8468. 'An omer a head' means the amount for each individual. This is clear from the meaning of 'an omer' as the sufficient amount, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'a head' as for each person. The reason why 'an omer' means the sufficient amount is that it was the tenth part of an ephah, as is evident from the final verse of the present chapter; and 'ten' means what is complete, 3107, so that 'a tenth part' means the sufficient amount, at this point for each individual, meant by 'a head'. 'An omer' is mentioned in the present chapter alone; the term used elsewhere is 'a homer', which was a measure that held ten ephahs, and therefore meant what was complete, as in Hosea,

I acquired an adulterous woman for fifteen [shekels] of silver, and a homer of barley and half a homer of barley. Hosea 3:2.

Here 'an adulterous woman' is used to mean the house of Israel, in the spiritual sense the Church there. Her being acquired for the full price is meant by 'fifteen [shekels] of silver' and 'a homer of barley' - 'fifteen [shekels] of silver' having reference to truth and 'a homer of barley' to good.

[2] In Ezekiel,

You shall have just balances, and a just ephah, and a just bath. The ephah and the bath shall be of one measure, so that a tenth of a homer is offered for a bath, and a tenth of a homer for an ephah; your measure shall be after the homer. This is the offering which you shall offer: A sixth of an ephah from a homer of wheat, ... from the barley. And the fixed portion of oil, the bath for oil, shall be a tenth of a bath from a cor, which is ten baths to the homer; for ten baths are a homer. Ezekiel 45:10-11, 13-14.

This refers to a new earth or land and new temple, meaning the Lord's spiritual kingdom. Anyone may see that there will be no homer, ephah, bath, or cor there, and no wheat, barley, or oil either. From this it is clear that these objects mean the kinds of things that belong to that spiritual kingdom, which things, it is evident, are spiritual realities, that is, they are connected with either the good of charity or the truth of faith. 'Homer' has reference to good because it is a measure of wheat or barley, and so does 'ephah'; but 'bath' has reference to truth because it is a measure of wine. Yet being also a measure of oil, by which the good of love is meant, it says that a bath shall be the same part of a homer as an ephah is, which means in the spiritual sense that everything there will have a connection with good, and also that truth there will be good. It will also exist in full measure, for 'a homer' means what is complete.

[3] In Isaiah,

Many houses will be a ruination, large and beautiful ones, so that there is no inhabitant; for ten acres of vineyard will yield but one bath, and the sowing of a homer will yield an ephah. Isaiah 5:9-10.

Here 'ten acres' stands for complete and also for much, and so does 'a homer'; but 'a bath' and 'an ephah' stand for little. For when 'ten' means much, 'a tenth part' means little. In Moses,

If a man sanctifies to Jehovah part of a field of his possession, your valuation shall be according to its sowing; the sowing of a homer of barley [shall be valued] at fifty shekels of silver. Leviticus 27:16.

Here 'the sowing of a homer' and also 'fifty shekels' stand for the full or complete valuation. Since 'a homer' means what is complete, ten homers means at Numbers 11:32 what is in excess and superfluous.

9412. 'And ate and drank' means being told about the good and truth of worship. This is clear from the meaning of 'eating' as being joined to and making good their own, dealt with in 2187, 2343, 3168, 3513 (end), 3596, 3832, 4745, 5643; and from the meaning of 'drinking' as being joined to and making truth their own, dealt with in 3089, 3168, 4017, 4018, 5709, 8562. The reason why being told about is also meant - that is to say, being told about good is meant by 'eating', and being told about truth by 'drinking' - is that spiritual food consists in every good of faith that is a source of wisdom, while spiritual drink consists in every truth of faith that is a source of intelligence, 56-58, 681, 1480, 3069, 3114, 3168, 3772, 4792, 5147, 5293, 5340, 5342, 5410, 5426, 5487, 5576, 5579, 5582, 5588, 5655, 5915, 8562, 9003. This explains why feasts, banquets, midday meals, and suppers were instituted among the ancients, to the end that such good and truth belonging to wisdom and intelligence might bind them into fellowship with one another, 3596, 3832, 5161, 7836, 7996, 7997.

[2] It also explains why banquets, midday meals, and suppers in the Word mean instances of being bound together in faith and love, as in Matthew,

Many will come from the east and the west and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 8:11.

In Luke,

Jesus said to the disciples, You will eat and drink at My table in My kingdom. Luke 22:30.

In the same gospel,

Blessed are the servants whom the Lord comes and finds watching. Truly, I say to you that He will gird Himself and make them sit down, and He Himself will come and minister to them. Luke 12:37.

In John,

The disciples asked Jesus, saying, Master, eat. But He said to them, I have food to eat of which you do not know. John 4:31-32.

In the same gospel,

Jesus said, I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread he will live forever. John 6:51.

Heavenly bread is plainly meant here. Heavenly bread consists in all the good of love and faith which comes from the Lord, 2165, 2177, 3464, 3478, 3735, 3813, 4211, 4217, 4735, 4976, 5915, 6118, 9323.

[3] The fact that being told about the good and truth of faith is meant by 'eating and drinking' is clear from the following places: In Luke,

Then you will begin to say, We ate in Your presence and we drank; and You taught in our streets. But He will say, I say to you, I do not know where you come from; depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity. Luke 13:26-27.

'Eating and drinking in the Lord's presence' stands for giving instruction from the Word regarding forms of the good and the truths of faith. 'Teaching in the streets' stands for preaching truths from the Lord's Word, for in former times preaching took place in the streets, because truths composing the teachings of the Church are meant by 'the streets', 2336.

[4] In Isaiah,

Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend money on that which is not bread, and your labour on that which does not satisfy? Pay thorough attention to Me and eat what is good, that your soul may delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear and come to Me; hear, that your soul may live. Lo, I have given Him as a witness to the peoples, a Prince and Lawgiver to the peoples. ¹ Isaiah 55:1-5.

Here it is evident that 'drinking' and 'eating' mean being told things by the Lord, and that 'the waters', 'wine', 'milk', 'bread', and 'fatness' are forms of the truth and the good of faith which come from Him, for it says, 'Incline your ear, come to Me; hear, that your soul may live. Lo, I have given Him as a witness to the peoples, a Prince and a Lawgiver to the peoples'.

[5] In Ezekiel,

Behold, I am breaking the rod of bread in Jerusalem, so that they may eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and drink water by measure and with dismay, and may be in want of bread and water, and waste away on account of their iniquity. Ezekiel 4:16-17.

'Eating bread' and 'drinking water' stand for receiving instruction in forms of the good and the truths of faith, 9323. Something similar occurs in Amos,

Behold, the days are going to come, in which I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but for hearing the words of Jehovah. Amos 8:11.

'A famine of bread' and 'a thirst for water' are a scarcity and lack of the cognitions or knowledge of goodness and truth, see 3364, 4958, 5277, 5279, 5281, 5300, 5360, 5376, 5415, 5568, 5579, 5893, 6110, 8576. All this now makes clear what the meaning is of the words which say that the disciples' eyes were opened and they recognized the Lord when the Lord broke the bread and gave it to them, Luke 24:29-31. For in the spiritual world 'breaking the bread and giving it to them' means instructing them in the good and truth of faith, by means of which the Lord is seen. It also makes clear what the meaning is of 'the bread and wine' and 'eating and drinking' in the Holy Supper, and what the meaning is of the Lord's words to the disciples, after He had instituted that Supper, that He would not drink of that fruit of the vine until the day when He would drink it new with them in the Father's kingdom, Matthew 26:26-29. The reason why 'eating and drinking' means being told about the good and truth of worship is that after they had offered sacrifices they also ate and drank from them, and sacrifices represented all worship in general, 9391.

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