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Exodus 39

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1 And from the blue, and the crimson, and the scarlet twice-dyed they made the garments of ministry, for ministering in what is holy; and they made the garments of holiness for Aaron; as Jehovah commanded Moses.

2 And he made the ephod of gold, of blue, and of crimson, and of scarlet twice-dyed, and of fine· twined ·linen.

3 And they spread·​·out the thin·​·plates of gold, and he clipped·​·off strands to work them in the midst of the blue, and in the midst of the crimson, and in the midst of the scarlet twice-dyed, and in the midst of the fine·​·linen, with the work of a thinker.

4 They made shoulders for it, coupled; on its two edges it was coupled.

5 And the girding of its ephod that was upon it, it was out of it, according to its making; of gold, of blue, and of crimson, and of scarlet twice-dyed, and fine· twined ·linen; as Jehovah commanded Moses.

6 And they made the onyx stones, surrounded with bezels* of gold, engraved with the engravings of a signet, on the names of the sons of Israel.

7 And he set them on the shoulders of the ephod, to be stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel; as Jehovah commanded Moses.

8 And he made the breastplate with the work of a thinker according to the work of the ephod; of gold, of blue, and of crimson, and of scarlet twice-dyed, and of fine· twined ·linen.

9 It was foursquare; doubled made they the breastplate; a span its length, and a span its breadth, doubled.

10 And they filled into it four rows of stones; a row, a ruby, a topaz, and a garnet, row one;

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

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

13 and the fourth row, a tarshish*, an onyx, and a jasper; they were surrounded with bezels of gold in their infillings.

14 And the stones were above the names of the sons of Israel, twelve, above their name, the engravings of a signet, each above his name, for the twelve tribes.

15 And they made upon the breastplate chains of the border, with rope work, of pure gold.

16 And they made two bezels of gold, and two rings of gold; and they put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate.

17 And they put the two ropes of gold on the two rings upon the ends of the breastplate.

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

19 And they made two rings of gold, and set them on the two ends of the breastplate, on its lip, which was across the ephod inside.

20 And they made two rings of gold, and put them on the two shoulders of the ephod below, next·​·to its faces, alongside the coupling, above the girding of the ephod.

21 And they attached the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a strand of blue, that it might be on the girding of the ephod, and that the breastplate not detach from on the ephod; as Jehovah commanded Moses.

22 And he made the mantle of the ephod as a work of the weaver, all of blue.

23 And the mouth of the mantle in its midst, as the mouth of a corslet, with a lip for its mouth round·​·about, that it should not be rent.

24 And they made on the skirts of the mantle pomegranates of blue, and of crimson, and of scarlet twice-dyed, intertwined.

25 And they made bells of pure gold, and they put the bells in the midst of the pomegranates on the skirts of the mantle all around, in the midst of the pomegranates;

26 a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, on the skirts of the mantle all around, to minister; as Jehovah commanded Moses.

27 And they made the tunics of fine·​·linen with the work of the weaver for Aaron, and for his sons.

28 And the miter of fine·​·linen, and the headdresses of turbans of fine·​·linen, and the linen breeches of fine· twined ·linen;

29 and the belt of fine· twined ·linen, and of blue, and of crimson, and of scarlet twice-dyed, with the work of an embroiderer; as Jehovah commanded Moses.

30 And they made the plate of the crown of holiness of pure gold, and they wrote upon it the writing, with the engravings of a signet, holiness to Jehovah.

31 And they put on it a strand of blue, to put it on the miter from above; as Jehovah commanded Moses.

32 And all the service of the Habitation of the Tabernacle of the congregation was completed, and the sons of Israel did according·​·to all that Jehovah commanded Moses, so they did.

33 And they brought the Habitation to Moses, the Tabernacle, and all its vessels, its clasps, its planks, its bars, and its pillars, and its bases;

34 and the covering of skins of red rams, and the covering of the skins of badgers, and the veil of the sheltering;

35 the ark of the Testimony, and its poles, and the place of atonement;

36 the table, all its vessels, and the bread of faces;

37 the pure* lampstand, its lamps, the lamps of the array, and all its vessels, and the oil for the light;

38 and the altar of gold, and the oil of anointing, and the fragrant incense, and the sheltering for the entrance of the Tabernacle;

39 the altar of bronze, and the grate of bronze which is for it, its poles, and all its vessels; the laver and its base;

40 the hangings of the court, its pillars, and its bases, and the sheltering for the gate of the court, its cords, and its pegs, and all the vessels of the service of the Habitation, for the Tabernacle of the congregation;

41 the garments of ministry for ministering in what is holy, the garments of holiness for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to be·​·priests.

42 According·​·to all that Jehovah commanded Moses, so did the sons of Israel all the service.

43 And Moses saw all the work*, and behold they had done it as Jehovah commanded, so they had done; and Moses blessed them.

   


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

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Arcana Coelestia # 3862

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3862. In 3858 above it was shown that 'the twelve tribes' meant all things forming part of truth and good, or of faith and love. In this present paragraph, now that the sons of Jacob individually after whom the tribes were named are the subject, a second arcanum is to be brought to light, namely the meaning which each son carries. In heaven all celestial and spiritual warmth, or love and charity, is in its external form felt as the glow from the sun, and in heaven all celestial and spiritual light, or faith, is in its external form seen as the light from the sun. Also that celestial and spiritual warmth holds wisdom within itself, and the light from that source holds intelligence, and they do so because they flow from the Lord, who is the Sun of heaven, see 1053, 1521-1533, 1619-1632, 2441, 2495, 2776, 3138, 3167, 3190, 3195, 3222, 3223, 3338, 3339, 3341, 3413, 3485, 3636, 3643.

These paragraphs show that all good is a product of the warmth which flows from the Lord as the Sun, and that all truth is a product of the light from that source. They also show that all affections which go with love or good are variations of that celestial and spiritual warmth flowing from the Lord, and that this is the origin of changes of state. They show too that all thoughts which go with truth or faith are variations of that celestial and spiritual light which flows from the Lord, and that this is the origin of intelligence. All angels in heaven are bathed in that warmth and light. Their affections and thoughts have no other source, nor are they anything else. This is evident from the different forms of communication employed by the angels, in that because those forms of communication have their origin in heavenly warmth and light, they consist of variations and modifications of heavenly light containing heavenly warmth, and are therefore indescribable and so varying and complete as to be quite beyond one's comprehension, 3342, 3344, 3345.

[2] So that these things might be manifested in a representative way in the world names were given to each of the sons of Jacob which meant the universal divisions of good and truth, or of love and faith, and so the universal manifestations of variation in celestial and spiritual warmth and of variation in light from that source. What determines the intensity of the flame and the brightness from it is the actual order of those universal manifestations. When love comes first in such order, everything which follows within genuine order from that love is flaming, but when faith comes first everything which follows within genuine order is full of light, yet with all the differences that the things which follow entail. If however they do not follow according to genuine order everything is obscure, and in ever differing ways. But this order and resulting differences will in the Lord's Divine mercy be discussed later on. This then is how the Lord gave answers by means of the Urim and Thummim and how according to the state of the actual thing in question they received answers by means of lights and their flashes from the precious and transparent stones on which the names of the twelve tribes had been inscribed. For as has been stated, inscribed on the names were the universal divisions of love and faith which exist in the Lord's kingdom and so the universal manifestations of flame and light by which those divisions of love and faith are represented in heaven.

[3] First therefore let evidence from the Word be presented to confirm that the order of the names in which the tribes are mentioned varies in the Word, and that each variation of their order is determined by the particular state of the subject under discussion there. And from such evidence one may see that the answers from the Lord given by means of the Urim and Thummim were radiations of light determined by the particular states of the thing - such variations being due to the order of all that was involved. For the entire light of heaven is made to vary by the different states which that thing passes through, and those states are made to vary by the order in which good and truth come. But which aspect of truth or good is meant by each name will be evident from the explanation that is being given. That is to say, Reuben means faith from the Lord; Simeon faith possessed by the will which is received from the Lord; Levi spiritual love, which is charity; Judah the Divinity of love, and the Lord's heavenly kingdom. What the other eight mean will be stated in the next chapter. Described here is the order in which they were born, which was as follows: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, Benjamin - see verses 32-35 of the present chapter, and then Genesis 30:6, 8, 11, 13, 18, 20, 24; 35:18. This order is determined by the state of the subject that is being dealt with at this point, which is that of the regeneration of man, for this starts with the truth of faith, meant by 'Reuben', progresses from this towards the willing of truth, meant by 'Simeon', and from this to charity, meant by 'Levi', and so on to the Lord, who is meant in the highest sense by 'Judah'. The progression of spiritual conception and birth, or regeneration, from what is external to what is internal has been stated immediately above in 3860; that is, the progression is from the truth of faith to the good of love.

[4] Before Jacob came to Isaac his father in Mamre, or Kiriath Arba, his sons are mentioned in Genesis 35:23-26 in the following order: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher. In this case those by Leah and Rachel come first, and those by the servant-girls last, this being determined by the state of the subject dealt with at that point. They are listed in yet another order when they travelled and came into Egypt, in Genesis 46:9-19; in another when before his death they were blessed by Jacob, who by then was Israel, in Genesis 49:3-27; and in another again when blessed by Moses, in Deuteronomy 33:6-24. And when they encamped around the Tent of Meeting they did so in the following order: To the east Judah, Issachar, Zebulun; to the south Reuben, Simeon, Gad; to the west Ephraim, Manasseh, Benjamin; to the north Dan, Asher, Naphtali, Numbers 2:1-end. In what order they stood on Mount Gerizim to bless the people, or on Mount Ebal to curse them, see Deuteronomy 27:12-13. When the princes chosen from each tribe were sent to spy out the land they are listed in Numbers 13:4-16 in the following order: Reuben, Simeon, Judah, Issachar, Ephraim, Benjamin, Zebulun, Joseph or Manasseh, Dan, Asher, Naphtali, Gad. But there is a different order to the princes who were to divide the land for inheritance, Numbers 34:19-29. In what order the lot fell when it was cast, at the time that the land was divided for inheritance, see Chapters 13 - 19 of Joshua.

[5] When the boundaries of the new or holy land which the tribes were to inherit are referred to in Ezekiel the tribes are mentioned in the following order: Dan, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Ephraim, Reuben, Judah, Benjamin, Simeon, Issachar, Zebulun, Gad. All are described from the corner pointing east to the corner pointing to the sea or west, except Gad which was situated at the south corner pointing towards the south, Ezekiel 48:1-7, 23-26. And where the gates of the new or holy city are referred to they are mentioned in the following order: Facing north the three gates of Reuben, Judah, and Levi; facing east the three gates of Joseph, Benjamin, and Dan; facing south the three gates of Simeon, Issachar, and Zebulun; facing west the three gates of Gad, Asher, and Naphtali, Ezekiel 48:31-34. For the order of those sealed, twelve thousand from each tribe, see Revelation 7:5-8. In all these places the listing of the tribes depends completely on the state of the subject dealt with, to which the order corresponds. That particular state is evident from what comes before and after.

[6] The order of the precious stones in the Urim and Thummim is mentioned and described in the Word, but which tribes individual stones corresponded to is not mentioned. For those stones represented all things belonging to the light shed by heavenly flame, that is, all aspects of truth originating in good, or of faith originating in charity. And because they represented these things heavenly light itself shone through them in a miraculous way in accordance with the state of the subject concerning which a question was asked and an answer was given. Flashing and bright light stood for a positive answer concerning good and truth, which light was accompanied by variations of the stones' colours according with the differences of the state of good and truth, as in heaven where all celestial and spiritual things are expressed by means of lights and their differences, and in a way beyond description and completely incomprehensible to man. For as has been shown frequently, heavenly light includes life from the Lord, and so includes wisdom and intelligence. Consequently the differences in light include everything that constitutes the life, that is, everything that constitutes wisdom and intelligence, while the differences in flaming, flashing, and shining include everything that constitutes the life of good and the life of truth received from good, that is, of love to the Lord and of faith derived from that love. Such then were the Urim and Thummim which were on the breastplate of the ephod and were over Aaron's heart. The nature of them is also evident from the fact that the terms Urim and Thummim mean lights and perfections, and that the breastplate in which they were set is called the breastplate of judgement, because judgement consists in intelligence and wisdom, 2235. The reason it was worn over Aaron's heart was that 'the heart' means Divine love, see 3635 and the section at the end of the present chapter. For this reason also those precious stones were placed in settings of gold, for 'gold' in the internal sense means good which is an attribute of love, 113, 1551, 1552, and 'precious stone' truth which shines through from good, 114.

[7] The Urim and Thummim are spoken of in Moses as follows,

You shall make the breastplate of judgement, the work of designing, like the work of the ephod you shall make it; out of gold, violet, and purple, and twice-dyed scarlet, and of fine-twined linen you shall make it. It shall be square when doubled. And you shall set within it stone-settings, four rows of stones shall there be. There shall be sockets of gold in their settings. And the stones shall be according to the names of the sons of Israel, twelve according to their names. The engravings of a signet, each one according to its name, there shall be for the twelve tribes. Exodus 28:15-21; 39:8-14.

Which stones had to be set in each row is also specified in those chapters. And further,

The breastplate shall not come away from the ephod. And Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel on the breastplate of judgement over his heart when he goes into the holy place, for a remembrance before Jehovah continually. And you shall put into the breastplate of judgement the Urim and Thummim, and they shall be over Aaron's heart when he goes in before Jehovah. And Aaron shall bear the judgement of the sons of Israel over his heart before Jehovah continually. Exodus 28:28-30; Leviticus 8:7-8.

The fact that Jehovah or the Lord was inquired of and gave answers by means of the Urim is seen in Moses,

Jehovah said to Moses, Take Joshua the son of Nun. You shall place some of your glory on him, so that all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient. He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, and he shall inquire for him in the judgement of the Urim before Jehovah. Numbers 27:18, 20-21.

And in Samuel,

Saul inquired of Jehovah, but Jehovah did not answer him by dreams, or by the Urim, or by prophets. 1 Samuel 28:6.

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