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Leviticus 16

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1 And the Lord said to Moses, after the death of the two sons of Aaron when they took in strange fire before the Lord and death overtook them;

2 The Lord said to Moses, Say to Aaron, your brother, that he may not come at all times into the holy place inside the veil, before the cover which is on the ark, for fear that death may overtake him; for I will be seen in the cloud on the cover of the ark.

3 Let Aaron come into the holy place in this way: with an ox for a sin-offering and a male sheep for a burned offering.

4 Let him put on the holy linen coat, and the linen trousers on his body, and the linen band round him, and the linen head-dress on his head; for this is holy clothing, and before he puts them on his body is to be washed with water.

5 And let him take from the children of Israel two he-goats for a sin-offering and one male sheep for a burned offering.

6 And Aaron is to give the ox of the sin-offering for himself, to make himself and his house free from sin.

7 And he is to take the two goats and put them before the Lord at the door of the Tent of meeting.

8 And Aaron will make selection from the two goats by the decision of the Lord, one goat for the Lord and one for Azazel.

9 And the goat which is marked out for the Lord, let Aaron give for a sin-offering.

10 But the goat for Azazel is to be placed living before the Lord, for the taking away of sin, that it may be sent away for Azazel into the waste land.

11 And Aaron is to give the ox of the sin-offering for himself and take away sin from himself and his house, and put to death the ox of the sin-offering which is for himself.

12 And he is to take a vessel full of burning coal from the altar before the Lord and in his hand some sweet perfume crushed small, and take it inside the veil;

13 And let him put the perfume on the fire before the Lord so that the ark may be covered with a cloud of the smoke of the perfume, in order that death may not overtake him.

14 And let him take some of the blood of the ox, shaking drops of it from his finger on the cover of the ark on the east side, and before it, seven times.

15 Then let him put to death the goat of the sin-offering for the people, and take its blood inside the veil and do with it as he did with the blood of the ox, shaking drops of it on and before the cover of the ark.

16 And let him make the holy place free from whatever is unclean among the children of Israel and from their wrongdoing in all their sins; and let him do the same for the Tent of meeting, which has its place among an unclean people.

17 And no man may be in the Tent of meeting from the time when Aaron goes in to take away sin in the holy place till he comes out, having made himself and his house and all the people of Israel free from sin.

18 And he is to go out to the altar which is before the Lord and make it free from sin; and he is to take some of the blood of the ox and the blood of the goat and put it on the horns of the altar and round it;

19 Shaking drops of the blood from his finger on it seven times to make it holy and clean from whatever is unclean among the children of Israel.

20 And when he has done whatever is necessary to make the holy place and the Tent of meeting and the altar free from sin, let him put the living goat before the Lord;

21 And Aaron, placing his two hands on the head of the living goat, will make a public statement over him of all the evil doings of the children of Israel and all their wrongdoing, in all their sins; and he will put them on the head of the goat and send him away, in the care of a man who will be waiting there, into the waste land.

22 And the goat will take all their sins into a land cut off from men, and he will send the goat away into the waste land.

23 Then let Aaron come into the Tent of meeting and take off the linen clothing which he put on when he went into the holy place, and put them down there;

24 And after bathing his body in water in a holy place, he is to put on his clothing and come out and give his burned offering and the burned offering of the people, to take away his sin and the sin of the people.

25 And the fat of the sin-offering is to be burned by him on the altar.

26 And the man who takes away the goat for Azazel is to have his clothing washed and his body bathed in water and then he may come back to the tent-circle.

27 And the ox of the sin-offering and the goat of the sin-offering, whose blood was taken in to make the holy place free from sin, are to be taken away outside the tent-circle and their skins and their flesh and their waste are to be burned with fire.

28 And the man by whom they are burned is to have his clothing washed and his body bathed in water, and then he may come back to the tent-circle.

29 And let this be an order to you for ever: in the seventh month, on the tenth day, you are to keep yourselves from pleasure and do no sort of work, those who are Israelites by birth and those from other lands who are living among you:

30 For on this day your sin will be taken away and you will be clean: you will be made free from all your sins before the Lord.

31 It is a special Sabbath for you, and you are to keep yourselves from pleasure; it is an order for ever.

32 And the man on whose head the holy oil has been put, and who has been marked out to be a priest in his father's place, will do what is necessary to take away sin, and will put on the linen clothing, even the holy robes:

33 And he will make the holy place and the Tent of meeting and the altar free from sin; he will take away sin from the priests and from all the people.

34 And let this be an order for ever for you, so that the sin of the children of Israel may be taken away once every year. And he did as the Lord gave orders to Moses.

   

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Apocalypse Explained # 279

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279. And the second animal like a calf, signifies the appearance in ultimates of Divine good in respect to protection. This is evident from the signification of a "calf," or "bullock," as being the good of the natural man, and specifically his good of innocence and charity; and because it is the good of the natural man it also is the good of the lowest heaven, for this heaven is spiritual natural (See in the work on Heaven and Hell 29-31); and as this good is there, there is a guard or protection that the higher heavens be not approached except through the good of love and charity; this is why one cherub was like a calf. That this appearance was in ultimates, see just above n. 278. A "calf" or "bullock" signifies the good of the natural man, because animals from the herd signified the affections of good and truth in the external or natural man; and those from the flock signified the affections of good and truth in the internal or spiritual man. Those from the flock were lambs, she-goats, sheep, rams, and he-goats; those from the herd were oxen, bullocks, and calves.

[2] That "bullocks" and "calves" signify the good of the natural man is evident from the passages of the Word where they are mentioned. First from the description of the feet of the cherubim in Ezekiel:

Their foot was straight and the sole of their feet like the sole of a calf's foot, and they sparkled like the appearance of burnished brass (Ezekiel 1:7).

Their foot thus appeared "straight" because the cherubim represented the Divine guard of the Lord, and the feet and the soles of the feet represented the same in ultimates or in the spiritual natural heaven and the natural world; for "feet" in general signify the natural; a "straight foot" the natural in respect to good; "the sole of the foot" the ultimate of the natural; "burnished brass" also signifies good in the natural. From this it is clear that good in the natural is signified by a "calf," and that in this is the ultimate good that guards and protects lest the heavens be approached except through the good of love and charity. (That "feet" signify the natural, see Arcana Coelestia 2162, 3147, 3761, 3986, 4280, 4938-4952, 5327, 5328; that that which is to the right signifies good from which is truth, n. 9604, 9736, 10061; therefore a "straight foot" signifies the natural in respect to good. That "palms," "soles," and "hoofs," signify the ultimates in the natural, see n. 4938, 7729; and that "burnished brass" signifies natural good, see above, n. 70)

[3] In Hosea:

Return ye to Jehovah; say unto Him, Take away all iniquity, and accept good, and we will pay back the bullocks of our lips (Hosea 14:2).

What it is to "pay back the bullocks of the lips" no one can know unless he knows what "bullocks" and what "lips" signify; they mean evidently confession and thanksgiving from a good heart; but it is thus expressed because "bullocks" signify external good, and "lips" doctrine; therefore "paying back the bullocks of the lips" signifies to confess and give thanks from the goods of doctrine. (That "lips" signify doctrine, see Arcana Coelestia, n. 1286, 1288.)

[4] In Amos:

Ye cause the habitation of violence to draw near; they lie upon beds of ivory, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall (Amos 6:3, 4).

Here those who have an abundance of the knowledges of good and truth and yet lead an evil life are treated of; "to eat the lambs out of the flock" signifies to imbibe the knowledges of internal good or of the spiritual man; and "to eat the calves out of the midst of the stall" signifies to imbibe the knowledges of external good or of the natural man; and "to cause the habitation of violence to draw near" is to live a life contrary to charity.

[5] In Malachi:

Unto you that fear My name shall the Sun of righteousness arise and healing in His wings; that ye may go forth, and grow up as fatted calves (Malachi 4:2).

The "Sun of righteousness that shall arise to them that fear the name of Jehovah" signifies the good of love; and "healing in His wings" signifies the truth of faith; therefore "to go forth, and grow up as fatted calves," signifies the increase of all good, "fatted" and "fat" also signifying good.

[6] In Luke:

The father said of the prodigal son who returned penitent in heart, Bring forth the first robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet; and bring hither the fatted calf and kill it, that we may eat and be glad (Luke 15:22, 23).

He who is acquainted only with the sense of the letter believes that no deeper meaning is contained in this than appears in that sense, when yet every particular involves heavenly things; as that they should "put on him the first robe," that they should "put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet," that they should "bring forth the fatted calf, that they might eat and be merry." By "the prodigal son" those who are prodigal of spiritual riches, which are the knowledges of truth and good, are meant; "his returning to his father, and his confession that he was not worthy to be called his son," signifies penitence of heart and humiliation; "the first robe with which he was clothed," signifies general and primary truths; "the ring on the hand" signifies the conjunction of truth and good in the internal or spiritual man; "the shoes on the feet" signify the same in the external or natural man, and both signify regeneration; "the fatted calf" signifies the good of love and charity; and "to eat and be glad" signifies consociation and heavenly joy.

[7] In Jeremiah:

I will give the men that have transgressed My covenant, who have not established the words of the covenant which they made before Me, that of the calf, which they cut in twain that they might pass between the parts thereof, the princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the royal ministers and the priests, and all the people of the land, which passed between the parts of the calf, I will even give them into the hands of their enemies, that their carcass may be for food to the bird of the heavens (Jeremiah 34:18-20).

What is meant by "the covenant of the calf," and by "passing between its parts," no one can know without knowing what a "covenant" signifies, and a "calf," and its being "cut in twain;" then what is meant by "the princes of Judah and Jerusalem," by "the royal ministers," "the priests," and "the people of the land." Some heavenly arcanum is evidently meant; and it can be understood when it is known that a "covenant" means conjunction; a "calf" good, a "calf cut in twain" good proceeding from the Lord on the one hand, and good received by man on the other, whence is conjunction; and that "the princes of Judah and of Jerusalem, the royal ministers, the priests, and the people of the land," mean the goods and truths of the church; and that "to pass between the parts" means to conjoin. When these things are known, the internal sense of these words can be seen, namely, that there was no conjunction by the goods and truths of the church with that nation, but disjunction.

[8] Like things are involved in the "covenant of the calf" with Abram, of which in Genesis:

Jehovah said to Abram, Take to thee an heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle dove, and a young pigeon. And he took him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each part over against the other; but the birds divided he not. And the birds of prey came down upon the carcasses; and Abram drove them away. And the sun was at its going down, and a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and lo, a terror of great darkness fell upon him. And in that day Jehovah made a covenant with Abram (Genesis 15:9-12, 18).

The "terror of great darkness" that fell upon Abram signified the state of the Jewish nation, which was in the greatest darkness in respect to the truths and goods of the church. This state of that nation is what is described in the prophet by "the covenant of the calf which they cut into two parts, between which they passed." Since a "calf" signifies the good of the natural man and its truth, which is knowledge [scientificum]; and since the natural man and its knowledge [scientificum] is signified by "Egypt," therefore in the Word Egypt is called a "she-calf," and a "he-calf;" moreover, when they applied the knowledges [scientifica] of the church to magical and idolatrous purposes they turned the calf into an idol; this was why the sons of Israel made to themselves a he-calf in the wilderness, and worshiped it, and also why they had a calf in Samaria.

[9] That Egypt was called a he-calf and a she-calf can be seen in Jeremiah:

A very fair she-calf is Egypt; destruction cometh out of the north, her hirelings in the midst of her are like he-calves of the stall (Jeremiah 46:20-21).

Respecting the calf that the sons of Israel made to themselves in the wilderness, see Exodus 32; and respecting the "calf of Samaria" (1 Kings 12:28-32), about which is the following in Hosea:

They have made a king, but not by Me; they have made princes, and I knew it not; of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off. Thy calf, O Samaria, hath forsaken thee. For it was from Israel; the workman made it, and it is not God; the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces (Hosea 8:4-6).

This treats of the corrupt explanation of the Word, when the sense of its letter is turned to favor self-love, and the principles of religion derived therefrom. "They have made a king, but not by Me, and they have made princes, and I knew it not," signifies doctrines from self-intelligence, which in themselves are falsities, but which they make to appear as truths; for "king" signifies truth, and in a contrary sense, falsity; "princes" signify primary truths, or falsities, which are called principles of religion. "To make idols of their silver and their gold" signifies to pervert the truths and goods of the church, and still to worship them as holy, although as they are from self-intelligence they are destitute of life; "silver" is the truth, and "gold" the good, which are from the Lord; "idols" signify worship from doctrine that is from self-intelligence; "the workman made it, and it is not God," signifies that is from the selfhood [ex proprio], and not from the Divine; "to be broken in pieces" signifies to be dispersed; which makes clear what is signified by the "calf of Samaria." Because "calves" signified the good of the natural man, calves were also sacrificed (See Exodus 29:11, 12 seq.; Leviticus 4:3, 13; 8:15 seq.; 9:2; 16:3; 23:18; Numbers 8:8 seq.; 15:24; 28:19, 20; Judges 6:25-29; 1 Samuel 1:25; 16:2; 1 Kings 18:23-26, 33); for all the animals that were sacrificed signified the goods of the church of various kinds.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for their permission to use this translation.