throughout this whole chapter is the Ancient Church, and its propagation (verse 1).

1131.

They who had external worship corresponding to internal are the "sons of Japheth" (verse 2). They who had worship more remote from internal are the "sons of Gomer and Javan" (verses 3, 4). And they who had worship still more remote are the "isles of the nations" (verse 5).

1132.

They who cultivated knowledges, memory-knowledges, and rituals, and separated them from things internal, are the "sons of Ham" (verse 6). They who cultivated the knowledges of spiritual things are the "sons of Cush;" and they who cultivated the knowledges of celestial things are the "sons of Raamah" (verse 7).

1133.

Those treated of who have external worship in which are interior evils and falsities, "Nimrod" being such worship (verses 8, 9). The evils in such worship (verse 10). The falsities in such worship (verses 11, 12).

1134.

Concerning those who form for themselves new kinds of worship out of memory-knowledges by means of reasonings (verses 13, 14); and concerning those who make mere memory-knowledge of the knowledges of faith (verse 14).

1135.

Concerning external worship without internal, which is "Canaan," and the derivations of this worship (verses 15-18); and its extension (verses 19, 20).

1136.

Concerning internal worship, which is "Shem," and its extension even to the second Ancient Church (verse 21). Concerning internal worship and its derivations, which being from charity, are derivations of wisdom, of intelligence, of memory-knowledge, and of knowledges, which are signified by the "nations" (verses 22-24).

1137.

Concerning a certain church which arose in Syria, instituted by Eber, which is to be called the second Ancient Church, the internal worship of which is "Peleg," the external "Joktan" (verse 25). Its rituals are the nations named in verses 26 to 29. The extension of this church (verse 30).

1138.

That there were different kinds of worship in the Ancient Church, in accordance with the genius of each nation (verses 31, 32).

1139.

THE INTERNAL SENSE It has been stated already that there are four different styles in the Word. The first, which was that of the Most Ancient Church, is such as is that from the first chapter of Genesis to this chapter. The second is the historical style, as in the following books of Moses, and in the rest of the historical books. The third is the prophetic style. The fourth is intermediate between the prophetic style and that of common speech. Concerning these styles see n. 66.

1140.

In this chapter, and in the following one as far as Eber, the most ancient style is continued; but here it is intermediate between the style of made-up history, and that of true history. For by Noah, and his sons, Shem, Ham, Japheth, and Canaan, nothing else was meant, nor is anything else meant, than the Ancient Church regarded abstractly as to its worship-namely, by "Shem" internal worship, by "Japheth" corresponding external worship, by "Ham" internal worship corrupted, by "Canaan" external worship separated from internal. Such persons never existed; but the kinds of worship were so named because all other different kinds, or all specific differences, could be reduced to these as fundamental ones. By "Noah" therefore was meant merely the Ancient Church in general, as a parent comprehending all. And yet by the names in this chapter, except those of Eber and his posterity, are meant so many nations; and so many nations there were that constituted the Ancient Church; which church was widely spread around the land of Canaan.

1141.

They who are here named "sons of Japheth" were all such as had external worship corresponding to internal; that is, who lived in simplicity, in friendship, and in mutual charity. Nor did they know any other doctrinal teachings than external rites. They who are named "sons of Ham" were those who had internal worship corrupted. They who are called "sons of Canaan" were those who had external worship separate from internal. They who are called "sons of Shem" were internal men, and worshiped the Lord and loved the neighbor; whose church was nearly like our true Christian Church.

1142.

What manner of men they were specifically is not related in this chapter, for they are only recounted as to their names. But this appears from the writings of the prophets, where the names of these nations occur in different places, and everywhere with no other signification-though sometimes in the genuine, and sometimes in the opposite sense.

1143.

Although these were the names of the nations that constituted the Ancient Church, yet in the internal sense they mean actual things , namely, the worships themselves. In heaven nothing at all is known about the names, countries, nations, and the like; the angels have no idea of such things, but of the actual things signified by them. The Word of the Lord is living by virtue of the internal sense. This is as the soul, of which the external sense is as the body. And just as with man when his body dies the soul lives, and when the soul lives he no longer knows the things that pertain to the body, so when he comes among angels he does not know what the Word is in the sense of the letter, but only what it is in its soul. Such was the man of the Most Ancient Church; who, if he were living and read the Word at the present day, would not cleave at all to the sense of the letter; but would be as if he did not see it, but only the internal sense abstractly from the letter; and indeed as if the letter had no existence. Thus he would be in the life or soul of the Word. It is the same everywhere in the Word, even in its historical parts, which were just such as are narrated, and yet there is not so much as one little word therein that does not, in the internal sense, enfold within it deep secrets which never appear to those who hold the mind in the historical connection. Thus in this chapter by the names, in the literal or historical sense, are meant the peoples that constituted the Ancient Church, but in the internal sense their doctrinals are signified.

1144.

Verse 1. And these are the nativities of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth; and unto them were sons born after the flood. "These are the nativities of the sons of Noah," signifies derivations of the doctrinals and worships of the Ancient Church, which in general is "Noah;" "Shem, Ham, and Japheth" signify here as before-"Shem" true internal worship, "Ham" internal worship corrupted, and "Japheth" external worship corresponding to internal; "and unto them were sons born" signifies doctrinals derived therefrom; "after the flood," signifies from the time when this new church arose.

1145.

These are the nativities of the sons of Noah. That these signify derivations of the doctrinals and worships of the Ancient Church, which in general is "Noah," is evident from the signification of "nativities" (of which above). In the external or literal sense, "nativities" or "births," as is known, are generations of one from another; but in the internal sense all things have regard to what is celestial and spiritual, that is, to the things of charity and of faith. Thus here the "nativities" are those of the church, consequently are doctrinal matters, as will be made more clear in what follows.

1146.

Shem, Ham, and Japheth. That these signify here as before-"Shem" true internal worship, "Ham" internal worship corrupted, and "Japheth" external worship corresponding to internal, is evident from what has been previously stated concerning them; where it was shown, not only that Shem, Ham, and Japheth signify those kinds of worship, but also what is meant by true internal worship, or Shem; what by internal worship corrupted, or Ham; and what by external worship corresponding to internal, or Japheth. They need not therefore be further dwelt upon.

1147.

And unto them were sons born. That these signify the doctrinals thence derived, is evident from the signification of "sons" in the internal sense, as being the truths of faith, and also the falsities, consequently doctrinal matters; by which both true and false are meant, for such are the doctrinals of churches. (That "sons" have such a signification may be seen above, n. 264, 489, 491, 535.)

1148.

After the flood. That this signifies from the time when this new church arose, is evident likewise from what has been said in the preceding chapters; for the end of the Most Ancient Church is described by the flood, and also the beginning of the Ancient Church. It must be observed that the church before the flood is called the Most Ancient Church, and the church after the flood, the Ancient Church.

1149.

Verse 2. The sons of Japheth: Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras. "The sons of Japheth" signify those who had external worship corresponding to internal. "Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras" were so many nations, with whom such worship existed, by which in the internal sense are signified so many different doctrinals that were the same as rituals, which they devoutly observed.

1150.

The sons of Japheth. That these signify those who had external worship corresponding to internal, has been explained before. External worship is said to correspond to internal when that which is the essential is in the worship. This essential is the adoration of the Lord from the heart; which is by no means possible unless there is charity, or love to the neighbor. In charity or love toward the neighbor the Lord is present, and then He can be adored from the heart. Thus the adoration is from the Lord, for the Lord gives all the ability and all the being in the adoration. Hence it follows that such as is the charity in a man, such is his adoration or worship. All worship is adoration, because the adoration of the Lord must be in it for it to be worship. The sons of Japheth, or the nations and peoples called "sons of Japheth," lived in mutual charity with each other, in friendship, in courtesy, and in simplicity; and therefore the Lord was present in their worship. For when the Lord is present in the external worship, there is internal worship in the external, that is, there is external worship corresponding to internal. There were formerly very many such nations. And there are also at this day those who make worship consist in externals and do not know what internal worship is, or if they know, do not think about such things. If these persons acknowledge the Lord and love the neighbor, the Lord is in their worship, and they are sons of Japheth; but if they deny the Lord, and love only themselves, and do not care for the neighbor, especially if they bear hatred toward him, their worship is external separate from internal, and they are sons of Canaan, or Canaanites.

1151.

Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. That these were so many nations among whom such worship existed, and that in the internal sense they signify so many doctrinals, which were the same as rituals, which they devoutly observed, is very evident from the Word, where these nations are frequently mentioned; for they everywhere signify external worship-sometimes external worship corresponding to internal, sometimes the opposite. The reason why they signify the opposite is that all churches, wherever they were, in process of time have been changed, even to their opposites. That the nations here named signify nothing but external worship, consequently their doctrinals which were rituals, can be established, as was said, from the Word in other places, especially in the Prophets.  Thus, of Magog, Meshech, Tubal, and Gomer, it is written in Ezekiel: Son of man, set thy face toward Gog, the land of Magog, the prince, head of Meshech and Tubal; and prophesy against him and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovih, Behold I am against thee, O Gog, prince, head of Meshech and Tubal, and I will turn thee about, and put hooks, into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them handling swords; Persia, Cush, and Put with them; with them Gomer and all his hordes; the house of Togarmah in the sides of the north, and all his hordes. In the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, that is gathered out of many peoples, upon the mountains of Israel, which have been made a waste (Ezek. 38:2-6, 8). This whole chapter treats of the church, which became perverted, and at length made all worship consist in externals, or rituals; charity, which is signified by "the mountains of Israel," being extinguished. Here "Gog, and the land of Magog the prince and head of Meshech and Tubal," is worship in externals. Anyone may see that it is not Gog and Magog that are treated of, for the Word of the Lord does not treat of worldly things, but enfolds within it Divine things.  In the same: Prophesy upon Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovih, Behold I am against thee, O Gog, prince, head of Meshech and Tubal; and I will turn thee about, and take a sixth part of thee, I will cause thee to come up from the sides of the north, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel; upon the mountains of Israel thou shalt fall, thou and all thy hordes, and the people that are with thee (Ezek. 39:1-2, 4). The whole of this chapter, likewise, treats of external worship separated from internal, and become idolatrous, which is here signified by Gog, Meshech, and Tubal, by whom also are meant the doctrinals which they receive and afterwards confirm by the literal sense of the Word, and thus falsify truths and destroy internal worship. For, as was said, the opposite also are signified by the same nations.  In John: When the thousand years are finished, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go forth to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to war. They went up over the plain of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city (Rev. 20:7-9); where "Gog and Magog" have a similar signification. External worship separate from internal, that is, separate from love to the Lord and love toward the neighbor, is nothing else than idolatrous, which encompasses the camp of the saints, and the beloved city.  Of Meshech and Tubal it is said in Ezekiel: There is Meshech, Tubal, and all her multitude; her graves are round about her; all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for they caused their terror in the land of the living (Ezek. 32:26). The subject here is Egypt, or the memory-knowledges wherewith men desire to explore spiritual things. "Meshech and Tubal" denote doctrinals which are rituals, and which, when there is no love, are called "uncircumcised." Hence they are slain with the sword, and a terror in the land of the living.  Of Javan it is said in Joel: The sons of Judah and the sons of Jerusalem ye have sold unto the sons of the Javanites that ye might remove them far from their border (Joel 3:6). "The sons of Judah" denote celestial things of faith; "the sons of Jerusalem," spiritual things of faith-thus things internal; and "the sons of the Javanites," worship in externals separate from what is internal. Because this worship is so widely remote from what is internal, it is said that they have "removed them far from their border."  Javan and Tubal denote true external worship itself in Isaiah: It shall come that I will gather all nations and tongues, and they shall come, and shall see My glow. And I will set a sign among them, and I will send such as escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the Isles afar off, that have not heard My fame, neither have seen My glory; and they shall declare My glory among the nations (Isa. 66:18-19). The subject here is the kingdom of the Lord and His coming. "Tubal and Javan" denote those who are in external worship corresponding to internal, who are to be instructed concerning internal things.

1152.

Verses 3, 4. And the sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah. And the sons of Javan: Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. By the "sons of Gomer" also are signified those who had external worship, but derived from that which existed in the nation Gomer. "Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah" were so many nations, among whom there was such worship, by whom also are signified so many doctrinals which were rituals, derived from the external worship with Gomer; by the "sons of Javan" are signified still others with whom external worship existed, derived from the worship which was in the nation Javan; "Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim" were so many nations among whom such worship existed, by whom also are signified so many doctrinals which were rituals, derived from the external worship with Javan.

1153.

And the sons of Gomer. That by these also are signified those who had external worship, but derived from that which existed in the nation Gomer, follows from what has been said and shown before concerning the signification of "sons;" and also from the fact that Gomer was one of those nations that had external worship corresponding to internal. There were seven nations named in the foregoing verse which were in such worship. Here again are seven nations, which are called "sons of Gomer" and "of Javan;" but what were the specific differences between them cannot be told, because here they are merely mentioned. But in the Prophets, where this and that worship of the church is treated of specifically, the differences can be distinguished. In general, all the diversities of external, as also of internal worship, are according to the adoration of the Lord in the worship; and the adoration is according to the love to the Lord and the love toward the neighbor. For the Lord is present in love, and thereby in worship; the differences of worship therefore among the nations here mentioned were of this nature.  That it may be still more clearly explained how the case is in respect to diversities of worship, and how it was with the various nations in the Ancient Church, let it be known that all true worship consists in adoration of the Lord, adoration of the Lord in humiliation, and humiliation in one's acknowledgment that in himself there is nothing living, and nothing good, but that all within him is dead, yea, cadaverous; and in the acknowledgment that everything living and everything good is from the Lord. The more a man acknowledges these things, not with the mouth, but with the heart, the more he is in humiliation; and consequently the more he is in adoration, that is, in true worship, and the more he is in love and charity, and the more in happiness. The one is in the other, so conjoined as to be inseparable. From this it is evident what and of what nature are these differences of worship.  Those here spoken of, called "sons of Gomer and Javan," are those who also had external worship corresponding to internal, but somewhat more remote than those who were named in the preceding verse. For this reason they are called "sons." The generations successively descending, or the derivations, here proceed from the interior toward the exterior. The more sensuous a man becomes, the more exterior his worship becomes, and consequently the more remote from the true worship of the Lord; for it partakes more of the world, of the body, and of the earth, and less of the spirit; and therefore it is more remote. These, who are called "sons of Gomer and Javan," being more sensuous, made worship still more to consist in externals than did their so-called parents and kindred. They therefore here constitute a second class.

1154.

Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. That these were so many nations among whom there was such worship, and that they signify so many doctrinals which were rituals, derived from the external worship with Gomer, is evident from the Prophets, where the same nations are also mentioned, and by them are everywhere signified doctrinals or rituals-as usual, in each sense, sometimes in the genuine sense, sometimes in the opposite one. "Ashkenaz," in Jeremiah: Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, consecrate the nations against her, make to hearken against her the kingdoms of Ararath, Minni, and Ashkenaz (Jer. 51:27). The subject here is the destruction of Babel, where "Ashkenaz" denotes its idolatrous worship, or external worship separate from internal, which destroys Babel. Specifically, it denotes false doctrinals, and therefore is mentioned in the opposite sense. "Togarmah," in Ezekiel: Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, these were thy traders in the soul of man, and furnished vessels of brass in thy commerce. They of the house of Togarmah furnished for thine aids, horses, and horsemen, and mules (Ezek. 27:13-14). This is said concerning Tyre, by which they were represented who possessed the knowledges of celestial and spiritual things. "Javan, Tubal, and Meshech," denote, as before, various representative or correspondent rites; "the house of Togarmah" likewise. The external rites of the former have reference to celestial things; and those of the latter, or "the house of Togarmah," to spiritual things, as is evident from the signification of the things in which they traded. Here they are in the genuine sense. In the same: Gomer and all his hordes, the house of Togarmah the sides of the north, and with all his hordes (Ezek. 38:6); denoting perverted doctrinals, which are meant also by "the sides of the north." Here the names of these nations are used in the opposite sense.

1155.