675、至于经上说“飞鸟各从其类，牲畜各从其类，地上的一切爬行物各从其类”，要知道，在每个人里面，理解力和意愿的事物都有数不清的属，更有数不清的种；所有这些彼此区别极其显著，并相互分离，尽管人没有意识到这一点。然而，在人重生期间，主将每一个事物按其适当次序抽离出来，把它们都彼此分开并排列之，好叫它们可以转向真理和良善，并与它们结合。这一切的发生因人的状态而各异，人的状态也是数不清的。然而，所有这些事物永远不可能完全被完善，因为每一属、每一种和每一状态都由元素构成，这些元素作为个体是无限的，与其它元素结合时更是无限的。人甚至不知道这一事实，更不可能知道他以哪种方式重生。这就是论到人的重生时，主对尼哥底母所说的话：
风随着意思吹，你听见风的声音，却不晓得它从哪里来，往哪里去。凡从灵生的，也是如此。（约翰福音3:8）
New Century Edition
Cooper(2008,2013)
[NCE]675. The present verse speaks of every kind of bird, every kind of beast, and every kind of creeping thing. In this regard it needs to be known that in each of us the contents of the intellect and of the will divide into countless major categories and an even greater number of specific kinds, each perfectly distinct from the others, even though we are unaware of the fact. During our regeneration, the Lord brings every single one of these forward in its sequence, disentangling it and setting it in its proper place so that he can turn it in the direction of truth and goodness and unite it with them. This he does in many different ways, depending on the states we go through, which are also beyond number.
Still, none of these things — the individual genera and species, the individual stages of our life — can ever be perfected to eternity. Each embraces factors whose number is unlimited when taken separately and even higher when compounded. We do not even realize this is true; still less can we see how we are reborn. That is what the Lord says to Nicodemus about a person's regeneration:
The spirit blows where it wishes, and you hear its voice, yet you do not know where it is coming from or where it is going; this is the way with everyone who is born from the spirit.{*1} (John 3:8)
Footnotes:
{*1} The full force of this biblical quotation is difficult to capture in English. The Greek word for "spirit" in John's original is πνεῦμα (pneûma); Swedenborg's Latin is spiritus. Both of these words have broader meanings than "spirit" in English: they refer to "breath" and "wind" as well as what we normally associate with "spirit" (Liddell and Scott 1968, under πνεῦμα; Chadwick and Rose 2008, under spiritus). See also note 2 in 96. [RS]
Potts(1905-1910) 675
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:
The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh, or whither it goeth. So is everyone that is born of the spirit (John 3:8).
Elliott(1983-1999) 675
675. As regards the statement 'birds according to their kinds, beasts according to their kinds, and [every] creeping thing according to its kind' it should be recognized that with everybody countless genera and still more countless species exist of intellectual concepts and of desires of the will which are all quite distinct and separate from one another, though the individual is not conscious of it. In man's regeneration however the Lord draws out every single thing in its proper order, separating them all from one another and arranging them so that they may be turned in the direction of truths and goods and may be joined to them. And this takes place varyingly according to people's states, which are countless as well. Yet to all eternity all those things in man's will and understanding can never be totally perfected, for each genus, each species, and each state consists of elements which are limitless both individually and even more so when combined with others. Man does not even know about this, still less can he know in what way he is regenerated. This is what the Lord tells Nicodemus about man's regeneration, The spirit blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes; so it is with everyone who has been begotten of the spirit. John 3:8.
Latin(1748-1756) 675
675. Quod dicatur 'avis secundum speciem suam, bestia secundum speciem suam, et reptile secundum speciem suam,' sciendum quod apud unumquemvis hominem intellectualium et voluntariorum dentur innumera genera et innumerabiliores adhuc species, quae inter se distinctissima sunt, tametsi homo hoc nescit; sed in regeneratione hominis depromit Dominus omnia et singula suo ordine, ea separat et disponit, ut ad vera et bona possint flecti et cum illis conjungi; et hoc cum varietate secundum status, qui quoque innumerabiles sunt: omnia illa usque nusquam in aeternum perfici possunt, quippe unumquodvis genus, unaquaevis species, et unusquisque status, indefinita comprehendit in simplici et magis in composito; homo ne quidem scit quod hoc sit, minus scire potest quomodo regeneratur; hoc est quod Dominus dicit ad Nicodemum de regeneratione hominis, Spiritus ubi vult spirat, et vocem ejus audis, at qui non scis unde venit aut quo abit, sic est omnis qui generatus est a spiritu, Joh. iii 8.