Arcana Coelestia # 10262
10262. 'A hin' means how far things are joined together. This is clear from the meaning of 'a hin' - which was a liquid measure, at this point a measure of oil - as the extent to which things are joined together. 'Oil' means the Lord's celestial Divine Good, which is the essential power that binds all things together in heaven; consequently the measure of the oil means how far things are joined together, and the fullness of their being joined together. The reason why the Lord's celestial Divine Good is the essential power that binds all things together is that it is the essential being (ipsum esse) of the life that all things have. For that Divine Good imparts life to all things through the Divine Truth emanating from itself; and it imparts life in accordance with the specific character of whatever receives it. Angels are recipients; so too are people in the world. The truths and forms of good they have form their specific character, and this conditions the reception that takes place within them, and so conditions any joining together.
[2] Two measures which were used for sacred purposes are mentioned in the Word; one was for liquids, which was called the hin, the other was for dry substances, which was called the ephah. The hin served to measure oil and wine, and the ephah to measure flour and fine flour. The hin, used for oil and wine, was divided into four, whereas the ephah was divided into ten. The reason why the hin was divided into four was in order that it might mean that which binds things together; for 'four' means a joining together. But the reason why the ephah was divided into ten was in order that it might mean reception, the nature of which was indicated by the numbers; for 'ten' means much, all, and what is complete.
'Four' means a joining together, see 8877, 9601, 9674, 10136, 10137.
'Ten' means much, all, and what is complete, as 'a hundred' does, 1988, 3107, 4400, 4638, 8468, 8540, 9745, 10253.
[3] The fact that the hin was used for the oil and wine in the sacrifices, and was divided into four, whereas the ephah was used for the flour and fine flour, which were for the minchah in the sacrifices, and that it was divided into ten, becomes clear in Exodus 29:40; Leviticus 5:11; 23:13; Numbers 15:3-10; 28:5, 7, 14. From these verses it is evident that 'a hin' means the extent to which things are joined together, and 'an ephah' the amount of reception. Furthermore the oil served to bind the fine flour together, and the fine flour to receive the oil; for a minchah consisted of oil and fine flour.
[4] In addition there were other measures that were used for ordinary purposes, both for dry substances and for liquids. The measures for dry substances were called the homer and the omer, and the measures for liquids the cor and the bath. A homer contained ten ephahs, and an ephah ten omers, whereas a cor contained ten baths, and a bath ten smaller parts; regarding all these, see Exodus 16:36; Ezekiel 45:11, 13, 24.
[5] But where the new temple is dealt with in Ezekiel a different division of the ephah and the bath occurs. There the ephah and the bath are divided not into ten but into six, and the hin corresponds to the ephah, as is evident in the same prophet, in Ezekiel 45:13-14, 24; 46:5, 7, 11, 14. The reason for this is that in those places the subject is not celestial good and its ability to bind things together, but spiritual good and its ability to do so; and the numbers 'twelve', 'six', and 'three' have their correspondence in the spiritual kingdom, because they mean all and, when used in reference to truths and forms of good, mean all aspects of truth and good in their entirety. The fact that these are meant by 'twelve', see 3272, 3858, 3913, 7973, also by 'six', 3960(end), 7973, 8148, 10217; and in like manner 'three', by which from beginning to end, thus what is complete, is meant, and - in respect of real things - all, 2788, 4495, 5159, 7715, 9825, 10127. The reason why these numbers imply similar things is that larger numbers are similar in meaning to the simple ones which when multiplied produce them, 5291, 5335, 5708, 7973.
[6] Since 'a hin' also means how far something is joined to spiritual truth, a third part of a hin of oil was taken for the minchah in the sacrifices of a ram, and a third part of wine for the drink offering, Numbers 15:6-7; for spiritual good is meant by 'a ram', 2830, 9991. From all this it is again plainly evident that numbers are used in the Word to mean real things. What other reason could there be for the numbers used so often in Moses, Ezekiel, and elsewhere to specify amounts and measures?
The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Teachings # 169
169. After we have examined ourselves, acknowledged our sins, and repented of them, we must for the rest of our lives remain constant in our devotion to doing what is good. If instead we backslide into our former evil life and embrace it again, then we commit profanation because we are then joining evil and goodness together. 1 This makes our latter state worse than our former one, according to the Lord's words:
When an unclean spirit goes out of someone, it wanders through dry places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, "I will go back to my house, the house I left. " When the spirit comes and finds the house empty, swept, and decorated for it, then it goes and recruits seven other spirits worse than itself, and they come in and live there, and the latter times of that person become worse than the first. (Matthew 12:43, 44, 45)
For what profanation is, see below [§172].
Poznámky pod čarou:
1. Profanation, as Swedenborg defines it, is taking the good and true things of the church, which are holy in themselves, and distorting them for selfish and materialistic ends, such as gaining personal wealth and power. It necessarily involves denying truths previously known, though those who do profane them may think of themselves as believing the truth; those who are simply ignorant of spiritual truth cannot profane it. In Swedenborg's theology, those who commit profanation are in the lowest and harshest hells because they have mixed good and truth with evil and falsity, and the fundamental conflict between these opposites tears people apart from the inside out, destroying much of their life in the process. This concept of profanation has echoes in Bible passages such as 2 Peter 2:21, which reads: "It would have been better for them [the evil] never to have known the way of righteousness than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment that was passed on to them" (New Revised Standard Version). See also John 5:14; 12:40, which are mentioned in New Jerusalem 172[2], as well as Matthew 12:43-45; 13:13; Luke 8:10. Given this biblical underpinning, it is not surprising that the concept is not unique to Swedenborgian theology. Compare, for example, Aquinas Summa Theologiae 2:2:10:6 (= Aquinas 2012, 17:100-101). For an extensive list of references to Secrets of Heaven on profaners and profanation, see New Jerusalem 172. Particularly useful passages include Secrets of Heaven 1008, 1327, 2357, 3398; and see also Divine Providence 221-233. For more on the condition of profaners in hell after death, see Secrets of Heaven 6348[3], 6959, 10287; Divine Providence 226; Revelation Explained (= Swedenborg 1994-1997a) §§1047:3, 1050:2, 1055:4, 1059:2, 1063:3. [LSW, SS]
