40、“水”所滋生的“爬行物”表示属于外在人的记忆知识，而“飞鸟”一般表示理性概念，也表示理解力的概念，其中后者属于内在人。“水中的爬行物”或“鱼”表示记忆知识，这从以赛亚书清楚看出来：
我来了，并没有人。我以斥责使海干涸，我使江河变为旷野，其中的鱼因无水腥臭，干渴而死，我使诸天以黑暗为衣服。（以赛亚书50:2-3）
不过，从以西结书看得更清楚；在那里，主描述了新殿，或新殿所表示的一个新教会，和教会之人，或一个重生之人；因为每一个重生之人都是主的一个圣殿：
主耶和华对我说，这水往东方流到边界，往海而去，被引向海，水必得医治。这两条河所到之处，凡爬行的活物或活灵魂都必存活，并且必有极多的鱼，因为这水流到那里，它们必得医治，凡这河所到之处，一切都必存活。必有渔夫站在河边，从隐基底直到隐以革莲；他们必在那里撒网。他们的鱼各从其类，好像大海的鱼甚多。（以西结书47:8-10）
“渔夫从隐基底撒网，直到隐以革莲”，表示那些将要以信之真理教导属世人的人。
“飞鸟”表示理性概念，或逻辑推理和真正理解力的概念，这一点从先知书明显看出来。如以赛亚书：
我召飞鸟从东方来，召我计划中的人从远地而来。（以赛亚书46:11）
耶利米书：
我观看，看哪，无人！空中的飞鸟也都逃掉。（耶利米书4:25）
以西结书：
我要栽上高大香柏树的嫩枝，它要长出枝子，结出果子，成为佳美的香柏树；各翅膀的一切鸟儿或各种的一切飞行物都要住在它下面；它们要住在其枝子的荫下。（以西结书17:22-23）
在何西阿书，经上论到一个新教会或一个重生之人说：：
当那日，我必为他们与田野的野兽和空中的飞鸟，并土地上的爬行物立约。（何西阿书2:18）
显然，“野兽”不是指野兽，“飞鸟”也不是指飞鸟，因为经上说主要与它们立新约。
New Century Edition
Cooper(2008,2013)
[NCE]40. The creeping animals that the waters breed symbolize facts that the outer self knows. Birds in general symbolize logical reasoning; they also symbolize matters that we truly understand, which belong to the inner self.
The following verses in Isaiah demonstrate the symbolism of the creeping animals of the waters — fish — as facts:
I came and there was no man.{*1} In my censure I will dry up the sea; I will make the rivers a desert; their fish will stink from lack of water and die of thirst; I will dress the heavens in black. (Isaiah 50:2-3)
[2] Evidence still clearer appears in Ezekiel, where the Lord describes a new temple,{*2} the general meaning of which is a new church and an adherent of the church or person reborn (since everyone who is reborn is a temple to the Lord).
The Lord Jehovah said to me, "That water, which will go out to the boundary toward the east and go toward the sea, will be channeled down into the sea, and the water [of the sea] will be cured. And it will come about that every living soul that creeps out in any place where the water of the rivers goes will survive; and the fish will be very numerous, because that water goes there and will be cured, and everything will live, wherever the river goes. And it will happen that the fishers will stand over it from En-gedi to En-eglaim; they will be there spreading their nets. Their fish will be of all kinds, like the fish of the great sea, very numerous." (Ezekiel 47:8-9, 10)
"Fishers from En-gedi to En-eglaim spreading their nets" symbolize people who are to teach the earthly plane of the human mind about the truths that make up faith.{*3} [3] Passages in the prophets establish the fact that birds symbolize logical reasoning and concepts truly understood. In Isaiah, for example:
I am calling the winged creature from the sunrise, the man I planned on, from a faraway land. (Isaiah 46:11)
In Jeremiah:
I looked and there, not a human! And every bird of the heavens had fled. (Jeremiah 4:25)
In Ezekiel:
I will plant a cutting of the tall cedar, and it will lift its branch and make fruit and become a majestic cedar. And every bird of every wing will live under it; in the shade of its branches they will live. (Ezekiel 17: [22,])
And in Hosea, where the subject is a new church, or the regenerate person:
And I will strike a pact with them on that day — with the wild animal of the field, and with the bird in the heavens and the creature that moves on the ground. (Hosea 2:18)
The wild animal obviously does not mean a wild animal or the bird a bird, because the Lord is sealing a new pact with them.
Footnotes:
{*1} Here and elsewhere in this translation, where the word "man" appears it almost always reflects a Latin word (vir) that in its most common usages refers specifically to a male person. When Swedenborg uses this word in quotations from the Old Testament, it is usually a translation of one of two Hebrew words that again refer specifically to a male person (אִישׁ ['îš] and גֶּבֶר [geḇer]). In New Testament quotations it is usually a translation of the Greek word ἀνήρ (anér), which is likewise gender-specific. In addition to these words, the Latin, Hebrew, and Greek languages also have words that connote a human being without specifying his or her gender (in Latin, the word homo; in Hebrew, the words אָדָם ['āḏām] and אֱנוֹשׁ ['ĕnôš]; in Greek, the word ἄνθρωπος [ánthropos]). In 476 and 915 Swedenborg ascribes significance to the distinction between these gender-specific and gender-inclusive terms, so the distinction has been preserved in this translation. [LHC]
{*2} Swedenborg is referring to Ezekiel's prophecy of the restoration of the Temple in Jerusalem after the destruction of the first Temple by the Babylonians in 586 b.c.e. The vision of the new temple is described at length in Ezekiel 40; 41. [RS]
{*3} Swedenborg probably has in mind Christ's well-known invitation to the disciples, "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men" (Matthew 4:19; Mark 1:17). Compare his statement from one of the last books of his theological period, the 1769 work Soul-Body Interaction 20, where he describes being asked what a spiritual fisher is: "I said that in the Word, a fisherman spiritually understood is someone who inquires into and teaches earthly truths and then does the same with spiritual truths, in a rational manner" (this and all other translations from Soul-Body Interaction in these notes are by George F. Dole). In support of this statement he then cites Ezekiel 47:9-20 as well as Matthew 4:19 and Mark 1:17. [SS, RS]
Potts(1905-1910) 40
40. By the "creeping things which the waters bring forth" are signified the memory-knowledges [scientifica] which belong to the external man; by "birds" in general, rational and intellectual things, of which the latter belong to the internal man. That the "creeping things of the waters" or "fishes" signify memory-knowledges, is plain from Isaiah:
I came and there was no man; at My rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness; their fish shall stink because there is no water and shall die for thirst; I clothe the heavens with blackness (Isa. 50:2-3). [2] But it is still plainer from Ezekiel, where the Lord describes the new temple, or a new church in general, and the man of the church, or a regenerate person; for everyone who is regenerate is a temple of the Lord:
The Lord Jehovah said unto me, These waters that shall issue to the boundary toward the east, and shall come toward the sea, being led into the sea, and the waters shall be healed; and it shall come to pass that every living soul that shall creep forth, whithersoever the water of the rivers shall come, shall live, and there shall be exceeding much fish, because those waters shall come thither, and they shall heal, and everything shall live whither the river cometh; and it shall come to pass that fishers shall stand upon it from En-gedi to En-eglaim, with the spreading of nets shall they be; their fish shall be according to its kind, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many (Ezek. 47:8-10). "Fishers from En-gedi unto En-eglaim" with the "spreading of nets" signify those who shall instruct the natural man in the truths of faith. [3] That "birds" signify things rational and intellectual, is evident from the Prophets; as in Isaiah:
Calling a bird from the east, the man of My counsel from a distant land (Isa. 46:11). And in Jeremiah:
I beheld and lo there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled (Jer. 4:25). In Ezekiel:
I will plant a shoot of a lofty cedar, and it shall lift up a branch, and shall bear fruit, and be a magnificent cedar; and under it shall dwell every fowl of every wing, in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell (Ezek. 17:22-23). And in Hosea, speaking of a new church, or of a regenerate man:
And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the wild beast of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the moving thing of the ground (Hos. 2:18). That "wild beast" does not signify wild beast, nor "bird" bird, must be evident to everyone, for the Lord is said to "make a new covenant" with them.
Elliott(1983-1999) 40
40. 'Creeping things which the waters bring forth' means facts which belong to the external man, while 'birds' generally means rational concepts and also intellectual concepts, of which the latter belong to the internal man. That creeping things from the waters, or fish, mean facts is clear in Isaiah,
I came, and there was no man. By My rebuke I will dry up the sea, I will make the rivers a desert. Their fish will stink because there is no water and will die of thirst. I will clothe the heavens with darkness. Isa 50:2, 3.
[2] This is plainer still in Ezekiel where the Lord describes the new temple, or new Church in general, and the member of the Church, or person who has been regenerated, for every regenerate person is a temple of the Lord, The Lord Jehoviha said to me, Those waters which will go out to the boundary eastwards will come towards the sea, having been directed into the sea, and the waters will be fresh. And it will be that every living creature which swarms will live, wherever the water of the rivers reaches, and there will be very many fish, for these waters are going there and will become fresh; and everything will live where the river goes. And it will be that fishermen from En-gedi to En-eglaim will stand beside it, with nets spread out. Its fish according to their kinds will be very many, like the fish of the great sea. Ezek 47:8-10.
'Fishermen from En-gedi to En-eglaim with their nets stretched out' means people who are to teach the natural man about the truths of faith.
[3] In the Prophets 'birds' invariably means rational concepts and intellectual concepts, as in Isaiah, Calling a bird of prey from the east, a man of My counsel from a distant land. Isa 46:11.
In Jeremiah,
I looked, and behold there was no man, and all the birds of the airb had fled. Jer 4:25.
In Ezekiel,
I will plant the sprig of a lofty cedar, and it will bring forth a branch, and bear fruit, and it will become a noble cedar, and under it will dwell every bird of every sort,c in the shade of its branches they will dwell. Ezek 17:23.
And in Hosea, when the subject is a new Church, or regenerate person,
And I will make for them a covenant on that day, with the wild animals of the field, and with the birds of the air,b and with things moving on the ground. Hosea 2:18.
Anyone may see that because the Lord 'is making a new covenant' with them, 'wild animal' is not used to mean a wild animal, nor 'bird' to mean a bird.
Latin(1748-1756) 40
40. Per 'reptilia, quae aquae producunt' significantur scientifica quae sunt hominis externi; per 'aves' in genere rationalia, tum intellectualia, quorum haec sunt hominis interni. Quod 'reptilia aquarum seu pisces' significent scientifica constat apud Esaiam, Veni et non vir; in increpatione Mea siccare faciam mare, ponam fluvios desertum; foetebit piscis eorum ab eo quod non aqua, et morietur siti; vestiam caelos atrore, 1 x2, 3:manifestius adhuc apud Ezechielem ubi Dominus describit novum templum, seu in genere novam Ecclesiam, et hominem Ecclesiae seu regeneratum, nam unusquisque regeneratus est templum Domini, ita, Dominus Jehovah dixit ad me, Aquae istae, quae exibunt ad terminum versus orientem, et venient versus mare, in mare deductae, et sanabuntur aquae: et erit, quod omnis anima vivens, quae proreptabit, ad quodcumque ubi venit aqua fluviorum, vivet, et erit piscis multus valde, quia veniunt illuc aquae istae, et {1} sanabunt, et vivet omne, quo venit fluvius: et erit, stabunt super illo piscatores ab Engedi ad En-Eglaim, cum expansione retium erunt; secundum speciem suam erit piscis eorum, sicut piscis maris magni, multus valde, {x}xlvii 8-10:
'piscatores ab Engedi ad En-Eglaim cum expansione retium' significent eos qui docebunt hominem naturalem de veritatibus fidei. Quod 'aves' significent rationalia et intellectualia constans est apud Prophetas, ut apud Esaiam, Vocans ab ortu {2} volucrem, e terra longinqua virum consilii Mei, xlvi II:
apud Jeremiam, Vidi, et ecce non homo, et omnis {3} avis caelorum aufugerunt, iv 25:
apud Ezechielem, Plantabo surculum cedri altae, et attollet ramum, et faciet fructum, et erit in cedrum magnificam, et habitabunt sub illa omnis avis omnis alae, in umbra ramorum ejus habitabunt, xvii 23:
et apud Hosheam, ubi agitur de nova Ecclesia seu de regenerato, Et feriam illis foedus, in die illo, cum fera agri, et cum avi caelorum, et se movente humi, ii 18. Quod 'fera' non significet feram, nec 'avis' avem, unicuivis constare potest, quia Dominus novum foedus cum iis pangit. @ 1 Sch. has simply avem, but the Heb. ('ayit) ='a rapacious creature,' hence 'a bird of prey.' In A.R. 757 S. has avem, and states that this is 'in bono sensu.'$ @ 2 Probably a misprint for sanabuntur, as 994.$ @ 3 The Heb. ('oph), a wing, is used collectively to signify birds. In this case we find 'kal-oph,' which means birds of every kind.$