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Exodus 12

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1 And Jehovah said to Moses and to Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,

2 This month is to you the head of the months; it is the first for you of the months of the year.

3 Speak ye to all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth of this month they shall take to them, each·​·man a lamb, for the house of his fathers, a lamb for the house.

4 And if the house be too few for a lamb, then let him take, he and his neighbor near to his house; for the share of souls, a man for the mouth of his eating, you shall share the lamb.

5 A perfect lamb, a male, a son of a year shall be for you; you shall take it from the lambs and from the she-goats.

6 And it shall be for you to be kept even·​·to the fourteenth day of this month; and all the assembly of the congregation of Israel shall slaughter it between the two·​·evenings*.

7 And they shall take from the blood, and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel, on the houses in which they shall eat it.

8 And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roasted with fire, and things unleavened; upon bitter herbs they shall eat it.

9 Eat ye not of it raw, nor cooked by cooking in water, but roasted with fire; its head on its legs and on its midst.

10 And you shall not leave of it until the morning; and that which is left of it until the morning you shall burn·​·up with fire.

11 And in·​·this·​·manner you shall eat it: your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your stick in your hand; and you shall eat it in a rush; it is the Passover of Jehovah.

12 And I will pass·​·through the land of Egypt in that night, and I will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from man and even·​·to beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will do judgments; I am Jehovah.

13 And the blood shall be to you for a sign on the houses where you are; and I shall see the blood, and I will pass·​·over you, and there shall not be among you the stroke of the destroyer, in My smiting in the land of Egypt.

14 And this day shall be to you for a memorial; and you shall celebrate it as a festival to Jehovah for your generations; you shall celebrate as an eternal statute.

15 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread; surely on the first day you shall cause yeast to cease from your houses; for all who eat what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, even that soul shall be cut·​·off from Israel.

16 And there shall be for you in the first day a holy convocation, and in the seventh day a holy convocation; no work* at all shall be done in them, only that which every soul must eat, this alone shall be done by you.

17 And you shall keep the unleavened bread, for in this same day I have brought· your armies ·out from the land of Egypt; and you shall keep this day for your generations as an eternal statute.

18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, you shall eat what is unleavened, until the one and twentieth day of the month, in the evening.

19 Seven days yeast shall· not ·be·​·found in your houses; for all who eat that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut·​·off from the congregation of Israel, among the sojourner, and among the native of the land.

20 You shall not eat anything leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.

21 And Moses called all the elders of Israel, and said to them, Draw forth and take for yourselves an animal of the flock according to your families, and slaughter ye the Passover.

22 And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bowl, and you shall touch it to the lintel and to the two doorposts from the blood that is in the bowl; and you shall not go·​·out, a man from the entrance of his house until the morning.

23 And Jehovah will pass·​·through to strike Egypt; and He will see the blood on the lintel, and on the two doorposts, and Jehovah will pass·​·over the entrance, and will not allow the destroyer to come to your houses to strike you.

24 And you shall keep this word for a statute to thee and to thy sons even·​·to eternity.

25 And it shall be that when you shall come to the land which Jehovah will give you, as He has spoken, that you shall keep this service.

26 And it shall be, that your sons shall say to you, What is this service to you?

27 And you shall say, This is the sacrifice of the Passover to Jehovah, in that He passed·​·over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt, when He struck Egypt, and rescued our houses. And the people bent itself and bowed· themselves ·down*.

28 And the sons of Israel went and they did as Jehovah commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

29 And it was at midnight, and Jehovah smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh about to sit on his throne even·​·to the firstborn of the captive that was in the house of the pit; and all the firstborn of the beast.

30 And Pharaoh rose·​·up in that night, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was no house where there was no dead.

31 And he called Moses and Aaron in the night, and said, Arise, go· ye ·out from the midst of my people, both you and the sons of Israel; and go, serve Jehovah, according·​·to your speaking.

32 Also your flocks, also your herds, take ye, as you have spoken, and go; and bless, even me.

33 And Egypt was·​·firm upon the people, hastening to send them from the land; for they said, We are all dying.

34 And the people carried their dough before it was leavened, their kneading-troughs bundled in their raiment on their shoulder.

35 And the sons of Israel did according·​·to the word of Moses; and they asked from the Egyptians vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and raiment.

36 And Jehovah gave grace to the people in the eyes of the Egyptians, and they gave· them what they ·asked. And they spoiled the Egyptians.

37 And the sons of Israel journeyed from Rameses toward Succoth, about six hundred thousand footmen, the men besides infants.

38 And a mixed·​·crowd of many also went·​·up with them; and flock, and herd, very heavy with livestock.

39 And they baked the dough which they brought·​·out of Egypt into unleavened cakes, for it had not been leavened; for they were driven·​·out from Egypt, and were· not ·able to linger, and they had not even made provisions for themselves.

40 And the dwelling of the sons of Israel which they dwelt in Egypt was thirty years and four hundred years.

41 And it was at the end of the thirty years and four hundred years, and it was in this same day, all the armies of Jehovah went·​·out from the land of Egypt.

42 It is a night for·​·keeping to Jehovah, for bringing· them ·out from the land of Egypt; it is this night for·​·keeping to Jehovah for all the sons of Israel to their generations.

43 And Jehovah said to Moses and Aaron, This is the statute of the Passover: no son of a foreigner shall eat of it.

44 And every man’s servant who is bought with silver, when thou hast circumcised him, then he shall eat of it.

45 A lodger and a hireling shall not eat of it.

46 In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not bring·​·out of the flesh outside of the house; and you shall not break a bone in it.

47 All the assemblage of Israel shall do it.

48 And when a sojourner shall sojourn with thee, and does the Passover to Jehovah, every male of his shall be circumcised, and then let him come·​·near to do it; and he shall be as a native of the land; and every uncircumcised person shall not eat of it.

49 One law shall there be for the native, and for the sojourner who sojourns in your midst.

50 And all the sons of Israel did as Jehovah commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

51 And it was in this same day, that Jehovah brought·​·out the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt by their armies.

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

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Arcana Coelestia # 3021

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3021. 'Put now your hand under my thigh' means being bound, as regards its power, to the good of conjugial love. This is clear from the meaning of 'the hand' as power, dealt with in 878, and from the meaning of 'the thigh' as the good of conjugial love, dealt with in what follows. A binding of this good to that power is indeed the meaning, as is clear from the consideration that those who were bound by an obligation to carry out some matter connected with conjugial love put their hand, according to ancient custom, under the thigh of the one to whom they were so bound, and in so doing swore by him. This was done because 'the thigh' meant conjugial love, and 'the hand' power, or the full extent of whatever one's capability might be. For all parts of the human body correspond to spiritual and celestial things in the Grand Man, which is heaven, as shown in 2996, 2998, and will in the Lord's Divine mercy be shown more extensively later on. The thighs themselves, together with the loins, correspond to conjugial love. Those things were well known to the most ancient people, and for that reason so many customs came down from them, including that of putting their hands under the thigh when being bound by an obligation to carry out something connected with the good of conjugial love. Their knowledge of such things, which was valued most highly by the ancients, and belonged among the chief things that constituted their knowledge and intelligence, is totally lost today, so much so that not even the existence of any such correspondence is known, and for this reason people will probably be astounded that such things are meant by that custom. Here, because the subject is the betrothal of Isaac his son to another member of Abraham's family, and the oldest servant was called on to perform that task, this custom was therefore followed.

[2] It has been stated that 'the thigh', because of its correspondence, means conjugial love, and this may also be seen from other places in the Word, for example, from the procedure to be followed when a woman was accused by her husband of adultery, in Moses,

The priest shall make the woman take the oath of a curse, and the priest shall say to the woman, Jehovah will make you a curse and an oath in the midst of your people, when Jehovah makes your thigh fall away and your belly swell. When he has made her drink the water, then it will happen, if she has defiled herself and committed a trespass against her husband, that the water causing the curse will enter into her and become bitter, and her belly will swell, and her thigh will fall away; and the woman will be a curse in the midst of her people. Numbers 5:21, 27.

'The falling away of the thigh' means the evil of conjugial love, which is adultery. Every other detail in the same procedure had some specific meaning, so that not even the smallest detail fails to embody something, though anyone reading the Word who has no concept of its sacredness will wonder why such things are included there. It is because 'the thigh' means the good of conjugial love that the expression 'those coming out of the thigh' is used frequently, as in a reference to Jacob,

Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations will be from you, and kings will go out from your thighs. Genesis 35:11.

And elsewhere in the same author,

Every soul coming with Jacob to Egypt, who came out of his thigh. Genesis 46:26; Exodus 1:5.

And in a reference to Gideon, Gideon had seventy sons, who came out of his thigh. Judges 8:30.

[3] Since 'the thigh' and 'the loins' mean the things that belong to conjugial love they also mean those that belong to love and charity, the reason being that conjugial love underlies every other kind of love, see 686, 2733, 2737-2739. These all have the same source - the heavenly marriage - which is a marriage of good and truth, regarding which see 2727-2759. For 'the thigh' means the good of celestial love and the good of spiritual love, as may be seen from the following places: In John,

He who sat on the white horse had on His robe and on His thigh the name written, King of kings, and Lord of lords. Revelation 19:16.

'He who sat on the white horse' is the Word, and so the Lord, who is the Word, see 2760-2762. 'Robe' means Divine Truth, 2576, and for that reason He is called 'King of kings', 3009. From this it is evident what 'the thigh' means, namely the Divine Good which flows from His love, on account of which He is also named 'Lord of lords', 3004-3011. And this being the Lord's essential nature, it is said that He had a name written on His robe and on His thigh, for 'name' means essential nature, 1896, 2009, 2724, 3006.

[4] In David,

Gird Your sword on Your thigh, O Mighty One, in Your glory and honour! Psalms 45:3.

This refers to the Lord. 'Sword' stands for truth engaged in conflict, 2799, 'thigh' for the good of love. 'Girding the sword on the thigh' means that the truth which He was to use in the fight was allied to the good of love. In Isaiah,

Righteousness will be the girdle of His loins, and truth the girdle of His thighs. Isaiah 11:5.

This too refers to the Lord. Because 'righteousness' has reference to the good that flows from love, 2235, it is called 'the girdle of His loins', while 'truth' because it comes from good, is called 'the girdle of His thighs'. Thus 'loins' is used in reference to the love within good, and 'thighs' to the love within truth.

[5] In the same prophet'

None will be weary, and none will stumble in Him. He will not slumber nor sleep. Nor has the girdle of His thighs been loosed, nor the thong of His shoes torn away. Isaiah 5:27.

This refers to the Lord. 'The girdle of His thighs' stands, as above, for the love within truth. In Jeremiah Jehovah told the prophet to buy a linen girdle and put it over his loins but not dip it in water. He was then told to go away to the Euphrates and hide it in a cleft of the rock. When he went back at a later time to retrieve it from that place it was spoiled, Jeremiah 13:1-7. 'A linen girdle' stands for truth, but the placing of it over his loins was representative of the fact that truth was the outward expression of good. Anyone may see that these actions are representative. Their meaning however cannot be known except from correspondences, which will in the Lord's Divine mercy be dealt with at the ends of certain chapters further on.

[6] It is similar with the meaning of the things seen by Ezekiel, Daniel, and Nebuchadnezzar: Ezekiel saw,

Above the firmament that was above the heads of the cherubim, in appearance like a sapphire stone, there was the likeness of a throne, and above the likeness of a throne, there was a likeness, as the appearance of a Man (Homo) upon it above. And I saw as it were the shape of fiery coals, as the shape of fire, within it round about. From the appearance of His loins and upwards, and from the appearance of His loins and downwards, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, whose brightness was round about it like the appearance of the rainbow which is in the cloud on the day of rain; so was the appearance of the brightness round about, thus was the appearance of the likeness of the Glory of Jehovah. Ezekiel 1:26-28.

This scene was clearly representative of the Lord and His kingdom. 'The appearance of His loins upwards and the appearance, of His loins downwards' is descriptive of His love, as is evident from the meaning of 'fire' as love, 934, and from the meaning of 'brightness' and of 'the rainbow' as wisdom and intelligence from that love, 1042, 1043, 1053.

[7] Daniel saw,

A man clothed in linen whose loins were girded with gold of Uphaz, and whose body was like tarshish, 1 and whose face was like the appearance of lightning and whose eyes were like fiery torches, and whose arms and feet were like the shine of burnished bronze. Daniel 10:5-6.

What each of these expressions means - the loins, the body, the face, the eyes, the arms, and the feet - does not become clear to anyone except from representations and correspondences involved in these. From these it is evident that in what Daniel saw the Lord's heavenly kingdom was represented, in which Divine Love constitutes the loins, and 'the gold of Uphaz' with which He was girded, the good resulting from wisdom that is grounded in love, 113, 1551, 1552.

[8] In Daniel: Nebuchadnezzar saw a statue whose head was fine gold, breast and arms silver, belly and thighs bronze, feet partly iron, partly clay, Daniel 2:32-33. This statue represented consecutive states of the Church. The head of gold represented the first state, which was celestial because it was a state of love to the Lord; the breast and arms of silver represented the second state, which was spiritual because it was a state of charity towards the neighbour; the belly and thighs of bronze represented the third state, which was a state of natural good meant by 'bronze', 425, 1551 - natural good being love or charity towards the neighbour as this exists on a lower level than spiritual good - while the feet of iron and clay were the fourth state, which was a state of natural truth meant by 'iron', 425, 426, and also a state involving complete lack of cohesion with good, which is meant by 'clay'.

From all this one may see what is meant by the thighs and loins, namely conjugial love primarily, and from this love every genuine kind of love, as is evident from the places quoted and also from Genesis 32:25, 31-32; Isaiah 20:2-4; Nahum 2:1; Psalms 69:23; Exodus 12:11; Luke 12:35-36. The thighs and loins also mean in the contrary sense those loves that are the reverse of conjugial love and all genuine loves, namely self-love and love of the world, 1 Kings 2:5-6; Isaiah 32:10-11; Jeremiah 30:6; 48:37; Ezekiel 29:7; Amos 8:10.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. A Hebrew word for a particular kind of precious stone, possibly a beryl.

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