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Numbers 4

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1 And Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

2 Take·​·up the sum of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, as·​·to their families, as·​·to the house of their fathers,

3 from a son of thirty years and upward and until a son of fifty years, all that come into the army, to do the work* in the Tabernacle of the congregation.

4 This shall be the service of the sons of Kohath in the Tabernacle of the congregation, about the holy of holies;

5 and when the camp journeys, Aaron shall come, and his sons, and they shall take·​·down the sheltering veil, and cover the ark of testimony with it;

6 and they shall put on it the covering of badger skin, and shall spread from above it a garment all of blue, and shall set its poles.

7 And upon the table of bread of faces they shall spread a garment of blue, and put on it the platters, and the dishes*, and the little·​·brooms, and saucers of the poured·​·offering; and the continual bread shall be on it.

8 And they shall spread over them a garment of scarlet twice-dyed, and cover it with a covering of badger skin, and shall set its poles.

9 And they shall take a garment of blue, and cover the lampstand of the light, and its lamps, and its tongs, and its trowels, and all its oil vessels, with which they minister to it;

10 and they shall put it and all its vessels into a covering of badger skin; and they shall put it on the brace.

11 And upon the gold altar they shall spread a garment of blue, and cover it with a covering of badger skin, and shall set its poles;

12 and they shall take all the instruments of the ministry, with which they minister in the sanctuary, and put them onto a garment of blue, and cover them with a covering of badger skin, and shall put them on the brace;

13 and they shall take·​·away·​·the·​·ashes from the altar, and spread a crimson garment on it;

14 and they shall put upon it all its vessels, with which they minister upon it, the pincers, the forks, and the shovels, and the basins, all the vessels of the altar; and they shall spread upon it a covering of badger skin, and set its poles.

15 And when Aaron and his sons have completed covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, the camp shall journey; and after thus, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it; and they shall not touch what is holy, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the Tabernacle of the congregation.

16 And the oversight of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, shall be the oil for the light, and the fragrant incense, and the continual gift·​·offering, and the oil of anointing, the oversight of all the Habitation, and of all that is in it, in the holy place, and in its vessels.

17 And Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

18 Cut· ye not ·off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from the midst the Levites;

19 but this do for them, and they shall live, and not die: when they approach, to the holy of holies, Aaron and his sons shall go·​·in, and set them each·​·man, each·​·man on his service and to his burden;

20 but they shall not go·​·in to see when the holy things are covered·​·up*, lest they die.

21 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

22 Take·​·up the sum of the sons of Gershon, them also as·​·to the houses of their fathers, as·​·to their families;

23 from a son of thirty years and upward until a son of fifty years shalt thou number them; all that come·​·in to be·​·an·​·army as the army, to serve the service in the Tabernacle of the congregation.

24 This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, to serve, and to carry.

25 and they shall carry the curtains of the Habitation, and the Tabernacle of the congregation, its covering, and the covering of the badger skin that is upon it from above, and the sheltering of the entrance of the Tabernacle of the congregation,

26 and the hangings of the court, and the sheltering of the entrance of the gate of the court, which is by the Habitation and by the altar all around, and their cords, and all the instruments of their service, and all that is made for them; and they shall serve.

27 By the mouth of Aaron and his sons shall be all the service of the sons of the Gershonites, as·​·to all their burdens, and as·​·to all their service; and you shall appoint to them in charge all their burdens.

28 This is the service of the families of the sons of the Gershonites in the Tabernacle of the congregation; and their charge shall be in the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

29 As for the sons of Merari, thou shalt number them to their families, to the house of their fathers;

30 from a son thirty years and upward and until a son of fifty years shalt thou number them, all who come into the army, to serve the service of the Tabernacle of the congregation.

31 And this is the charge of their burden, as·​·to all their service in the Tabernacle of the congregation: the planks of the Habitation, and its bars, and its pillars, and its bases,

32 and the pillars of the court all around, and their bases, and their pegs, and their cords, for all their vessels, and for all their service; and by name you shall appoint the vessels of the charge of their burden.

33 This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, as·​·to all their service, in the Tabernacle of the congregation, in the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

34 And Moses and Aaron and the chiefs of the congregation numbered the sons of the Kohathites as·​·to their families, and as·​·to the house of their fathers,

35 from a son of thirty years and upward, and even·​·to a son of fifty years, all who come into the army, for the service in the Tabernacle of the congregation;

36 and those who were numbered of them as·​·to their families were two·​·thousand seven hundred and fifty.

37 These are they who were numbered from the families of the Kohathites, all who serve in the Tabernacle of the congregation, whom Moses and Aaron did number by the mouth of Jehovah by the hand of Moses.

38 And those who were numbered of the sons of Gershon, as·​·to their families, and as·​·to the house of their fathers,

39 from a son of thirty years and upward and until a son of fifty years, all who come into the army, for the service in the Tabernacle of the congregation,

40 and those who were numbered of them, as·​·to their families, as·​·to the house of their fathers, were two·​·thousand and six hundred and thirty.

41 These are they who were numbered from the families of the sons of Gershon, all who serve in the Tabernacle of the congregation, whom Moses and Aaron did number by the mouth of Jehovah.

42 And those who were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, as·​·to their families, as·​·to the house of their fathers,

43 from a son of thirty years and upward and until a son of fifty years, all who come into the army, for the service in the Tabernacle of the congregation,

44 and those who were numbered of them as·​·to their families, were three thousand and two·​·hundred.

45 These are they who were numbered from the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered by the mouth of Jehovah by the hand of Moses.

46 All those numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the chiefs of Israel numbered, as·​·to their families, and as·​·to the house of their fathers,

47 from a son of thirty years and upward and to a son of fifty years, all who came to serve the service of the service, and the service of the burden in the Tabernacle of the congregation,

48 and they who were numbered of them, were eight thousand and five hundred and eighty.

49 By the mouth of Jehovah, they were numbered by the hand of Moses, each man by his service, and by his burden; and they were numbered of him, as Jehovah commanded Moses.

   


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

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Arcana Coelestia # 4922

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4922. 'And bound on his hand a twice-dyed thread' means that a sign was placed on it, namely on that power - 'twice-dyed' meaning good. This is clear from the meaning of 'binding on the hand' as placing a sign on power, for 'the hand' means power, 4920; and from the meaning of 'twice-dyed' as good, in particular spiritual good. The reason 'twice-dyed' means spiritual good is that this expression describes a shade of scarlet, and in the next life whenever one sees scarlet spiritual good is meant, which is the good of charity towards the neighbour. For all colours clearly visible in the next life mean something connected with good and truth since they are products of the light of heaven, which essentially is wisdom and intelligence flowing from the Lord's Divine. The variegations or modifications of that light are consequently variegations and so to speak modifications of wisdom and intelligence, and therefore of good and truth. For details about the light in heaven flowing from the Lord's Divine wisdom and intelligence, where the Lord is seen as the Sun, see 1053, 1521-1533, 1619-1632, 2776, 3138, 3167, 3190, 3195, 3222, 3223, 3225, 3337, 3339, 3340, 3485, 3636, 3643, 3862, 3993, 4180, 4214, 4302, 4405, 4408, 4413, 4415, 4523-4533; and for details about colours having their origin in that light and about their being variegations and modifications of that light, and therefore of intelligence and wisdom, 1042, 1043, 1053, 1624, 3993, 4530, 4677, 4742.

[2] As regards 'twice-dyed' meaning spiritual good, this is evident from places in the Word where this expression is used, as in Jeremiah,

If therefore you have been laid waste, what will you do? If you clothe yourself in twice-dyed and deck yourself with ornaments of gold, in vain will you make yourself beautiful; your lovers will abhor you. Jeremiah 4:30.

This refers to Judah. 'Clothing yourself in twice-dyed' stands for spiritual good, 'decking yourself with ornaments of gold' for celestial good. In 2 Samuel,

David lamented over Saul and over Jonathan, and wrote it down that they teach the children of Judah the bow. Daughters of Israel, weep over Saul who clothed you in twice-dyed delicately, 1 and placed an ornament of gold on your apparel. 2 Samuel 1:17-18, 24.

Here 'teaching the bow' stands for teaching the doctrine of love and charity, for 'the bow' means that doctrine. 'Clothing in twice-dyed' stands for spiritual good, as previously, and 'placing an ornament of gold on one's apparel' for celestial good.

[3] Such being the meaning of 'twice-dyed', instructions were also given to use twice-dyed scarlet on the curtains of the Dwelling-place, the veil, the covering for the door of the tent, the covering to the gate of the court, the table of the Presence when they were about to set out, Aaron's sacred vestments such as the ephod, the breastplate of judgement, and the fringes of the robe of the ephod:

The curtains of the Dwelling-place

You shall make for the Dwelling-place ten curtains - fine-twined linen, and violet and purple and twice-dyed scarlet. Exodus 26:1.

The veil

You shall make a veil of violet and purple, and of twice-dyed scarlet, and of fine-twined linen. Exodus 26:31.

The covering for the door of the tent

You shall make a covering for the door of the tent, of violet and purple and twice-dyed scarlet, and of fine-twined linen. Exodus 26:36.

[4] The covering to the gate of the court

For the gate of the court you shall make a covering of violet and purple and twice-dyed scarlet, and fine-twined linen, the work of an embroiderer. Exodus 27:16.

The table of the Presence when they were about to set out

When the camp sets out they shall spread over the table of the Presence a cloth of twice-dyed scarlet, and shall cover this with a covering of badger skin. Numbers 4:8.

The ephod

You shall make an ephod out of gold, violet and purple, and twice-dyed scarlet, fine-twined linen, the work of a craftsman; and the girdle similarly. Exodus 28:5-6, 8; 39:2-3.

The breastplate of judgement

You shall make the breastplate of judgement, the work of a craftsman, like the work of the ephod, out of gold, violet, and purple. and twice-dyed scarlet, and fine-twined linen. Exodus 28:15.

The fringes of the robe of the ephod

Pomegranates of violet, and purple, and twice-dyed scarlet. Exodus 28:33.

[5] It was because the Tent of Meeting with the Ark in it represented heaven that the colours mentioned in these places were required. They meant in their order celestial and spiritual things, as follows: 'Violet and purple' meant celestial kinds of good and truth, 'twice-dyed scarlet and fine-twined linen' spiritual kinds of good and truth. Anyone believing that the Word is holy can recognize that each has a specific meaning, and anyone believing that the Word is holy for the reason that it has been sent down from the Lord by way of heaven can recognize that the celestial and spiritual things belonging to His kingdom are meant. Similar instructions were given, in cleansings from leprosy, to use 'cedarwood, scarlet, and hyssop', Leviticus 14:4, 6, 52; and to cast 'cedarwood and hyssop and twice-dyed of purple' on to the fire in which the red heifer was being burned, from which the water of separation was prepared, Numbers 19:6.

[6] The profanation of good and truth is described by similar words in John,

I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names. It had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet. and covered 2 with gold and precious stones and pearls. holding in her hand a golden cup, full of abominations and the uncleanness of whoredom. Revelation 17:3-4.

And after this,

Woe, woe, the great city, you that were clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and covered' with gold and precious stones and pearls. Revelation 18:16.

This refers to 'Babel' by which the profanation of good is meant, 1182, 1283, 1295, 1304, 1306-1308, 1321, 1322, 1326, in this case the profanation both of good and of truth, which is 'Babylonian'. Among the Prophets in the Old Testament 'Babel' describes the profanation of good and 'Chaldea' the profanation of truth.

[7] In the contrary sense 'scarlet' means the evil that is the contrary of spiritual good, as in Isaiah,

Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be white as snow. Though they are red as crimson, 3 they will be as wool. Isaiah 1:18.

The reason 'scarlet' means this evil is that 'blood', likewise, because of its red colour, in the genuine sense means spiritual good or charity towards the neighbour, and in the contrary sense violence done to charity, 374, 1005.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. literally, with delights

2. literally, gilded

3. literally, purple

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