And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
Discussion:
The Lord, according to Swedenborg, is life itself. We humans are recipients of life. We give life unique forms because of our unique shapes as receptacles, and through free will we can choose how fully we will receive life. But we don’t have life of our own. It follows from this that the more we turn toward the Lord and receive life, the more alive we will be; and the more we turn away the more dead we will be. It also follows that believing life is our own – with all the loves, the thoughts and the power that entails – is actually the antithesis of life.
This is the state of those in the deepest hells, who reject everything of the Lord, even his existence, and claim all life as their own. According to Swedenborg they are, in fact, only alive because the Lord forces life on them in the amount necessary to sustain existence.
This is, in a sense, what is represented by the rib – which is human, and is alive, but only in the most limited way. When the people of the Most Ancient Church (Adam) wanted to lead themselves and sense life as their own, the Lord had to use that most dead aspect of them to grant their wish. He had to use that bone, which represents our most hellish potential, what we would be if we were to reject the Lord completely.
But then the Lord did something miraculous. He turned that bone into living flesh, into a new person: the woman Eve. This represents that the Lord built that most dead, most hellish aspect of us up into something which felt life as its own, but could acknowledge that life actually came from the Lord, and could thus again be a recipient of life. It wasn’t quite as pure as before; people could no longer commune directly with the Lord. But they had what they wanted instead: a sense of self.
Swedenborg calls this – both the rib and the woman – by the Latin word proprium, essentially meaning “as of self.” The rib represents the proprium on its own, which is hellish. The woman represents the proprium given life by the Lord.
Passages from Swedenborg
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 151
- Verse 22 And Jehovah God built the rib which He took from the man into a woman, and brought her to the man.
'Building means reconstructing that which has fallen down, 'rib' the proprium that has not been given life, 'woman the proprium that has been given life by the Lord, 'bringing her to the man' that a proprium was granted to him. Since the descendants of this Church, unlike their ancestors, did not wish to be the celestial man, but to be their own guides and so set their heart on the proprium, they were allowed to have one. It was however a proprium given life by the Lord, which is why it is called 'a woman', and after that 'a wife'.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 152
- Anyone paying the matter only scant attention may see that woman was not formed out of the rib of a man, and that the arcana embodied here are deeper than anybody has ever been aware of up to now. And that the proprium is meant by 'the woman may be seen from the consideration that the woman was the one who was deceived, for nothing but the proprium - or what amounts to the same, self-love and love of the world - ever deceives a person.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 153
- It is said that the rib was built into a woman, and not as previously, when regeneration was the subject, that the woman was created, or formed, or made. The word 'built' is used because building means reconstructing that which has fallen down. This is how it is used in the Word, where 'building' has reference to evils, 'raising up' to falsities, and 'renewing' to both, as in Isaiah,
They will build up the waste places of old, they will raise up the former desolations, and they will renew the waste cities, the desolations of generation upon generation. Isa. 61:4.
'Waste places' here and elsewhere stands for evils, 'desolations' for falsities. The expression 'to build' is applied to the former, 'to raise up' to the latter, and this distinction is also carefully observed in other places in the Prophets: in Jeremiah,
Again I will build you, that you may be built, O virgin of Israel. Jer 31:4.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 154
- Nothing evil or false can possibly exist that is not the proprium or derived from the proprium. For man's proprium is evil itself, which means that man is nothing but evil and falsity. This has become clear to me from the fact that when the contents of the proprium are presented to view in the world of spirits they look so ugly that nobody can paint any uglier picture. (Those contents vary however according to the nature of the proprium.) As a result when anyone is offered a glimpse of the contents of his proprium he is horrified at himself and wishes to run as though from the devil. On the other hand contents of the proprium which have been given life by the Lord look beautiful and attractive, varying according to the life to which a celestial quality that is the Lord's can be added. Indeed people who have received charity, that is, been made alive by it, look like boys and girls with very attractive faces. And people who have received innocence look like naked small children adorned in different ways with garlands of flowers twined around their breasts, and precious stones in their hair, living and playing in brightest light, with a sense of happiness stemming from the depths of their being.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 155
- These words, 'a rib was built into a woman', conceal, inmostly, more than anyone can possibly know from the letter. For the Word of the Lord is such that inmostly it focuses on the Lord Himself and His kingdom. This is the source of a11 the life of the Word. Here likewise it is the heavenly marriage that is focused inmostly. Such is the nature of the heavenly marriage that it exists within the proprium, and such is its nature that a proprium given life by the Lord is called the Lord's Bride, and also Wife. The proprium given life in this way by the Lord is enabled to perceive every good that stems from love, and every truth of faith. It therefore possesses all wisdom and intelligence coupled with an indescribable happiness.
[2] But the nature of this proprium - the Lord's Bride and Wife - that has been given life cannot be described in a few words. Let just this be said, that angels perceive that they live from the Lord, and yet when not reflecting on the matter they have no other idea than that they live from themselves. But there is a universal affection by which they sense that a change has taken place when they retreat only slightly from the good that stems from love, or from the truth of faith. Consequently they experience a peace and happiness that is indescribable when the general perception exists with them that they live from the Lord. It is this proprium too that is meant in Jeremiah, where it is said,
Jehovah has created a new thing on the earth, a woman will surround a man. Jer. 31:12.
It is the heavenly marriage that is meant in this quotation too, the 'woman' meaning the proprium given life by the Lord. The woman is said 'to surround', because the proprium by nature surrounds, just as a rib made flesh surrounds the heart.
Verse 15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
Verse 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
Verse 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Verse 18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
Verse 19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
Verse 20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.
Verse 21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
Verse 22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
Verse 23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
Verse 24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
Verse 25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
Genesis 3
Verse 1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Verse 2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
Verse 3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
Verse 4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
Verse 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Verse 6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
Verse 7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.