Arcana Coelestia # 2276
2276. 'Perhaps thirty will be found [there]' means some existence of conflict. This is clear from the meaning of the number 'thirty'. The reason 'thirty' means some existence of conflict, thus a small amount of conflict, is that this number is the product of 'five', meaning that which is small, times 'six', meaning toil or conflict, as shown in Volume One, in 649, 720, 737, 900, 1709.
[2] Hence also that number, wherever one reads it in the Word, means something relatively small, as in Zechariah,
I said to them, If it is good in your eyes, give me my wages; and if not, withhold them. And they weighed out my wages, thirty pieces of silver. And Jehovah said to me, Throw it to the potter, the magnificent price I was valued at among them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw it into the house of Jehovah, to the potter. Zechariah 11:12-13.
This stands for how small a value those people placed on the Lord's merit, and on redemption and salvation from Him. 'The poster' stands for reformation and regeneration.
[3] This explains the reference to the same thirty pieces of silver in Matthew,
They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price set on him whom they had bought from the children of Israel, and gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord commanded me. Matthew 27:9-10.
From these words it is quite clear that 'thirty' here stands for the small price set on him. A slave, who was not considered to be worth much, was valued at thirty shekels, as is clear in Moses,
If the ox gores a slave or a servant-girl, the owner shall give to his master thirty shekels of silver; and the ox shall be stoned. Exodus 21:32.
How little a slave was considered to be worth is clear from verses 20-21, of that same chapter. In the internal sense 'a slave' stands for toil.
[4] The reason Levites were called upon for ministerial duty - which is described as one 'coming to perform military service and to do the work in the tent [of meeting] - from thirty up to fifty years of age', Numbers 4:3, 23, 30, 35, 39, 43, was that 'thirty' means those who were beginners, thus those who as yet could perform little of what was meant in the spiritual sense by 'military service'.
[5] There are other places in the Word besides these where 'thirty' is mentioned, such as in the requirement that with a young bull a minchah of three tenths [of fine flour] was to be offered by them, Numbers 15:9. Such was required because the sacrifice of an ox represented natural good, as shown above in 2180, and natural good is small in comparison with spiritual good, which was represented by the sacrifice of a ram, and smaller still in comparison with celestial good, which was represented by the sacrifice of a lamb, with which sacrifices a different number of tenths to the minchah were required, as is clear in verses 4-6 of that chapter, and also in Numbers 28:12-13, 20-21, 28-29; 29:3-4, 9-10, 14-15. These differing numbers of tenths, or proportions, would never have been commanded if they had not embodied heavenly arcana within them.
[6] 'Thirty' again stands for that which is small in Mark,
The seed which fell into good ground yielded fruit, growing up and increasing. One bore thirty-fold, and another sixty, and another a hundred. Mark 4:8.
'Thirty' stands for a small yield and for that which has laboured to only a small extent. Those numbers would not have been specified unless they had embodied the things meant by them.
Numbers 4
1
Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,
2
"Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers' houses,
3
from thirty years old and upward even until fifty years old, all who enter into the service, to do the work in the Tent of Meeting.
4
"This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting, the most holy things.
5
When the camp moves forward, Aaron shall go in, and his sons, and they shall take down the veil of the screen, and cover the ark of the Testimony with it,
6
and shall put a covering of sealskin on it, and shall spread over it a cloth all of blue, and shall put in its poles.
7
"On the table of show bread they shall spread a blue cloth, and put on it the dishes, the spoons, the bowls, and the cups with which to pour out; and the continual bread shall be on it.
8
They shall spread on them a scarlet cloth, and cover the same with a covering of sealskin, and shall put in its poles.
9
"They shall take a blue cloth, and cover the lampstand of the light, and its lamps, and its snuffers, and its snuff dishes, and all its oil vessels, with which they minister to it.
10
They shall put it and all its vessels within a covering of sealskin, and shall put it on the frame.
11
"On the golden altar they shall spread a blue cloth, and cover it with a covering of sealskin, and shall put in its poles.
12
"They shall take all the vessels of ministry, with which they minister in the sanctuary, and put them in a blue cloth, and cover them with a covering of sealskin, and shall put them on the frame.
13
"They shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth on it.
14
They shall put on it all its vessels, with which they minister about it, the fire pans, the flesh hooks, the shovels, and the basins; all the vessels of the altar; and they shall spread on it a covering of sealskin, and put in its poles.
15
"When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary, and all the furniture of the sanctuary, as the camp moves forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to carry it: but they shall not touch the sanctuary, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting.
16
"The duty of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be the oil for the light, the sweet incense, the continual meal offering, and the anointing oil, the requirements of all the tabernacle, and of all that is in it, the sanctuary, and its furnishings."
17
Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,
18
"Don't cut off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites;
19
but thus do to them, that they may live, and not die, when they approach to the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in, and appoint them everyone to his service and to his burden;
20
but they shall not go in to see the sanctuary even for a moment, lest they die."
21
Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
22
"Take a census of the sons of Gershon also, by their fathers' houses, by their families;
23
you shall count them from thirty years old and upward until fifty years old; all who enter in to wait on the service, to do the work in the Tent of Meeting.
24
"This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and in bearing burdens:
25
they shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle, and the Tent of Meeting, its covering, and the covering of sealskin that is above on it, and the screen for the door of the Tent of Meeting,
26
and the hangings of the court, and the screen for the door of the gate of the court, which is by the tabernacle and around the altar, and their cords, and all the instruments of their service, and whatever shall be done with them. Therein shall they serve.
27
At the commandment of Aaron and his sons shall be all the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their burden, and in all their service; and you shall appoint their duty to them in all their responsibilities.
28
This is the service of the families of the sons of the Gershonites in the Tent of Meeting: and their duty shall be under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.
29
"As for the sons of Merari, you shall number them by their families, by their fathers' houses;
30
you shall count them from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who enters on the service, to do the work of the Tent of Meeting.
31
This is the duty of their burden, according to all their service in the Tent of Meeting: the tabernacle's boards, its bars, its pillars, its sockets,
32
and the pillars of the court around it, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords, with all their instruments, and with all their service: and by name you shall appoint the instruments of the duty of their burden.
33
This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, according to all their service, in the Tent of Meeting, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest."
34
Moses and Aaron and the princes of the congregation numbered the sons of the Kohathites by their families, and by their fathers' houses,
35
from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered into the service, for work in the Tent of Meeting.
36
Those who were numbered of them by their families were two thousand seven hundred fifty.
37
These are those who were numbered of the families of the Kohathites, all who served in the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of Yahweh by Moses.
38
Those who were numbered of the sons of Gershon, their families, and by their fathers' houses,
39
from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered into the service, for work in the Tent of Meeting,
40
even those who were numbered of them, by their families, by their fathers' houses, were two thousand six hundred thirty.
41
These are those who were numbered of the families of the sons of Gershon, all who served in the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of Yahweh.
42
Those who were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, by their families, by their fathers' houses,
43
from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered into the service, for work in the Tent of Meeting,
44
even those who were numbered of them by their families, were three thousand two hundred.
45
These are those who were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of Yahweh by Moses.
46
All those who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the princes of Israel numbered, by their families, and by their fathers' houses,
47
from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered in to do the work of service, and the work of bearing burdens in the Tent of Meeting,
48
even those who were numbered of them, were eight thousand five hundred eighty.
49
According to the commandment of Yahweh they were numbered by Moses, everyone according to his service, and according to his burden. Thus were they numbered by him, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
