10262. 'A hin' means how far things are joined together. This is clear from the meaning of 'a hin' - which was a liquid measure, at this point a measure of oil - as the extent to which things are joined together. 'Oil' means the Lord's celestial Divine Good, which is the essential power that binds all things together in heaven; consequently the measure of the oil means how far things are joined together, and the fullness of their being joined together. The reason why the Lord's celestial Divine Good is the essential power that binds all things together is that it is the essential being (ipsum esse) of the life that all things have. For that Divine Good imparts life to all things through the Divine Truth emanating from itself; and it imparts life in accordance with the specific character of whatever receives it. Angels are recipients; so too are people in the world. The truths and forms of good they have form their specific character, and this conditions the reception that takes place within them, and so conditions any joining together.

[2] Two measures which were used for sacred purposes are mentioned in the Word; one was for liquids, which was called the hin, the other was for dry substances, which was called the ephah. The hin served to measure oil and wine, and the ephah to measure flour and fine flour. The hin, used for oil and wine, was divided into four, whereas the ephah was divided into ten. The reason why the hin was divided into four was in order that it might mean that which binds things together; for 'four' means a joining together. But the reason why the ephah was divided into ten was in order that it might mean reception, the nature of which was indicated by the numbers; for 'ten' means much, all, and what is complete.

'Four' means a joining together, see 8877, 9601, 9674, 10136, 10137.

'Ten' means much, all, and what is complete, as 'a hundred' does, 1988, 3107, 4400, 4638, 8468, 8540, 9745, 10253.

[3] The fact that the hin was used for the oil and wine in the sacrifices, and was divided into four, whereas the ephah was used for the flour and fine flour, which were for the minchah in the sacrifices, and that it was divided into ten, becomes clear in Exodus 29:40; Leviticus 5:11; 23:13; Numbers 15:3-10; 28:5, 7, 14. From these verses it is evident that 'a hin' means the extent to which things are joined together, and 'an ephah' the amount of reception. Furthermore the oil served to bind the fine flour together, and the fine flour to receive the oil; for a minchah consisted of oil and fine flour.

[4] In addition there were other measures that were used for ordinary purposes, both for dry substances and for liquids. The measures for dry substances were called the homer and the omer, and the measures for liquids the cor and the bath. A homer contained ten ephahs, and an ephah ten omers, whereas a cor contained ten baths, and a bath ten smaller parts; regarding all these, see Exodus 16:36; Ezekiel 45:11, 13, 24.

[5] But where the new temple is dealt with in Ezekiel a different division of the ephah and the bath occurs. There the ephah and the bath are divided not into ten but into six, and the hin corresponds to the ephah, as is evident in the same prophet, in Ezekiel 45:13-14, 24; 46:5, 7, 11, 14. The reason for this is that in those places the subject is not celestial good and its ability to bind things together, but spiritual good and its ability to do so; and the numbers 'twelve', 'six', and 'three' have their correspondence in the spiritual kingdom, because they mean all and, when used in reference to truths and forms of good, mean all aspects of truth and good in their entirety. The fact that these are meant by 'twelve', see 3272, 3858, 3913, 7973, also by 'six', 3960(end), 7973, 8148, 10217; and in like manner 'three', by which from beginning to end, thus what is complete, is meant, and - in respect of real things - all, 2788, 4495, 5159, 7715, 9825, 10127. The reason why these numbers imply similar things is that larger numbers are similar in meaning to the simple ones which when multiplied produce them, 5291, 5335, 5708, 7973.

[6] Since 'a hin' also means how far something is joined to spiritual truth, a third part of a hin of oil was taken for the minchah in the sacrifices of a ram, and a third part of wine for the drink offering, Numbers 15:6-7; for spiritual good is meant by 'a ram', 2830, 9991. From all this it is again plainly evident that numbers are used in the Word to mean real things. What other reason could there be for the numbers used so often in Moses, Ezekiel, and elsewhere to specify amounts and measures?

3960. 'And Leah said, God has endowed me with a good dowry; once again my husband will dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons' in the highest sense means the Lord's Divine itself and His Divine Human, in the internal sense the heavenly marriage, and in the external sense conjugial love. This is clear from the meaning of 'dwelling together' and also from all the other words which Leah uttered at this point. The reason why 'dwelling together' in the highest sense means the Lord's Divine itself and His Divine Human is that the Divine itself, and the Father, exists mutually and reciprocally within the Divine Human, termed the Son of God, according to the words of the Lord Himself in John,

Jesus said, Philip, he who has seen Me has seen the Father. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me. John 14:9-11; 10:38.

This union is the Divine Marriage itself, see 3211, 3952. That union is not however a dwelling together, though it is expressed as such in the sense of the letter. For things which are one present themselves in the sense of the letter as two - as the Father and the Son - or even as three, as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They do so for many reasons which will in the Lord's Divine mercy be discussed elsewhere.

[2] Here also lies the reason why 'dwelling together' in the internal sense means the heavenly marriage, for it is from the Divine Marriage - the union of the Father and the Son, that is, of the Lord's Divine itself with His Divine Human - that the heavenly marriage comes into being. The heavenly marriage exists as that which is called the Lord's kingdom and also heaven, and it is so called because it comes into being from the Divine Marriage, which is the Lord. This then is what is meant in the internal sense by 'dwelling together', and is also the reason why heaven is called God's dwelling-place, as in Isaiah,

Look out from heaven, and see from the dwelling-place of Your holiness and of Your glory. Where are Your zeal and Your might? The yearning of Your loins, and Your compassion ¹ towards me have held themselves back. Isaiah 63:15.

'The dwelling-place of holiness' stands for the celestial kingdom, and

'The dwelling-place of glory' for the spiritual kingdom. 'Dwelling-place' used here in Isaiah is derived from the same word as 'dwelling together' and 'Zebulun' are derived.

[3] The reason why 'dwelling together' in the external sense means conjugial love is that all genuine conjugial love has its origin nowhere else than in the heavenly marriage, which is a marriage of good and truth, and this in turn has its origin in the Divine Marriage, which is that of the Lord's Divine itself and His Divine Human. See what has been stated already on these matters in the following places:

The heavenly marriage descends from Divine Good present within the Lord, and from Divine Truth proceeding from Him, 2508, 2618, 2803, 3132.

This marriage is the origin of conjugial love, 2728, 2729.

People who live in genuine conjugial love are dwelling together in the inmost things of life, 2732, and so in love for good and truth since these constitute the inmost things of life.

Conjugial love is the fundamental love of all loves, 2737-2739.

The marriage of good and truth exists in heaven, in the Church, with every member of heaven and the Church, and in every individual thing within the natural order, 718, 747, 917, 1432, 2173, 2516, 2712, 2758; it exists in every detail of the Word, 683, 793, 801, 2516, 2712; and so in the highest sense it is the Lord Himself.

The names Jesus Christ mean the Divine Marriage, 3004.

[4] These are the things meant not only by 'dwelling together', that is, by the words 'once again my husband will dwell with me' but also by those preceding them, 'God has endowed me with a good dowry'. The former however means the truth of good whereas the latter means the good of truth, for these two constitute the heavenly marriage. And because this is a conclusion the statement 'because I have borne him six sons' is added; for 'six' here is similar in meaning to twelve. In the Word half a number, or twice that number, has the same meaning as the number itself when the subject is similar.

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