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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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Arcana Coelestia # 10264

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10264. 'A compounded ointment' means present within every single part of His Human. This is clear from the meaning of 'ointment' - when it refers to 'an anointing oil', by which a representative sign of the Divine Good of the Lord's Divine Love is meant - as what is Divine within every single part of His Human. 'A compounded ointment' has this meaning because all the sweet-smelling substances which were mentioned above, namely the best myrrh, sweet-smelling cinnamon, sweet-smelling calamus, and cassia, should be understood by a compounded ointment. Furthermore in the original language a sweet smell in general is meant by the word that is used; but translators render it 'ointment', from 'anointing'.

[2] 'A compounded perfume' 1 means present within every single part of the Lord's Human, because truths on every level of that Human, and the accompanying perceptions and affections, are meant. That is to say, truth on its lowest level, which is that of the senses, and the perception that accompanies it, is meant by 'myrrh', 10252; the interior truth of the natural or external man, and the perception and affection that accompany it, by 'sweet-smelling cinnamon', 10254; truth even more interior, belonging to the internal man, and the perception and affection that accompany it, by 'sweet-smelling calamus', 10256; and inmost truth, and the perception and affection that accompany it, by 'cassia', 10258. Thus the Human at every level is meant by these spices, for everything without exception that resides within the human being has some connection with truths and with perceptions of and affections for them; for these compose his actual life.

[3] It may be known that a human being without any perception of or affection for truth and good is not a human being; for everything without exception that a human being thinks about has some connection with truths and perceptions of them, and with forms of good and affections for them. Human thoughts and affections are nothing else; for the human being possesses the power of understanding and the power of will, the understanding being composed of the perception of truth, and the will of the affection for good. The whole human being from head to toe, inwardly and outwardly, consists of nothing other than truth or falsity that is his, and of good or evil that is his, the body being their outward form. But this is an arcanum unknown in the world as yet.

[4] From all this it now becomes clear that 'a compounded perfume' or 'a compounded ointment' - by which all degrees of truth from last and lowest to inmost, thus truths in their complete entirety, should be understood - means everything without exception within the human being or of which the human being consists. Consequently when that sweet-smelling ointment is spoken of in reference to the Lord, every single part of His Human is meant.

[5] It says, 'You shall make it an anointing oil, a compounded perfume, the work of a perfumer', because 'an anointing oil' means the actual Divine Good of Divine Love, which was within the Lord from conception, 9954, 10011, 10019; 'a compounded perfume' means its presence within every single part of His Human; and 'the work of a perfumer (or ointment-maker)' means as a result of the influx and operation of Divinity itself. For the Lord alone as to His Divine Human was Jehovah's Anointed, see 9954.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. An alternative rendering of the Hebrew words translated a compounded ointment

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

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Arcana Coelestia # 9643

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9643. 'And forty bases of silver' means complete support received through truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'forty' as completeness, dealt with in 9437; from the meaning of 'bases' as support, since bases serve as supports; and from the meaning of 'silver' as truth, dealt with in 1551, 2954, 5658, 6112, 6914, 6917, 7999. The bases were made from silver and the boards overlaid with gold because good is meant by 'the boards', 9634, and truth by 'the bases', and good possesses power and on this account lends support through truth. As regards good, that it possesses power through truth, see 6344, 6423, 9327, 9410, and that 'gold' means good and 'silver' truth, 113, 1551, 1552, 5658, 6914, 6917, 8932, 9490, 9510. Good possesses power through truth because truth gives shape to good, which means that good also possesses specific quality; for outward shape exists where specific quality does so. The good can then be a real influence among things, in one way or another. So it is that the ability resides potentially in good, but that this cannot be exercised except through truth. Ability so exercised is actual power, consequently power that provides support.

[2] Bases also correspond to a person's feet and soles of the feet; in general they correspond to the bones, which lend support to all the fleshy parts in the body. By the feet and likewise the bones truth that provides support is meant, and by the fleshy parts in the body good which supports itself by means of truth.

All things on the natural level resemble the human form, and carry the same meaning as the parts of it they resemble, see 9496.

'Flesh' means good, 3813, 6968, 7850, 9127.

'Feet' means the natural, thus truth that has power from good within it, 5327, 5328.

'Body' means good, 6135.

'Bones' means truth that provides support, 3812 (end), 8005.

[3] So it is also that by 'foundations', which are a general base, the truth of faith and faith itself are meant, as becomes clear from places in the Word where 'foundations' are mentioned, for example in Isaiah,

Do you not know, do you not hear, do you not understand the foundations of the earth? Isaiah 40:21.

A person unacquainted with what 'the foundations' and what 'the earth' mean inevitably takes 'the foundations of the earth' here to denote the inner depths of the planet, even though he may realize, if he stops to think about it, that something other than them is meant; for what meaning can knowing, hearing, and understanding the foundations of the earth have? From this it becomes clear that by 'the foundations of the earth' such things as have to do with the Church are meant. The fact that 'the earth' in the Word means the Church is plainly evident from places in the Word where 'the earth' is mentioned, see those quoted in 9325. And the fact that its foundations are the truths of faith, for these truths serve the Church as foundations, becomes clearer still from the following places: In David,

They do not acknowledge, neither do they understand; they walk in darkness. All the foundations of the earth are unstable. Psalms 82:5.

It is not the foundations of the earth that are unstable but, as is self-evident, it is the truths of the Church with those who neither acknowledge nor understand them and walk in darkness. In the same author,

The earth quaked and trembled, and the foundations of the mountains shook and quaked. Psalms 18:7.

'The mountains' are forms of the good of love, 795, 4210, 6435, 8327, their 'foundations' are the truths of faith. In Isaiah,

The floodgates from on high have been opened, and the foundations of the earth have been shaken. Isaiah 24:18.

Since 'the foundations' means the truth of faith, and 'city' doctrine based on it, therefore also the Word speaks of 'the foundations of the city' when the truth of doctrine is meant. For the meaning of 'city' as doctrinal teachings based on truth, see 402, 2449, 2943, 3216, 4492, 4493.

[4] This goes to show what the meaning is of 'the foundations of the city, the holy Jerusalem' in John,

The wall of the city, the holy Jerusalem, had twelve foundations, and on them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of precious stone. Revelation 21:14, 19-20.

A person unacquainted with what 'the holy Jerusalem', 'the city', 'the wall', 'the foundations', and 'the twelve apostles' mean cannot see any arcanum at all that lies within this description. Nevertheless 'the holy Jerusalem' means the Lord's New Church which will take the place of the one that is ours at the present day; 1 'the city' doctrinal teachings; 'the wall' the truth protecting and defending, and 'its foundations' the truths of faith; and 'the twelve apostles' all forms of the good of love and the truths of faith in their entirety. From this it becomes clear why it says that there will be twelve foundations, adorned with every kind of precious stone; for 'precious stone' means the truth of faith springing from the good of love, 114, 3858, 6640, 9476, and 'the twelve apostles' all aspects of love and faith in their entirety, 3488, 3858 (end), 6397.

[5] From all this it is evident what is meant by 'the foundations' in those verses in John and also by 'the foundations' in Isaiah,

Behold, I am arranging your stones with antimony, and will lay your foundations in sapphires. Isaiah 54:11.

'Sapphires' are interior truths, 9407. In the same prophet,

Jehovah will strike Asshur with a rod. At that time every stroke 2 will be that of the rod of the foundation on which Jehovah will cause [him] to rest. Isaiah 30:31-32.

'The rod of the foundation' is the power of truth. For the meaning of 'the rod' as power, see 4013, 4015, 4876, 4936, 6947, 7011, 7026. And in Jeremiah,

They shall not take from you a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations. Jeremiah 51:26.

'A stone for foundations' stands for the truths of faith.

[6] In Job,

Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. 3 Who determined the measures of it, if you know? Onto what [were] its bases [fastened]? Or who laid its corner-stone, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God bellowed? Job 38:4-7.

A person unacquainted with what 'the earth', 'its measures', and 'its bases' mean in the internal sense, and also what 'corner-stone', 'morning stars', and 'the sons of God' mean, sees no arcanum at all in this description. He will suppose that the actual earth, and also the foundations, measures, bases, and corner-stone of it are what is meant. Nor will he have any idea at all of what is meant by 'the morning stars sang' and 'the sons of God bellowed'. But a person will pass from darkness to light if he knows that 'the earth' is the Church, 'its foundations' are the truth of faith, 'its measures' the state of good and truth, 'its bases' the actual truths that provide support, 'the corner-stone' the power of truth, 'the morning stars' cognitions or knowledge of good and of truth springing from good, and 'the sons of God' God's truths. These sons are said 'to bellow' when they come into existence, those stars 'to sing' when they rise.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. The Latin volume in which these words appear was published in 1756.

2. literally, every passage or going across

3. literally, if you know intelligence

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