4 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord. -Genesis 4:1King James Version (KJV)
Arcana Coelestia, by Emanuel Swedenborg, [1749-56], tr. by John F. Potts [1905-10], at sacred-texts.com
THE INTERNAL SENSE As this chapter treats of the degeneration of the Most Ancient Church, or the falsification of its doctrine, and consequently of its heresies and sects, under the names of Cain and his descendants, it is to be observed that there is no possibility of understanding how doctrine was falsified, or what was the nature of the heresies and sects of that church, unless the nature of the true church be rightly understood. Enough has been said above concerning the Most Ancient Church, showing that it was a celestial man, and that it acknowledged no other faith than that which was of love to the Lord and toward the neighbor. Through this love they had faith from the Lord, or a perception of all the things that belonged to faith, and for this reason they were unwilling to mention faith, lest it should be separated from love, as was shown above (n. 200, 203)... [3] Such was the Most Ancient Church, and such was its doctrine. But the case is far different at this day, for now faith takes precedence over charity, but still through faith charity is given by the Lord, and then charity becomes the principal. It follows from this that in the most ancient time doctrine was falsified when they made confession of faith, and thus separated it from love. Those who falsified doctrine in this way, or separated faith from love, or made confession of faith alone, were then called "Cain;"...
Verse l. And the man knew Eve his wife, and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man, Jehovah. By the "man and Eve his wife" is signified the Most Ancient Church, as has been made known; its first offspring, or firstborn, is faith, which is here called "Cain;" her saying "I have gotten a man, Jehovah" signifies that with those called "Cain" faith was recognized and acknowledged as a thing by itself.
In the three foregoing chapters it has been sufficiently shown that by the "man and his wife" is signified the Most Ancient Church... It was customary with the most ancient people to give names, and by names to signify things...
That the words "I have gotten a man, Jehovah" signify that with such as are called "Cain" faith is recognized and acknowledged as a thing by itself... In ancient times they gave every new thing a name, and in this way set forth the things involved in the names...
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