599、此处论述的主题是被称为挪亚的教会重生前的状态。
New Century Edition
Cooper(2008,2013)
[NCE]599. [Genesis 6 continued]
9. These are the births{*2} of Noah: Noah was a just, upright man in his generation. Noah walked with God.
10. And Noah fathered three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11. And the land was corrupt before God; and the land was full of violence.
12. And God saw the land, and found it was corrupt, because all flesh had made their way corrupt on the earth.
13. And God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has come before me, since the land is filled with violence because of them, and indeed, I am destroying them together with the earth.
14. Make yourself an ark of gopher wood;{*3} you must make compartments in the ark, and you must tar it inside and out with tar.
15. And this is how you must make it: three hundred cubits{*4} for the length of the ark, fifty cubits for its width, and thirty cubits for its height.
16. You must make a window for the ark and complete it to a cubit above. And you must place a door for the ark in its side. Lowest, second-level, and third-level [compartments] you must make in it.
17. And I — yes, I — am bringing a flood of water on the earth, to destroy all flesh (all that has the breath of life in it) from under the heavens; all that is on the earth will pass away.
18. And I will set up my pact with you; and you will enter the ark: you and your sons and your wife and your sons' wives with you.
19. And of every living thing, of all flesh, you must bring pairs of each into the ark, to keep them alive with you. A male and a female they must be.
20. Every kind of bird, and every kind of beast, every kind of everything creeping on the ground — pairs of all must go in to you, to stay alive.
21. And you, take for yourself some food of every type that is eaten and gather it to yourself, and it will serve you and them as food."
22. And Noah did everything that God had commanded him; that is what he did.
599. Summary
THIS is about the state of the church called Noah before rebirth.
Footnotes:
{*1} For a description of this faith, see, for example, 1025:1, 1072:2, 1079. [LHC]
{*2} (in the text of Genesis 6:9). "Births" is a literal translation of the Latin word here (nativitates), which is a literal translation of the Hebrew word (תּוֹלְדֹת [tôlǝḏōṯ]). It means a history, often including genealogy. [LHC]
{*3} (in the text of Genesis 6:14). "Gopher" is a Hebrew word (גֹּפֶר [gōṕer]). Although Swedenborg does explain in 643:1 that gopher wood is "a kind of wood loaded with sulfur, similar to fir," the exact identity of the wood remains uncertain. [LHC]
Genesis 6:15). A cubit is an ancient measure equal to the length from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow, or between seventeen and twenty-two inches (between forty-three and fifty-six centimeters). [SS]
Potts(1905-1910) 599
599. THE CONTENTS The subject here treated of is the state of the church called "Noah" before its regeneration.
Elliott(1983-1999) 599
599.
Latin(1748-1756) 599
599. CONTENTAAgitur de statu Ecclesiae quae 'Noahus' vocata, ante regenerationem.