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Exodus 30

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1 And thou shalt make an altar for the burning· of incense ·as·​·incense; of shittim* wood shalt thou make it.

2 A cubit its length, and a cubit its breadth; foursquare shall it be; and two cubits its height; out of it shall be its horns.

3 And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, its roof and its walls round·​·about, and its horns; and thou shalt make for it a rim of gold all around.

4 And thou shalt make for it two rings of gold beneath its rim, upon its two ribs; upon its two ribs shalt thou make them; and it shall be for the housings for the poles, to carry it in them.

5 And thou shalt make the poles of shittim wood, and shalt overlay them with gold.

6 And thou shalt put it before the veil that is over the ark of the Testimony, before the place of atonement that is over the Testimony, whither I will meet·​·together with thee.

7 And Aaron shall burn·​·incense on it, fragrant incense in the morning by the morning; in his adorning the lamps* he shall burn· it ·for·​·incense.

8 And when Aaron causes the flame of the lamps to go·​·up* between the two·​·evenings*, he shall burn· it ·for·​·incense, a continual incense before Jehovah for your generations.

9 You shall not offer·​·up strange incense nor burnt·​·offering nor gift·​·offering upon it; and you shall not pour·​·out a poured·​·offering upon it.

10 And Aaron shall make·​·atonement upon the horns of it once in the year, from the blood of the sin offering of atonements; once in the year he shall make·​·atonement upon it to your generations; a holy of holies is this to Jehovah.

11 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

12 When thou shalt take·​·up the sum of the sons of Israel, as to those who are numbered of them, then they shall give, each·​·man, an atonement of his soul to Jehovah when numbering them, that there be not among them a plague striking when numbering them.

13 This they shall give, everyone that passes·​·by upon those who are numbered, half a shekel, in the shekel of holiness, a shekel of twenty gerahs, the half of a shekel an uplifting to Jehovah.

14 Everyone that passes·​·by upon those who are numbered, from a son of twenty years and upward, shall give an uplifting to Jehovah.

15 The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half of the shekel, to give the uplifting to Jehovah, to make·​·atonement on your souls.

16 And thou shalt take the silver of atonements from among the sons of Israel, and thou shalt give it for the service of the Tabernacle of the congregation; and it shall be to the sons of Israel for a memorial before Jehovah, to make·​·atonement upon your souls.

17 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

18 And thou shalt make a laver of bronze, and its base of bronze, for bathing; and thou shalt put it between the Tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and thou shalt put waters there.

19 And Aaron and his sons shall bathe from it their hands and their feet.

20 When they come into the Tabernacle of the congregation they shall bathe with waters, that they die not; or when they approach the altar to minister, to burn·​·for·​·incense a fire·​·offering to Jehovah.

21 And they shall bathe their hands and their feet, that they die not; and it shall be to them a statute of an age, to him and to his seed, to their generations.

22 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

23 And take thou for thee the foremost spices, the best myrrh* five hundred, and cinnamon spice the half of it, fifty and two·​·hundred, and calamus spice, fifty and two·​·hundred;

24 and cassia five hundred, in the shekel of holiness; and oil of olive a hin.

25 And thou shalt make it an oil of anointing of holiness, an ointment of ointment, made·​·by the ointment·​·maker; an oil of anointing of holiness it shall be.

26 And thou shalt anoint with it the Tabernacle of the congregation, and the ark of the Testimony;

27 and the table and all its vessels, and the lampstand and its vessels, and the altar of incense;

28 and the altar of burnt·​·offering and all its vessels, and the laver and its base.

29 And thou shalt sanctify them, and they shall be a holy of holies; whoever touches them shall be made·​·holy.

30 And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and shalt sanctify them, to be·​·priests to Me.

31 And thou shalt speak to the sons of Israel, saying, This shall be for Me an oil of anointing of holiness for your generations.

32 On the flesh of man shall it not be poured·​·out; and according to its fixed·​·measure you shall not make any like it; holy it is; holy shall it be to you.

33 The man who shall make·​·ointment like it, and who shall put of it on a stranger, even he shall be cut·​·off from his peoples.

34 And Jehovah said to Moses, Take for thee fragrances, a drop, and onycha, and galbanum, fragrances, and pure frankincense, so much in so much shall it be.

35 And thou shalt make it an incense, an ointment made·​·by the ointment·​·maker, salted, pure, holy.

36 And thou shalt pound some of it, making· it ·thin, and shalt put some of it before the Testimony in the Tabernacle of the congregation, whither I will meet·​·together with thee, a holy of holies shall it be to you.

37 And the incense which thou makest in its fixed·​·measure, you shall not make for yourselves; holy to Jehovah shall it be to thee.

38 The man who shall make like to it, to cause a smell with it, even he shall be cut·​·off from his peoples.

   


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

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Arcana Coelestia # 10254

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10254. 'And sweet-smelling cinnamon' means the perception of and affection for natural truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'sweet-smelling cinnamon' as the perception of and affection for natural truth, which is the interior truth of the external man. A person has life on a sensory level and life on a natural level. Both belong to the external man, but the life on the sensory level is exterior, deriving its truths from objects that exist on the planet and in the body, whereas the life on the natural level is interior, deriving its truths from the causes of which those objects are the effects. The life of the internal man is in like manner exterior and interior. The exterior derives its truths from those things that exist in the lowest parts of heaven, whereas the interior derives them from those things that exist in the interior parts of heaven. These truths within the internal man are meant by the fragrances which follow.

[2] The reason why 'sweet-smelling cinnamon' means the perception of and affection for truth is that 'a sweet smell' means a pleasing perception. A pleasing perception arises from the affection belonging to love, for if perception has any other origin it does not bring any pleasure.

All odours mean perception, see 3577, 4626, 4748.

Pleasing odours mean the perception of truth arising from good, 1514, 1517-1519, 4628, 10054, thus from the affection belonging to love.

The spheres belonging to perceptions are converted among spirits and angels into odours, 4626.

[3] In addition it should be recognized that all the sweet-smelling substances from which the anointing oil was prepared belong to the celestial group, that is, to things of the celestial kingdom, whereas the sweet-smelling substances from which the incense was made belong to the spiritual group, that is, to things of the spiritual kingdom. This also is why in the original language the term that is used to denote the spices from which the anointing oil was prepared is different and has a different root from the term used to denote the spices from which the incense was made. For in the Word there are particular terms which serve to express things of the celestial kingdom and particular terms that serve to express those of the spiritual kingdom; and there are others common to both. But to know which of these is which, one must recognize that heaven is divided into two kingdoms, as is the Church, and that the dominant essential in the celestial kingdom is the good of love to the Lord, whereas in the spiritual kingdom it is the good of charity towards the neighbour. How these differ from each other, see in the places referred to in 9277.

[4] The fact that the spice named here means the perception of and affection for celestial truth is clear in Isaiah,

Instead of spice 1 there will be rottenness, and instead of a girdle, a falling apart, and instead of well-set hair 2 , baldness. Isaiah 3:24.

This refers to the daughters of Zion, by whom the celestial Church is meant, at this point when it has been perverted. Therefore the word used for spice is the same as that in the present verse in Exodus. 'Instead of spice there will be rottenness' means that instead of the perception of and affection for truth springing from good, and of the life these bring with them, there will be a perception of and affection for falsity arising from evil, which holds no life at all within it.

[5] In Ezekiel,

The traders of Sheba and Raamah, traders with the best of every spice, and with [every] precious stone, and gold, ... Ezekiel 27:22.

These things were said in reference to Tyre, by which cognitions or knowledge of goodness and truth within the Church are meant, 'Sheba and Raamah' meaning those with whom cognitions of celestial things exist.

[6] The like is meant where the queen of Sheba is referred to in the first Book of Kings,

The queen of Sheba gave Solomon a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and a very large quantity of spices, and precious stones. No quantity of spices such as this came ever again. 1 Kings 10:10.

'Sheba' means primarily those with whom cognitions of celestial things exist, see 1171, 3240.

From all this it is evident that these spices from which the anointing oil was prepared mean the perception of and affection for truth such as exist with those who are in the Lord's celestial kingdom.

[7] The reason why the sweet-smelling substances used in the preparation of the anointing oil - which were myrrh of the highest quality, sweet-smelling cinnamon, sweet-smelling calamus, and cassia - belong to the celestial group, that is, to things of the Lord's celestial kingdom, is that the anointing oil was the sign of the Divine Good of Divine Love within the Lord, which in heaven is His Divine Celestial. For this meaning of 'the anointing oil', see 9954, 10019.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. i.e. the odour or perfume from it

2. literally, instead of the work of plaited [hair]

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