11. "TREE OF LIVES."

"That* two of the trees of Paradise, that of life and that of the knowledge of good and evil, were of a typical and emblematic nature: the one the sacrament of life, Gen. ii. 9; iii. 22; the other of death, Gen. ii. 17; iii. 17—19. And so after the Fall the rough leaves of the Fig-tree were used by our first parents as a symbol of contrition, Gen. iii. 7. And since in that sacred garden, Gen. ii. 9, was also every tree that was pleasant to the sight or good for food, surely of the soul of man as well as of his body it may safely be inferred, that the whole garden was so contrived by Infinite Wisdom as to represent and inculcate, on the minds of our first parents, a plan or system of religious truths revealed to them by their Creator; especially since the Paradisiacal emblems of trees (see Lev. xxiii. 10; Nehemiah xviii. 15), plants, waters, and the like, are frequently applied by the succeeding inspired writers to represent spiritual objects and convey spiritual lessons, and that with a simplicity and beauty not to be paralleled from any human writer (see inter alia, Isaiah xli. 18—20; lviii. 11; Jer. xvii. 7, 8). To all which may be added, that the garden of Eden itself is by the prophets alluded to as a place of spiritual knowledge, joy, and happiness (see Isaiah li. 3; Ezek. xxviii. 13; xxxvi. 35); and in the New Testament the name Paradeisos Paradise, which the Seventy almost constantly use for Gan, when relating to the garden of Eden, is applied to the intermediate state of happy spirits between death and the resurrection, and even to the eternal joys of heaven. See Luke xxiii. 43; 2 Cor. xii. 4; Rev. ii. 7; comp. Rev. xxii. 1—3."

Of these trees we shall speak further in the sequel; in the meantime we observe, that the tree of lives is said to be in the midst of the garden; but it is not here said that the tree of the knowledge of good and

* Hebrew Lexicon, art. 2.

D 2 evil was in the midst of the garden; for this tree is not described as being in the midst of the garden, till after the serpent had entered into it. In the Book of Proverbs it is said, that "Wisdom is a Tree of Life to them that lay hold upon her;" on which a Commentator* observes, "That like as Paradise tropologically signified the holy soul ever rejoicing in the cheerful verdure, and fruit, and flower of every virtue, so the Tree of Life represented wisdom, or virtue generically." According to Swedenborg, the Tree of Lives signifies not so much wisdom as the perceptions of wisdom. We have already seen that there exists an analogy between the vegetable kingdom and man; and the analogy between the two is so great in the present case, that we may speak of the leaves of the tree as the lungs of the tree; leaves being the organs by which the tree respires. It is from this function that the tree derives its spiritual meaning; for it is from respiration that is derived sensitive perception. Thus the tree of lives is then in the midst of the Garden, when the perceptions of love and wisdom are made to occupy the very centre of a man's being, and he loves Divine wisdom before all things. The Garden itself was planted Eastward in Eden: Eastward, i.e., says Augustin, "toward the Orient light of wisdom:" "in Eden," i.e., says he, "in the midst of immortal and intellectual delights."

But there is also the Tree of the Knowledge of good and evil in the garden.

"It is not the knowledge of evil," says Ambrose,† "that

* iii. 18, A Lapide. † De Paradiso, art. 34.

"RIVER."

is evil, but only when the act fulfils the evil. For he who knows evil that it is evil, does not forthwith do it: but he is evil who, knowing it to be evil, does it. The incentive to do evil is, generally, either anger or cupidity. Nor does it follow that he who knows what is evil, would do what he knows to be wicked, unless he is overcome with anger or cupidity. For this reason we say, that the incentive to sin is either anger, or cupidity, or frequently fear; although cupidity itself arises from fear, when a person desires to avoid what he fears."

Thus far, however, there is no real desire of that which is evil, but only a knowledge that it is evil, i.e., contrary to Divine order. This is compatible with a state of perfect innocence, and is essential to a freedom of choice between good and evil.

10. "And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads."

As Eden signifies delight, i. e., the delight arising from love, so it is from this source of love that the river is represented as proceeding. Its efflux from its internal source to its external bounds is then described. That this river, with its branches, going forth from the land of delights, has reference to the pleasures of wisdom and knowledge, is obviously indicated by the passage in Ecclesiasticus,*—"The Lord Almighty is God alone, and beside Him there is no other Saviour. He filleth all things with His wisdom, as Phison and as Tigris in the time of the new fruits. He maketh the understanding to abound like Euphrates, and as Jordan in the time of the harvest. He maketh the doctrine of knowledge appear as the

* Chap. xxiv. 24, and seq.

light, and as Geon in the time of vintage. The first man knew her not perfectly, no more shall the last find her out."—Here then is a reference to wisdom, understanding, and knowledge, in connection with the first Adam in Paradise. According to Swedenborg, a river out of Eden signifies wisdom proceeding from love. St. Ambrose* observes, "There is a river the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the Holy Place of the Tabernacle of the Most High. There is a river which goes out of Eden, and compasses the whole earth, viz., the Word of God, by which the intelligible Paradise is watered, and every soul is invited to partake of the grace of Christ. The Word of God Himself saying, 'Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters and drink.'"—Many modern commentators regard this river as being the Word of God, which is Divine Wisdom; and think that to this allusion is made by the Psalmist† when he said, "Thou shalt make them to drink of the river of thy pleasures." Now this wisdom proceeding from love, branches out into four heads,—the will, the intellect, reason, and science.

11. "The name of the first is Pison; 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." When this river of God reaches the human mind,‡ it is parted

* Psalm xlv. 4. † Psalm xxxvi. 8.

‡ St. Augustine, St. Ambrose, and other fathers, regard the four rivers as signifying the four cardinal virtues—Prudence, Temperance, Fortitude, and Justice. Swedenborg regards them as relating to the whole mind of man in his Paradisiacal state. See our Appendix.

"LAND."

into four heads; the first having relation to the will. Whence Pison signifies the abundance of truths of the Divine Word nourishing the affections of the will, or the perceptions of good.

13. "And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is that which encompasseth the whole land of Cush." From the perceptions of goodness flow those of truth. Hence Gihon signifies the abundance of truths of the Divine Word, which afford increase to intelligence.

14. "And the name of the third river is Hiddekel; that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria." From intelligence flows clear and correct reason. Hiddekel, therefore, signifies the abundance of truths which supply the faculty of reason.

15. "And the fourth river is Euphrates," which, as being the outermost, signifies the abundance of truths which filled to overflowing the memory, and thus which are regarded as matters of science.

If the Paradise be that of the human mind, as also its trees and rivers, so also must be the lands or countries in which the trees were planted, and through which the rivers flowed. Now the lands mentioned are Havilah, Cush or Ethiopia, and Assyria. The question is, what do they signify? We know that throughout the Bible cities and countries had a prophetic signification. Thus* Augustine upon this passage:—

"So in like manner Jerusalem, although it was a visible and earthly place, nevertheless signifies spiritually the city of peace; and Zion, although it was an earthly mountain, sig-

* De Genesi contra Manichaeos, lib. ii., art. 13.

nifies nevertheless far extended vision, and in the allegories of Scripture is frequently transferred to spiritual things; so in the case of him who went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, as the Lord said, and was wounded on the way, and was left by thieves disabled and half-dead, we are compelled to understand these places in a spiritual sense, although historically they have an existence upon earth."

It is evident, therefore, that although these rivers and lands be considered to have a geographical reality, yet that St. Augustine regarded them also as having a spiritual signification. Indeed, it is puerile to suppose that the Creator contemplates the nations and kingdoms of the earth according only to the external and artificial distributions made by man. If we wish to see what part they sustain in the various dispensations of Divine Providence, thus in their relation to the Church, we must see what is the principle of distribution adopted by the Almighty himself; for the original divisions of the nations and people spread over the earth, arose not from political but spiritual causes; and are attributed not to man, but to the Most High. Accordingly we read in Deuteronomy,*

—"When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel." Now the children of Israel were divided into twelve tribes, each of them having its own signification, as is evident from the seventh chapter of the Apocalypse. These tribes represent the Israel of God, the inhabitants of the heavenly Canaan, thus all the hosts of heaven, con-

* Chap. xxxii. 8.

"LAND."

sequently every genus and species of heavenly love and truth.

It was in relation to these Twelve Tribes, or one or other of them, that all other countries in the world were primarily disposed by the Almighty, and thus became endowed with their prophetic signification or character. The principles upon which the Twelve Tribes were chosen, existed before they were chosen, and were the principles upon which the people and nations of the earth were classified before the election and distribution of the Twelve Tribes; that is to say, they were all collectively representative of the same spiritual qualities which the Twelve Tribes themselves represented, or else of their contraries. Hence on Deut. xxxii. 8, Swedenborg observes:* "These things are said concerning the Churches which preceded the Church that was instituted among the Israelites. The Most Ancient Church, which was before the Flood (viz., the Adamic), which was a celestial Church, being principled in the good of love to the Lord, is understood in the clause, 'Those days of old when the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when He separated the sons of man;' nations signifying those who are in the good of love, and the sons of man those who are in truths from good. The Ancient Church, which was after the Flood, and was a spiritual Church, is understood in the clause, 'The years of many generations, when the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when He set the bounds of the people according to the number of the sons of

* Apocalypse Explained, art. 331, 431, 724.

D 3

Israel; *people* signifying those who are in spiritual good, which is the good of neighborly love or charity; and the number of the *sons of Israel* signifying the same as the twelve tribes, according to which the inheritances were given, as in Ezekiel. . . . *To separate the sons of men and to set their bounds*, signifies to alienate them from falsities, and to gift them with truths; and to *give the inheritance to the nations*, signifies heaven and conjunction with those who are in the good of love."

According to Swedenborg, Canaan originally extended from the Nile to the Euphrates. Thus it is said,* "To thy seed have I given this land; from the river of Egypt even unto the great river, the river Euphrates." This was the region of the primeval Church: hence Eden was the same with Canaan, the Nile being the boundary on one side, and Euphrates on the other. Everything in this region, even in the most ancient times, was significative and representative: in consequence of which, Abram was called to go into that land; Moses to legislate for it; and Joshua to take possession of it; nor was it ever afterwards abandoned till the Wisdom of God had, as it were, worked itself out, and the Word of God was completed by the addition of the Apocalypse. The consummation of the Church in that land, and the completion of the written Word, were coeval. Hence the concluding words of the Apocalypse—"If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book."

* Gen. xv. 18. See also 2 Chron. ix. 26; Psalm lxxli. 8; 1 Kings iv. 24.

"LAND."

The great object of Literalism, in the present day, is to destroy the symbolical character of that country, and to place it upon a level with any other part of the earth; thus confounding the distinction between those countries where the Church was planted, and those where it was not, or in other words, the distinction parallel to that between Jews and Gentiles.

"All* that region," says Swedenborg, "is called the tract of the Church, where those inhabit who are instructed in the doctrine of the true faith; as the land of Canaan, when the Jewish Church was planted therein, and as Europe where the Christian Church is at present planted. The lands and countries which are without, are not tracts of the Church, or 'faces of the ground.' Where the tract of the Church was before the Flood, may also appear from the lands which the rivers encompassed that came forth from the garden of Eden; by which, in all parts of the Word, are likewise described the boundaries of the land of Canaan," etc.

... "The† Most Ancient Church, which was called Man or Adam, was in the land of Canaan; consequently the garden of Eden was there, by which was there signified the intelligence and wisdom of the men of that Church, and by the trees therein their perception. And whereas intelligence and wisdom were signified by that Garden or Paradise, the Church itself is meant thereby; and the Church being meant, Heaven is meant; and since Heaven is meant, in the supreme sense the Lord also is meant."

* Arcana Celestia, art. 567.

† Ibid., art. 4447.

... "To* be introduced by Jehovah into the land of Canaan, denotes to be made a Church; the reason is, because the Church had been in the land of Canaan from the most ancient time, and because the Word could not be written in any other land, thus amongst the nation which possessed that land; and where the Word is, there is the Church. The reason why the Word could not be written elsewhere was, because all the places which were in the whole of that land, and which were round about it, as the mountains, the vallies, the rivers, the forests, and the rest, had been made representative of things celestial and spiritual; and the sense of the letter of the Word, both in the historicals and the propheticals, must necessarily consist of such things; since the interiors of the Word, which are celestial and spiritual things, close in such representatives, and as it were stand upon them as a house upon its foundation. For unless the Word, as to the sense of the letter, which is its ultimate, stood upon such things, it would be as a house without a foundation."

We are here told that the mountains, vallies, rivers, forests, of the tract of land between the river of Egypt and the river Euphrates, had been made representative. The reason is, because it was inhabited by a race of men who contemplated the things upon earth as patterns of things in the heavens, and who accordingly gave to them names which designated spiritual qualities. It is on this ground that the Word throughout has reference pre-eminently to the land of Canaan; i. e., as we have seen, to the tract

* Ibid., art. 10,559.

"DRESS AND KEEP."

of country between the river of Egypt and the Euphrates, that is, the tract of country in which was Paradise.

15. "And Jehovah God took the man, and placed him in the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it." He took the man as it is said,* "And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God." And again,† "In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the Lord, and will make thee as a signet; for I have chosen thee, saith the Lord of hosts." So again,‡ "There shall be two in the field; the one shall be taken, the other left." The man, therefore, whom the Lord God took or chose for Paradise, was the man who had thus been perfected; and the office of the man was to cultivate and keep the garden. The first Adam, therefore, was a gardener; but so was the second. "When Jesus," says a modern Commentator,§ "first appeared to Mary Magdalene, and she took Him for the gardener, the mistake was not great; for our blessed Lord was a gardener, because He planted the garden of God, the Church, where the fruits ripen and are made fit for the kingdom of heaven. That St. John should have mentioned the fact of Mary's mistake, renders it highly probable that he had this symbolism directly in view: symbolism attaches in general to all the minuter circumstances that he records."

* Exodus vi. 7. † Haggai ii. 23. ‡ Matthew xxiv. 40.

§ Song of Songs, a revised translation, with Introduction and Commentary, by J. F. Thrupp, M.A., Vicar of Barrington, late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge; p. 182.

Our Lord had said to the thief, "This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise;" and if Mary had overheard these words, or even if they had been told her, when she went to the sepulchre to anoint the body of our Lord, she might naturally have thought of His spirit as being in Paradise; and of the Divine Gardener who had planted a garden eastward in Eden, and Adam who had been placed there to dress it and to keep it; particularly as in the place where our Lord was crucified, "there was a garden, and in the garden a new sepulchre wherein was never man yet laid."

Now Adam was placed in the garden to cultivate and keep it. What this means we may infer from the following passage:—"They made me keeper of the vineyards, but mine own vineyard have I not kept." "Spiritually," says a Commentator,* "the vineyard is the Church; the keeping of this vineyard is the performance of that duty which is entrusted to each individual; hence, he says, 'This vineyard I have not kept,' whether through my negligence, or infirmity, or the tyrannical government of others." This is the common interpretation.

The garden was entrusted to Adam to dress it and to keep it, but not to call it his own. When Jehovah God planted the garden, the owner was Jehovah Himself; but when the serpent said, "Ye shall be as gods," the object was to transfer the ownership from Jehovah God to Adam, and therefore the man was driven out. When he began to call it

* See Poole's Synopsis; Cent. i. 6.

"TREE OF KNOWLEDGE."

mine, he lost it altogether. To keep the garden, then, obviously implies to retain it by keeping a guard against the entrance of anything from without. And what was there without? That which was afterwards represented by the serpent.

16. "And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat;

17. "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."

By the Lord God "commanding the man" is signified, that the man himself perceived that to eat of every tree of the garden would be according to Divine order; and that to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil would not be according to Divine order; thus, that if he did so, he would be in a disorderly state, would lose his peace of mind, and no longer enjoy a sabbath of the soul. Speaking of the tree of life, Bishop Patrick observes:—

"This garden being also a type of heaven, perhaps God intended by this tree to represent that immortal life which He meant to bestow upon man with Himself, Rev. xxii. 2. And so St. Austin, in that famous saying of his, Erat ei in veteris lignis Alimentum, in isto autem Sacramentum. In other trees there was nourishment for man, but in this also a sacrament. For it was both a symbol of that life which God had already bestowed upon man, who was hereby put in mind that God was the author of his being and all his enjoyments, and of that life he was to hope for in another world, if he proved obedient."

If, however, it be admitted that Paradise is typical, so is all that is in it typical; every tree of the garden, as well as the tree of lives; especially as it is from the rivers that the trees draw their nourishment, and if these rivers are typical, so are the trees which these rivers feed. Accordingly we read in Ezekiel,*

—"By the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaves shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine."

It is universally admitted, that the description here given is of the trees in Paradise, and that here they are all typical, having no reference whatever to the food for the material body. Now if we regard, in the present instance, the trees as growing on each side of the river, it will follow, that as there are four orders of rivers, so there are four orders of trees, and the quality of the trees may be inferred from that of the rivers. Hence we have trees symbolical of the life of love, of intelligence, of reason, and of science; of all which man might eat; the inmost or central life of all being the life of love, fed by the river Pison, from that which flowed out of the land of delights. Such is the meaning of every tree of the garden.

With respect to the Tree of lives and the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil, it is said of both of them, that the Lord God made them to grow out of the ground; and both of them are represented as

* Chap. xlvii. 12.

" TREE OF KNOWLEDGE."

being in Paradise. The man in Paradise, therefore, must have had a knowledge, though external, of evil, as well as of good; for if not, how could he choose good rather than evil? This knowledge, however, which was only external, was a knowledge of evil from good; i. e., from the Lord; so that from good or from the Lord he could perceive the nature of evil. But to appropriate the evil, which was signified by transferring the tree from the circumference to the centre, thus destroying Divine order, and then eating of the tree, he was not allowed to do, i. e., he perceived that this would be a perversion of order. For as eating is for the nourishment of life, so to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, is to convert a knowledge of evil into a life of evil. An angel, from the light that is in him, perceives the nature of a devil; but this he does in perfect innocence, without appropriating to himself the qualities of the devil. In Paradise, therefore, the nature of evil may be known, but not appropriated.

"How is it," asks Ambrose,* "that if there were no knowledge of good and evil, we could learn any difference between good and evil? For neither could we judge of evil, that it is evil, unless there were a knowledge of good; nor could there be a knowledge of good, unless there were good. Nor again as to what good is, should we know that it is good, unless there were a knowledge of evil."

Good and evil are correlative terms: we may know evil from good, but we cannot know good from evil.

* De Paradiso Liber Unus, art. 8.

The Tree of lives is said to be in the midst of the garden; and must have been therefore by the river as it went out of Eden. On the other hand, the river which furnished truths for the memory or for science was Euphrates, which formed the boundary of the garden; hence the Tree of knowledge was on the banks of this river, consequently in the circumference of Paradise. This was the true order of the mind in the more flourishing state of the Adamic Church: that order is disturbed when the tree of knowledge is transferred from the circumference to the centre, or indeed in any degree from without to within, as we shall find was afterwards the case.

18. "And the Lord God said, It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him."

Hitherto the man had been alone; but, in conformity to the interpretations previously offered, the man himself also now thought that it was not good for him to be alone.

Down to this period the history of the Adamic Church has been one of progression. We now come to another phase in the Church, brought about by another generation of men, the descendants of the former. Hitherto all had been good, and from good had proceeded to be very good. We here arrive at the first pause in this progress; not to a positive evil, but to a not-good. And yet the good pronounced to be a not-good, is nevertheless in itself a good; nay, is even very good; but the state of man is altered, and that which before was to him very good, has now become unsuited, and relatively a not-good. "It is

"ALONE."

not good for man to be alone." What is here signified by being alone?

The term alone is used in the Scriptures both in a good sense, and in a bad sense.

It is used in a good sense in the following passages. In Jeremiah :*—"Arise, go up to the quiet nation that dwelleth confidently, which have neither gates nor bars, which dwell alone." Again, in Deuteronomy :†—"Israel shall then dwell confidently alone." Again, in Numbers :‡—"Lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations." For the nations were in evils, and represented the evils in which they were. Hence in Psalm cvi. 34 it is said, "They did not destroy the nations concerning whom the Lord commanded them; but were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works. And they served their idols, which were a snare unto them." Accordingly it is said : "I § am the Lord your God, which have separated you from other people. . . . Ye shall be holy unto me, for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine." It was thus good that the Jewish people should be alone in the land of Canaan, or separated from others; like the Adamic Church in Paradise. Wherefore also the Apostle|| says, "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial? . . . . Wherefore come out from

* Chap. xlix. 31. † Chap. xxxiii. 28. ‡ Chap. xxiii. 9.

§ Leviticus xx. 24, 26. ¶ 2 Cor. vi. 14, 15, 17.

among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you." Their not being separate is thus referred to in Jeremiah:* "Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude: she dwelleth among the heathen, she findeth no rest." That is, says a Commentator,† "Those that were separated from the heathen now dwell among the heathen; those that were a peculiar people are now a mingled people." And Cardinal Hugo, "She dwelt among the nations, that is, those vices which are signified by the seven nations which the Lord cast out from the land of promise."

So again:‡—"I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced: I sat alone, because of thy hand." On which Origen observes:—

"When we imitate the life of the multitude, so that it is not separated from them, and is no better or choiceworthy than that of the many, I cannot say 'I sat alone,' but, 'I sat with the multitude.' But when my life is of such a nature as to be difficult of imitation both in manners, morals, action, and wisdom, so that among others I am alone, because no one imitates my example; then I can say, 'I sat alone.'"

So again:—

"Let every one follow this example, when seeing the multitude not tolerating him who leads a righteous life: even as Elias when he said, 'Lord, they have slain thy prophets, overthrown thine altars, and I am left alone, and they seek my life to destroy it.' He, however, who does not lead a life separated from that of the many, cannot say, 'I sat alone.'

* Lamentations i. 3.

† Matthew Henry in loc.

‡ Jeremiah xv. 17. Works of Origen, vol. iii., 219, 296.

"ALONE."

... Moreover he sits alone who is not harassed by a multitude of passions, but who has withdrawn entirely into the recesses of the rational mind, and the unity of his being."

Again, in the Psalms:* "But know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the Lord will hear when I call unto him." Hence on the words,† "A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse," commonly considered to be an allegorical description of the Church, it has been said, "Observe the peculiarity of this garden: it is a garden enclosed, a Paradise separated from the common earth: it is appropriated to God: He has set it apart for Himself. Israel is God's portion, the lot of His inheritance."

In these passages, to dwell apart, or separately from the world, and thus to dwell alone, is used in a good sense; and the Adamic Church would be alone in respect to those who were without, and among the nations, and who had not yet reached the Paradisiacal state.

As long, then, as the Adamic Church thought the truth from a principle of love, in this case love and truth were united as among the angels; hence it was in a state of celestial marriage, and thus alone, or separated from others, in a good sense.

On the other hand, there is an unfavorable sense in which the term alone is used.

"If‡ I judge, my judgment is true," said our Saviour, "for I am not alone; but I and the Father that sent me."—"He§ that sent me, is with me:

* iv. 3. † Canticles iv. 12. Matthew Henry in loc.

‡ John viii. 16. § Ibid., viii. 29.

the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please Him."—"The* words that I speak unto you, I speak not of myself; but the Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works."—"Yet shall be scattered every man to his own, and shall leave me alone; and yet I am not alone, because my Father is with me."

From these words it is evident, that Adam might be regarded as being, in a bad sense, alone when he ceased to do those things which were pleasing to Jehovah God; and the reason why he would cease to do them, would be, because he had begun to do them from himself, contrary to our Lord's example when He said, "I‡ do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things."

When the Adamic Church thought the truth and did the truth from a principle of love, it corresponded with that state of our Lord in which He thought Divine Truth and performed Divine works from the Father; hence He, as the Divine Word or Wisdom, and the Father as Divine Love, were one; a unity which is represented by a Divine Marriage. On the other hand, if the truth that He spoke He had spoken apart from the Divine Love, He would have been apart from the Father, and hence alone: thus He would have been alone in the sense of the marriage between the Humanity and Divinity, thus between Divine Love and Divine Truth, being dissolved: therefore He says, "I am not alone, for the Father is with me:"—"I and the Father are one." In a corre-

* John xiv. 10.

† Ibid., xvi. 32.

‡ Ibid., viii. 28.

"EVERY LIVING CREATURE."

onding sense the apostle says, "Faith, if it hath t works, is dead, being alone."

The term alone, then, is taken in the Scriptures th in a good sense and in a bad sense. If we take in a good sense, the Adamic Church no longer rerded it as a good to be alone; no longer esteemed good to be a good. This is the true sense, and unifests the first symptom of a decline. On the her hand—

If we take the term alone in a bad sense, it is nally clear that, in this case, it was not good for e man to be alone. In either case, the Divine ovidence is exercised to remedy, as far as possible, is state of things. The remedy is thus described,

[ will make him a help meet for him."

In explaining this subject we observe, that when an was created, "male and female created he them."

ow that in every human being there exist both a asculine and feminine principle, is the doctrine of

. Augustine. When, says he,* it is said that man is made after the image of God, this is spoken of e interior man, in which reside reason and intellect.

was in virtue of these that man is described as ving power over the whole animal creation; and he could exercise this power over the animal kingism without, so he could also over the animal kingism within. This animal part of man, comprehendg all the natural appetites and desires, is to the tional part of man what the woman is to the man.

ence it is that the rational mind, as being ruler, called the male or masculine; while the animal

* De Genesi contra Manichae, lib. ii., art. 15.

man, as being obedient or passive, is called the female or feminine; in other words, the internal man is masculine, the external feminine. It is under the relation of these two that the narrative proceeds to speak of the state of man immediately before the Fall;* concerning which St. Augustine remarks:—

"'In the day that ye eat thereof ye shall surely die;' after this admonition, it begins to be explained how it is that the woman is made, and she is said to be made for the help of the man; in order that, by spiritual copulation, she might bring forth spiritual progeny, i.e., good works to the glory of God. When the man rules, the woman obeys; the man himself is ruled by Wisdom, the woman by the man. For the head of the man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man. And therefore it is said, 'It is not good that man should be alone.' Down to this time he was alone; and to this end, that not only might the soul rule over the body, inasmuch as the body occupies the place of servant to the soul, but also that the masculine reason might subjugate to itself the animal part by whose help he might rule over the body also. It was to exemplify this circumstance, that the woman was made, whom the order of things requires to be subject to the man; so that what in two human beings, i.e., the male and the female, appears very evident, might be contemplated also in one individual being; so that the interior mind, as being the masculine reason, might hold in subjection to itself the appetite of the soul, by means of which appetite we are moved to operate with the members of the body; and might also, by a just law, impose a limit upon its helper; even as the man ought to rule the woman, nor permit the woman to rule over the man, which, wherever it occurs, perverts the home and makes it miserable."

* See our Appendix.

"A HELP MEET."

These relations of the interior man as male, and the exterior as female, being thus explained, St. Augustine proceeds to remark upon the conjugal relation between the two:—

"The* very knowledge itself by which we understand that there is in us one thing which rules by reason, another which is obedient to reason—this very knowledge, I say, is, as it were, making of the woman out of the rib of the man; on account of its signifying (a state of subordination and hence) conjunction between the two. Moreover, in order that every one may rightly exercise dominion over this part of his being, and become as it were conjugal in himself, so that the flesh may not lust against the spirit, but be subject to it, i.e., that the concupiscence of the flesh may not be in opposition to reason, but may rather cease to be carnal by being obedient to reason; he has need of perfect wisdom."

So St. Ambrose† observes, that in the law of Moses, by the male to be circumcised is signified the national mind. And Origen,‡ speaking of the Egyptian midwives, who, contrary to the command of Sharaoh, saved the male children alive, says, that by the male is meant the interior man. Philo also§ represents the operations of the mind as both male and female; and Moses as implying the same, when speaking of that part of the mind which is dominant and that which is subject. "The mind," says he, conceives and is in travail, and brings forth many things; but of the ideas which are brought forth by the mind some are male and some are female." In general, he regards the dominant faculties as male,

* Ibid., art. xvi. † De Abrahamo, cap. xi.

‡ Hom. ii., Exod.

§ On the Sacrifices of Cain and Abel, art. 31, 34.

E and the subject as female. Hence also upon the words, "Verily I say unto you, all these things shall come upon this generation," Rupertus* observes:—

"In like manner as carnal generation is effected by the conjunction of man and woman, so is spiritual generation effected by the conjunction of the reason and the sensitive part of the soul; and if reason yields to the senses, then is Cain begotten, that is, sin: but if the senses yield to the reason, then is Abel begotten, that is, good works, which are slain by Cain; because good works are destroyed by mortal sin."

The same kind of expression, founded upon the same general method of contemplating the human mind, prevails throughout the Scriptures. Thus it is said,—"They† conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity."—"When‡ lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin."—"Behold§ he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood."—Moreover|| the woman representing the Church is spoken of as being with child, travailing in birth, and being pained to be delivered; and the child brought forth is said to be a male, i.e., as generally interpreted, the truth or doctrine of the Church.

Indeed it is upon this view of the human mind that the whole doctrine of spiritual generation, commonly called regeneration, is founded. Accordingly¶ Swedenborg affirms, that the Most Ancient Church

* De Gloria Filii Hominis, i. See Lauretus, art. Generare.

† Isaiah lix. 4. ‡ James i. 15. § Psalm vii. 14.

|| Apoc. xii. 2. 5. See Isaiah xxvi. 18.

¶ Arcana Celestia, art. 54.

"A HELP MEET."

illed the understanding in the spiritual man male, will female, and their conjunction a marriage.*

Thus in the three divisions of man into spirit, soul, d body, the interior man is the spirit, the exterior man is the soul and body. Accordingly, a modern writer observes,† that "the difference between spirit and soul coincides entirely with that between man and woman; that both live in a connubium; that the spirit of man is, as it were, the husband of the man."

We may hence perceive why it is that, according to Augustine, the narrative in Genesis treats of the interior and exterior man, and of the relations between the two, under the names of man and woman: the woman being regarded as the help of the man, or the exterior man as the help of the exterior, i.e., as the instrument by which he is entitled to bring out his affections and thoughts into their ultimate effects. The harmony between the exterior man and the exterior had become intercepted: for man had ceased to become, as Augustine says, conjugal in himself.

We have thus no difficulty in perceiving that changes in the state of the human mind, i.e., in the state of the Church, may be represented under the relations of male and female set forth in a historical form.

The change at present represented in the narrative is

* See Harris' Hermes, chap. iv. On the origin of Genders in

Lemmar.

† Delitzsch, Bibl. Psychol., p. 69. See the Commentary of Dr.

Fisch (vol. i., p. 107), who, however, being an extreme literalist, is not accept the distinction.

2 2 that of the gradual tendency of the internal man toward the external; and the gradual predominance of the external over the internal. The consequence is, the gradual loss of the true distinction between the two; so that in due time the perceptions of Adam were mostly in the external mind; and the Providence of the Lord is now exercised in so preparing the external mind that it shall not lead to man's immediate downfall, but be a help meet for him. Accordingly, the Lord provides that this new external state of man shall be a state of external innocency; and this external innocency is preserved by causing man to receive apparent truths, instead of real truths. For, had he been permitted to retain that knowledge which is represented by giving names to every living creature, his fall would have been immediate and hopeless. It is therefore said, "I will make him a help meet for him."

The original expression is "a help as before him," or "a help as with him." This particle as, the meaning of which is too often here overlooked, has a deep significancy. The* Hebrew doctors regard it as a note of similitude, and frequently use the Hebrew term here employed to denote similitude; as when they say, the law speaks after the manner of (as, or like as) the sons of men. It signifies also a corresponding opposite, as in the case of a strophe and antistrophe. In the present case it signifies a help like that which the man had before, and yet not it originally and really, but only apparently. In this sense it signifies an apparent help corresponding to,

* See Poole's Synopsis in loc.

"A HELP MEET."

but not itself, the *real* help which the man before possessed. In conformity, therefore, with our previous interpretations, the man himself or the Church now substituted an *apparent help* for a *real help*, and thus had lost the power of making real distinctions. The Church fell into a state in which it mistook *appearances* for *realities*, because of a change in its powers of perception. The basis of all perception is love: this love became changed by passing from things internal to things external, and loving external things as a man loves his wife; so that in the love of external things was presented a certain form of *self-love*, and the Church thus became an *alter ego* or another Church.

Thus the Apostle says,* "He that loveth his wife, *loveth himself*."—"Let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as *himself*;" that is, says a Commentator,† *Quia illa est alter Ego*. So another Commentator‡ observes, that the Apostle exhorts the Ephesians to love their wives as themselves; for by loving and cherishing their wives they love themselves, since their wives are their *second selves*. Again, another Commentator:§ "Christ's tender regard to us as the dear members of His spiritual body shews every husband to treat his wife as a *second self*; convincing him by the dictates of *self-love* to be kind and gentle towards her, and how unnatural it would be to do otherwise." Indeed Bishop Patrick represents Adam as saying to Eve,

* Ephesians v. 28, 33.

† Zanchius in loc.

‡ Bloomfield's *Recensio Synoptica*.

§ Pyle's *Paraphrase*, Ephes. v. 28.

"Now indeed I have found what I could not see before among all God's creatures—another self."

The narrative, therefore, in Genesis now proceeds to speak of a second self belonging to the Church, an alter ego in place of the former. Before, however, this new state is superinduced, Adam is led to reflect on that state to which he had hitherto attained by the Divine help.

19. "And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air, and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

20. "And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field."

In the first chapter, at the creation of man, it is said—"Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the face of the earth;" on which passage Augustine observes:—

"That* is, by means of a sound intellect; from which it is manifest, that man rules over all these animals by reason. The passage may, nevertheless, be rightly understood in a spiritual sense also; so that all those affections and motions of the mind which we possess alike with these animals, we should hold in subjection, and rule over by temperance and moderation. For when these motions are not overruled, they break forth and proceed onward to the foulest habits, and carry us away by diverse pernicious delights, and make us resemble every kind of beast. But when they are overruled and kept in subjection, then they grow gentle, and live in harmony with us. For the motions of our natural mind are

* De Genesi contra Manichaeae, lib. I., art. 31.

"EVERY LIVING CREATURE."

not alien from ourselves; for together with ourselves they are nourished by the knowledge furnished by the truths of reason, and of sound morals, and of eternal life; as by herbs that give seed, and fruit-bearing trees, and verdant grass. This it is which is the blessed and peaceful life of man, when all these motions are conformable to reason and truth; and then they are called joys and loves that are holy, chaste, and good. But if they are not conformable, and are negligently treated, they distract and dissipate the mind, and make life most miserable; in which case they are called perturbations, and lusts, and evil concupiscences; concerning which we are commanded to strive as much as possible to crucify them in ourselves, till death be swallowed up in victory; for as the Apostle says—'They that are Jesus Christ's have crucified the flesh with its perturbations and lusts.'"

St. Ambrose suggests a similar interpretation. From these remarks of St. Augustine it is evident, that by animals he understood the affections and appetites of the natural mind. But we know that in Scripture they are also taken to signify those of the spiritual mind; as in the case of the lamb, the dove, the eagle, the calf, the lion, and so forth. We are, therefore, to understand from this verse, that Adam knew all the qualities of the internal and external mind. That it is of the utmost importance that this should be understood, will be seen in the sequel. We have already observed, that to call by name, signifies to designate the nature and quality. Thus in Isaiah:* "Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: He calleth them all by names by the greatness of His might." So in the Psalms:† "He

* Chap. xl. 26.

† exlvii. 4.

telleth the number of the stars: He calleth them all by their names." Again in Isaiah:* "O Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed thee; I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine." So again:† "Thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name;"—in all which cases is designated quality, as where it is said, "His name shall be called JESUS, for He shall save His people from their sins." A new name signifies a new state, new quality, or a new nature.

Here, then, it is seen that the Church was in actual possession of genuine knowledge, and did not decline into her subsequent state in consequence of spiritual gifts being withheld. For, as beasts signify affections, fowls of the air exalted thoughts, etc.; so the Church was in possession of the celestial knowledge of the affections of love, and the truths of wisdom.

"But for the man there was not found a help as with him." This celestial knowledge no longer found a correspondence in the external man: the two were unsuited: even the very internal man inclines to a change. We now come, therefore, to the process by which a new Egoity is formed in the Church; or by which the Church becomes another.

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."

It is here stated, that the Lord caused a deep sleep to fall upon the Church. The term sleep, like other terms in Scripture, may be taken either

* Chap. xliii. 1.

† Chap. lxii. 2.

"ONE OF HIS RIBS."

in a good sense, or in a bad sense. It is taken in a good sense when, as in the case of Jacob, he laid himself down to sleep, and in a dream beheld a ladder reaching to heaven, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon it; for, in this case, it is the external faculties which are laid asleep, while the internal are wakeful and active. It is commonly thought that the sleep of Adam was of this nature: that consequently Adam was on this occasion an ecstatic, and that in this ecstasy he saw visions of God, and received supernatural instruction concerning the relations between himself and his partner.

On the other hand, it is certain that sleep may be understood in a bad sense; as where it implies the slumber of the spiritual faculties, and the wakefulness of the natural. Thus "when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abraham, and lo! a horror of great darkness;" prophetic of the obscurity in which his posterity would be in regard to spiritual things. So again it is written,* "For the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath He covered." So again,† "Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." And again,‡ "They that sleep, sleep in the night." Our Saviour also describing the last state of the Church, observes, "While§ the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept." By a deep sleep, then, is signified a state of great obscurity with regard to the perception of

* Isaiah xxix. 10.

† Ephesians v. 14.

‡ 1 Thess. v. 7.

§ Matthew xxv. 5.

x 3 heavenly truths; out of which obscurity the Church is raised by the creation of another selfhood, an ALTER EGO—a process described as follows,—“He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof.”

“From the very text itself, and from the context,” says Cajetan, “I am compelled to understand this production of the woman, not in the sense of the letter, but as a mystery, related not in the way of allegory, but of parable. If the text which says that a rib was taken from out of Adam be understood in the literal sense, we run into an inevitable absurdity; such as that Adam was a monstrosity before the rib was taken from him; and that after it was taken from him, his frame was defective; both of which things are manifestly absurd: and yet that nothing absurd ought to be asserted of things at their first production is confessed by every one.

“The context likewise insinuates the same idea, viz., that the narrative is designed as a mystery. For to bring the animals before Adam, and for him not to find among them a help corresponding to his wants, if understood in the literal sense, would shew the inquiry to be ridiculous: for could any doubt possibly enter into his mind, whether any help corresponding to Adam himself could be found among birds?”

Accordingly Swedenborg says, that “it requires but small attention in any one to discern that woman was not literally formed out of the rib of a man;” and that when it is said,—“it is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a help as with him;” and when presently beasts and birds are spoken of, which nevertheless had been before mentioned, and the same thing is repeated, that “for man there was not found a help as with him,”—the connection of

"ONE OF HIS RIBS."

the two statements implies, that "when it was given him to know his nature and quality as to the affections of goodness and the knowledges of truth, he still inclined to self-love or proprium."

On this subject Augustine observes:—

"The place indeed of the rib he filled up with flesh, that by this word flesh might be intimated that affection of love with which every one loves his own soul, and is not hard enough to despise it; for every one is disposed to love that over which he presides. For, in this passage, the flesh is not so called to signify carnal concupiscence; but it has rather the sense in which the prophet speaks, when he says, that the stony heart shall be taken away from the people, and a heart of flesh shall be given them. For in the same manner also the Apostle speaks, 'Not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.' For the proper sense of an expression is one thing, its figurative sense another, which is that of which we now treat. Wherefore even though it were an historical fact, that it was a visible woman who was at first made by the Lord God out of the body of the man; still, she was not so made without a reason, namely, with a view to signify some hidden truth. For can we suppose a want of mould out of which the woman might be formed? Or, if the Lord willed, might He not have taken the rib out of the man when he was awake, and this without causing pain? Whether, therefore, these things were said in figure, or done in figure, they are not so said or done without a purpose: they are obviously mysteries and sacraments, whether they be interpreted and understood after the manner which our slender ability has here attempted; or in some other and better manner, in accordance with a sound faith."

The ribs form the external covering of the heart and the lungs, and moreover serve to support and protect them; and according to Gregory the Great,* what the ribs are to these internal viscera, the senses are to the internal thoughts. The relation, therefore, of the woman to the man is the relation of the rib to the heart and lungs, of the senses to reason, of the external mind to the internal.

22. "And the rib which the Lord God had taken from the man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man."

According to the original, the expression is, not "made he a woman," but "built into a woman." The common interpretation is, that built has reference to a house, and a house to a home, and that the foundation upon which the home rests, is the wife. We meet, however, with a similar expression in Jeremiah,†—"Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel:" where the expression build has reference to reparation, or restoration to a former state: in the present case, to a reconstruction of the Church.

23. "And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of the man."

It is expressly said, that the woman originated out of the rib only, i. e., out of the bone of Adam, and not out of the flesh; and yet the language of Adam, "flesh of my flesh," literally interpreted, seems to imply that the woman was made out of his flesh also; and the common way of surmounting this difficulty is by affirming, that there was some remnant of flesh adhering to the bone. This, however, is unauthor-

* Liber Moral., xiv., cap. xviii., art. 18. † Chap. xxxi. 4.

"ONE OF HIS RIBS."

ized by the text, to say nothing of its absurdity. Indeed, any such supposition would disturb the spiritual sense of the narrative; besides, as we have already observed, there was no such literal transaction.

"In the first age," says Macknight,* "neither the art of writing, nor any permanent method of conveying instruction being invented, it was necessary to make such striking actions and events as could not easily be forgotten, emblems of the instruction intended to be perpetuated."

Accordingly Adam is here represented as falling into a deep sleep; by which, as we have seen, is signified a state of unconsciousness of his former celestial life. Out of this state denominated sleep, he is raised into a new state of consciousness, viz., from out of natural into spiritual truth; thus out of a lower life into a higher, in the manner here described. The external or lower degree of life is represented by bone. When even that life is extinct, it is represented by dry bones.† "And he said unto me, son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest. Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord." These are the bones into which life was then to enter, and which were to be clothed with flesh—flesh signifying spiritual truth, and bones external truths into which spiritual life enters. Hence it is in a like spiritual sense that the Apostle says, "We are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones;"—"Inso-

* On Ephesians v. 30.

† Ezekiel xxxvii. 3, 4.

much," says a Commentator,* "that as Adam said to Eve, 'bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh,' so likewise in a mystical sense it may be said of us Christians, in respect of Christ, that we are of his flesh and of his bones."

"Unless," observes Macknight,† "some deep instruction were couched under the formation of Eve, what occasion was there for Adam, at his marriage with her, to declare this now is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man; therefore shall a man leave, etc. For although the taking of Eve out of Adam might be a reason for Adam's affection toward her, it was no reason for the affection of his posterity towards their wives, who were not so formed. The reason of their love to their wives is, their being creatures of the same species with themselves.‡ This Eve might have been, though, like Adam, she had been formed of the dust of the earth."

For this reason, it is argued that Adam's declaration concerning Eve's being taken out of his body, and concerning his love to her on that account, was intended for some purpose peculiar to himself. This purpose is generally considered to be the typical representation of the regeneration of believers, and of their union with Christ in heaven.

But there is a still more appropriate interpretation: according to which, even in the present day, the wife is actually formed out of the man, in the same manner as Eve. For as the whole history of

* Dr. Wells on Ephesians v. 30.

† On Ephesians v. 30.

‡ Which the various species of the animal creation, commonly supposed to have been brought to Adam, were not. See however Cajetan's remark above.

"ONE OF HIS RIBS."

this state of the Adamic Church is founded upon the relations between man and wife; so it is obvious, that these relations could never be assumed as the basis of a true history, unless they were founded in fact; in other words, unless they actually were of such a nature as is here described. Accordingly Swedenborg* observes:—

"That the woman is actually formed into a wife, according to the description given in the book of Creation. In this book it is said, that the woman was created out of the man's rib; and that the man said, when she was brought to him, 'This is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh;' 'She shall be called woman (Isha), because she was taken out of man (Ish).' By rib of the breast, in the Word, nothing else is signified in the spiritual sense but natural truth. This is signified by the ribs which the bear carried between his teeth, Dan. vii. 5; for by bears are signified those who read the Word in only a natural sense, and see truths therein, but without understanding. By the breast of man is signified, that essential and proper principle which is distinguished from the breast of woman: and that this is wisdom, may be seen in art. 197; for (natural) truth sustains wisdom as the rib sustains the breast: these things are signified, because the breast is that part of man in which all his principles are as in their centre. From these considerations it is evident, that the woman was created out of the man by transcription of his proper wisdom; which is the same thing as to be created out of natural truth; and that the love thereof was

* Conj. Love, art. 193.

translated from the man into the woman, to the end that conjugal love might have place; and that this is done that the love of the wife, and not self-love, might be in the man. For the wife, in consequence of her innate disposition, cannot do otherwise than convert self-love, as existing with the man, into his love to herself; and this is effected by virtue of the wife's love itself, neither the man nor the wife being conscious of it. Hence it is, that no man can possibly love his wife with true conjugal love, who, from a principle of self-love, is vain and conceited of his own intelligence."

24. "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh."

In what way can this literally apply to Adam? Had he a father and a mother in the literal sense of the terms? "Therefore," says Augustine,* "how this can refer to historical fact I am unable to discover; unless it refer to the human race in general. The whole however is a prophecy, of which the Apostle makes mention when he says, 'For this cause shall a man leave his father and his mother, and cleave unto his wife. This is a great mystery; but I speak concerning Christ and the Church.'"

It is remarkable, however, that St. Augustine had already discovered the key to the mystery. He had spoken of man as being conjugal in himself; of the interior man as masculine, and the exterior as feminine. We have only to follow up the same principle to come to a consistent interpretation of the narra-

* In Genesim contra Manichæos, lib. ii., art. 19.

"FATHER AND MOTHER."

tive. The faculties of the mind are spoken of as man and woman, or father and mother, or husband and wife, according to the particular relations which are the subject of consideration. Now father and mother, like other terms in Scripture, may be taken both in a good sense and in a bad sense. Sometimes Truth is represented as a father. Thus St. Paul says:* "For I have begotten you through the Gospel," that is, the truth of the Gospel. So St. Peter,†—"Being born again by the Word of God;" where the truth of the Word of God is father. "Of‡ his own will begat he us with the Word of truth,"—where truth is again represented as father; and, in a corresponding sense, the affection which receives the truth is regarded as mother, and as bringing forth spiritual births. Hence the Church is represented sometimes as fulfilling one office, sometimes another, according to the different relations requiring to be described.

Occasionally the terms father and mother are taken in a bad sense; as where it is said,§ "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do."—"And|| upon her forehead the name was written—Mystery! Babylon the great, the mother of harlots, and abominations of the earth."

Now that in this sense a man should leave his father and his mother may be easily admitted; for, in this case, the lusts of Satan are the father, that is to say, the lusts of self-will; and the lusts of self-

* 1 Cor. iv. 15.

† 1 Pet. i. 23.

‡ James i. 18.

§ John viii. 44.

|| Apoc. xvii. 5.

intelligence, thus of self-righteousness, are the mother; and the man ought to leave these and cleave to his wife, as representing the Church.

It is obvious, however, that these are not the father and mother which were forsaken by Adam; nor could it be a father and mother in the literal sense; and yet the precept to forsake father and mother and cleave unto his wife, was, in some sense, obeyed by Adam. What then are those faculties of the mind, which, in the primeval state of innocence answered to the relations of father and mother? Clearly the will and understanding. In Adam the wish was father to the thought. Hence the will was the father, the truth adjoined to the will, the mother; the thoughts hence derived, the spiritual procreations. The self or egoity derived from the father and mother is now exchanged for an Alter Ego: the first and inmost state of the Adamic Church, the father and mother of all succeeding Churches, is therefore now abandoned, and there is a transition to another state which is loved still more; a state lower, indeed, but still far purer than any that is reached in the present day: for though there is not the same perception of wisdom, there are yet the remains of it and also the recollection of it.

In conclusion:

We may now understand, why it is that this chapter has been said to describe a second Cosmogony: for this is undoubtedly true, if we regard the term Cosmos as implying the heaven and earth of the human mind. For the human mind had now arrived at a sabbatical state; and the progress of the

"JEHOVAH ELOHIM."

mind in that state is the special subject of the early part of this chapter. Hence it has not been untruly said, that* "the consecration of the seventh day is the point upon which the whole narrative really turns, as well as the systematic division of creation into days of labor: so that in fact it appears as if the first Cosmogony itself had been described only in order to give importance to the Sabbath." Again:† "The second account," says a Hebrew commentator, "is a distinct and deliberate continuation of the first: it is intended as a progress in the narrative: it is not merely a detailed and specified repetition of the preceding chapter: it does not recapitulate, but it introduces new facts, and a new train of thought."

The sabbatical state is that toward which the first Cosmogony tends, and in which the second Cosmogony begins; the heaven and earth of the second Cosmogony are not, therefore, the same with the heaven and earth of the first. Hence the observation of Swedenborg, that the subject of the second chapter is the formation of the sabbatical or celestial Man.

"That‡ this formation is here treated of, is very evident from all the particulars which follow; as that no herb had as yet sprung forth; that there was no man to till the ground; also that Jehovah God formed man, and afterwards made every beast and bird of the heavens; of whose formation mention

* Commentary on Genesis, by Von Bohlen, vol. ii., p. 20.

† Historical and Critical Commentary: Genesis. By Dr. Kalisch. Vol. i., p. 85.

‡ Arcana Celestia, art. 89.

had nevertheless been made in the foregoing chapter. Wherefore it is manifest that another man is here treated of; and still more manifest from this circumstance, that now for the first time mention is made of JEHOVAH GOD; whereas, in the preceding passages which treat of the spiritual man, He is called only GOD. It is also further evident from hence; that now it is that mention is made of the ground and the field, whereas in the preceding passages mention is made only of earth: and now also in this verse heaven is first mentioned before earth, and then earth before heaven; the reason of which is, that earth signifies the external man, and heaven the internal; and that in the case of the spiritual man, reformation begins from the earth or external man; whereas in this Chapter, where the celestial man is treated of, it begins from the internal man or heaven."

The day when Jehovah God made the earth and the heavens was therefore the sixth day, on which that order was completed, and which terminated in the commencement of the Sabbath, on which day began the nativities of the heavens and the earth, thus of a new order of things. Now as the perceptions of the Sabbatical man are of a higher order than those which pertained to him before he had become Sabbatical, so are his thoughts concerning God necessarily of a higher order; and therefore he knows God by a different and more exalted name, that is to say, JEHOVAH GOD, or JEHOVAH ELOHIM; a change in his perceptions of the nature of the Divine Being, leading to a corresponding change in the Divine name. Accordingly it is universally ac-

"JEHOVAH ELOHIM."

knowledged, that the name Jehovah God is a fuller expression of the Divine Being than the name Elohim itself.

"Abarbanel," says Bishop Horsley,* "has given the true sense of the word Elohim when he says, that as the word Jehovah is to be expounded of the Divine Essence in itself, Elohim, on the other hand, is to be understood in relation to external things; that it is a name of God in respect to effec-tion, production, creation, and influence upon all things in the universe, which receive from 'God their being, are main-tained by Him in a state of well being, and in the vigor of their respective natures.'"

Hence this prelate observes that the original sense of the root of the word, is, The Good (τὸ Ἀγαθὸν); because Goodness is at the root of all perfections. According to the doctrine of Swedenborg, the essence of all Divine perfections is indeed The Good; but this is expressed by the name Jehovah. Hence we read that "God† spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am Jehovah. And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob by the name of God Schaddai; but by my name Jehovah was I not known to them;" on which words Swedenborg says—

"From‡ the external or historical sense it may be manifest that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob did not worship Jehovah, but God Schaddai; wherefore it is said that He was known to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but not by his name Jehovah. The reason why Jehovah is, nevertheless, named in the histori-cals concerning Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, is, be-

* Biblical Criticism, vol. i., p. 25.

† Exodus vi. 3. ‡ Arcana Celestia, art. 7194.

cause that historical word was written by Moses, to whom the name of Jehovah was made known, and in those historicals Jehovah is named on account of the internal sense. For, in the Word throughout, Jehovah is named when the subject treated of is concerning THE GOOD which is of love; whereas God is named when the subject treated of is concerning THE TRUTH which is of faith."

Such is the key to the otherwise mysterious interchange of names Jehovah and God in the Sacr narrative.