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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 # 4677

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4677. 'And he made him a tunic of various colours' means the resulting appearances of truth by which the spiritual of the natural is recognized and distinguished. This is clear from the meaning of 'a tunic' as the truth of the natural, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'various colours' as appearances of truth by which the spiritual of the natural is recognized and distinguished. No one can know that these things are meant by 'various colours' unless he knows that colours may be seen in the next life no less than in the world - colours which are far more beautiful and various - and unless he knows the origins of those colours. Colours seen in the next life are produced by the variegation of light there and are so to speak modifications of intelligence and wisdom, for the light which is seen there is a manifestation of Divine Truth received from the Lord, that is, it is the Divine Spiritual from Him, or what amounts to the same, is Divine Intelligence and Wisdom. These two are seen as light before the eyes of angels and spirits. From this one may see what is meant by the colours being products of that light, namely different kinds and so appearances of truth that are due to varying affections for good and truth. Regarding colours in the next life, see 1042, 1043, 1053, 1624, 3993, 4530.

[2] It has been stated already in 3301 that 'a tunic' means the truth of the natural, but as this meaning was not substantiated there from other places in the Word, let these be mentioned here. Because kings in the Jewish Church represented the Lord as regards the Divine Spiritual or Divine Truth, 2015, 2069, 3009, 3670, their daughters therefore wore tunics of various colours, for 'daughters' meant affections for good and truth, and so meant Churches, 2362, 3963. The following is said of them in the second Book of Samuel,

On Tamar, David's daughter, there was a tunic of various colours, for virgin daughters of the king wore such clothes. 2 Samuel 13:18.

[3] And because high priests represented the Lord as regards the Divine

Celestial or Divine Good, Aaron therefore wore vestments which represented Divine Truth that was derived from the Lord's Divine Good; for Divine Good exists within the Lord, whereas Divine Truth proceeds from Him. This was what those vestments represented. Something similar was represented when the Lord was transfigured before Peter, James, and John, in that Divine Good was seen as the sun, and Divine Truth was manifested by means of His garments which had the appearance of light, Matthew 17:2.

[4] Regarding the vestments worn by Aaron and his sons, the following is said in Moses,

You shall make for Aaron a tunic of fine linen, and a turban of fine linen; and you shall make a girdle, the work of an embroiderer. And you shall make tunics for Aaron's sons, and you shall make girdles for them, and you shall make head-coverings for them, for glory and adornment. Exodus 28:39-40.

Each article of clothing here meant something connected with Divine Truth derived from the Lord's Divine Good, 'a tunic of fine linen' meaning specifically the Divine Spiritual. The same applies elsewhere in the same author,

You shall take the vestments, and put the tunic on Aaron, and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastplate, and you shall clothe him with the girdle of the ephod. Then you shall cause his sons to come near, and you shall put them in tunics. Exodus 29:5, 8; 40:14.

What each article of clothing means here will in the Lord's Divine mercy be stated when those verses come up for consideration. 'Garments' in general are truths, see 297, 1073, 2576, 4545.

[5] Prophets too wore tunics, though theirs were made of hair. This was because prophets represented the Lord as regards truths of doctrine, and since truths belong to the natural or external man, their tunics were made of hair - 'hair' meaning the natural, see 3301.

[6] The fact that 'a tunic' means Divine Truth received from the Lord is evident further still from those places where a tunic is mentioned in the New Testament, as in John,

The soldiers took His garments and made four parts, a part for each soldier, and His tunic. But the tunic was without seam, woven from the top throughout. Therefore they said to one another, Let us not divide it - so that the Scripture might be fulfilled, saying They divided My garments for themselves, and for My tunic they cast lots. John 19:23-24.

Anyone reading this description supposes that it does not hold anything deeper within it than the facts that the garments were divided among the soldiers and that lots were cast for the tunic. But each detail described here represented and meant spiritually something Divine - that is to say, those two details about the garments being divided into four and about the tunic not being divided but having lots cast for it, and above all the detail about the tunic being without seam and woven from the top throughout. 'The tunic' meant the Lord's Divine Truth, which being singular - derived from Good - was represented by the tunic's being without seam and woven from the top throughout.

[7] Much the same was meant by Aaron's tunic which, as is evident in Moses, was woven or the work of a weaver,

They made tunics of fine linen, the work of a weaver, for Aaron and his sons Exodus 39:27.

Also represented by the tunic without seam was the fact that the Lord did not allow Divine Truth to be torn apart, as was done by the Jews to the lower truths of the Church.

[8] Because Divine Truth is singular - that is to say, it is derived solely from Divine Good - the twelve disciples were commanded, when they were being sent out to preach the gospel of the kingdom, not to have two tunics. This is recorded in Luke as follows,

Jesus sent the twelve disciples to preach the kingdom of God. And He said to them, Take nothing for the way, neither staves, nor bag, nor bread, nor silver, nor have two tunics each. Luke 9:2-3.

In Mark,

He charged them to take nothing for the way except a staff; not a bag, nor bread, nor bronze in the belt, but to wear sandals; and do not put on two tunics. Mark 6:8-9.

And in Matthew,

Do not possess gold, nor silver, nor bronze in your belts, nor bag for the way, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staves. Matthew 10:9-10.

[9] All the individual instructions given in these places are representative of the celestial and spiritual things of the Lord's kingdom which the disciples were sent to preach. The reason they were not to take gold, silver, bronze, bag, or bread with them was that those things meant different kinds of good and truth received from the Lord alone. 'Gold' means good, 113, 1551, 1552, while 'silver' means truth derived from that good, 1551, 2954; 'bronze' means natural good, 425, 1551, and 'bread' the good of love, which is heavenly good, 276, 680, 2165, 2177, 3478, 3735, 4211, 4217. 'Tunic' however and 'sandal' meant the truths with which they were to be endued, and 'staff the power of truth derived from good. For 'staff' means that power, see 4013, 4015; 'sandal' the lowest natural, 1748, here its truth; and 'tunic' interior natural truth. Now because these things had to be not twofold but singular, they were forbidden to have two staves, two pairs of sandals, or two tunics. These are the arcana contained in what the Lord commanded, but no one can possibly know about them except from the internal sense.

[10] All the detailed instructions spoken by the Lord were representative of Divine things, and consequently of the celestial and spiritual things of His kingdom. They were accordingly suited to the mental grasp of men and at the same time to the understanding of spirits and angels. Therefore the things spoken by the Lord pervaded the whole of heaven and continue to do so. From this it is also evident how valuable and important it is to know the internal sense of the Word. Without it anyone can use the Word to support whatever dogma he likes; and because this is seen to be so by those who are subject to evil, they therefore deride the Word and think it is anything but Divine.

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