There are some interesting nuances in \u201ctilling\u201d the ground as opposed to \u201cplowing\u201d it, though they seem essentially interchangeable. The Ancient Hebrew word generally translated as \u201ctilling\u201d in regards to the soil is translated as \u201cserving\u201d in other contexts, so someone \u201ctilling the ground\u201d is actually \u201cserving the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n
Swedenborg<\/a> says that in the Bible<\/a>, the \u201cground\u201d represents a person\u2019s externals<\/a> \u2013 which makes sense if you think of the ground as the earth\u2019s \u201cskin,\u201d the part we see and touch. So \u201ctilling\u201d or \u201cserving\u201d the ground means doing the bidding of our most external urges<\/a>, using things we know<\/a> and believe<\/a> to address the concerns of our bodies and the world. This is necessary for basic existence, but is essentially selfish<\/a>, and does not lead to spiritual<\/a> life.<\/p>\n \u201cPlowing,\u201d meanwhile, has a much more positive meaning, about the desire to be good<\/a> (the plow) breaking up our external ideas, preparing us to receive ideas and instruction on what is true<\/a> on a deeper level<\/a>.<\/p>\n Passages from Swedenborg<\/b><\/p>\n Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 341<\/b><\/p>\n 341. Verse 2 And she bore again, his brother Abel. And Abel was a Shepherd of the flock, and Cain was a\u00a0tiller\u00a0of the\u00a0ground.<\/p>\n The second born of the Church is charity, which is meant by ‘Abel’ and by ‘brother. A shepherd of the flock’ means one who practices good flowing from charity, while ‘a\u00a0tiller\u00a0of the\u00a0ground’ means someone who, devoid of charity, acts from faith separated from love, which is not faith at all.<\/p>\n Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 345<\/b><\/p>\n 345. ‘A\u00a0tiller\u00a0of the\u00a0ground’ means someone who, devoid of charity, acts from faith separated from love, which is not faith at all. This becomes clear from the statements made further on, ‘Jehovah had no respect for his gift’, and ‘he killed his brother’, that is, he destroyed charity meant by Abel. People who look to bodily and earthly interests are said to be ’tilling the\u00a0ground’, as is clear from what has been stated at Chapter 3:19, 23, where it is said that ‘the man was sent out of the garden of Eden to till the\u00a0ground’.<\/p>\n Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n.\u00a0305<\/b><\/p>\n 305. Verse 23 And Jehovah God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he had been taken.<\/p>\n ‘Being expelled from the garden of Eden’ is being divested of all intelligence and wisdom. ‘Tilling the ground from which he had been taken’ is becoming bodily-minded, as he had been before regeneration took place. That ‘being expelled from the garden of Eden’ is being divested of all intelligence and wisdom is clear from the meaning of ‘a garden’ and of ‘Eden’, dealt with already. Indeed ‘a garden’ means intelligence, or an understanding of truth. And because ‘Eden’ means love it also means wisdom, that is, a will for good. That ’tilling the ground from which he had been taken’ is becoming bodily-minded, as he had been before regeneration took place, has been shown already at verse 19, where similar words occur.<\/p>\n Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n.\u00a0278<\/b><\/p>\n 278. ‘Returning to the ground from which he was taken’ means that the Church would revert to the external man, such as it had been before regeneration took place. This is clear from the fact that ‘the ground’ means the external man, as stated already; and ‘dust’ means condemned and hellish. This too is clear from what has been stated about the serpent, which, being cursed, would have to ‘eat dust’, as said. In addition to what has been shown about the meaning of dust, let the following in David be added,<\/p>\n All who go down to the dust will bow down before Jehovah, whose soul He has not made alive. Ps. 22:19.<\/p>\n And elsewhere in David,<\/p>\n You hidest Your face,* they are dismayed; You gatherest up their spirit, they breathe their last and return to their dust. Ps. 104:29.<\/p>\n That is, when they turn away from the face of the Lord, they ‘breathe their last’, or die, and in so doing ‘return to the dust’, that is, become condemned and hellish.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There are some interesting nuances in \u201ctilling\u201d the ground as opposed to \u201cplowing\u201d it, though they seem essentially interchangeable. The Ancient Hebrew word generally translated as \u201ctilling\u201d in regards to the soil is translated as \u201cserving\u201d in other contexts, so someone \u201ctilling the ground\u201d is actually \u201cserving the ground.\u201d Swedenborg says that in the Bible, […]<\/p>\n
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