1、仅凭文字或字义，没有人会发觉旧约圣言包含天堂的奥秘，其每一个细节都专注于主和祂的天堂，以及教会、信仰和信仰的一切信条。凭文字或字义判断它的话，人们只是看到它主要论述犹太教的外在特征。而事实上，旧约的每一点都含有内在特征。除了少数几个点之外，这些内在特征从未显现于表面。这少数几点就是主向使徒所揭示并解释的一些概念，如以下事实：祭物表示主；迦南地和耶路撒冷表示天堂，这就是为何它被称为天上的迦南或耶路撒冷（加拉太书4:26；希伯来书11:16；12:22；启示录21:2，10）；伊甸园也是。
New Century Edition
Cooper(2008,2013)
First seek God's kingdom and its justice and you will gain all. — Matthew 6:33
[NCE]1. Genesis
THE Word in the Old Testament{*1} contains secrets of heaven, and every single aspect of it has to do with the Lord,{*2} his heaven, the church, faith, and all the tenets of faith; but not a single person sees this in the letter. In the letter, or literal meaning, people see only that it deals for the most part with the external facts of the Jewish religion.
The truth is, however, that every part of the Old Testament holds an inner message.{*3} Except at a very few points, those inner depths never show on the surface. The exceptions are concepts that the Lord revealed and explained to the apostles, such as the fact that the sacrifices symbolize the Lord,{*4} and that the land of Canaan and Jerusalem symbolize heaven (which is why it is called the heavenly Canaan or Jerusalem [Galatians 4:26; Hebrews 11:16; 12:22; Revelation 21:2, 10]), as does paradise.{*5}
Footnotes:
{*1} This edition follows Swedenborg's practice of referring to the Hebrew Scriptures as the Old Testament and the Greek Scriptures as the New Testament. On the meaning of the term "the Word," see note 2 in 0. [JSR]
{*2} "The Lord" here refers to Jesus Christ. Although Swedenborg's theology is thoroughly monotheistic, to denote God he uses many names and terms from philosophical and biblical backgrounds (God, the Divine Being, the Deity, the Divine Human, the One, the Infinite, the First, the Creator, the Redeemer, the Savior, Jehovah, God Shaddai, and many more). The most frequently occurring term, however, is "the Lord" (Latin Dominus). Here and generally throughout, "the Lord" refers to Jesus Christ as the visible manifestation of the one and only God. See 14. For a brief summary of Swedenborg's theology, see True Christianity 2-3. [JSR, RS]
{*3} The idea that Scripture possesses an inner meaning is an ancient one. Some of the earliest interpretations of the Bible using such a method come from Philo of Alexandria (also known as Philo Judaeus; around 20 b.c.e.-around 50 c.e.), whose works interpret Scripture in the light of Greek philosophy. The most significant accounts of the Bible's inner meaning in early Christianity come from the church fathers Clement of Alexandria (about 150-between 211, 215 c.e.) and Origen (about 185-about 254 c.e.). Origen wrote, "Among those narratives which appear to be recorded literally there are inserted and interwoven others which cannot be accepted as history but which contain a spiritual meaning" (Origen, On First Principles, book 4, chapter 3, in Origen 1966, 290). For a discussion of the similarities between Swedenborg's perspective on the Bible and those of the church fathers, see Tulk 1994, 19-33. Another influential exposition of the inner meaning of Genesis appears in the compendium of Jewish mystical knowledge known as the Sefer ha-Zohar, or "Book of Splendor," attributed to the circle of Rabbi Moses de Leon (about 1250-1305) in thirteenth-century Spain. The Zohar is the principal work of the Kabbala, the mystical doctrine of Judaism. According to Kabbalistic teaching, there are four levels of meaning to Scripture, ranging from the literal to the mystical (see Matt 2004 and Scholem 1974, 174). Swedenborg's familiarity with these earlier sources is a matter of scholarly debate, but it is generally acknowledged that he had at least a broad conception of them, and indeed his interpretations often accord with them (see Lamm [1915] 2000, 55-58, 227-231). On the other hand, although he himself does occasionally show awareness of theories of an inner meaning much like his own (see, for example, 606), he repeatedly insists that his theology is derived from personal spiritual experience. [RS]
{*4} For instances in which the inner meaning of sacrifices is explained, see Matthew 26:26-28, Mark 14:22-24, and Luke 22:19-20, where Jesus refers to the bread and wine of the Passover meal as his body and blood. He also uses the term "blood of the covenant," which recalls a sacrifice offered by Moses just after he received the Ten Commandments, as described in Exodus 24:4-8. See also Ephesians 5:2; Hebrews 7:27; 9:26. [LHC, JLO] The Epistle to the Hebrews draws an elaborate analogy between the sacrifices ordained by the Mosaic Law and Christ's sacrifice, adding that the Law is "a shadow of good things to come," that is, of Christ's Coming; see Hebrews 9; 10:1. (The term "the Law," so capitalized, refers loosely to the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, and in particular to the injunctions of divine worship laid on the Jewish people there.) [RS]
{*5} See Luke 23:43, where Jesus on the cross promises a criminal who is also being executed, "Today you will be with me in paradise." See also Revelation 2:7. [LHC, JLO] The word paradise comes from a Persian word meaning "park" or "enclosure;" it appears in Hebrew as פַּרְדֵּס (pardēs) and in Greek as παράδεισος (parádeisos). Early on, however, it came to serve as a metaphor for heaven. [RS]
Potts(1905-1910) 1
1. From the mere letter of the Word of the Old Testament no one would ever discern the fact that this part of the Word contains deep secrets of heaven, and that everything within it both in general and in particular bears reference to the Lord, to His heaven, to the church, to religious belief, and to all things connected therewith; for from the letter or sense of the letter all that anyone can see is that-to speak generally-everything therein has reference merely to the external rites and ordinances of the Jewish Church. Yet the truth is that everywhere in that Word there are internal things which never appear at all in the external things except a very few which the Lord revealed and explained to the Apostles; such as that the sacrifices signify the Lord; that the land of Canaan and Jerusalem signify heaven-on which account they are called the Heavenly Canaan and Jerusalem-and that Paradise has a similar signification.
Elliott(1983-1999) 1
1. [AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTORY NOTE] The HEAVENLY ARCANA -- the matters in Sacred Scripture or the Word of the Lord that have been disclosed - stand in explanatory sections entitled THE INTERNAL SENSE Of the Word. As for the nature of that sense, see what has been presented on the subject from experience in 1767-1777, 1869-1879, and in addition in the main body of the work, in 1-5, 64-66, 167, 605, 920, 937, 1143, 1224, 1404, 1405, 1408, 1409, 1502 end, 1540, 1659, 1756, 1783, 1807.
The MARVELS -- things seen in the world of spirits and in the angelic heaven - have been placed in sections before and after each chapter. In this first volume the sections are:
The Word of the Old Testament contains heavenly arcana, with every single detail focusing on the Lord, His heaven, the Church, faith, and what belongs to faith; but no human being grasps this from the letter. Judging it by the letter or sense of the letter, nobody views it as anything more than a record, in the main, of external features of the Jewish Church. Yet at every point there are internal features that are nowhere evident in the external, apart from the very few which the Lord revealed and explained to the Apostles, such as that sacrifices mean the Lord; that the land of Canaan and Jerusalem mean heaven, which is therefore called Canaan and the heavenly Jerusalem; and that Paradise is similar in meaning.
Latin(1748-1756) 1
1. LIBER GENESEOSQuod Verbum Veteris Testamenti contineat arcana caeli, et quod omnia et singula spectent Dominum, Ipsius caelum, Ecclesiam, fidem, et quae sunt fidei, nemo mortalium ex littera capit; nam ex littera seu sensu litterae nemo aliud videt quam quod in genere spectent externa Ecclesiae Judaicae; cum tamen ubivis interna sunt quae nusquam patent in externis, praeter paucissima quae Dominus revelavit et explicuit apostolis; sicut quod Sacrificia significent Dominum; quod terra Canaan et Hierosolyma, caelum, unde vocatur Canaan et Hierosolyma caelestis; similiter Paradisus.