Bible

 

Exodus 28

Studie

   

1 And thou shalt cause to come·​·near to thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from the midst of the sons of Israel, that he may be·​·a·​·priest to Me, Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons.

2 And thou shalt make garments of holiness for Aaron thy brother, for glory and for adornment.

3 And thou shalt speak to all the wise in heart, whom I have·​·filled with the spirit of wisdom, and they shall make Aaron’s garments to sanctify him, that he may be·​·a·​·priest to Me.

4 And these are the garments which they shall make; a breastplate, and an ephod, and a mantle, and a tunic of a square·​·weave, a miter, and a belt; and they shall make garments of holiness for Aaron thy brother, and for his sons, that he may be·​·a·​·priest to Me.

5 And they shall take the gold, and the blue, and the crimson, and the scarlet twice-dyed, and the fine·​·linen.

6 And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue and crimson, of scarlet twice-dyed and fine· twined ·linen, with the work of a thinker.

7 It shall have two shoulders coupled at its two edges; and it shall be coupled.

8 And the girding of his ephod, which is upon it, according to the work of it, shall be from it; of gold, of blue and crimson, and scarlet twice-dyed and fine· twined ·linen.

9 And thou shalt take two onyx stones, and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel.

10 Six of their names on the one stone, and the names of the Six that remain on the other stone, according to their births.

11 With the work of a craftsman in stone, with the engravings of a signet, shalt thou engrave the two stones, according to the names of the sons of Israel; surrounded with bezels of gold shalt thou make them.

12 And thou shalt set the two stones on the shoulders of the ephod, to be stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel; and Aaron shall bear their names before Jehovah on his two shoulders for a remembrance.

13 And thou shalt make bezels of gold.

14 And two chains of pure gold; from their borders shalt thou make them, with rope making; and thou shalt put the chains of rope on the bezels.

15 And thou shalt make a breastplate of judgment, with the work of a thinker; like the work of the ephod thou shalt make it; of gold, of blue and crimson, and scarlet twice-dyed and fine· twined ·linen, shalt thou make it.

16 Foursquare it shall be, doubled; a span its length, and a span its breadth.

17 And thou shalt·​·fill it with an infilling of stone, four rows of stone; a row, a ruby, a topaz, and a garnet, row one;

18 and the second row, a chrysoprase, a sapphire, and a diamond;

19 and the third row, a cyanus*, an agate, and an amethyst;

20 and the fourth row, a tarshish*, and an onyx, and a jasper; they shall be set·​·in·​·bezels with gold in their infillings.

21 And the stones shall be above the names of the sons of Israel, twelve, above their names; with the engravings of a signet, for each·​·man above his name, they shall be for the twelve tribes.

22 And thou shalt make upon the breastplate chains of the border with rope work, of pure gold.

23 And thou shalt make on the breastplate two rings of gold, and shalt put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate.

24 And thou shalt put the two ropes of gold on the two rings at the ends of the breastplate.

25 And the two ends of the two ropes thou shalt put on the two bezels, and shalt put them on the shoulders of the ephod next·​·to its faces.

26 And thou shalt make two rings of gold, and thou shalt set them upon the two ends of the breastplate, upon the lip thereof, which is across the ephod towards the inside.

27 And thou shalt make two rings of gold; and shalt put them on the two shoulders of the ephod from below, over against its faces, alongside its coupling, above the girding of the ephod.

28 And they shall attach the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a strand of blue, that it may be on the girding of the ephod, and that the breastplate not detach from on the ephod.

29 And Aaron shall carry the names of the sons of Israel in the breastplate of judgment upon his heart, when he goes in to the holiness, for a remembrance before Jehovah continually.

30 And thou shalt put into the breastplate of judgment the Urim* and the Thummim*; and they shall be on the heart of Aaron, when he comes·​·in before Jehovah; and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the sons of Israel on his heart before Jehovah continually.

31 And thou shalt make the mantle of the ephod all of blue.

32 And the mouth of its head shall be in its midst; a lip for its mouth shall be all around it, made by the weaver, as the mouth of a corslet* it shall be for it, that it not be ripped.

33 And on the skirts of it thou shalt make pomegranates of blue, and of crimson, and of scarlet twice-dyed, on the skirts of it all around; and bells of gold in the midst of them all around.

34 A bell of gold and a pomegranate, a bell of gold and a pomegranate, on the skirts of the mantle all around.

35 And it shall be upon Aaron to minister; and its voice shall be heard when he goes·​·in to the holy place before Jehovah, and when he goes out, that he die not.

36 And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and engrave upon it with the engravings of a signet, Holiness to Jehovah.

37 And thou shalt set it upon a strand of blue, and it shall be upon the miter; over against the faces of the miter it shall be.

38 And it shall be on the forehead of Aaron, and Aaron shall bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the sons of Israel shall sanctify according·​·to all the gifts of their holy things; and it shall be on his forehead continually, to make them well·​·pleasing before Jehovah.

39 And thou shalt weave· the tunic of fine·​·linen ·in·​·a·​·square·​·pattern, and thou shalt make a miter of fine·​·linen, and a belt thou shalt make with the work of the embroiderer.

40 And for the sons of Aaron thou shalt make tunics, and thou shalt make for them belts; and caps shalt thou make for them, for glory and for adornment.

41 And thou shalt put them on Aaron thy brother, and on his sons with him; and shalt anoint them, and fill their hand, and shalt sanctify them, and they shall be·​·priests to Me.

42 And thou shalt make for them breeches of linen to cover the flesh of nakedness; from the loins and even·​·to the thighs they shall be.

43 And they shall be upon Aaron, and upon his sons, when they come·​·in to the Tabernacle of the congregation, or when they approach the altar to minister in the holiness; lest they bear iniquity, and die; it is a statute of an age for him and for his seed after him.

   


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

Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

Arcana Coelestia # 3540

Prostudujte si tuto pasáž

  
/ 10837  
  

3540. 'And she put the skins of the kids of the she-goats' means the external truths clothing homeborn good. This is clear from the meaning of 'skins' as external things, dealt with below, and from the meaning of 'the kids of the she-goats', coming as they did from the flock bred within the homestead, as the truths which clothe homeborn good, dealt with in 3518, 3519, where it is also evident what homeborn good is and what truths from that source are. Any good whatever has its own truths, and any truths whatever have their own good. And they must be joined together - good to truths - if anything at all is to exist. The reason why 'skins' means external things is that the skin is the outer covering of an animal to which its exterior parts extend, even as the skin or the cuticles is such with a human being. The latter receives its spiritual meaning from what is representative in the next life, where there are people who belong to the province of the skin. These will in the Lord's Divine mercy be described at the ends of chapters below where the Grand Man will be presented as a separate subject. They are people in whom none but external good and the truths which go with this are present. This is why the skin, human or animal, means things that are external. The same is also evident from the Word, as in Jeremiah,

On account of the greatness of your iniquity your skirts have been uncovered, your heels have suffered violence. Can the Ethiopian change his skin and the leopard its spots? Also are you able to do good, having been taught to do evil? Jeremiah 13:22-23.

Here 'skirts' means external truths, 'heels' the lowest goods - 'the heel' and 'shoes' being the lowest natural things, see 259, 1748. And because those truths and goods, as it is said, spring from evil, they are compared to an 'Ethiopian', who was black, and his 'skin', and also to 'a leopard and its spots'.

[2] In Moses,

If you take your neighbour's clothing as a pledge you shall restore it to him before the sun goes down; for this is his only covering; it is his clothing for his skin, in which he will lie down. Exodus 22:26-27.

Inasmuch as all the laws contained in the Word, including civil and judicial ones, have a correspondence with laws in heaven concerning what is good and true, and from this correspondence came to be laid down, so it was with the law just quoted. For why else would it have ever been laid down that they were to restore clothing that had been pledged before the sun went down, and why else is it said that 'it is his clothing for his skin, in which he lies down'? The correspondence is evident from the internal sense, which is that people were not to cheat their neighbour of external truths, which are the matters of doctrine by which they conduct their lives, and also religious observances - 'clothing' meaning such truths, see 297, 1073, 2576, and 'the sun' the good of love or of life that ensues from those truths, 1529, 1530, 2441, 2495. The prevention of that good from perishing is meant by the statement about the restoration of the pledge before the sun went down. And since the things laid down in those laws are the external coverings of interior things, or the outermost aspects of these, the words 'his clothing for his skin in which he lies down' are used.

[3] Because 'skins' meant external things it was commanded that there should be for the tent a covering made of red ram skins and over that a covering of badger skins, Exodus 26:14. For the tent was representative of the three heavens, and so of the celestial and spiritual things of the Lord's kingdom. The curtains enveloping it represented natural things, which are external, 3478; and these are the ram skins and the badger skins. And since external things are those which cover internal, or natural things are those which cover spiritual and celestial, in the way that the body does the soul, that command was therefore given. It was for a like reason commanded that when the camp was on the move Aaron and his sons were to cover the ark of the testimony with the veil and were to place a badger-skin covering over it. And over the table and what was on it they were to spread a twice-dyed scarlet cloth and then cover that with a badger-skin covering. They were likewise required to place the lampstand and all its vessels under a covering made of badger skin - also all the vessels for ministering they were to place under a violet cloth, and then cover them with a badger-skin covering, Numbers 4:5-6, 8, 10-12. Anyone who thinks about the Word in a devout way may see that Divine things were represented by all these objects, such as the ark, the table, the lampstand, and the vessels for ministering, also the coverings of twice-dyed scarlet and of violet, as well as the coverings of badger skin, and that these objects represented Divine things contained within external ones.

[4] Because the prophets represented those who teach, and therefore represented teaching from the Word concerning what is good and true, 2534; and because Elijah represented the Word itself, 2762, as also did John, who for that reason is called the Elijah who is to come, Matthew 17:10-13; and in order that these might represent the nature of the Word in its external form, that is, in the letter,

Elijah wore a skin girdle around his loins. 2 Kings 1:8. And John had a garment of camel hair and a skin girdle around his waist. Matthew 3:4.

Because animal 'skin' and human 'skin' means external things, which in relation to spiritual and celestial are natural things, and because it was customary in the Ancient Church to speak and to write by means of meaningful signs, reference is also made to both types of skin, and with the same meaning, in Job, a book of the Ancient Church. This becomes clear from a number of places in that book, including the following,

I know my Redeemer; He is alive; and at the last He will rise above the dust; and afterwards these things will be encompassed by my skin, and out of my flesh shall I see God. Job 19:25-26.

'Encompassed by skin' stands for the natural as it exists with someone after he has died, dealt with in 3539. 'Out of one's flesh seeing God' is doing so from a proprium made alive. For the proprium is meant by 'flesh', see 148, 149, 780; and the Book of Job is a book of the Ancient Church, a fact which is evident, as has been stated, from its style which draws on representatives and meaningful signs. It is not however one of the books called the Law and the Prophets, the reason being that it has no internal sense in which the one subject is the Lord and His kingdom. For it is this alone that determines whether any book is a Book of the true Word.

  
/ 10837  
  

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