Arcana Coelestia (Potts) n. 872

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872. That the "faces of the ground" mean those things which are in the man of the church, and that the "ground" is mentioned because this is the first state when the man is becoming a church, is evident from the signification of "ground" (shown above), as being the man of the church, who is called "ground" when the goods and truths of faith can be sown in him, but before this he is called "earth." So in the first chapter of Genesis, before the man became celestial, "earth" is predicated of him; but when he became celestial, as described in the second chapter, "ground" and "field" are predicated of him. It is similar in the present chapter. Merely from the word "earth" and the word "ground" may be seen what is signified in the internal sense, not only here, but everywhere in the Word. By "ground" in the universal sense is signified the church; and because the church, the man of the church is also signified; for, as said before, each man of the church is a church.


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