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Leviticus 10

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1 And the sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, took each·​·man his censer, and put fire in it, and set incense thereon, and offered strange fire before Jehovah, which He commanded them not.

2 And there went·​·out fire from Jehovah, and devoured them, and they died before Jehovah.

3 And Moses said to Aaron, This is what Jehovah spoke, saying, I will be sanctified in those who are near Me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron kept·​·still.

4 And Moses called to Mishael and to Elizaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said to them, Come·​·near, carry your brothers from before the sanctuary to outside the camp.

5 And they went·​·near, and carried them in their tunics to outside the camp; as Moses had spoken.

6 And Moses said to Aaron, and to Eleazar and to Ithamar, his sons, Expose not your heads, neither unstitch your garments, lest you die, and He be·​·enraged against all the congregation; but let your brothers, all the house of Israel, weep for the burning·​·up which Jehovah has burned·​·up.

7 And you shall not go·​·out from the entrance of the Tabernacle of the congregation, lest you die; for the anointing oil of Jehovah is upon you. And they did according·​·to the word of Moses.

8 And Jehovah spoke to Aaron, saying,

9 Do not drink wine nor strong·​·drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when you come into the Tabernacle of the congregation, lest you die; it shall be an eternal statute throughout your generations:

10 and that you may distinguish between the holy and the profane, and between the unclean and the clean;

11 and that you may instruct the sons of Israel in all the statutes which Jehovah has spoken to them by the hand of Moses.

12 And Moses spoke to Aaron, and to Eleazar and to Ithamar, his remaining sons, Take the remaining gift·​·offering of the fire·​·offerings of Jehovah, and eat it unleavened beside the altar; for it is a holy of holies:

13 and you shall eat it in the holy place, for it is thy statute, and the statute of thy sons, of the fire·​·offerings of Jehovah; for so I am commanded.

14 And the chest portion of the waving and the hind·​·quarter of the uplifting you shall eat in a clean place; thou, and thy sons, and thy daughters with thee; for they be thy statute, and a statute of thy sons, which are given from the sacrifices of peace·​·offerings of the sons of Israel.

15 The hind·​·quarter of the uplifting and the chest portion of the waving on the fire·​·offerings of the fat they shall bring to wave as a waving before Jehovah; and it shall be for thee, and for thy sons with thee, for an eternal statute, as Jehovah has commanded.

16 And inquiring Moses inquired·​·after the goat of the sin offering, and, behold, it was burnt·​·up; and he was·​·enraged against Eleazar and against Ithamar, the remaining sons of Aaron, saying,

17 Wherefore have you not eaten the sin offering in the holy place? For it is a holy of holies, and He has given it to you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make·​·atonement for them before Jehovah?

18 Behold, the blood of it was not brought into the holy place within; eating you should have eaten it in the holy place, as I commanded.

19 And Aaron spoke to Moses, Behold, today have they offered their sin offering and their burnt·​·offering before Jehovah; and things like these have befallen me; and if I had eaten the sin offering today, would it have been·​·good in the eyes of Jehovah?

20 And Moses heard, and it was·​·good in his eyes.

   


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

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Arcana Coelestia # 9965

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9965. 'That they may not bear iniquity and die' means the elimination of the whole of worship. This is clear from the meaning of 'bearing the iniquity', when the subject is the priestly office of Aaron and his sons, as a removal or shifting away of falsities and evils with those who are governed by good derived from the Lord, dealt with above in 9937. But when it speaks of them 'bearing iniquity and dying' the elimination of the whole of worship is meant, see 9928; for the representative worship died because nothing of it appeared any longer in heaven. The situation in all this may become clear from what has been stated and shown above in 9959-9961. They also died when they did not act in accordance with the statutes, 1 as is evident from Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu, who were devoured by fire from heaven when they did not take the fire of the altar to burn incense but foreign 2 fire, Leviticus 10:1-2ff. 'The fire of the altar' represented God's love, thus love from the Lord, whereas 'foreign fire' represented love from hell. The elimination of worship was meant by their burning incense with this fire and their consequent death. For the meaning of 'fire' as love, see 5215, 6832, 7324, 7575, 7852.

[2] Many places in the Word state that they would bear iniquity when they did not do things in accordance with the statutes, and by this was meant damnation because sins had not been removed. Not that they themselves were condemned on account of disobeying the statutes. Rather by doing so they eliminated representative worship and in so doing represented the damnation of those who remain in their sins. For none are condemned because they fail in their performance of outward religious observances, only because of evils in the heart, thus because of failing in such observances as a result of evil in the heart. This is what 'bearing iniquity' means in the following places: In Moses,

If a soul sins and acts against any of Jehovah's commandments regarding what ought not to be done, 3 though he does not know it, yet he will be guilty and will bear his iniquity. Leviticus 5:17-18.

Here the retention of evils and consequent damnation should not be understood literally by 'bearing iniquity', although that is the spiritual meaning; for it says 'though he does not know it', implying that what the person has done does not spring from evil in the heart.

[3] In the same author,

If any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offering is eaten at all on the third day, the one offering it will not be accepted. It is an abomination, and the soul that eats it will bear his iniquity, and will be cut off from his people. Leviticus 7:18; 19:7-8.

Here also 'bearing iniquity' means remaining in his sins and being as a result in a state of damnation. It does so not because the person ate some of his sacrifice on the third day, but because 'eating it on the third day' represented something abominable, namely an action leading to damnation. Thus 'bearing iniquity and being cut off from his people' represented the damnation of those who performed the abomination meant by that deed. Nevertheless there was no condemnation on account of his having eaten it, for interior evils that were represented are what condemn, not exterior actions in which those evils are not present.

[4] In the same author,

Every soul who eats a carcass 4 or that which has been torn, and does not wash his clothes and bathe his flesh shall bear his iniquity. Leviticus 17:15-16.

Since 'eating a carcass or that which has been torn' represented making evil or falsity one's own, the expression 'bearing iniquity' also has a representative meaning. In the same author,

If a man who is clean fails to keep the Passover, this soul shall be cut off from his people, because he did not bring the offering of Jehovah at its appointed time; he shall bear his sin. Numbers 9:13.

'The Passover' represented deliverance by the Lord from damnation, 7093 (end), 7867, 7995, 9286-9292; and 'the Passover supper' represented being joined to the Lord through the good of love, 7836, 7997, 8001. And since these things were represented it was decreed that anyone who did not keep the Passover should be cut off from his people and that he should bear his sin. The failure to keep it was not really so great a crime; rather it represented those who at heart refuse to accept the Lord and consequently deliverance from sins, and so who have no wish to be joined to Him through love. Thus it represented their damnation.

[5] In the same author,

The children of Israel shall not come near the tent of meeting, or else they will bear iniquity and die. 5 Levites shall perform the work of the tent of meeting, and these shall bear the iniquity. Numbers 18:22-23.

The reason why the people would bear iniquity and die if they were to go near the tent of meeting to do the work there was that they would thereby eliminate the representative worship assigned to the function of the priests. The function of the priests or the priestly office represented the Lord's entire work of salvation, 9809; and this is why it says that the Levites, who also were priests, should bear the people's iniquity, by which expiation or atonement was meant, that is, removal from evils and falsities with those who are governed by good derived from the Lord alone, 9937. 'Bearing iniquity' means real damnation when this expression is used in reference to those who perform evil deeds because their heart is evil, such as those mentioned in Leviticus 20:17, 19-20; 24:15-16; Ezekiel 18:20; 23:49; and elsewhere.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. i.e. the laws of worship; see 8972.

2. i.e. unauthorized or profane

3. literally, and does one of [all] Jehovah's commandments [about] things which ought not to be done

4. i.e. an animal that had not been slaughtered but had died naturally

5. literally, to bear iniquity, dying

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