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Numbers 27

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1 Then drew near the daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph; and these are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Tirzah.

2 And they stood before Moses, and before Eleazar the priest, and before the princes and all the congregation, at the door of the tent of meeting, saying,

3 Our father died in the wilderness, and he was not among the company of them that gathered themselves together against Jehovah in the company of Korah: but he died in his own sin; and he had no sons.

4 Why should the name of our father be taken away from among his family, because he had no son? Give unto us a possession among the brethren of our father.

5 And Moses brought their cause before Jehovah.

6 And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,

7 The daughters of Zelophehad speak right: thou shalt surely give them a possession of an inheritance among their father's brethren; and thou shalt cause the inheritance of their father to pass unto them.

8 And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a man die, and have no son, then ye shall cause his inheritance to pass unto his daughter.

9 And if he have no daughter, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his brethren.

10 And if he have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his father's brethren.

11 And if his father have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his kinsman that is next to him of his family, and he shall possess it: and it shall be unto the children of Israel a statute [and] ordinance, as Jehovah commanded Moses.

12 And Jehovah said unto Moses, Get thee up into this mountain of Abarim, and behold the land which I have given unto the children of Israel.

13 And when thou hast seen it, thou also shalt be gathered unto thy people, as Aaron thy brother was gathered;

14 because ye rebelled against my word in the wilderness of Zin, in the strife of the congregation, to sanctify me at the waters before their eyes. (These are the waters of Meribah of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.)

15 And Moses spake unto Jehovah, saying,

16 Let Jehovah, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation,

17 who may go out before them, and who may come in before them, and who may lead them out, and who may bring them in; that the congregation of Jehovah be not as sheep which have no shepherd.

18 And Jehovah said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay thy hand upon him;

19 and set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation; and give him a charge in their sight.

20 And thou shalt put of thine honor upon him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may obey.

21 And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before Jehovah: at his word shall they go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he, and all the children of Israel with him, even all the congregation.

22 And Moses did as Jehovah commanded him; and he took Joshua, and set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation:

23 and he laid his hands upon him, and gave him a charge, as Jehovah spake by Moses.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 3255

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3255. 'He was gathered to his peoples' means that these things involving Abraham [were completed]. This is clear from the meaning of 'being gathered to his peoples' as his ceasing to be the subject any longer. In fact being gathered to his peoples means taking leave of those among whom he had been until then, passing over to his own, and so here ceasing to represent. Among the ancients it was customary when somebody was dying to speak of his being gathered to his fathers or to his peoples. By this they meant that he was in the process of going to his parents, blood relatives, and relatives by marriage in the next life. This saying had come down to them from the most ancient people who were celestial, for while they were living on earth they were simultaneously present with angels in heaven and so knew all about this. That is to say, they knew that all who are governed by the same good meet and remain together in the next life, as do all who are governed by the same truth. They spoke of the former as being 'gathered to their fathers', but of the latter as being 'gathered to their peoples'; for with them 'fathers' meant goods, 2803, and 'peoples' truths, 1259, 1260. Furthermore because a like good was present in those who belonged to the Most Ancient Church they now live together in heaven, 1115; and so too do many of those live together who belonged to the Ancient Church and in whom a like truth dwelt, 1125, 1127.

[2] What is more, while he lives in the body a person's soul is always present in some community of spirits in the next life, 1277, 2379 - one who is evil in a community of hellish spirits, one who is good in a community of angels. Accordingly, everyone is present in a community consisting of the kind of people with whom he agrees so far as good and truth, or evil and falsity, are concerned. And into that same community a person comes when he dies, 687. These are the things that were meant among the ancients by their being gathered to their fathers, or gathered to their peoples, as is said here of Abraham when he breathed his last, and of Ishmael in verse 17 of this same chapter, of Isaac in Genesis 35:29, of Jacob in Genesis 49:29, 33, of Aaron in Numbers 20:24, 26, of Moses in Numbers 27:13; 31:2; Deuteronomy 32:50, and of the first generation which entered the land of Canaan, Judges 2:10. But in the internal sense of the Word when the subject has to do with anyone's life being representative, 'being gathered to his peoples', as stated above, in that case means that he ceases to be dealt with any longer.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.