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Exodus 30

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1 Thou shalt make also an altar to burn incense, of setim wood.

2 It shall be a cubit in length, and another in breadth, that is, foursquare, and two in height. Horns shall go out of the same.

3 And thou shalt overlay it with the purest gold, as well as the grate thereof, as the walls round about and the horns. And thou shalt make to it a crown of gold round about,

4 And two golden rings under the crown on either side, that the bars may be put into them, and the altar be carried.

5 And thou shalt make the bars also of setim wood, and shalt overlay them with gold.

6 And thou shalt set the altar over against the veil, that hangeth before the ark of the testimony before the propitiatory wherewith the testimony is covered, where I will speak to thee.

7 And Aaron shall burn sweet smelling incense upon it in the morning. When he shall dress the lamps, he shall burn it:

8 And when he shall place them in the evening, he shall burn an everlasting incense before the Lord throughout your generations.

9 You shall not offer upon it incense of another composition nor oblation, and victim, neither shall you offer libations.

10 And Aaron shall pray upon the horns thereof once a year, with the blood of that which was offered for sin, and shall make atonement upon it in your generations. It shall be most holy to the Lord.

11 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

12 When thou shalt take the sum of the children of Israel according to their number, every one of them shall give a price for their souls to the Lord, and there shall be no scourge among them, when they shall be reckoned.

13 And this shall every one give that passeth at the naming, half a sicle according to the standard of the temple. A sicle hath twenty obols. Half a sicle shall be offered to the Lord.

14 He that is counted in the number from twenty years and upwards, shall give the price.

15 The rich man shall not add to half a sicle, and the poor man shall diminish nothing.

16 And the money received which was contributed by the children of Israel, thou shalt deliver unto the uses of the tabernacle of the testimony, that it may be a memorial of them before the Lord, and he may be merciful to their souls.

17 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

18 Thou shalt make also a brazen laver with its foot, to wash in: and thou shalt set it between the tabernacle of the testimony and the altar. And water being put into it,

19 Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and feet in it:

20 When they are going into the tabernacle of the testimony, and when they are to come to the altar, to offer on it incense to the Lord,

21 Lest perhaps they die. It shall be an everlasting law to him, and to his seed by successions.

22 And the Lord spoke to Moses,

23 Saying: Take spices, of principal and chosen myrrh five hundred sicles, and of cinnamon half so much, that is, two hundred and fifty sicles, of calamus in like manner two hundred and fifty.

24 And of cassia five hundred sicles by the weight of the sanctuary, of oil of olives the measure hin:

25 And thou shalt make the holy oil of unction, an ointment compounded after the art of the perfumer,

26 And therewith thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the testimony, and the ark of the testament,

27 And the table with the vessels thereof, the candlestick and furniture thereof, the altars of incense,

28 And of holocaust, and all the furniture that belongeth to the service of them.

29 And thou shalt sanctify all, and they shall be most holy: he that shall touch them shall be sanctified.

30 Thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and shalt sanctify them, that they may do the office of priesthood unto me.

31 And thou shalt say to the children of Israel: This oil of unction shall be holy unto me throughout your generations.

32 The flesh of man shall not be anointed therewith, and you shall make none other of the same composition, because it is sanctified, and shall be holy unto you.

33 What man soever shall compound such, and shall give thereof to a stranger, he shall be cut off from his people.

34 And the Lord said to Moses: Take unto thee spices, stacte, and onycha, galbanum of sweet savour, and the clearest frankincense, all shall be of equal weight.

35 And thou shalt make incense compounded by the work of the perfumer, well tempered together, and pure, and most worthy of sanctification.

36 And when thou has beaten all into very small powder, thou shalt set of it before the tabernacle of the testimony, in the place where I will appear to thee. Most holy shall this incense be to you.

37 You shall not make such a composition for your own uses, because it is holy to the Lord.

38 What man soever shall make the like, to enjoy the smell thereof, he shall perish out of his people.

   

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Apocalypse Explained # 1150

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1150. And cinnamon and incense.- That these signify worship from celestial love, profaned, is evident from the signification of cinnamon, which denotes the good of celestial love, of which we shall speak presently; and from the signification of incense or perfume, which denotes the truth of celestial love, which truth is the good of wisdom, because it is from the good of celestial love.

Worship from celestial love is signified, because in this verse those things that belong to worship are enumerated, while those things that belong to doctrine are enumerated in the former verse. That those things that belong to worship are here signified, is evident from what follows, and it can also be seen from the enumeration of so many particulars; this would not have been done, but for the purpose of describing the profanation of every thing belonging to worship from first to last. There is this distinction between doctrine and worship, that doctrine teaches how God ought to be worshipped, and how man ought to live, in order that he may depart from hell, and draw near to heaven; but these things are accomplished by worship, for worship is oral as well as actual.

[2] The reason why cinnamon signifies celestial love, is that it is the most excellent of aromatics, and on this account the anointing oil of holiness was prepared from it together with other aromatics, as in Exodus (30:23, 24). The anointing oil of holiness signified the Divine Love, and the aromatics, which were noble myrrh, aromatic cinnamon, sweet cane and cassia, signified the Divine Wisdom, which, together with the oil of the olive, signified the Divine Wisdom united to the Divine Love of the Lord. The Divine Wisdom was signified by those aromatics, because odour signifies perception, and perception pertains to wisdom. As this was signified by the oil of anointing, therefore every thing serving for worship was sanctified thereby, as the altar, the tent of meeting, the ark with the propitiatory and cherubs, similarly Aaron's garments of holiness, and Aaron himself. It is therefore evident that cinnamon signifies celestial good, and that incense or perfumes signify those things that proceed from that good, all of which things have reference to truth, and truth in its own form is wisdom. This truth is called the good of wisdom, because it derives its essence from the good of celestial love. That worship from that love is profaned, is evident from what has been said previously concerning the profanation of all things of doctrine. And when every thing belonging to doctrine is profaned, then every thing belonging to worship is also profaned, for worship is from doctrine and according to doctrine.

[3] Continuation concerning the Athanasian Creed.- The fourth law of the Divine Providence is, That the understanding and will ought not to be in the least compelled by another, since all compulsion takes away freedom; but that man ought to compel himself, for to compel one's self is to act from freedom. Man's freedom belongs to his will; from the will it exists in the thought of the understanding, and by means of the thought it shows itself in the speech and in the action of the body. For a man says, when he wills any thing from freedom, "I choose to think this, I choose to speak this, and I choose to do this." From freedom of will he has also the power to think, speak, and act, for the will gives this power, because it is free. Since freedom belongs to man's will, it belongs also to his love, for nothing else in man constitutes freedom but the love which belongs to his will. The reason of this is, that love is the life of man; for man is of the same quality as his love, consequently that which proceeds from the love of his will, proceeds also from his life. Hence it is evident, that freedom belongs to man's will, to his love, and to his life, consequently that it makes one with his proprium, and with his nature and disposition.

[4] Now, because the Lord desires that everything which comes from Himself to man, should be appropriated to man as if it were his own - for otherwise there would be in man no means of reciprocation by which conjunction is effected - therefore it is a law of the Divine Providence, that the understanding and will of man should not be at all compelled by another. For who has not the power to think and will both evil and good? against the laws and in conformity with them? against the king and in agreement with him? even against God and in obedience to God? But he is not allowed to speak and do everything that he thinks and wills; for there are fears which compel externals, but not internals. The reason is, that externals must be reformed by internals, and not internals by externals; for the internal enters by influx into the external, but not the external into the internal. Internals also belong to man's spirit, and externals to his body; and because the spirit of man is to be reformed, therefore it is not compelled. There are fears that compel internals, or the spirit of man, but they are those only which enter by influx from the spiritual world, and refer on the one hand to the punishments of hell, and, on the other, to the loss of favour with God. But fear of the punishments of hell is an outward fear belonging to the thought and will, whereas the fear of the loss of favour with God is an inward fear belonging to these; it is that holy fear which adds and joins itself to love, and which at length forms one essence with it. It resembles the case of one man who loves another, whom, from his love towards him, he is fearful of injuring.

  
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Translation by Isaiah Tansley. Many thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.