2342. And baked unleavened [bread]. That this signifies purification, is evident from the signification of “unleavened” or “unfermented.” In the Word “bread” signifies in general all celestial and spiritual food, thus celestial and spiritual things in general (see n. 276, 680, 1798, 2165, 2177). That these should be free from everything impure was represented by bread without leaven; for “leaven” signifies that which is evil and false, by which celestial and spiritual things are rendered impure and profane. On account of this representation it was commanded those who were of the Representative Church that in their sacrifices they should not offer any other bread, that is, meat-offering, than that which was unfermented or unleavened; as is evident in Moses:

No meat-offering which ye shall bring to Jehovah shall be made with leaven (Leviticus 2:11).

Again:

Thou shalt not sacrifice the blood of My sacrifice with what is leavened (Exodus 23:18; 24:25).

[2] And it was therefore also commanded, that on the seven days of the Passover they should not eat any other than unfermented or unleavened bread, as stated in Moses:

Seven days shall ye eat unleavened [bread]; even on the first day ye shall cause leaven to cease from your houses; for whosoever eateth what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at even, ye shall eat unleavened [bread], until the one and twentieth day of the month at even; seven days shall no leaven be found in your houses; for whosoever eateth what is leavened, that soul also shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a sojourner or born in the land (Exodus 12:15, 18-20; and elsewhere, as Exodus 13:6-7; 23:15; 34:18; Deuteronomy 16:3-4).

Hence the Passover is called the “Feast of Unleavened Bread” (Leviticus 23:6; Numbers 28:16-17; Matthew 26:17; Luke 22:1, 7).

[3] That the Passover represented the Lord’s glorification, and thereby the conjunction of the Divine with the human race, will of the Lord’s Divine mercy be shown elsewhere; and as the Lord’s conjunction with the human race is effected through love and charity and the faith thence derived, these celestial and spiritual things were represented by the unleavened bread that they were to eat on the day of the Passover; and lest these things should be contaminated by anything profane, that which was leavened was so severely interdicted that whoever should eat of it was to be cut off; for whoever profanes celestial and spiritual things cannot fail to perish. Everyone can see that apart from this secret meaning, this ceremonial, to which there was attached so severe a penalty, would never have been given.

[4] Everything that was commanded in that church represented some secret thing, even the very cooking, as was the case with every particular of what the sons of Israel did when they went forth from Egypt; to wit:

They shall eat on that night flesh roasted with fire, and unleavened bread upon bitter herbs; they shall not eat it raw, nor boiled in water; the head shall be on the legs; they shall not leave of it until the morning, but shall burn the residue with fire (Exodus 12:8-10).

These particulars, namely, that they should eat it by night, the flesh roasted with fire, the unleavened bread upon bitter herbs, the head on the legs, not raw, nor boiled in water, that they should not leave of it until the morning, and that they should burn the residue with fire, were representative. But the arcana represented cannot possibly appear unless disclosed by the internal sense; it is from this sense alone that it can be seen that all things are Divine.

[5] In like manner with the ritual in regard to the Nazirite:

The priest shall take the boiled shoulder of a ram, and one unleavened cake out of a basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them upon the palms of the Nazirite, after he has shaved his nazariteship (Numbers 6:19).

He who does not know that the Nazirite represented the celestial man himself, does not know that celestial things, thus arcana which do not appear in the letter, are enfolded within all these particulars, namely, the boiled shoulder of a ram, the unleavened cake, the unleavened wafer, and the shaving of the hair; which shows what kind of an opinion concerning the Word must be formed by those who do not believe that it contains an internal sense; for without what is internal these are particulars of no moment: whereas when the ceremonial or ritual is removed, everything there becomes Divine and holy. The same is the case with everything else, as here with the unleavened bread, which denotes the holy of love, or a holy of holies, as it is likewise called in Moses:

The unleavened bread that is left shall be eaten by Aaron and his sons in a place of holiness, for it is a holy of holies (Leviticus 6:16-17).

The “unleavened bread” therefore denotes pure love; and the “baking of what is unleavened” denotes purification.

886. That the “olive” signifies the good of charity, is evident from the signification in the Word not only of an “olive” but also of “oil.” It was with olive oil, together with spices, that the priests and kings were anointed, and it was with olive oil that the lamps were trimmed (see Exodus 30:24; 27:20). The reason olive oil was used for anointing and for lamps was that it represented all that is celestial, and therefore all the good of love and of charity; for the oil is the very essence of the tree, and is as it were its soul, just as the celestial, or the good of love and of charity, is the very essence or the very soul of faith; and hence oil has this representation. That “oil” signifies what is celestial, or the good of love and of charity, may be confirmed from many passages of the Word; but as it is the olive-tree, that is mentioned here, we will merely present some passages that confirm its signification. As in Jeremiah:

Jehovah called thy name a green olive-tree, fair with goodly fruit (Jeremiah 11:16),where the Most Ancient or Celestial Church is so called, which was the foundation church of the Jewish Church; and therefore all the representatives of the Jewish Church had regard to celestial things, and through these to the Lord.

[2] In Hosea:

His branches shall spread, and his honor shall be as the olive-tree, and his smell as of Lebanon (Hosea 14:6),

which is said of the church that is to be planted, whose honor is the “olive-tree” that is, the good of love and of charity; the “smell as of Lebanon” being the affection of the truth of faith therefrom. “Lebanon” stands for its cedars, which signified spiritual things, or the truths of faith.

In Zechariah, speaking of the lampstand:

Two olive-trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof; these are the two sons of the pure oil that stand by the Lord of the whole earth (Zechariah 4:3, 11, 14).

Here the “two olive-trees” denote the celestial and the spiritual, thus love, which is of the celestial church, and charity, which is of the spiritual church. These are on the “right hand” and on the “left hand” of the Lord. The “lampstand” here signifies, as in the Jewish Church it represented, the Lord; its “lamps” signify celestial things from which are spiritual, as from a flame proceed rays of light, or light.

In David:

Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine in the sides of thy house; thy sons like olive plants (Psalms 128:3); where “wife as a vine” denotes the spiritual church; “sons” the truths of faith, which are called “olive plants” because from the goods of charity.

In Isaiah:

Yet there shall be left therein gleanings, as the shaking of an olive-tree, two or three berries in the top of the branch (Isaiah 17:6); where the subject treated of is the remains in man; “of an olive-tree” denoting celestial remains.

In Micah:

Thou shalt tread the olive, but shalt not anoint thee with oil; and the vintage, but shalt not drink the wine (Micah 6:15).

And in Moses:

Thou shalt plant vineyards and dress them, but thou shalt not drink of the wine; thou shalt have olive-trees throughout all thy border, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil (Deuteronomy 28:39-40),

where the subject is the abundance of doctrinal teachings about the goods and truths of faith, which by reason of their character, those people rejected. From these passages it is evident that a “leaf” signifies the truth of faith, and an “olive” the good of charity; and that like things are signified by the “olive-leaf” which the dove brought in her mouth; that is, that there now appeared in the man of the Ancient Church some little of the truth of faith from the good of charity.