Bible

 

Esodo 25

Studie

   

1 L’Eterno parlò a Mosè dicendo: "Di’ ai figliuoli d’Israele che mi facciano un’offerta;

2 accetterete l’offerta da ogni uomo che sarà disposto a farmela di cuore.

3 E questa è l’offerta che accetterete da loro: oro, argento e rame;

4 stoffe di color violaceo, porporino, scarlatto;

5 lino fino e pel di capra; pelli di montone tinte in rosso, pelli di delfino e legno d’acacia;

6 olio per il candelabro, aromi per l’olio della unzione e per il profumo odoroso;

7 pietre di onice e pietre da incastonare per l’efod e il pettorale.

8 E mi facciano un santuario perch’io abiti in mezzo a loro.

9 Me lo farete in tutto e per tutto secondo il modello del tabernacolo e secondo il modello di tutti i suoi arredi, che io sto per mostrarti.

10 Faranno dunque un’arca di legno d’acacia; la sua lunghezza sarà di due cubiti e mezzo, la sua larghezza di un cubito e mezzo, e la sua altezza di un cubito e mezzo.

11 La rivestirai d’oro puro; la rivestirai così di dentro e di fuori; e le farai al di sopra una ghirlanda d’oro, che giri intorno.

12 Fonderai per essa quattro anelli d’oro, che metterai ai suoi quattro piedi: due anelli da un lato e due anelli dall’altro lato,

13 Farai anche delle stanghe di legno d’acacia, e le rivestirai d’oro.

14 E farai passare le stanghe per gli anelli ai lati dell’arca, perché servano a portarla.

15 Le stanghe rimarranno negli anelli dell’arca; non ne saranno tratte fuori.

16 E metterai nell’arca la testimonianza che ti darò.

17 Farai anche un propiziatorio d’oro puro; la sua lunghezza sarà di due cubiti e mezzo, e la sua larghezza di un cubito e mezzo.

18 E farai due cherubini d’oro; li farai lavorati al martello, alle due estremità del propiziatorio;

19 fa’ un cherubino a una delle estremità, e un cherubino all’altra; farete che questi cherubini escano dal propiziatorio alle due estremità.

20 E i cherubini avranno le ali spiegate in alto, in modo da coprire il propiziatorio con le loro ali; avranno la faccia vòlta l’uno verso l’altro; le facce dei cherubini saranno volte verso il propiziatorio.

21 E metterai il propiziatorio in alto, sopra l’arca; e nell’arca metterai la testimonianza che ti darò.

22 Quivi io m’incontrerò teco; e di sul propiziatorio, di fra i due cherubini che sono sull’arca della testimonianza, ti comunicherò tutti gli ordini che avrò da darti per i figliuoli d’Israele.

23 Farai anche una tavola di legno d’acacia; la sua lunghezza sarà di due cubiti; la sua larghezza di un cubito, e la sua altezza di un cubito e mezzo.

24 La rivestirai d’oro puro, e le farai una ghirlanda d’oro che le giri attorno.

25 Le farai all’intorno una cornice alta quattro dita; e a questa cornice farai tutt’intorno una ghirlanda d’oro.

26 Le farai pure quattro anelli d’oro, e metterai gli anelli ai quattro canti, ai quattro piedi della tavola.

27 Gli anelli saranno vicinissimi alla cornice per farvi passare le stanghe destinate a portar la tavola.

28 E le stanghe le farai di legno d’acacia, le rivestirai d’oro, e serviranno a portare la tavola.

29 Farai pure i suoi piatti, le sue coppe, i suoi calici e le sue tazze da servire per le libazioni; li farai d’oro puro.

30 E metterai sulla tavola il pane della presentazione, che starà del continuo nel mio cospetto.

31 Farai anche un candelabro d’oro puro; il candelabro, il suo piede e il suo tronco saranno lavorati al martello; i suoi calici, i suoi pomi e i suoi fiori saranno tutti d’un pezzo col candelabro.

32 Gli usciranno sei bracci dai lati: tre bracci del candelabro da un lato e tre bracci del candelabro dall’altro;

33 su l’uno de’ bracci saranno tre calici in forma di mandorla, con un pomo e un fiore; e sull’altro braccio, tre calici in forma di mandorla, con un pomo e un fiore. Lo stesso per i sei bracci uscenti dal candelabro.

34 Nel tronco del candelabro ci saranno poi quattro calici in forma di mandorla, coi loro pomi e i loro fiori.

35 Ci sarà un pomo sotto i due primi bracci che partono dal candelabro; un pomo sotto i due seguenti bracci, e un pomo sotto i due ultimi bracci che partono dal candelabro: così per i sei bracci uscenti dal candelabro.

36 Questi pomi e questi bracci saranno tutti d’un pezzo col candelabro; il tutto sarà d’oro fino lavorato al martello.

37 Farai pure le sue lampade, in numero di sette; e le sue lampade si accenderanno in modo che la luce rischiari il davanti del candelabro.

38 E i suoi smoccolatoi e i suoi porta smoccolature saranno d’oro puro.

39 Per fare il candelabro con tutti questi suoi utensili s’impiegherà un talento d’oro puro.

40 E vedi di fare ogni cosa secondo il modello che t’è stato mostrato sul monte.

   

Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

Arcana Coelestia # 9474

Prostudujte si tuto pasáž

  
/ 10837  
  

9474. 'Spices for the anointing oil' means internal truths belonging to the good that consecrates. This is clear from the meaning of 'spices' as interior truths, which are the truths of internal good, dealt with below; from the meaning of 'oil' as the good of love, as above in 9473; and from the meaning of 'anointing' as consecrating to serve as a representative sign. For objects which were to represent realities that were holy were anointed with oil smelling sweetly of spices and thereby consecrated, as is clear from these words later on in Exodus,

Take for yourself the chief spices - best myrrh, sweet-smelling cinnamon, sweet-scented cane, cassia, olive oil. Afterwards you shall make it a holy anointing oil, a perfect ointment; 1 a holy anointing oil it shall be. With it you shall anoint the tent, the ark of the Testimony, the table and all its vessels, the lampstand and its vessels, the altar of incense, the altar of burnt offering and all its vessels, and the laver and its base. Thus shall you sanctify them, that they may be most holy. 2 And you shall anoint Aaron and his sons. Exodus 30:23-31.

The reason why objects were holy when they had been anointed was that they then represented realities that were holy; and from this it is evident that the anointing of something was the consecration of it to serve as a representative sign.

[2] The reason why oil was used for anointing was that oil was the sign of celestial good, and celestial good is the good of love received from the Lord, and consequently is the good of love to the Lord. This good is the indispensable element within every single aspect of heaven and eternal life. Sweet-smelling spices were used to make that oil sweet-scented, to the end that what was delightful might be represented; for 'odour' means perception, and 'a pleasant and sweet odour' means a delightful perception, see 925, 1514, 1517-1519, 3577, 4624-4634, 4748. And since every perception of good comes through truth, spices were used, by which interior truths are meant, 4748, 5621.

[3] Something more must be stated briefly about why the anointing oil and also the incense were to be made sweet-smelling. As stated above, 'oil' means the good of love, and 'spice' internal truth. But the good of love cannot come to be perceived except through truths; for truth bears witness to good, indeed is the revealer of it, and may be called the outward form of good. This is like the situation with human will and understanding, in that the will cannot make itself known except through the understanding. For the understanding takes to itself and reveals the good of the will; also the understanding is the outward form of the will, in addition to which truth belongs to the understanding and good to the will. From all this it becomes clear why the anointing oil was made to smell sweetly of spices, as also was the incense. But the difference between them is that the spicy smell of the anointing oil means the delightfulness of internal perception, whereas the spicy smell of incense means the delightfulness of external perception. For the spicy smell of the anointing oil was given off without any smoke, and so presented a sweet odour without any external appearance, whereas the spicy smell of incense was given off with the smoke.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. literally, ointment of ointment

2. literally, the holy thing of holy things

  
/ 10837  
  

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

Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

Arcana Coelestia # 4748

Prostudujte si tuto pasáž

  
/ 10837  
  

4748. 'And their camels carrying spices, and resin' and stacte' means interior natural truths. This is clear from the general meaning of 'camels' as things belonging to the natural man which serve the spiritual, and from their specific meaning as general facts within the natural man, dealt with in 3048, 3071, 3114, 3143, 3145, 4156; and from the meaning of 'spices, resin, and stacte' as interior natural truths joined to the good there, which are dealt with below. Among the ancients, sweet smelling and fragrant substances were used in their sacred worship; from these substances they obtained their frankincense and incense, similar substances being mixed with oil for their anointings. But no one today knows why those fragrances were used, for the reason that no knowledge at all exists of the fact that all aspects of the worship of the ancients had their origin in the spiritual and celestial things existing in heaven, or that those aspects of it corresponded to these. Mankind has been removing itself so far from spiritual and celestial things, immersing itself in natural, worldly, and bodily ones, that it lives in obscurity, many people having a negative attitude of mind to the existence of anything spiritual or celestial.

[2] The reason frankincense and incense were used among the ancients in sacred acts of worship is that 'odour' corresponds to perception, and 'a fragrant odour' - like that of the aromas which various kinds of spices have - to a pleasing and acceptable perception, as is the perception of truth derived from good, or of faith from charity. Indeed the correspondence of one to the other is such that, as often as it pleases the Lord, actual perceptions in the next life are converted into odours. Regarding these, see what has already been told from experience in 925, 1514, 1517-1519, 3577, 4624-4634. What specifically is meant here by 'spices, resin, and stacte' may be seen from other places where these three are mentioned. In general they mean interior truths within the natural, but those truths which are derived from the good there; for truths do not on their own constitute the natural, but good does by means of truths. Consequently variations exist, conditioned by what the truth joined to the good is like and therefore by what the good is like, since the particular nature of the good depends on what the truths are like.

[3] 'Gilead' means exterior good like that belonging to the senses, called pleasure, 4117, 4124, while 'Egypt' in the good sense means facts, which are the external truths of the natural man that correspond to, that is, are in accord with, that good, 1462. Therefore the reference to Ishmaelites from Gilead bringing down those aromatic commodities on camels to Egypt means bringing their own interior truths, based on their own facts, to the facts meant by 'Egypt', which matters are dealt with below. Interior truths are conclusions based on exterior truths, that is, on facts; for the facts belonging to the natural man are the means that enable conclusions to be drawn about interior truths and thereby to identify them, just as a person identifies another's state of mind in his facial expressions and in the twinkling of light in his eyes, as well as in his tone of voice and his gestures.

[4] Because such truths are the means by which a person's natural is made more perfect and also receives correction, healing is therefore associated with spices of this kind - with resin, for example, in Jeremiah,

Is there no balsamic resin in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why has not the healing of the daughter of my people arisen? Jeremiah 8:22.

In the same prophet,

Go up to Gilead to take resin, O virgin daughter of Egypt! In vain you have multiplied medicaments; there is no healing for you. Jeremiah 46:11.

In the same prophet,

Suddenly Babel has fallen and been broken; wail over her! Take resin for her pain; perhaps she will be healed. Jeremiah 51:8.

[5] Wares similar to this mean spiritual things, as is quite evident in John,

The merchants of the earth will weep and will mourn over Babel, that nobody buys their wares any longer, wares of gold and silver, and precious stones, and pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and every vessel of ivory, and every vessel made of most precious wood, and bronze, and iron, and marble, and cinnamon, and incense, and ointment, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and draught-cattle, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and the bodies and souls of people. Revelation 18:11-13.

These wares would never have been listed in this specific manner if each and all had not meant the kinds of things that exist in the Lord's kingdom and in His Church. Otherwise they would have been words that had no real meaning. It is well known that 'Babel' means those who turn all worship of the Lord into worship of themselves, so that profanity exists inwardly while outwardly they are doing what is holy. This being so, 'their wares' means the things which, for the sake of worship of themselves, they themselves have invented enthusiastically and skillfully, as well as doctrinal teachings and ideas of good and truth from the Word which they have twisted to suit themselves. Thus the individual wares mentioned in these verses mean specific features of their invention, 'cinnamon, incense, ointment, and frankincense' meaning truths that are derived from good, but with those people perverted truths and falsities that are the products of evil.

[6] Something similar may be seen in what is recorded in Ezekiel regarding the wares of Tyre,

Judah and the land of Israel, they were your traders. Wheat of minnith and pannag, and honey, and oil, and resin, they exchanged for your trading. Ezekiel 27:17.

Here also 'resin' means truth derived from good. To one who has no belief in the internal sense of the Word all these expressions will be mere words and so vessels with nothing in them, when in fact they hold Divine, celestial, and spiritual things within them.

  
/ 10837  
  

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