Spiritual Meaning of GENESIS 6:19-20
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AC 669. Verse 19. And of every living thing of all flesh, pairs of all shalt thou make to enter into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. By the "living soul" are signified the things of the understanding; by "all flesh," those of the will; "pairs of all shalt thou make to enter into the ark," signifies their regeneration the " male" is truth; the "female," good.

AC 670. That by the "living soul" are signified the things of the understanding, and by "all flesh" those of the will, is evident from what has been said before, and from what follows. By "living soul" in the Word is signified every living creature in general, of whatever kind (Gen. 1:20-24; 2:19); but here, being immediately connected with "all flesh," it signifies the things which are of the understanding; for the reason before advanced that the man of this church was to be regenerated first as to intellectual things. And therefore in the following verse the "fowl" (which signifies intellectual or rational things) is mentioned first, and afterwards the "beasts," which are things of the will. "Flesh" specifically signifies that which is corporeal, which is of the will.

AC 671. Pairs of all shalt thou make to enter into the ark, to keep them alive. That this signifies their regeneration, is evident from what has been said in connection with the preceding verse: that truths cannot be regenerated except through goods and delights; nor therefore the things of faith, except through those which are of charity. And for this reason it is said here that "pairs" of all should enter in, that is, both of truths which are of the understanding, and of goods which are of the will. A man who is not regenerated has no understanding of truth or will of good, but only what appear to be such, and in common speech are so called. He can however receive truths of reason and of knowledge (vera rationalia et scientifica), but they are not living. He may also have a kind of goods of the will, such as exist in the Gentiles, and even in brutes, but neither are these living; they are merely analogous. Such goods in man are not living until he is regenerated and they are thus made alive by the Lord. In the other life it is very manifestly perceived what is not alive and what is alive. Truth that is not alive is instantly perceived as something material, fibrous, closed up; and good not alive, as something woody, bony, stony. But truth and good made living by the Lord are open, vital, full of the spiritual and celestial, open and manifest even from the Lord; and this in every idea and in every act, yea, in the least of either of them. This then is why it is said that pairs should enter into the ark, to keep them alive.

AC 672. That the male means truth and the female good, has been said and shown before. In every least thing of man there is the likeness of a kind of marriage. Whatever is of the understanding is thus coupled with something of the will, and without such a coupling or marriage nothing at all is brought forth.

AC 673. Verse 20. Of the fowl after its kind, and of the beast after its kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, pairs of all shall enter unto thee, to keep them alive. The "fowl," signifies things intellectual; the "beast," things of the will; the "creeping thing of the ground," signifies both, but what is lowest of them; "pairs of all shall come unto thee, to keep them alive," signifies, as before, their regeneration.

AC 674. That the "fowl" signifies things intellectual or rational has been shown before (n. 40), and that the "beast" signifies things of the will, or affections (n. 45, 46, 143, 144, 246). That the " creeping thing of the ground" signifies both, but what is lowest of them, may be plain to any one from the fact that creeping on the ground is what is lowest. That "pairs of all shall enter unto thee, to keep them alive" signifies their regeneration, has been shown in the preceding verse.

AC 675. As to its being said "the fowl after its kind," "the beast after its kind," and "the creeping thing after its kind," be it known that in every man there are innumerable genera, and still more innumerable species, of the things of understanding and of will, and that all these are most distinct from one another, although man does not know it. But during the regeneration of man the Lord draws them out, each and all in their order, and separates and disposes them so that they may be bent toward truths and goods and may be conjoined with them, and this with diversity according to the states, which also are innumerable. All these things can never be made perfect even to eternity, as each genus, each species, and each state, comprehends things illimitable even when uncompounded, and still more in combination. A man does not so much as know this fact; still less can he know in what manner he is regenerated. This is what the Lord says to Nicodemus concerning man‘s regeneration:--

Author:  E. Swedenborg (1688-1772).

Design:  I.J. Thompson, Feb 2002.

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