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Exodus 28

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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.

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Arcana Coelestia # 9961

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9961. 'From the loins even to the thighs they shall be' means the range of those things, that is to say, of those composing that more external level of conjugial love, meant by 'the linen undergarments'. This is clear from the meaning of 'the loins' and 'the thighs' as those things which constitute conjugial love, 'the loins' those that belong to the more internal levels of conjugial love, 'the thighs' those that belong to the more external levels, so that the range of that love from internal to external levels is meant. The reason why the more internal levels of that love are meant by 'the loins' is that these are above; and the reason why the more external levels are meant by 'the thighs' is that these are below. For parts of a person that are above mean things which are more internal, and parts that are below mean those which are more external; this is why in the Word more internal things are meant by higher ones, and more external by lower ones, see 3084, 4599, 5146, 8325. The higher parts of a person correspond to celestial and spiritual things, which are the more internal ones, and the lower parts correspond to natural things, which are the more external. This is why natural things are meant by 'the feet', 2162, 3147, 3986, 4382, 4938-4952. And since the lower part of the loins which leads down towards the feet is understood by 'the thighs' the more external or lower levels of conjugial love are meant by them, see 4277, 4280.

[2] The loins in general however mean conjugial love, 3021, 3294, 4575, 5050-5062; they have this meaning by virtue of their correspondence. Regarding the correspondence with heaven of everything present with a human being, see what has been shown abundantly in the places referred to in 9276(end), 9280. The words 'range of conjugial love from internal to external levels' are used because all aspects of love and all matters of faith, or what amounts to the same thing, all those of good and all those of truth, have a wide range in the heavens; for all who are there are joined together in accord with the degree of similarity between the truths of their faith and the forms of good of their love. A range such as this exists in each separate heaven. But the range in each heaven also extends into heavens that are below, because all the heavens make one. Indeed they extend right down to mankind, in order that mankind also may make one with the heavens. This range is what is meant by the range from higher or more internal levels to lower or more external ones. The higher or more internal levels are called celestial and spiritual, and the lower or more external ones are called natural or worldly.

[3] As regards conjugial love specifically, whose range is the subject here, this love is fundamental to all other kinds of love; it descends from the marriage of good and truth in the heavens. And since the marriage of good and truth exists in and makes the heavens, truly conjugial love constitutes heaven itself with a person. But the marriage of good and truth in the heavens descends from the joining of the Lord to the heavens; for what emanates from the Lord and flows into the heavens is the good of love, and what is received there by the angels is the truth springing from it, thus truth which originates in good or in which there is good. This is why in the Word the Lord is called bridegroom and husband, and heaven together with the Church is called bride and wife.

[4] All this makes clear how holy marriages are in heaven, and how profane adulterous relationships are there. For in themselves marriages are so holy that there is nothing holier, and are so for the added reason that they are the seed-bed of the human race, and the human race is the seed-bed of heaven, since all people who have led an angelic life in the world go there. On the other hand adulterous relationships are so profane that nothing is more profane, because they are destructive of heaven and the Church with a person. For the truth of all this, see what has been stated and shown in 2727-2759 regarding marriages and regarding adulterous situations.

[5] All this once again makes it clear why foul and hellish things are meant by the kinds of 'nakedness' dealt with in 9960 above, and why it was commanded so strictly that when they ministered Aaron and his sons should be wearing the undergarments covering the loins, and that if they did not they would die, for it says,

Make for them linen undergarments to cover their naked flesh; from the loins even to the thighs they shall be. And they shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they go into the tent of meeting or when they approach the altar to minister in the holy place, that they may not bear iniquity and die. It shall be the statute of an age 6 for him and his seed after him.

[6] It should be recognized therefore that by conjugial love all celestial and spiritual love is meant, because truly conjugial love, as has been shown above, is fundamental to all other kinds of love. People therefore in whom that fundamental love is present have all other loves belonging to heaven and the Church present in them; for as has been stated, it descends from the marriage of good and truth in the heavens, the marriage that makes heaven. This also explains why heaven is compared in the Word to a marriage, and is also actually called a marriage. From this too it is evident why precautions were taken to prevent the nakedness of Aaron or his sons from being visible while they ministered; for their nakedness served to mean all loves contrary to heavenly loves, which in general are called self-love and love of the world when they are the ends in view, and are foul and hellish loves. People at the present day have no knowledge that all this is so because they are steeped in these loves and take delight in nothing except that which arises from them. So it is that when spiritual love and celestial love are mentioned they are perplexed, not knowing what they may be, nor consequently what heaven may be; and perhaps they are astonished when they hear and consider that spiritual and celestial love separated from self-love and love of the world holds eternal happiness within it that is indescribable.

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