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Numbers 1

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1 And Jehovah spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai in the tent of meeting, on the first of the second month, in the second year after their departure from the land of Egypt, saying,

2 Take the sum of the whole assembly of the children of Israel, after their families, according to their fathers' houses, by the number of the names, every male, according to their polls;

3 from twenty years and upward, all that go forth to military service in Israel: ye shall number them according to their hosts, thou and Aaron.

4 And with you there shall be a man for every tribe, a man who is the head of his father's house.

5 And these are the names of the men that shall stand with you: for Reuben, Elizur the son of Shedeur;

6 for Simeon, Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai;

7 for Judah, Nahshon the son of Amminadab;

8 for Issachar, Nethaneel the son of Zuar;

9 for Zebulun, Eliab the son of Helon;

10 for the children of Joseph: for Ephraim, Elishama the son of Ammihud; for Manasseh, Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur;

11 for Benjamin, Abidan the son of Gideoni;

12 for Dan, Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai;

13 for Asher, Pagiel the son of Ocran;

14 for Gad, Eliasaph the son of Deuel;

15 for Naphtali, Ahira the son of Enan.

16 These were those summoned of the assembly, princes of the tribes of their fathers, the heads of the thousands of Israel.

17 And Moses and Aaron took these men who are expressed by their names,

18 and gathered the whole assembly together on the first of the second month. And they declared their pedigrees after their families, according to their fathers' houses, by the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, according to their polls.

19 As Jehovah had commanded Moses, so he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai.

20 And the sons of Reuben, Israel's eldest son, their generations, after their families, according to their fathers' houses, by the number of the names, according to their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that went forth to military service:

21 those that were numbered of them, of the tribe of Reuben, were forty-six thousand five hundred.

22 Of the sons of Simeon: their generations, after their families, according to their fathers' houses, those that were numbered of them, by the number of the names, according to their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that went forth to military service:

23 those that were numbered of them, of the tribe of Simeon, were fifty-nine thousand three hundred.

24 Of the sons of Gad: their generations, after their families, according to their fathers' houses, by the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that went forth to military service:

25 those that were numbered of them, of the tribe of Gad, were forty-five thousand six hundred and fifty.

26 Of the sons of Judah: their generations, after their families, according to their fathers' houses, by the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that went forth to military service:

27 those that were numbered of them, of the tribe of Judah, were seventy-four thousand six hundred.

28 Of the sons of Issachar: their generations, after their families, according to their fathers' houses, by the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that went forth to military service:

29 those that were numbered of them, of the tribe of Issachar, were fifty-four thousand four hundred.

30 Of the sons of Zebulun: their generations, after their families, according to their fathers' houses, by the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that went forth to military service:

31 those that were numbered of them, of the tribe of Zebulun, were fifty-seven thousand four hundred.

32 Of the sons of Joseph: of the children of Ephraim: their generations, after their families, according to their fathers' houses, by the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that went forth to military service:

33 those that were numbered of them, of the tribe of Ephraim, were forty thousand five hundred.

34 Of the children of Manasseh: their generations, after their families, according to their fathers' houses, by the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that went forth to military service:

35 those that were numbered of them, of the tribe of Manasseh, were thirty-two thousand two hundred.

36 Of the sons of Benjamin: their generations, after their families, according to their fathers' houses, by the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that went forth to military service:

37 those that were numbered of them, of the tribe of Benjamin, were thirty-five thousand four hundred.

38 Of the sons of Dan: their generations, after their families, according to their fathers' houses, by the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that went forth to military service:

39 those that were numbered of them, of the tribe of Dan, were sixty-two thousand seven hundred.

40 Of the sons of Asher: their generations, after their families, according to their fathers' houses, by the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that went forth to military service:

41 those that were numbered of them, of the tribe of Asher, were forty-one thousand five hundred.

42 Of the sons of Naphtali: their generations, after their families, according to their fathers' houses, by the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that went forth to military service:

43 those that were numbered of them, of the tribe of Naphtali, were fifty-three thousand four hundred.

44 These are those that were numbered, whom Moses and Aaron numbered, and the princes of Israel, the twelve men: each one was for the house of his fathers.

45 And all those that were numbered of the children of Israel, according to their fathers' houses, from twenty years old and upward, all that went forth to military service in Israel,

46 all they that were numbered were six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty.

47 But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not numbered among them.

48 For Jehovah had spoken to Moses, saying,

49 Only thou shalt not number the tribe of Levi, neither take the sum of them among the children of Israel.

50 But thou, appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of testimony, and over all the vessels thereof, and over all things that belong to it: they shall bear the tabernacle, and all its vessels; and they shall serve it, and round about the tabernacle shall they encamp;

51 and when the tabernacle setteth forward, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle encampeth, the Levites shall set it up; and the stranger that cometh near shall be put to death.

52 And the children of Israel shall encamp every man in his camp, and every man by his own standard, according to their hosts;

53 but the Levites shall encamp round about the tabernacle of testimony, that there come not wrath upon the assembly of the children of Israel; and the Levites shall keep the charge of the tabernacle of testimony.

54 And the children of Israel did so; according to all that Jehovah had commanded Moses, so did they.

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Arcana Coelestia # 2280

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2280. That 'perhaps twenty will be found there' means even if there is no existence of conflict but good is nevertheless present is clear from the meaning of 'twenty'. As all the numbers mentioned in the Word mean real things and states, as stated and shown in various places already, see 2252, so also does 'twenty'; and what twenty means becomes clear from how it may be obtained, namely from twice ten. In the Word ten, as also tenths, means remnants, and by these are meant everything good and true which the Lord instills into a person from earliest childhood through to the final period of life. Such remnants are referred to in the verse that follows this. Twice ten, or two tens, that is, twenty, is similar in meaning to ten, but to a higher degree, namely that of good.

[2] Three kinds of goods are meant by 'remnants' - those instilled in earliest childhood, those instilled when want of knowledge is still present, and those instilled when intelligence is present. The goods of earliest childhood are those instilled into a person from birth up to the age when he starts to be taught and to know something. The goods received when want of knowledge is still present are instilled when he is being taught and starting to know something. The goods that come with intelligence are instilled when he is able to reflect on what good is and what truth is. Good instilled in earliest childhood is received up to his tenth year.

[3] Good instilled when want of knowledge is still present is instilled from then until his twentieth year; and from this year the person starts to become rational and to have the ability to reflect on good and truth, and to acquire the good received when intelligence is present. The good instilled when want of knowledge is still present is that which is meant by 'twenty', because those with whom merely that good exists do not enter into any temptation. For no one undergoes temptation until he is able to reflect on and to perceive in his own way what good and truth are. Those who have acquired goods by means of temptations were the subject in the two verses previous to this, while in the present verse the subject is those who do not undergo temptations but who nevertheless possess good.

[4] It is because these who possess the good called 'good instilled during want of knowledge' are meant by 'twenty' that all those who had come out of Egypt were included in the census - from 'a son of twenty years and over', and who, as it is stated, were every one 'going into the army'- by whom were meant those whose good was no longer merely that instilled during want of knowledge, referred to in Numbers 1:20, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 38, 40, 42, 45; 26:4. It is also said that all who were over twenty years of age died in the wilderness, Numbers 14:29; 32:10-11, because evil could be attributed to them, and because they represented those who yield in temptations. Also the value set for a male who was between five years of age and twenty years was twenty sheckels, Leviticus 27:5, whereas a different value was set for one between twenty years old and sixty, namely fifty shekels, Leviticus 27:3.

[5] As regards the nature of these different kinds of goods - those instilled in earliest childhood, those when want of knowledge is still present, and those when intelligence is present - the last of these is the best, since it is an attribute of wisdom. The good which precedes it, namely that instilled during want of knowledge, is indeed good, but because it has only a small amount of intelligence within it, it cannot be called the good of wisdom. The good that belongs to earliest childhood is indeed in itself good, but it is nevertheless less good than the other two kinds, because it has not as yet had any truth of intelligence allied to it, and so has not become in any way the good of wisdom, but is merely a plane enabling it to become such. Cognitions of truth and good are what enable a person to be wise in the way possible to man. Earliest childhood itself, by which is meant innocence, does not belong to earliest childhood but to wisdom, as may become clearer from what will be stated at the end of this chapter about young children in the next life.

[6] In this verse 'twenty' means no other kind of good, as has been stated, than the good that belongs to not knowing. This good is a characteristic not only, as has been stated, of those under twenty years of age but also of all with whom the good of charity exists but who at the same time have no knowledge of truth. The latter consists of those inside the Church with whom the good of charity exists but who, for whatever reason, do not know what the truth of faith is - as is the case with the majority of those who think about God with reverence and think what is good about the neighbor - and also of all those outside the Church called gentiles who in a similar way lead lives abiding in the good of charity. Though the truths of faith do not exist with such persons outside the Church and inside it, nevertheless because good does so, they have the capacity, no less than young children do, to receive the truths of faith. For the understanding part of their mind has not yet been corrupted by false assumptions nor has the will part been so confirmed by a life of evil, for they do not know what falsity and evil are. Furthermore the life of charity is of such a nature that the falsity and evil that go with want of knowledge can be turned without difficulty towards what is true and good. This is not so in the case of those who have confirmed themselves in things contrary to the truth and who at the same time have led a life immersed in things contrary to good.

[7] In other places in the Word 'two-tenths' means good, both celestial and spiritual. Celestial good and spiritual good derived from this are meant by the two-tenths from which each loaf of the shewbread or of the Presence was made, Leviticus 24:5, while spiritual good was meant by the two-tenths constituting the minchah that accompanied the sacrifice of a ram, Numbers 15:6; 28:12, 20, 28; 29:3, 9, 14. These matters will in the Lord's Divine mercy be dealt with elsewhere.

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