Bible

 

Leviticus 17

Studie

   

1 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

2 Speak to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the sons of Israel, and say to them; This is the word which Jehovah has commanded, saying,

3 A man, a man from the house of Israel, who slaughters an ox, or lamb, or goat, in the camp, or who slaughters it outside the camp,

4 and brings it not to the entrance of the Tabernacle of the congregation, to offer an offering to Jehovah before the Habitation of Jehovah; blood shall be reckoned to that man; he has shed blood; and that man shall be cut·​·off from among his people;

5 for the sake that the sons of Israel may bring their sacrifices, which they sacrifice on the faces of the field, and that they may bring them to Jehovah, to the entrance of the Tabernacle of the congregation, to the priest, and sacrifice them for sacrifices of peace·​·offerings to Jehovah.

6 And the priest shall sprinkle the blood on the altar of Jehovah at the entrance of the Tabernacle of the congregation, and burn·​·for·​·incense the fat for a restful smell to Jehovah.

7 And they shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to satyrs, after whom they have committed·​·harlotry. This shall be a statute for eternity to them to their generations.

8 And thou shalt say to them, A man, a man there be of the house of Israel, or of the sojourners which sojourn among you, that offers·​·up a burnt·​·offering or sacrifice,

9 and brings it not to the entrance of the Tabernacle of the congregation, to make it an offering to Jehovah; even that man shall be cut·​·off from his peoples.

10 And a man, a man there be of the house of Israel, or of the sojourners that sojourn among you, that eats any blood; I will even put My face against the soul who eats the blood, and will cut· him ·off from among his people.

11 For the soul of the flesh, it is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar to make·​·atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that makes·​·atonement for the soul.

12 Therefore I said to the sons of Israel, Not any soul of you shall eat blood, and the sojourner who sojourns in your midst shall not eat blood.

13 And a man, a man from the sons of Israel, or from the sojourner sojourning in your midst, who hunts a hunting of a wild·​·animal or fowl that may be eaten, he shall also spill its blood, and cover it with dust.

14 For it is the soul of all flesh; its blood, it is with the soul of the flesh*; and I said to the sons of Israel, the blood of all flesh you shall not eat: for the soul of all flesh is its blood; all who eat it shall be cut·​·off.

15 And every soul that eats a carcass, or that which was torn, whether among the native born or among the sojourner, he shall both wash his garments, and bathe himself in the water, and be·​·unclean until the evening; and then shall he be·​·clean.

16 But if he wash them not, nor bathe his flesh; then he shall bear his iniquity.

   


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

Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

Arcana Coelestia # 9393

Prostudujte si tuto pasáž

  
/ 10837  
  

9393. 'And Moses took half of the blood' means Divine Truth which has become a matter of life and of worship. This is clear from the meaning of 'the blood' as Divine Truth emanating from the Lord, dealt with in 4735, 6978, 7317, 7326, 7850, 9127. The reason why it is Divine Truth which has become a matter of life and of worship is that it was the blood which Moses sprinkled over the people, verse 8, and this blood means Divine Truth which a person has accepted, thus that which has become a matter of life and of worship; for that Truth is said to have been accepted by a person which becomes a matter of life and so of worship. And it becomes a matter of life and worship when the person has an affection for it or loves it, or what amounts to the same thing, when he wills it, and - in willing it, and so in loving and having an affection for it - does it. Till then it is indeed present with him in his memory, and is at times called forth from there and comes before his inward sight or understanding, from where it passes back into his memory. However, as long as God's truth goes no deeper than this, though it resides with the person it has not been implanted in his life and will; for a person's life consists in his will. Therefore when truth is called forth from the memory into the understanding, then passes from the understanding into the will, and goes out from the will into action, that truth becomes part of the person's life and is called good. All this shows what is meant by Divine Truth which has become a matter of life. The situation is the same with truth which becomes part of worship. Worship springing from truth which does no more than cling in the memory and make its appearance from there in the understanding is not worship. But worship springing from truth that goes out from the will, and so from affection and love, is worship. In the Word this worship is called worship of the heart, but the other, worship of the lips alone.

[2] It has indeed been shown already in the places referred to above that 'blood' means Divine Truth emanating from the Lord. Nevertheless since the majority belonging to the Church at the present day take the blood in the Holy Supper to mean nothing other than the Lord's blood that was shed on the Cross, and in a more general sense His whole Passion of the Cross, let something further be stated briefly to show that blood is not what is meant there but Divine Truth emanating from the Lord. The reason why this is unknown within the Church is that nothing whatever is known at the present day about correspondences, nor consequently about the internal sense of the Word, the sense understood by angels when someone in the world reads the Word.

[3] It becomes clear from many places in the Word that 'blood' does not mean blood but God's truth, and plainly so from the following in Ezekiel,

Say to every bird of the air and to every wild animal of the field, Assemble and come, gather yourselves from all around to My sacrifice which I am sacrificing for you, so that you may eat flesh and drink blood. You will eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth. You will eat fat till you are glutted, and drink blood till you are drunk, from My sacrifice which I will sacrifice for you. You will be glutted at My table with horse and chariot, and with every man of war. Thus will I set My glory among the nations. Ezekiel 39:17-21.

It is plainly evident that 'blood' is not used here to mean blood, for it says that they were going to drink the blood of the princes of the earth, and the blood from the sacrifice, till they were drunk, when yet drinking blood, especially the blood of princes, is something abominable and was forbidden to the children of Israel on pain of death, Leviticus 3:17; 7:26; Leviticus 17:1-end; Deuteronomy 12:16-25; 15:23. It also says that they were going to be glutted with horse, chariot, and every man of war. Anyone therefore who does not know that 'blood' means Divine Truth, 'princes' leading truths, 'sacrifice' the things that belong to worship, 'horse' the understanding of truth, 'chariot' doctrinal teachings, and 'man of war' truth engaged in conflict against falsity is bound to be bemused by each of the words used in this passage.

[4] His response would be the same to the Lord's words in John,

Jesus said, Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you will have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise Him up at the last day. My flesh is truly food, and My blood is truly drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. John 6:53-56.

But see what has been shown already regarding these words, in 4735, 6978, 7317, 7326, 7850, 9127. The fact that flesh corresponds to good, as does bread, and that blood corresponds to truth, as does wine, has been told me very many times from heaven. I have likewise been told that angels understand the Word solely according to correspondences, and that as a result of this mankind is joined by means of the Word to heaven, and through heaven to the Lord.

[5] And in like manner I have been told that the Holy Supper was established by the Lord to be the means by which all things of heaven, that is, all things which are the Lord's, might be joined to members of the Church. For in the Holy Supper the flesh or bread is the Divine Good of the Lord's Divine Love towards the whole human race, and a person's love in return to the Lord, while the blood or wine is the Divine Truth emanating from the Divine Good of the Lord's Divine Love, and in turn the person's acceptance of it. In heaven, furthermore, eating and drinking those gifts implies making them one's own and joining them together. But see what has been shown already regarding these matters in 2165, 2177, 3464, 4211, 4217, 4581, 4735, 5915, 6789, 7850, 9323.

  
/ 10837  
  

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