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Exodus 28

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1 Now let Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, come near from among the children of Israel, so that they may be my priests, even Aaron, and Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, his sons.

2 And make holy robes for Aaron your brother, so that he may be clothed with glory and honour.

3 Give orders to all the wise-hearted workmen, whom I have made full of the spirit of wisdom, to make robes for Aaron, so that he may be made holy as my priest.

4 This is what they are to make: a priest's bag, an ephod, and a robe, and a coat of coloured needlework, a head-dress, and a linen band; they are to make holy robes for Aaron your brother and for his sons, so that they may do the work of priests for me.

5 They are to take the gold and blue and purple and red and the best linen,

6 And make the ephod of gold and blue and purple and red and the best linen, the work of a designer.

7 It is to have two bands stitched to it at the top of the arms, joining it together.

8 And the beautifully worked band, which goes on it, is to be of the same work and the same material, of gold and blue and purple and red and twisted linen-work.

9 You are to take two beryl stones, on which the names of the children of Israel are to be cut:

10 Six names on the one stone and Six on the other, in the order of their birth.

11 With the work of a jeweller, like the cutting of a stamp, the names of the children of Israel are to be cut on them, and they are to be fixed in twisted frames of gold.

12 And the two stones are to be placed on the ephod, over the arm-holes, to be stones of memory for the children of Israel: Aaron will have their names on his arms when he goes in before the Lord, to keep the Lord in mind of them.

13 And you are to make twisted frames of gold;

14 And two chains of the best gold, twisted like cords; and have the chains fixed on to the frames.

15 And make a priest's bag for giving decisions, designed like the ephod, made of gold and blue and purple and red and the best linen.

16 It is to be square, folded in two, a hand-stretch long and a hand-stretch wide.

17 And on it you are to put four lines of jewels; the first line is to be a cornelian, a chrysolite, and an emerald;

18 The second, a ruby, a sapphire, and an onyx;

19 The third, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst;

20 The fourth, a topaz, a beryl, and a jasper; they are to be fixed in twisted frames of gold.

21 The jewels are to be twelve in number, for the names of the children of Israel; every jewel having the name of one of the twelve tribes cut on it as on a stamp.

22 And you are to make two chains of gold, twisted like cords, to be fixed to the priest's bag.

23 And put two gold rings on the two ends of the bag.

24 Put the two gold chains on the two rings at the ends of the bag;

25 Joining the other ends of the chains to the gold frames and putting them on the front of the ephod, at the top of the arms.

26 Then make two gold rings and put them on the lower ends of the bag, at the edge of it on the inner side nearest to the ephod.

27 And make two more gold rings and put them on the front of the ephod at the top of the arms, at the join, over the worked band:

28 So that the rings on the bag may be fixed to the rings of the ephod by a blue cord and on to the band of the ephod, so that the bag may not come loose from the ephod.

29 And so Aaron will have the names of the children of Israel on the priest's bag over his heart whenever he goes into the holy place, to keep the memory of them before the Lord.

30 And in the bag you are to put the Urim and Thummim, so that they may be on Aaron's heart whenever he goes in before the Lord; and Aaron may have the power of making decisions for the children of Israel before the Lord at all times.

31 The robe which goes with the ephod is to be made all of blue;

32 With a hole at the top, in the middle of it; the hole is to be edged with a band to make it strong like the hole in the coat of a fighting-man, so that it may not be broken open.

33 And round the skirts of it put fruits in blue and purple and red, with bells of gold between;

34 A gold bell and a fruit in turn all round the skirts of the robe.

35 Aaron is to put it on for his holy work; and the sound of it will be clear, when he goes into the holy place before the Lord, and when he comes out, keeping him safe from death.

36 You are to make a plate of the best gold, cutting on it, as on a stamp, these words: HOLY TO THE LORD.

37 Put a blue cord on it and Put it on the front of the twisted head-dress:

38 And it will be over Aaron's brow, so that Aaron will be responsible for any error in all the holy offerings made by the children of Israel; it will be on his brow at all times, so that their offerings may be pleasing to the Lord.

39 The coat is to be made of the best linen, worked in squares; and you are to make a head-dress of linen, and a linen band worked in needlework.

40 And for Aaron's sons you are to make coats, and bands, and head-dresses, so that they may be clothed with glory and honour.

41 These you are to put on Aaron, your brother, and on his sons, putting oil on them, separating them and making them holy, to do the work of priests to me.

42 And you are to make them linen trousers, covering their bodies from the middle to the knee;

43 Aaron and his sons are to put these on whenever they go into the Tent of meeting or come near the altar, when they are doing the work of the holy place, so that they may be free from any sin causing death: this is to be an order for him and his seed after him for ever.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 9841

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9841. 'And you shall take two shoham stones' means the interior memory formed from the truths of faith that spring from love. This is clear from the meaning of 'stones' as truths, dealt with in 114, 643, 1298, 3720, 6426, 8609, and of 'shoham stones' as the truths of faith springing from love, 9476. The reason why the memory is meant by these stones is that the names of the sons of Israel were engraved on them and an engraving on stones means a memory composed of real things which are to remain there permanently. The engraving or inscription of the Law on tablets of stone for example means those things which have been imprinted on a person's memory and life and which for this reason are to remain there permanently, see 9416 (end). The engraving or inscription on stones has this meaning because the human memory has truths imprinted on it, also ideas that have the appearance of truth, so much so that it is fashioned from them. Stones furthermore mean truths, and when an engraving on them is mentioned a memory where truths reside is meant, as is meant by 'the engraving on the hands' in Isaiah,

Even though they may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you upon [My] hands. Isaiah 49:15-16.

This explains why those stones are called 'stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel' in verse 12 below.

[2] The reason why the interior memory is meant by 'the shoham stones', on account of the engraving on them, is that even as the inscriptions, which were the names of the sons of Israel, mean spiritual truths, regarding which, see what follows below, and also the actual stones mean spiritual truths, so a person's interior memory must consist of such truths. For a person has two memories, exterior and interior; the exterior memory is natural, shaped therefore by such things as occur in the world, whereas the interior memory is spiritual, shaped by such as occur in heaven, see 2469-2494, 5212, 8067.

[3] The meaning of stones with engraving on them as the [interior] memory on which truths have been inscribed has its origin in representatives in heaven. People who enter the next life after death, bringing with them truths of faith that are present solely in the natural or exterior memory, and not in the spiritual or interior memory, seem to themselves when they go out to be wandering about among stony rocks and in forests. But those bringing with them truths of faith present in the spiritual memory as well seem to themselves when they go out to be walking among cultivated hills and also in gardens. The reason for this is that truths present in the exterior or natural memory, where they exist as known facts, are not at all part of life unless they are present at the same time in the interior or spiritual memory, for the truths present in this memory have become part of life, the interior or spiritual memory being the book of a person's life, 2474; and the things that compose life are represented in heaven by gardens, olive groves, and vineyards, and by rose beds and lawns, and those that compose charity by the hills where such places are situated, 6435. Those however which do not compose life are represented by stony places and thickets which are bare and rugged.

[4] What the truths of faith that spring from love are must also be stated briefly. Truths of faith springing from love are ones which love dictates, and so ones which derive their very being from love; in those truths there is life, because whatever springs from love has life in it. Truths of faith springing from love therefore are those which are directly concerned with love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour, these being the truths which love dictates. The whole Word consists of teachings that present such truths, for in its spiritual sense the Word deals solely with such things as have to do with the Lord and such as have to do with the neighbour, thus such things as have to do with love to the Lord and towards the neighbour. For this reason the Word too has life in it. This is what is meant by the statement 'on these two commandments the Law and the Prophets depend', Matthew 22:38, 40, 'the Law and the Prophets' being the Word in its entirety. The truths of faith springing from love however do not consist in a bare knowledge of such truths that resides in a person's memory and consequently in his understanding. Rather they are affections inherently present in the person's life; for what a person loves and therefore does is inherently present in his life. There are also truths of faith which are not directly concerned with love, but merely lend support closely or remotely to those which are directly concerned with it. These truths of faith are called secondary truths. For the truths of faith are like families and their successive generations coming down from one and the same father. The father of those truths is the good of love, received from the Lord and consequently offered to Him. Thus their father is the Lord, for whether you say the Lord or love received from Him and consequently offered to Him, it amounts to the same thing. Love is spiritual togetherness and causes Him to be where that love is; for assuredly love causes the one who is loved to be present within itself.

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