1. THE WORD EXPLAINED, THE HISTORICAL WORD, JOSHUA 1:7, 8
Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded thee; turn not thou from it to the right hand or to the life, that thou mayest act with prudence in all things whithersoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt mediate therein day and night that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein; for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous and then thou shalt act with prudence. (See n. 5880.)
[The above is inserted here in accordance with a suggestion written by the author on the inside of the front cover page of Codex 61. His words are: "Perhaps the words in Joshua, chapter 1, verses 7 and 8, should precede the explanation of Genesis and Exodus." Then follows a brief explanation of these verses, which was afterwards crossed off and the words "Respecting these words, confer n. 4464 [our n. 5890]" substituted. The same suggestion is made on the inside of the back cover, where we read: "The words in Joshua, chapter 1, verses 7 and 8, should perhaps precede the explanation of Genesis or of Exodus, or of both. The explanation may be seen in n. 4864." In this quotation from Joshua, Swedenborg used Schmidius' version.]
THE WORD EXPLAINED
But let us examine the Scriptures, especially with the purpose of searching the kingdom of God; that is to say, its future quality, and many things appertaining to it. The Scriptures treat of the kingdom of God, not here and there, but everywhere; for this kingdom was the end in the creation of all things both of heaven and of earth.9
9 See our Introduction, pp. 181-188.
Heaven and earth were created and produced by God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, to the end that they might be filled with inhabitants or natives — heaven with spirits and human souls, and earth with inhabitants clothed with a body, who, after the course of their life has been accomplished, shall depart thence into heaven. Therefore heaven was created for the sake of God; the visible mundane system with its lands, for the sake of heaven; and both for the sake of the kingdom of God to be established in the heavens and on earth; and this kingdom for the sake of the Son, the Only-begotten of God, His one only Love, our Messiah, who will be the King or Ruler of that kingdom for ever, or the Soul of that society which is also called the Holy City and Jerusalem. Thus all things were created for the sake of the glory of God the Father, to whom belongeth the kingdom, the power and the glory for ever. This being the ultimate end, all first and intermediate ends look to it in themselves; and since the ultimate end is always seen present in mediate ends, as though in mirrors, therefore there is nothing in first creation and in subsequent sacred institutions, in a word, in those things which are extant in the Scriptures inspired by God, that does not as a type represent that kingdom, and express and effigy it before our eyes: to the very life.
(See n. 5.)1
1 It appears that Swedenborg contemplated inserting no. 6 here as paragraph 5; see n. 5 fin., and n. 19.
2.* Castellio's Version
GENESIS I
(That Elohim is in the plural, see chapter XX, verse 13.)
* [By the author:] Here take also Schmidius' version.
1 In the beginning God created heaven and earth.
2 And while the earth was inert and formless and the deep over-spread with darkness and the Divine Spirit moved to and fro over the waters;
3 God commanded that light should exist, and light existed.
4 And when God saw that the light was good, he separated the light from the darkness.
5 And he called the light Day, and the darkness Night. Thus from the evening and the morning came the first day.
Schmidius' Version
2 And the earth was waste and void; and darkness was upon the faces of the abyss. And the spirit of God moved upon the faces of the waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light; and there was light.
4 And God distinguished between the light and the darkness.
5 [And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And] the evening and the morning were the first day.
[Author's note.] OBSERVE: The above is according to the versions of Sebastian Castellio and Sebastian Schmidius, both of whose words I wish to cite in places where there appears to be any discrepancy in the meaning. Castellio's are those which are written in a running style, while Schmidius' follow the text literally without the running style.2 [In the MS these two versions follow verse by verse one after the other, but for the convenience of the reader we have arranged them one section after another.]
2. Sebastianus Schmidt or Schmidius, D.D., was born in Alsatia, 1617, and died in 1696, at Strasburg, where he taught as Professor of Theology. He was a voluminous writer, his works including a number of detailed commentaries on the books of the Bible. But his principal work was a literal Latin version of the Bible, published in the year of his death. It was much used by Swedenborg, and a copy of it, filled with marginal notes, was found among the latter's effects. This copy was photolithographed by Dr. R. L. Tafel, and published in 1878.
Sebastian Castellio (or Castallio) was born in Dauphine, 1515. His original name was Chateillon, which he Latinized into Castellio. His great talents led Calvin to secure his appointment as Professor of Humanity at Geneva. But here his determined opposition to the doctrine of predestination soon brought him into disfavor with the all-dominating Calvin, who quickly procured his banishment from Geneva. He sought refuge in Basle, where he barely supported his numerous family by teaching Greek, and where, in 1563, he died in great poverty. He wrote many works, including an attack on predestination, as making God a tyrant and discouraging virtue. But his principal work was his Latin version of the Bible, dedicated to Edward VI of England, and published in 1551. The translation was bitterly assailed by Beza and Calvin, and in subsequent editions Castellio incorporated his defence against these critics, together with arguments in favor of free discussion, and a treatise directed against the right of civil magistrates to punish for heretical beliefs. These writings so angered Calvin that he endeavored to have Castellio banished from Basle, but in vain. Swedenborg's library contained four copies of Castellio's translation, namely, two of the edition of 1726 (London, 9 vols.) and two of the edition of 1738 (Leipsic, 2 vols.).
