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Numeri 6

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1 En de HEERE sprak tot Mozes, zeggende:

2 Spreek tot de kinderen Israels, en zeg tot hen: Wanneer een man of een vrouw zich afgescheiden zal hebben, belovende de gelofte eens Nazireers, om zich den HEERE af te zonderen;

3 Van wijn en sterken drank zal hij zich afzonderen; wijnedik, en edik van sterken drank zal hij niet drinken, noch enige vochtigheid van druiven zal hij drinken, noch verse of gedroogde druiven eten.

4 Al de dagen van zijn Nazireerschap zal hij niet eten van iets, dat van den wijnstok des wijns gemaakt is, van de kernen af tot de basten toe.

5 Al de dagen der gelofte van zijn Nazireerschap zal het scheermes over zijn hoofd niet gaan; totdat die dagen vervuld zullen zijn, die hij zich den HEERE zal afgezonderd hebben, zal hij heilig zijn, latende de lokken van het haar zijns hoofds wassen.

6 Al de dagen, die hij zich de HEERE zal afgezonderd hebben, zal hij tot het lichaam eens doden niet gaan.

7 Om zijn vader of om zijn moeder, om zijn broeder of om zijn zuster, om hen zal hij zich niet verontreinigen, als zij dood zijn; want het Nazireerschap zijns Gods is op zijn hoofd.

8 Al de dagen van zijn Nazireerschap is hij den HEERE heilig.

9 En zo de gestorvene bij hem onvoorziens haastelijk gestorven ware, dat hij het hoofd van zijn Nazireerschap zou verontreinigd hebben, zo zal hij op den dag zijner reiniging zijn hoofd bescheren; op den zevenden dag zal hij het bescheren.

10 En op den achtsten dag zal hij twee tortelduiven, of twee jonge duiven brengen tot den priester, tot de deur van de tent der samenkomst.

11 De priester nu zal een bereiden ten zondoffer, en een ten brandoffer, en zal voor hem verzoening doen, van dat hij aan het dode lichaam gezondigd heeft; alzo zal hij zijn hoofd op dienzelfden dag heiligen.

12 Daarna zal hij de dagen van zijn Nazireerschap den HEERE afzonderen, en zal een lam, dat eenjarig is, brengen ten schuldoffer; en de vorige dagen zullen vallen, omdat zijn Nazireerschap verontreinigd was.

13 En dit is de wet des Nazireers: op den dag, als de dagen van zijn Nazireerschap zullen vervuld zijn, zal hij dit brengen tot de deur van de tent der samenkomst.

14 Hij dan zal tot zijn offerande den HEERE offeren een volkomen eenjarig lam ten brandoffer, en een volkomen eenjarig ooilam ten zondoffer, en een volkomen ram ten dankoffer.

15 En een korf ongezuurde koeken, koeken van meelbloem, met olie gemengd, en ongezuurde vladen, met olie bestreken, mitsgaders hun spijsoffer, en hun drankofferen;

16 En de priester zal het voor het aangezicht des HEEREN brengen, en zal zijn zondoffer en zijn brandoffer bereiden.

17 Hij zal ook den ram ten dankoffer den HEERE bereiden, met den korf der ongezuurde koeken; en de priester zal zijn spijsoffer en zijn drankoffer bereiden.

18 Alsdan zal de Nazireer, aan de deur van de tent der samenkomst, het hoofd van zijn Nazireerschap bescheren; en hij zal het hoofdhaar van zijn Nazireerschap nemen, en hij zal het leggen op het vuur, dat onder het dankoffer is.

19 Daarna zal de priester een gezoden schouder nemen van den ram, en een ongezuurden koek uit den korf, en een ongezuurde vlade; en hij zal ze op de handen des Nazireers leggen, nadat hij zijn Nazireerschap afgeschoren heeft.

20 En de priester zal die bewegen ten beweegoffer, voor het aan gezicht des HEEREN; het is een heilig ding voor den priester, met de borst des beweegoffers, en met den schouder des hefoffers; en daarna zal die Nazireer wijn drinken.

21 Dit is de wet des Nazireers, die zijn offerande den HEERE voor zijn Nazireerschap zal beloofd hebben, behalve wat zijn hand bekomen zal; naar zijn gelofte, welke hij beloofd zal hebben, alzo zal hij doen, naar de wet van zijn Nazireerschap.

22 En de HEERE sprak tot Mozes, zeggende:

23 Spreek tot Aaron en zijn zonen, zeggende: Alzo zult gijlieden de kinderen Israels zegenen, zeggende tot hen:

24 De HEERE zegene u, en behoede u!

25 De HEERE doe Zijn aangezicht over u lichten, en zij u genadig!

26 De HEERE verheffe Zijn aangezicht over u, en geve u vrede!

27 Alzo zullen zij Mijn Naam op de kinderen Israels leggen; en Ik zal hen zegenen.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 10044

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10044. 'On the ram's head' means, to the whole of it. This is clear from the meaning of 'the head' as the whole person, thus the whole [of the good of innocence in the internal man], dealt with in 10011. The reason why 'the head' means the whole is that it is highest and holds the inmost part of a person within it; and what is highest is the fountainhead of everything below it, just as what is inmost is the hub of everything outside it. For what lies outside or below is dependent on that which is inmost or highest. What is inmost in the human being is his will and understanding; these have their beginnings in the head. What flows from these inner powers is activity, that is, effects which they generate in the body. When therefore will and understanding are mentioned the whole person should be understood, for it is by virtue of these that a person is a person. The actions performed by the body also owe their entire nature to the will; and this is why a person is not regarded from the point of view of bodily actions or deeds but from that of the will within them. This being so, soul is used in the Word to mean the whole person, and a person is called a soul, as in Leviticus 4:27; 5:1, 4, 17; 6:2; 17:10, 15, and elsewhere.

[2] There are two things that mean the whole, namely the highest and the lowest. The reason why the lowest or last also has this meaning is that all interior things, beginning with the first or highest, terminate in those that are lowest and exist together there, see 9828, 9836. So it is that the highest by means of the lowest holds all the interior or intermediate things in connection and form, in order that they may all have the same end in view, 9828. The fact that the lowest also means the whole is clear from very many places in the Word, such as those which speak of the whole person as 'flesh', for example, Genesis 6:12; Numbers 16:22; 27:16; Isaiah 40:5; Zechariah 2:13, and elsewhere.

[3] Since the last things also mean all or the whole, the hair on the head, hair on the body, and the beard, which are last or outermost things growing out of a person's body, are used to mean those things, as also are the feet, or rather the toes on them, and the fingers on the hands. The fact that the hair on the head, hair on the body, and the beard have this meaning is clear in Isaiah,

On that day the Lord will shave with a razor - by means of the king of Asshur - the head, the hair of the feet, and also the beard. Isaiah 7:20.

'The king of Asshur' means reasoning, the kind that is used by people to destroy Divine things, 1186. 'Shaving the head, the hair of the feet, and the beard' means taking lowest things away, for when these have been taken away those within fall apart and perish. This also was why a priest was forbidden to shave his head, Leviticus 21:10, as was a Nazirite, whose hair according to Numbers 6:7 was called the Naziriteship of God, 6437, 9407, and is what 'the crown of the head of the Nazirite among [his] brothers', Genesis 49:25-26; Deuteronomy 33:16, should be taken to mean. Therefore also it says in Matthew 10:30 that the hairs of one's head are all numbered, meaning that every single thing in a person is so 'numbered', and in Luke 21:18 that not a hair on one's head will perish.

[4] The fact that the feet, the toes on them, and the fingers on the hands mean all things and so the whole is clear in John,

Peter said, Lord, You shall not wash my feet only, but also my hands and head. Jesus said to him, He who has been washed has no need except to wash his feet, and the whole person is clean. John 13:9-10.

'Feet' are the natural, which is last, 2162, 3147, 4938-4952, 9406. And in the following words of the present chapter,

You shall put some of the ram's blood on the tip of Aaron's ear, and on the thumb of the right hand, and on the big toe of the right foot. Verse 20.

That is, it was to be put on every single thing, meant by 'ear', 'hand', and 'foot'.

[5] Since highest and lowest, or what amounts to the same thing, first and last, equally mean every single thing, or the whole with all its parts, the Lord's Omnipotence and Omniscience is described by the words stating that He is the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End, the Alpha and the Omega, Revelation 1:8; 21:6; 22:13; Isaiah 41:4.

[6] The situation in which all things are held in connection and stand together, from that which is first or highest through to those that are last or lowest, is described in the following words in Isaiah,

I am the First and I am the Last, indeed My hand laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand measured out heaven. I am summoning them; they stand together. Isaiah 48:12-13.

Jehovah's or the Lord's 'hand' and 'right hand' mean His almighty power, 'the earth' which He laid the foundation of is that which is last, 'heaven' which He stretched out is that which is between the first and the last, 'summoning them, that they may stand together' is holding all the interior things in connection and in form by means of what is last, that they may have a single end in view. This single end to be held in view is He who is the First and the Last. That this is the Lord is clear in Isaiah,

Thus said Jehovah, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, I am the First and I am the Last. Isaiah 44:6.

'The King of Israel' is the Lord, John 18:37, and so, as is self-evident, is 'his Redeemer'. And in the Book of Revelation,

These things says the First and the Last, who was dead and came to life. Revelation 2:8.

[7] The truth that what is first holds all things in connection by means of what is last may be recognized from the Word and from humanness. In the case of the Word its last and lowest things are its literal sense; that which is first and highest is the Lord; and the interior things within it are its internal sense, which the heavens perceive and which causes those who are there to have the same end in view, namely the Lord. Regarding this arcanum, see 9360, 9824.

[8] As to humanness, this as it exists in the things that are last is the Church on earth; as it exists in that which is first it is the Lord; and as it exists in the interior things it is heaven. For in the Lord's sight the Church and heaven are like one human being; therefore heaven is called the Grand Man, which has been the subject at the ends of a number of chapters, see the places referred to in 10030 (end). There is an unbroken connection, and an influx in keeping with that connection, of all things from the Lord through the heavens to the Church on earth. By the heavens the angels who are there should be understood; by the Church people who are true members of the Church; and by humanness as it exists in that which is first the Lord in respect of His Divine Human. The truth that what is first by means of what is last holds all things in connection and makes them stand as one is meant by the Lord's words in Isaiah quoted above,

I am the First and I am the Last, indeed My hand laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand measured out heaven. I summoning them, they stand together. Isaiah 48:12-13.

The fact that 'the earth' is used in the Word to mean the Church has also been shown on many occasions, see the places referred to in 9325.

[9] An idea of this matter may be had from what is last or outermost with a person and what is inmost. His outermost is the skin, his inmost the heart, while the things in between or his interiors are the organs of the body. From the heart all the way to the skin by way of the organs there is an unbroken connection through blood vessels; for these emanate from the heart and end in the skin. The skin is self-evidently the last or outermost part holding the interior things in connection, for when the skin has been taken away the interiors fall apart.

[10] From all this it may be seen why it is that just as what is highest or inmost means every single thing, so too does what is lowest or last. Also evident from it all is the arcanum of why the Lord also glorified His Human right down to its last and lowest levels, called the bones and flesh, which explains why the Lord told His disciples, who thought that they were seeing a spirit,

See My hands and My feet, that it is I; handle Me and see; for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see Me having. Luke 24:37, 39.

It is well recognized that Divinity itself was the First in Him, for He was conceived from Jehovah, and what is conceived from the father is pre-eminently first in a person. The truth that the Lord also glorified the last and lowest levels of His Human in which they co-exist is evident from His words recorded in those verses, and also from the fact that He left nothing of His Human in the tomb. It is true of spiritual things as well that interior things terminate and come to rest in last and lowest ones in which they co-exist, and that the last hold the interior ones in connection, see 9216, 9828. Therefore the lowest things have might and power within them, 9836, and for the same reason have holiness within them, 9824; and revelations are made and answers are given in them, 9905.

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