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Esodo 37

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1 Poi Betsaleel fece l’arca di legno d’acacia; la sua lunghezza era di due cubiti e mezzo, la sua larghezza di un cubito e mezzo, e la sua altezza di un cubito e mezzo.

2 E la rivestì d’oro puro di dentro e di fuori, e le fece una ghirlanda d’oro che le girava attorno.

3 E fuse per essa quattro anelli d’oro, che mise ai suoi quattro piedi: due anelli da un lato e due anelli dall’altro lato.

4 Fece anche delle stanghe di legno d’acacia, e le rivesti d’oro.

5 E fece passare le stanghe per gli anelli ai lati dell’arca per portar l’arca.

6 Fece anche un propiziatorio d’oro puro; la sua lunghezza era di due cubiti e mezzo, e la sua larghezza di un cubito e mezzo.

7 E fece due cherubini d’oro; li fece lavorati al martello, alle due estremità del propiziatorio:

8 un cherubino a una delle estremità, e un cherubino all’altra; fece che questi cherubini uscissero dal propiziatorio alle due estremità.

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

10 Fece anche la tavola di legno d’acacia; la sua lunghezza era di due cubiti, la sua larghezza di un cubito, e la sua altezza di un cubito e mezzo.

11 La rivestì d’oro puro e le fece una ghirlanda d’oro che le girava attorno.

12 E le fece attorno una cornice alta quattro dita; e a questa cornice fece tutt’intorno una ghirlanda d’oro.

13 E fuse per essa quattro anelli d’oro; e mise gli anelli ai quattro canti, ai quattro piedi della tavola.

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

15 E fece le stanghe di legno d’acacia, e le rivesti d’oro; esse dovean servire a portar la tavola.

16 Fece anche, d’oro puro, gli utensili da mettere sulla tavola: i suoi piatti, le sue coppe, le sue tazze e i suoi calici da servire per le libazioni.

17 Fece anche il candelabro d’oro puro; fece il candelabro lavorato al martello, col suo piede e il suo tronco; i suoi calici, i suoi pomi e i suoi fiori erano tutti d’un pezzo col candelabro.

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

19 su l’uno de’ bracci erano 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.

20 E nel tronco del candelabro v’erano quattro calici in forma di mandorla, coi loro pomi e i loro fiori.

21 E c’era un pomo sotto i due primi bracci che partivano dal candelabro; un pomo sotto i due seguenti bracci che partivano dal candelabro, e un pomo sotto i due ultimi bracci che partivano dal candelabro; così per i sei rami uscenti dal candelabro.

22 Questi pomi e questi bracci erano tutti d’un pezzo col candelabro; il tutto era d’oro puro lavorato al martello.

23 Fece pure le sue lampade, in numero di sette, i suoi smoccolatoi e i suoi porta smoccolature, d’oro puro.

24 Per fare il candelabro con tutti i suoi utensili impiego un talento d’oro puro.

25 Poi fece l’altare dei profumi, di legno d’acacia; la sua lunghezza era di un cubito; e la sua larghezza di un cubito; era quadro, e aveva un’altezza di due cubiti; i suoi corni erano tutti d’un pezzo con esso.

26 E lo rivestì d’oro puro: il disopra, i suoi lati tutt’intorno, i suoi corni; e gli fece una ghirlanda d’oro che gli girava attorno.

27 Gli fece pure due anelli d’oro, sotto la ghirlanda, ai suoi due lati; li mise ai suoi due lati per passarvi le stanghe che servivano a portarlo.

28 E fece le stanghe di legno d’acacia, e le rivestì d’oro.

29 Poi fece l’olio santo per l’unzione e il profumo fragrante, puro, secondo l’arte del profumiere.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 9475

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9475. 'And for the incense of spices' means for delightful perception. This is clear from the meaning of 'incense' as the things of worship that are perceived with delight, such as acts of thanksgiving, adoration, prayer, and the like; and from the meaning of 'spices' as truths of faith which are delightful because they originate in good. For sweet odours, such as spicy ones, mean that which is delightful; and whatever is delightful is such by virtue of the good made known through truths. So it is that 'the incense of spices' means the delightful perception that belongs to truth originating in good. The spices which went into the making of that incense are listed, and the preparation of it is described in the following words,

Take for yourself spices, stacte and onycha and galbanum - [these] spices, and pure frankincense. You shall make them an incense, salted, pure, holy. You shall beat some of it very small, and put some of it before the Testimony in the tent of meeting. Most holy 1 shall it be to you. The incense shall be to you holy for Jehovah. Exodus 30:34-38.

The altar of incense, along with the incense itself, is described as follows,

You shall make an altar for burning incense. You shall overlay it with pure gold. You shall put it before the veil that is over the ark of the Testimony before the mercy-seat, that Aaron may burn on it spicy incense every morning; when he trims the lamps he shall burn it, and between the evenings. Exodus 30:1-10; 37:25-end; 40:26-27.

And elsewhere,

When Aaron comes into the Holy Place he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire 2 from upon the altar, with his hands full of spicy incense beaten fine. 3 Then he shall bring it inside the veil, in order that he may put the incense onto the fire before Jehovah, and the cloud of incense may cover the mercy-seat which is over the Testimony. Leviticus 16:12-13.

[2] Since 'incense' meant acts of worship such as had their origin in good made known through truths, as do all expressions of faith that have their origin in the good of love, the fire was taken from the altar; for the fire on the altar meant the good of God's love, 934, 4906, 5071 (end), 5215, 6314, 6832, 6834, 6849, 7324, 7852. On this account when fire had been taken from any other source they were struck down by a plague and died, Leviticus 10:1-2ff; Numbers 16:45-48; for fire from any other source, or 'foreign fire', meant love that was not God's.

[3] The fact that expressions of faith having their origin in the good of love and charity, for example thanksgivings, acts of adoration, and prayers, are meant by 'incense' is clear in David,

My prayers are acceptable, [as] incense before You. Psalms 141:2.

In John,

The four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. Revelation 5:8.

In the same book,

An angel holding a golden censer ... And much incense was given to him, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar which was before the throne. The smoke of the incense went up from the prayers of the saints. Revelation 8:3-4.

[4] The reason why such expressions of faith are meant by 'incense' is that they are matters of thought and consequently of the lips. But matters of affection and consequently of the heart are meant by 'the minchah' in Malachi 1:11, where it says that from the rising of the sun even to its setting Jehovah's name will be great among the nations, and 'in every place incense has been offered to My name, and a pure minchah'; and the same things are meant by 'the burnt offering' in Moses,

The sons of Levi will teach Jacob Your judgements and Israel Your law. They will put incense in Your nose, and burnt offering on Your altar. Deuteronomy 33:10.

'Incense' in these places stands for such things as are matters of thought and the lips and have regard to the truths of faith; 'minchah' and 'burnt offering' stand for such things as are matters of affection and the heart and have regard to forms of the good of love. All this being so, in the contrary sense worship arising from falsities of faith is meant by burning incense to other gods, Jeremiah 1:16; 44:3, 5; burning incense to idols, Ezekiel 8:11; 16:18; and burning incense to the baalim, Hosea 2:13.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. literally, The holy thing of holy things

2. literally, the fullness of a censer, burning coals of fire

3. literally, the fullness of his fists, spicy incense [beaten] fine

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

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Arcana Coelestia # 5071

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5071. The reason why the expression 'cursed' is used of those on the left and why their punishment is called 'eternal fire' in the following statements -'Then He will also say to those on the left, Depart from Me, O cursed ones, into eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels' and 'these will go away into eternal punishment' - is that they have turned away from good and truth and have turned towards evil and falsity. 'Cursing' in the internal sense of the Word means a turning away, 245, 379, 1427, 3570, 3584. The eternal fire into which they were to depart is not material fire, nor is it a tormented conscience, but a craving for evil. For cravings like this in a person are spiritual fires which consume him during the life of the body and torment him in the next life. Because of these fires burning within them, the inhabitants of hell use dreadful methods to torture one another.

[2] Eternal fire is clearly not material fire; and the reason it is not a tormented conscience is that none who are governed by evil have any conscience; and those who have had no conscience during their lifetime cannot have any in the next life. But the reason eternal fire is a craving is that the entire fire of life in a person is fuelled by his loves, a heavenly fire by the love of what is good and true, a hellish fire by the love of what is evil and false. Or what amounts to the same, a heavenly fire is fuelled by love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour, and a hellish fire by self-love and love of the world. Anyone can see, if he stops to think, that all the fire or heat burning within a person is fuelled by his loves. This also explains why love is called spiritual heat and why in the Word fire and heat have no other meaning, 934 (end), 1297, 1527, 1528, 1861, 2446, 4906. The fire of life in the evil is also such that when they feel very strong cravings, a kind of fire is also burning in them, which inflames them with an intense and furious desire to torment others. But the fire of life in the good is such that when a higher level of affection exists with them, a kind of fire is alight in them too. But this fire inflames them with a loving and zealous desire to do good to others.

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