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Leviticus 21

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1 The Lord said also to Moses: Speak to the priests the sons of Aaron, and thou shalt say to them: Let not a priest incur an uncleanness at the death of his citizens:

2 But only for his kin, such as are near in blood, that is to say, for his father and for his mother, and for his son, and for his daughter, for his brother also,

3 And for a maiden sister, who hath had no husband:

4 But not even for the prince of his people shall he do any thing that may make him unclean.

5 Neither shall they shave their head, nor their beard, nor make incisions in their flesh.

6 They shall be holy to their God, and shall not profane his name: for they offer the burnt offering of the Lord, and the bread of their God, and therefore they shall be holy.

7 They shall not take to wife a harlot or a vile prostitute, nor one that has been put away from her husband: because they are consecrated to their God,

8 And offer the leaves of proposition. Let them therefore be holy, because I also am holy, the Lord, who sanctify them.

9 If the daughter of a priest be taken in whoredom, and dishonour the name of her father, she shall be burnt with fire.

10 The high priest, that is to say, the priest, is the greatest among his brethren. upon whose head the oil of unction hath been poured, and whose hands have been consecrated for the priesthood, and who hath been vested with the holy vestments, shall not uncover his head, he shall not rend his garments:

11 Nor shall he go in at all to any dead person: not even for his father, or his mother, shall he be defiled:

12 Neither shall he go out of the holy places, lest he defile the sanctuary of the Lord, because the oil of the holy unction of his God is upon him. I am the Lord.

13 He shall take a virgin unto his wife:

14 But a widow or one that is divorced, or defiled, or a harlot, he shall not take, but a maid of his own people :

15 He shall not mingle the stock of his kindred with the common people of his nation: for I am the Lord who sanctify him.

16 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

17 Say to Aaron: Whosoever of thy seed throughout their families, hath a blemish, he shall not offer bread to his God.

18 Neither shall he approach to minister to him: If he be blind, if he be lame, if he have a little, or a great, or a crooked nose,

19 If his foot, or if his hand be broken,

20 If he be crookbacked, or blear eyed, or have a pearl in his eye, or a continual scab, or a dry scurf in his body, or a rupture:

21 Whosoever of the seed of Aaron the priest hath a blemish, he shall not approach to offer sacrifices to the Lord, nor bread to his God.

22 He shall eat nevertheless of the loaves, that are offered in the sanctuary,

23 Yet so that he enter not within the veil, nor approach to the altar, because he hath a blemish, and he must not defile my sanctuary. I am the Lord who sanctify them.

24 Moses therefore spoke to Aaron, and to his sons and to all Israel, all the things that had been commanded him.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 2362

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2362. That 'behold now, I have two daughters, who have not known a man' means the affections for good and for truth is clear from the meaning of 'daughters' as affections, dealt with in 489-491. 'They have not known a man' means that they have not been defiled by falsity, for 'a man' means rational truth, and also in the contrary sense falsity, 265, 749, 1007. There are two types of affection, namely the affection for good and the affection for truth, see 1997. The first - the affection for good - constitutes the celestial church and in the Word is called 'the daughter of Zion' and also 'the virgin daughter of Zion'.

[2] But the second - the affection for truth - constitutes the spiritual church, and in the Word is called 'the daughter of Jerusalem'; as in Isaiah,

She has despised you, she has scorned you, the virgin daughter of Zion; she wags her head behind you, the daughter of Jerusalem. Isaiah 37:22; 2 Kings 19:21.

In Jeremiah,

What shall I liken you to, O daughter of Jerusalem? What shall I equate you with and comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion? Lamentations 2:13.

In Micah,

You, O tower of the flock, hill of the daughter of Zion, to you will it come and the former dominion will come, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem. Micah 4:8.

In Zephaniah,

Shout with joy, O daughter of Zion! Make a noise, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! Zephaniah 3:14.

In Zechariah,

Exult greatly, O daughter of Zion! Make a noise, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king will come to you. Zechariah 9:9; Matthew 21:5; John 12:15.

[3] That the celestial Church, which is the Lord's celestial kingdom, is called 'the daughter of Zion' from the affection for good, that is, from love to the Lord Himself, see in addition Isaiah 10:32; 16:1; 52:2; 62:11; Jeremiah 4:31; 6:2, 23; Lamentations 1:6; 2:1, 4, 8, 10; Micah 4:10, 13; Zechariah 2:10; Psalms 9:14. And that the spiritual Church, which is the Lord's spiritual kingdom, is called 'the daughter of Jerusalem' from the affection for truth and so from charity towards the neighbour, see Lamentations 2:15. Both of those Churches, and the nature of each one, have been dealt with many times in Volume One.

[4] Because the celestial Church exists from love to the Lord which is present within love towards the neighbour it is likened in particular to an unmarried daughter or a virgin. Indeed it is also called 'a virgin', as in John,

These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins; these are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes; for they are spotless before God's throne. Revelation 14:4-5.

And so that the same might be represented in the Jewish Church, the priests were commanded not to marry widows but virgins, Leviticus 21:13-15; Ezekiel 44:22.

[5] From the contents of the present verse it becomes clear how pure the Word is in the internal sense, however else it may appear in the letter. For when these words are read, 'Behold now, I have two daughters, who have not known a man; let me now bring them out to you and you may do to them as is good in your eyes; only do nothing to those men', nothing else comes to mind than something impure, especially to those leading an evil life. Yet how chaste these words are in the internal sense is evident from the explanation already given, which is that they mean the affections for good and truth and the blessedness perceived from the enjoyment of those affections by people who do no violence to the Lord's Divinity and [proceeding] Holiness.

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