{"id":11700,"date":"2016-04-29T14:28:53","date_gmt":"2016-04-29T18:28:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordstudy.newchurch.org\/?page_id=11700"},"modified":"2016-04-29T14:28:53","modified_gmt":"2016-04-29T18:28:53","slug":"life-as-a-bible-term","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/societies.newchurch.org\/wordstudy\/bible-keywords\/life-as-a-bible-term\/","title":{"rendered":"Life (as a Bible Term)"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/b>According to Swedenborg<\/a>, the Lord<\/a> is life<\/a> itself, and we are recipients<\/a> of life. This is true even of the most evil<\/a> spirits, who loved themselves<\/a> only in life and hate and deny the Lord from their place in the lowest hells<\/a>; the Lord forces life upon them, despite their rejection, in the amount necessary to keep them from ceasing to exist. The situation is much different, of course, with those who accept and follow the Lord; by doing this they open themselves up to the inflow of life, and become more full the more open they are.<\/p>\n

This is the \u201clife\u201d in question when the Bible<\/a> uses that word: It means spiritual<\/a> life, the life that comes from the Lord into our hearts<\/a> and minds<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The way we accept life from the Lord is by learning<\/a> about him and learning what is right<\/a> and wrong, and by determining that we will stop<\/a> doing what\u2019s wrong and will work to do what is right. So \u201clife\u201d in the Bible also represents the union of those two aspects, the understanding of what is true and the determination to do what is good.<\/p>\n

\n

Passages from Swedenborg<\/b><\/p>\n

Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 3623<\/b><\/p>\n

3623. ‘What would\u00a0life\u00a0hold for me?’ means, and so there would not be any conjunction. This is clear from the meaning of ‘life’ as conjunction by means of truths and goods. For when it was not possible for any truth from a common stem or genuine source to be joined to natural truth, there could not be any alliance of the natural to the truth of the rational, in which case it seemed to the rational as though its own\u00a0life\u00a0were no\u00a0life, 3493, 3620. This is why here ‘what would\u00a0life\u00a0hold for me?’ means, and so there would not be any conjunction. Here and in other places the word ‘life’ in the original language is plural, and the reason for this is that in man there are two powers of\u00a0life. The first is called the understanding and is the receptacle of truth, the second is called the will and is the receptacle of good. These two forms or powers of\u00a0life\u00a0make one when the understanding is rooted in the will, or what amounts to the same, when truth is grounded in good. This explains why in Hebrew the noun ‘life’ is sometimes singular, sometimes plural. The plural form of that noun is used in all the following places, Jehovah God formed the man, dust from the ground; and He breathed into his nostrils the breath of\u00a0life, and man became a living soul. Gen. 2:7. Jehovah God caused to spring up out of the ground every tree desirable to the sight and good for food, and the tree of\u00a0life\u00a0in the middle of the garden. Gen. 2:9. Behold, I am bringing a flood of waters over the earth, to destroy all flesh in which there is the spirit of\u00a0life. Gen. 6:17.<\/p>\n

They went in to Noah into the ark, two by two from all flesh in which there is the spirit of\u00a0life. Gen. 7:15 (in 780).<\/p>\n

Everything which had the breath of the spirit of\u00a0life\u00a0in its nostrils breathed its last. Gen. 7:12.<\/p>\n

In David,<\/p>\n

I believe [I am going] to see the goodness of Jehovah in the land of the living. Ps. 27:13.<\/p>\n

In the same author,<\/p>\n

Who is the man who desires\u00a0life, who loves [many] days, that he may see good? Ps. 34:12<\/p>\n

In the same author,<\/p>\n

With You, O Jehovah, is the fountain of\u00a0life; in Your light do we see light. Ps. 36:9.<\/p>\n

In Malachi,<\/p>\n

My covenant with Levi was [a covenant] of\u00a0life\u00a0and peace. Mal. 2:5.<\/p>\n

In Jeremiah,<\/p>\n

Thus said Jehovah, Behold, I set before you the way of\u00a0life\u00a0and the way of death. Jer. 21:8.<\/p>\n

In Moses,<\/p>\n

To love Jehovah your God, to obey His voice, and to cling to Him, for He is your\u00a0life\u00a0and the length of your days, so that you may dwell in the land. Deut. 30:20.<\/p>\n

In the same author,<\/p>\n

It is not an empty word from you; for it is your\u00a0life, and through this word you will prolong your days in the land. Deut. 32:47.<\/p>\n

And in other places too the plural form of the noun ‘life’ is used in the original language because, as has been stated, there are two kinds of\u00a0life\u00a0which yet make one. It is similar with the word ‘heavens’ in the Hebrew language, in that the heavens are many and yet make one, or like the expression ‘waters’ above and below, in Gen. 1:7-9 , by which spiritual things in the rational and in the natural are meant which ought to be one through being joined together. As for the plural form of ‘life’, when this is used both thelife\u00a0of the will and that of the understanding are meant, and therefore both the\u00a0life\u00a0of good and that of truth are meant. For man’s\u00a0life\u00a0consists in nothing else than good and truth which holdlife\u00a0from the Lord within them. Devoid of good and truth, and of the\u00a0life\u00a0which these hold within them, no one is human. For devoid of these no one would ever have been able to will or to think anything. Everything that a person wills originates in good or in that which is not good, and everything he thinks originates in truth or in that which is not truth. Consequently man possesses two kinds of\u00a0life\u00a0and these make one when his thinking flows from his willing, that is, when truth which is the truth of faith flows from good which is the good of love.<\/p>\n

Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n.\u00a03620<\/b><\/p>\n

3620. ‘I loathe my life on account of the daughters of Heth’ means a connection with natural truth from some other source. This is clear from the meaning of ‘loathing one’s life’ as no connection, that is to say, of the truth of the natural with the truth of the rational – for when these two are not connected to each other it seems to the rational as though its own life were no life, as may be seen from what has been stated above in 3493; and from the meaning of ‘the daughters of Heth’ as affections for truth from a non-genuine source, in this case affections for natural truth, since Rebekah said this to Jacob who, as shown above, represents natural truth. For ‘the daughters’ means affections, see 2362, and ‘Heth’ or Hittite truth from a non-genuine source, 3470. From these meanings it is clear that ‘I loathe my life on account of the daughters of Heth’ means that there should not be any connection with the natural through truth which does not come from a genuine source, thus that no connection with natural truth from some other source should exist. The connection with natural truth is dealt with later on where Jacob’s stay with Laban is the subject – that is to say, when truths from a common stem have been joined on to it. Since the truths which ‘the daughters of Heth’ represent did not come from that common stem no connection of them with natural truth was possible, because they were dissimilar and did not accord with it. Actually the spiritual Church among gentiles, 2913, 2956, is represented by ‘the sons of Heth’, but as the Word does not exist in that Church the Word is not the source of its truths.<\/p>\n

Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 5890<\/b><\/p>\n

5890. ‘For God sent me before you for the bestowal of\u00a0life’ means the spiritual\u00a0life\u00a0they received as ordained by Providence. This is clear from the meaning of ‘the bestowal of\u00a0life’ as spiritual\u00a0life, dealt with below; and from the meaning of ‘God sent me before you’ as ordained by Providence. This meaning – ordained by Providence – becomes clear from Joseph’s dreams. In them it was foretold that his brothers, and his father too, would bow down to him, which would never have been foreseen unless it had been ordained providentially. The meaning of ‘the bestowal of\u00a0life’ and ‘to bestow\u00a0life’ as spiritual\u00a0life, or new\u00a0life\u00a0received through regeneration becomes clear from the single consideration that the spiritual meaning of the Word cannot be anything else. There is natural\u00a0life\u00a0and there is spiritual\u00a0life, natural\u00a0life\u00a0being meant in the literal sense of the Word, but spiritual\u00a0life\u00a0in its internal sense. What is more, there are many places where even in the sense of the letter ‘bestowing\u00a0life’ and simply ‘life’ are used to mean spirituallife, as in Ezekiel,<\/p>\n

When I say to the wicked, You will surely die, and you do not warn him or speak to dissuade the wicked from his evil way so thatlife\u00a0may be bestowed on him. Ezek. 3:18.<\/p>\n

In the same prophet,<\/p>\n

You have desecrated Me among My people for handfuls of barley and for crusts of bread, to kill souls that ought not to die and to bestow\u00a0life\u00a0on souls that ought not to live. You strengthen the hands of the wicked so that he does not turn back from his evil way for\u00a0life\u00a0to be bestowed on him. Ezek. 13:19, 22.<\/p>\n

In Hosea,<\/p>\n

Jehovah will bestow\u00a0life\u00a0on us after two days, and on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live before Him. Hosea 6:1.<\/p>\n

In David,<\/p>\n

Unless I believed I would see goodness in the land of\u00a0life. Ps. 27:13.<\/p>\n

In John,<\/p>\n

To him who conquers I will grant to eat from the tree of\u00a0life\u00a0which is in the middle of the paradise of God. Rev. 2:7.<\/p>\n

In John the Evangelist,<\/p>\n

As the Father raises up the dead and bestows\u00a0life\u00a0[on them], so also the Son bestows\u00a0life\u00a0on whom He will. John 5:21.<\/p>\n

In the same gospel,<\/p>\n

It is the Spirit who bestows\u00a0life; the flesh does not profit anything. The words which I speak, they are spirit and they are\u00a0life. John 6:63.<\/p>\n

In these places ‘bestowing\u00a0life’ and ‘life’ plainly stand for spirituallife, which is\u00a0life\u00a0in heaven, a\u00a0life\u00a0which is also simply called ‘life’, as in Matthew,<\/p>\n

Narrow and strait is the road that leads to\u00a0life, and those who find it are few. Matt. 7:14.<\/p>\n

And in other places ‘entering into\u00a0life’ stands for entering heaven, Matt. 18:8, 9; 19:17; Mark 9:43, 45, 47; John 5:24.<\/p>\n

Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 6685<\/b><\/p>\n

6685. ‘For they are full of\u00a0life’ means that it has spiritual\u00a0life\u00a0within it. This is clear from the meaning of ‘having\u00a0life’ as spiritual\u00a0life, dealt with in 5890, in this instance spiritual\u00a0life\u00a0within things belonging to the Church, which are meant by ‘the Hebrew women’. What spiritual\u00a0life\u00a0is has been stated a number of times already; but since few at the present day know what the spiritual is, let a further brief explanation be given of what this is. In its first origin the spiritual is Divine Truth emanating from the Lord’s Divine Human. That Truth has Divine Good within it, because Divine Truth comes from the Lord’s Divine Human, which is Divine Good. This Divine Truth which has Divine Good within it is the spiritual itself in origin, and is the actual\u00a0life\u00a0that fills heaven, indeed that fills all creation. Where there is a subject,* there it flows in; yet it is different within each subject, depending on the form the subject takes. Within subjects in harmony with good it establishes spiritual\u00a0life, but within subjects out of harmony with good it establishes the opposite of spiritual\u00a0life, which in the Word is called ‘death’. From this one may now see what spiritual\u00a0life\u00a0is, namely being in possession of truths rooted in good which come from the Lord.
\n* Subject is used here to mean something which really exists yet depends for its existence on something else prior to itself.<\/p>\n

Apocalypse Explained (Tansley) n. 750<\/b><\/p>\n

750. And they loved not their\u00a0life\u00a0(anima), even unto death.- That this signifies the faithful who endured temptations because of those truths, and esteemed the\u00a0life\u00a0of the world as of no account in comparison with the\u00a0life\u00a0of heaven, is evident from the signification of, not to love the soul, as denoting to regard the\u00a0lifeof the world as of no account in comparison with the\u00a0life\u00a0of heaven (concerning which we shall speak presently); and from the signification of, even unto death, as denoting to suffer temptations. For those who are in combats of temptations consider the\u00a0life\u00a0of the world as of no account in comparison with the\u00a0life\u00a0of heaven, consequently, they regard the death of the body as of no account in comparison with the\u00a0life\u00a0of the soul, as is evident from those who suffered martyrdom. The reason is, that they know that\u00a0life\u00a0in the world, which lasts only for a few years, is nothing compared with the\u00a0life\u00a0in heaven, which is eternal\u00a0life; in fact, there is no comparison at all between the time of man’s\u00a0life\u00a0in the world, and the\u00a0life\u00a0in heaven which will endure to eternity. Let any one consider, whether there can be any comparison between a hundred thousand years and eternity, and he will find that there cannot be. These and many other thoughts flow in from heaven with those who endure spiritual temptations, therefore they love not their\u00a0life, that is, their\u00a0life\u00a0in the world, even unto death.<\/p>\n

Apocalypse Explained (Tansley) n. 84<\/b><\/p>\n

84. And, behold, I am alive unto the ages of the ages. That this signifies\u00a0life\u00a0eternal from Him is evident from the signification of being alive, as being to be from eternity, and that in Him alone\u00a0lifeis from Himself (concerning which see above, n. 82), but here, it denotes\u00a0life\u00a0in others, and His\u00a0life\u00a0in others is\u00a0life\u00a0eternal; for it is said, just before, that He was dead, by which is signified that He was rejected, because not received in faith and love. By being alive, therefore, is here signified His being received by those who are in His\u00a0life, which\u00a0life\u00a0is in faith and love with man, and thatlife\u00a0is\u00a0life\u00a0eternal. That unto the ages of the ages signifies to eternity, is clear without explanation.\u00a0[2] That the\u00a0life\u00a0of the Lord is the\u00a0life\u00a0of faith and love to Him, and that this\u00a0life\u00a0is eternal, is evident from many passages in the Word, as from the following:<\/p>\n

“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have\u00a0life\u00a0eternal. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting\u00a0life; but he that believeth not the Son shall not see\u00a0life” (John iii. 14, 15, 16, 36).<\/p>\n

And again:<\/p>\n

“The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water, springing up into everlasting\u00a0life” (iv. 14):<\/p>\n

water is the truth of faith (as may be seen above, n. 71). In the same:<\/p>\n

“Every one who seeth the Son, and believeth on him, hath eternallife. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they arelife” (vi. 40, 63).<\/p>\n

The words which the Lord speaks, are also the truths of faith. In the same:<\/p>\n

“I am the resurrection and the\u00a0life; he that believeth in me, though he die, yet shall he live” (xi. 25, 26).<\/p>\n

In the same:<\/p>\n

“Labour for the food which endureth unto eternal\u00a0life, which the Son of man shall give unto you” (vi. 27).<\/p>\n

The food which the Lord gives, is also the truth and good of faith, because spiritual food is meant (see Arcana Coelestia, n. 3114, 4459, 4792, 5147, 5293, 5340, 5342, 5410, 5426, 8562, 9003).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to Swedenborg, the Lord is life itself, and we are recipients of life. This is true even of the most evil spirits, who loved themselves only in life and hate and deny the Lord from their place in the lowest hells; the Lord forces life upon them, despite their rejection, in the amount necessary […]<\/p>\n

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