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Exodus 29

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1 And this is the word that thou shalt do to them, to sanctify them, to be·​·priests to Me. Take one bullock, a son of the herd, and two perfect rams;

2 and bread of what is unleavened, and cakes of what is unleavened mixed with oil, and wafers of what is unleavened anointed with oil; of the flour of wheat shalt thou make them.

3 And thou shalt put them on one basket, and offer them in the basket, and the bullock and the two rams.

4 And Aaron and his sons thou shalt cause to come·​·near to the entrance of the Tabernacle of the congregation, and thou shalt bathe them with waters.

5 And thou shalt take the garments, and shalt clothe Aaron with the tunic, and the mantle of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastplate, and gird him with the girding of the ephod.

6 And thou shalt set the miter on his head, and put the crown of holiness on the miter.

7 And thou shalt take the oil of anointing, and pour it upon his head, and anoint him.

8 And thou shalt cause his sons to come·​·near, and clothe them with tunics.

9 And thou shalt gird them with a belt, Aaron and his sons, and shalt bind the caps upon them, and the priesthood shall be to them for a statute of an age; and thou shalt fill the hand of Aaron and the hand of his sons.

10 And thou shalt offer the bullock before the Tabernacle of the congregation; and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands upon the head of the bullock.

11 And thou shalt slaughter the bullock before Jehovah, at the entrance of the Tabernacle of the congregation.

12 And thou shalt take from the blood of the bullock, and shalt put it on the horns of the altar with thy finger; and all the blood thou shalt spill at the foundation of the altar.

13 And thou shalt take all the fat that covers the inwards, and the caul on the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and shalt burn· them ·for·​·incense on the altar.

14 And the flesh of the bullock, and its skin, and its dung, shalt thou burn·​·up with fire outside the camp; this is a sin offering.

15 And thou shalt take one ram; and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram.

16 And thou shalt slaughter the ram, and thou shalt take its blood, and sprinkle it on the altar all around.

17 And thou shalt section the ram into its sections, and shalt bathe its intestines, and its legs, and put them upon its sections, and upon its head.

18 And thou shalt burn·​·incense with all the ram upon the altar; this is a burnt·​·offering to Jehovah, a restful smell, it is a fire·​·offering to Jehovah.

19 And thou shalt take the second ram; and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram.

20 And thou shalt slaughter the ram, and shalt take from its blood, and shalt put it upon the lobe of the ear of Aaron, and upon the lobe of the right ear of his sons, and on the thumb of their right hand, and on the big·​·toe of their right foot, and thou shalt sprinkle the blood on the altar all around.

21 And thou shalt take of the blood that is on the altar, and of the oil of anointing, and shalt spatter it upon Aaron, and on his garments, and on his sons, and on the garments of his sons with him; and he shall be·​·holy, and his garments, and his sons, and the garments of his sons with him.

22 And thou shalt take from the ram the fat, and the tail, and the fat covering the inwards, and the caul of the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and the right hind·​·quarter, for it is a ram of infillings;

23 and one loaf of bread, and one cake of bread with oil, and one wafer, from the basket of unleavened things that is before Jehovah

24 and thou shalt set all of it on the palms of Aaron, and upon the palms of his sons; and shalt wave them a wave offering before Jehovah.

25 And thou shalt take them from their hand, and shalt burn· them ·for·​·incense on the altar on the burnt·​·offering, for a restful smell before Jehovah; a fire·​·offering is this to Jehovah.

26 And thou shalt take the chest portion from the ram of infillings, which is for Aaron, and shalt wave it a wave·​·offering before Jehovah; and it shall be for thee for a portion.

27 And thou shalt sanctify the chest portion of the waving, and the hind·​·quarter of the uplifting, which is waved, and which is uplifted, from the ram of infillings, from that which is for Aaron, and from that which is for his sons;

28 and it shall be to Aaron and his sons for a statute of an age from among the sons of Israel; for it is an uplifting; and it shall be an uplifting from among the sons of Israel of their peace sacrifices, their uplifting to Jehovah.

29 And the garments of holiness which are for Aaron shall be for his sons after him, for anointing in them, and for filling their hand in them.

30 The one from among his sons who becomes the priest instead of him shall clothe himself with them seven days; then he shall come into the Tabernacle of the congregation to minister in the holy place.

31 And thou shalt take the ram of infillings, and cook its flesh in a holy place.

32 And Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram, and the bread that is in the basket, at the entrance of the Tabernacle of the congregation.

33 And they shall eat those things with which atonement· was ·made, to·​·fill their hand, to sanctify them; and a stranger shall not eat of them, for they are holy.

34 And if anything from the flesh of infillings and from the bread remain until the morning, then thou shalt burn·​·up the remainder with fire; it shall not be eaten, for it is holy.

35 And thus shalt thou do to Aaron and to his sons, according·​·to all that I have commanded thee; seven days shalt thou fill their hand.

36 And a bullock of a sin offering thou shalt make for the day on the atonements; and thou shalt purge· it ·from·​·sin on the altar when thou makest·​·atonement on it; and thou shalt anoint it, to sanctify it.

37 Seven days thou shalt make·​·atonement on the altar, and shalt sanctify it, and the altar shall be a holy of holies; all who touch the altar shall be sanctified.

38 And this is what thou shalt make upon the altar: two lambs, sons of a year, for the day, continually.

39 The one lamb thou shalt make in the morning; and the second lamb thou shalt make between the two·​·evenings*;

40 and a tenth of flour mixed with beaten oil, a fourth of the hin, and a poured·​·offering of a fourth of the hin of wine for the one lamb.

41 And the second lamb thou shalt make between the two·​·evenings; as the gift·​·offering of the morning, and as its poured·​·offering, thou shalt do for it, for a restful smell, a fire·​·offering to Jehovah;

42 a continual burnt·​·offering for your generations at the entrance of the Tabernacle of the congregation before Jehovah; where I will meet·​·together with you, to speak to thee there.

43 And there I will meet·​·together with the sons of Israel, and it shall be sanctified in My glory.

44 And I will sanctify the Tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar; and Aaron and his sons I will sanctify to be·​·priests for Me.

45 And I will abide in the midst of the sons of Israel, and will be to them for God.

46 And they shall know that I am Jehovah their God, who brought· them ·out of the land of Egypt, that I may reside in the midst of them; I am Jehovah their God.

   


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

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Arcana Coelestia # 10122

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10122. 'And a young bull of sin [offering] you shall offer daily at propitiations' means the continuous removal of evils and consequently of falsities in the natural man by means of the good of innocence from the Lord. This is clear from the meaning of 'a young bull' as the good of innocence in the natural man, dealt with in 9391, 9990; from the meaning of 'sin' as purification from evils and consequently falsities (by 'sin' a sacrifice for sin should be understood, 10039, and 'a sin sacrifice' means purification from evils and falsities, 9938, 9990, 10022, 10053), the reason for saying 'the removal' of evils and consequently of falsities being that the evils and falsities with a person are not cast out, only removed or moved back, see the places referred to in 10057; from the meaning of 'daily' or each day as continuously; and from the meaning of 'propitiations' as reception of the good of love and truth of faith from the Lord after the removal of evils and consequently of falsities, dealt with in 9506.

[2] The words 'removal of evils and consequently of falsities' are used because all falsities exist as a result of evil; therefore to the extent that evil is removed falsities are removed. The situation is that all things in heaven have connection with good and consequently with truth, and all things in hell with evil and consequently with falsity. The same is so in people. All the things with a person that come from heaven have connection with good and truth, and all those that come from hell have connection with evil and falsity. Or what amounts to the same thing, all things with a person which originate in the Lord have connection with good and truth, but all that originate in the person himself have connection with evil and falsity. Since good and truth or falsity and evil are what everything throughout creation has connection with, and the human being is the place where they are received, a person has two mental powers to receive them. One is called the will and the other the understanding, the will being what receives good or evil, and the understanding what receives truth or falsity. The will formed by the Lord, also called the new will, receives good, while the understanding formed by the Lord, also called the new understanding, receives truth. But the will properly a person's own, also called the old will, receives evil, and the understanding properly a person's own, also called the old understanding, receives falsity. A person possesses the old will and understanding through being born from his parents, but he comes to have the new will and understanding through being born from the Lord, which happens when he is being regenerated. For when being regenerated a person is conceived anew and is born anew.

[3] The human being has been created in such a way that will and understanding may make one, so that these two together may constitute a whole person. For a person has been given an understanding to comprehend truth, yet to the end that truth may be implanted in his will and become good. And to the extent that it is integrated into the will it has a place in that person; for the will is the inmost part of a person and is the inner being of his life, whereas the understanding is more external and derives its being from the will. For what a person wills he loves, and what he loves gives him a feeling of delight and is therefore called good by him. The understanding lends support to and strengthens it by means of reasons which it calls truths. So it is that will and understanding in reality make one. The situation may indeed seem to be other than this, as when a person understands the truth and yet wills what is evil; even so, when he is left alone to think for himself, what he understands is in full agreement with what he wills, that is, what he loves.

[4] The fact that a person who wills what is evil can nevertheless speak what is true and also do what is good is due to hypocrisy, which uses truth and good as means to its own ends. If those means are taken away from such a person and he is left in freedom, he plunges, under the influence of his unrestrained will, into evils, and uses his power of understanding to defend them. This is above all evident from the same kind of people in the next life. There everyone comes into a state [of life] akin to that of his will, and then people in whom a new will has not been formed by the Lord plunge into evils of every kind and think such things as endorse evils, even though what they had spoken and what they had done in the world had been completely different from this. For it is a law of Divine order that will and understanding should form a mind at unity, thus a person at unity, consequently that the entire person should be either in heaven or in hell and not hanging between the two, that is, with his eye looking towards the things of heaven and his heart set on those of hell. By heart is meant the will, and by eye the understanding.

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

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Arcana Coelestia # 9809

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9809. 'So that they may serve Me in the priestly office' means that which is representative of the Lord. This is clear from the representation of 'the priestly office' in the highest sense as all the service performed by the Lord as the Saviour. And the moving force behind whatever He does as the Saviour is Divine Love, thus Divine Good since all good is an aspect of love. So it is also that in the highest sense 'the priestly office' means the Divine Good of the Lord's Divine Love. There is Divine Good and there is Divine Truth. Divine Good exists within the Lord, and so is His Essential Being (Esse), which in the Word is called Jehovah. But Divine Truth is an emanation from the Lord, and so is the Coming-into-being (Existere) from that Essential Being; this is meant in the Word by God. And since that which is the Coming-into-being from Himself is nonetheless Himself, the Lord is also Divine Truth, which is what is Divine and His in the heavens. For the heavens are a coming-into-being from Him, because the angels there are recipients of what is Divine and His, celestial angels being recipients of the Divine Good which emanates from Him, but spiritual angels recipients of the Divine Truth springing from that Good. All this helps to make clear what it was belonging to the Lord that was represented by the priestly office, and what it was belonging to the Lord that was represented by the royal office, namely the Divine Good of His Divine Love by the priestly office, and the Divine Truth springing from that Good by the royal office.

[2] The truth that the priestly office represented the Divine Good of the Lord's Divine Love, thus all the service performed by the Lord as the Saviour, is clear from the following declarations in the Word: In David,

Jehovah said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies as Your footstool. Jehovah will send the rod of strength from Zion; have dominion in the midst of Your enemies. Your people will be prompt to offer themselves on the day of Your power, in the beauty of holiness. From the womb of the dawn You have the dew of Your birth. Jehovah has sworn and will not repent, You are a priest for ever, after the manner 1 of Melchizedek. The Lord is on Your right hand; He struck kings on the day of His anger. He has judged among the nations, He has filled [the places] with dead bodies, He has stricken [one who was] head over much land. He will drink from the stream by the way; therefore he will lift up his head. Psalms 110:1-7.

These declarations show what the Lord as a priest, consequently what the priestly office within the Lord represented, namely the whole work of saving the human race. For the subject in this Psalm is the Lord's conflicts with the hells when He was in the world. Through those conflicts He acquired for Himself a power over the hells that was almighty and Divine, by means of which He saved the human race and also today saves all who accept Him. This very salvation, because the Divine Good of Divine Love is the moving force behind the accomplishment of it, is the reason why it says in reference to the Lord, 'You are a priest for ever, after the manner of Melchizedek'. The name Melchizedek means King of Righteousness, which the Lord was called because He had become [the One in whom there was] righteousness and consequently salvation, as accords with what has been shown in 9715.

[3] But since the declarations in this Psalm each contain arcana which have to do with the Lord's conflicts when He was in the world, and those arcana cannot be revealed without the internal sense, let a brief explanation of them be supplied. Jehovah said to my Lord means that the subject is the Lord when He was in the world. 'Lord' here is used to mean the Lord's Divine Human, as is clear in Matthew 22:43-45; Mark 12:36; Luke 20:42-44. Sit at My right hand means the almighty power of Divine Good, exercised through Divine Truth, the Lord being Divine Truth at that time, and Divine Truth being that with which He entered into and won the battle. For the meaning of 'sitting at the right hand' as a state of power, and in reference to the Divine as almighty power, see 3387, 4592, 4933, 6948, 7518, 7673, 8281, 9133; and the fact that all the power which good possesses is exercised through truth, 6344, 6423, 8304, 9327, 9410, 9639, 9643.

[4] Till I make Your enemies as Your footstool means until the time when the evils which exist in and spring from the hells have been subdued and made subject to His Divine power. Jehovah will send the rod of strength from Zion means the power at that time received from celestial good, 'Zion' meaning this good, see 2362, 9055. Have dominion in the midst of Your enemies means that this good has dominion over evils. Evils are enemies because they are contrary to what is Divine, especially to the Lord. Your people will be prompt to offer themselves on the day of Your power means the Divine Truths engaging in conflict then. In the beauty of holiness means which spring from Divine Good. From the womb of the dawn You have the dew of Your birth means conception from Divine Good itself, from which He had Divine Truth. Jehovah has sworn and will not repent means what is sure and certain.

[5] You are a priest for ever means the Divine Good of Divine Love within Him. After the manner of Melchizedek means that His Divine Human is of a like nature. The name Melchizedek means King of Righteousness, thus Jehovah who has become Righteousness through conflicts and victories, 9715. The Lord is on Your right hand means Divine Truth from Him at that time, through which almighty power is exercised, as above. He struck kings on the day of His anger means the destruction of falsities then, 'the day of anger' being the time when He fought against evils and destroyed them. 'Kings' are truths and in the contrary sense falsities, 2015, 2069, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068, 6148. He has judged among the nations means the dispersion of evils; for 'nations' are forms of good and in the contrary sense evils, 1259, 1260, 1849, 6005. He has filled [the places] with dead bodies means the resulting spiritual death, which is a total deprivation of truth and good. He has stricken [one who was] head over much land means casting hellish self-love down into the hells, and the damnation of that love. He will drink from the stream by the way; therefore he will lift up his head means the endeavour to rise up from there by means of reasonings about truths. This is the meaning which those in heaven perceive within these words when that Psalm is read by someone in the world.

[6] Since the priestly office was representative of the Lord's whole work of salvation which was motivated by Divine Love, the performance of all the worship of God furthermore belonged to the office of the priest. Acts of worship at that time consisted first and foremost in offering burnt offerings, sacrifices, and minchahs, in setting the loaves on the table of the Presence, in keeping the lamps alight day by day, and in offering incense, and consequently in expiating or making atonement for the people and forgiving sins. In addition to all this their office consisted, when they were at the same time prophets, in explaining God's law and in teaching. The fact that all these duties were performed by Aaron and his sons is clear from the description in Moses of the establishment of the priesthood; and all those duties, it is self-evident, were representative of the Lord's acts of salvation. All this also explains why the portions of the sacrifices and minchahs that were Jehovah's, that is, the Lord's, were given to Aaron, likewise various kinds of first fruits as well as tithes, see Exodus 29:1-36; Leviticus 7:35-36; 23:15-22; 27:21; Numbers 5:6-11; 18:8-20, 25-end; Deuteronomy 18:1-4. The firstborn were also given; but in place of all the firstborn of human beings stood the Levites, who were given as a gift to Aaron, see Numbers 1:47; 3:9, because they were Jehovah's, Numbers 3:12-13, 40-45.

[7] Because the Lord as regards His whole work of salvation was represented by the high priest, and the actual work of salvation by his office, which is called the priestly office, no inheritance and portion among the people was given to Aaron and his sons; for it says that Jehovah God is their inheritance and portion, Numbers 18:20. Nor was any given to the Levites, because they belonged to Aaron, Numbers 26:58-63; Deuteronomy 10:9; 18:1-2. For the people represented heaven and the Church; but Aaron and his sons, and the Levites, represented the good of love and faith, which composes heaven and the Church, and so represented the Lord, who is the source of that good. Therefore He gave over the land to the people as an inheritance, but not to the priests, for the Lord is present in people, but not among them as an individual person.

[8] Something similar is implied by the following words in Isaiah,

You will be called the priests of Jehovah, you will be spoken of as the ministers of our God. You will eat the wealth of the gentiles, and in their glory you will glory. Isaiah 61:6.

'Eating the wealth of the gentiles' stands for making forms of good one's own, 'glorying in their glory' for having the benefit of truths, and so for the joy and happiness which those forms of good and truths give. As regards the meaning of 'the gentiles' or 'the nations' as forms of good, see 1259, 1260, 4574, 6005; and as regards that of 'glory' as truth from the Divine, 9429.

[9] Various places in the Word mention 'kings and priests', also 'kings, princes, priests, and prophets' in a series. But in these places truths in their entirety are meant in the internal sense by 'kings', and leading truths by 'princes'; forms of good in their entirety are meant by 'priests', and doctrinal teachings by 'prophets', as in the Book of Revelation,

Jesus Christ has made us kings and priests. Revelation 1:6; 5:10.

In Jeremiah,

The house of Israel is ashamed, they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets. Jeremiah 2:26.

In the same prophet,

On that day the heart of the king and the heart of the princes will perish, and the priests will be dumbfounded and the prophets left wondering. Jeremiah 4:9.

In the same prophet,

At that time they will bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of its princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets. Jeremiah 8:1.

In the abstract sense, separate from actual persons, truths in their entirety are meant by 'kings', see 1672, 2015, 2069, 4581, 4966, 5044, 6148; leading truths by 'princes', 1482, 2089, 5044; forms of good by 'priests', 1728, 2015 (end), 3670, 6148; and doctrinal teachings derived from and concerning all these by 'prophets', 2534, 7269. The Lord's kingship furthermore is meant by His name Christ, Anointed One, or Messiah, and His priesthood by the name Jesus; for Jesus means Saviour or Salvation, regarding which the following is stated in Matthew,

The angel appearing to Joseph in a dream said to him, You shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. Matthew 1:21.

Since this 2 belonged to the priestly office the high priest's duty of expiating or making atonement for people's sins had the same representation, Leviticus 4:26, 31, 35; 5:6, 10, 13, 16, 18; 6:7; 9:7; 15:15, 30.

[10] Since evil cannot possibly be combined with good, because each repels the other, various kinds of acts of purification were ordained for Aaron and his sons whenever they served in the priestly office, whether at the altar or in the tent of meeting. It was also ordained for example that the high priest should not marry anyone other than a virgin; he was not allowed to marry a widow, divorced woman, or prostitute, Leviticus 21:13-15. If any of Aaron's sons who were unclean had eaten from the holy offerings they should be cut off, Leviticus 22:2-9. None of Aaron's seed who had a defect should offer bread, Leviticus 21:17-21. The high priest should not use a razor on his head, nor tear his clothes, nor defile himself with any dead body, not even for his father or mother, nor go out of the sanctuary, Leviticus 21:10-12. These and many other laws, as has been stated, were laid down because the high priest represented the Lord and His Divine Goodness, and the nature of good is such that no evil can be combined with it. For good recoils from evil, and evil has a horror of good, as hell has of heaven; therefore it is impossible for them to be joined to each other.

[11] As regards truth however, its nature is such that it can be combined with falsity, but not falsity that has evil in it, only that which has good in it. That is, it can be combined with the kind of good that exists with very young children or older boys and girls who are still at the age of innocence, or with upright gentiles who are uninformed; and it can be combined with the kind of good that exists with all who are confined to the literal sense of the Word and to teachings derived from it and yet have the good of life as their end in view. For this good, if it is the end in view, dispels from falsity all inclination towards evil, and uses it in such a way that it makes it look to outward appearance like truth.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. The Latin means according to My word but the Hebrew means after the manner of, which Swedenborg has in some other places where he quotes this verse.

2. i.e. the work of salvation

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