10023. And Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands upon the head of the bullock. That this signifies a representative of the reception of good and truth in the natural or external man, is evident from the signification of “laying on hands,” as being to communicate that which is one’s own to another; that it also denotes reception is because that which is communicated is received by the other; from the signification of “the head,” as being the whole (see n. 10011); and from the signification of “the bullock,” as being the good of innocence and of charity in the external or natural man (on which see n. 9391, 10021). That by “laying on the hand” is signified communication and reception, is because by “the hand” is signified power, and as this is the activity of life, by “the hand” is also signified whatever pertains to man, thus the whole man insofar as he is acting (see the places cited in n. 10019); and by the “laying on” is signified communication in respect to him who lays on, and reception in respect to him, or to that, on which it is laid. From this is plain what was signified by the laying on of the hand among the ancients, namely, the communication and transfer of that which was being dealt with, and also its reception by another, whether it was power, or obedience, or blessing, or testification.

[2] That by the “laying on of the hand” was signified power, is evident from the following passages in Moses:

Jehovah said unto Moses, that he should lay his hand upon Joshua, and should set him in the presence of Eleazar the priest before the whole assembly, and thus should give of his glory upon him, and all the assembly should obey him (Numbers 27:18-20).

That by “to lay on the hand” is here signified the communication and transfer of the power which Moses had, and its reception by Joshua, is plain; and hence it is said that “thus he should give of his glory upon him.”

[3] In the same:

When the Levites were purified, and the ministry of the priesthood under Aaron was committed to them, it was commanded that two bullocks should be brought with a meat-offering, and that Aaron should bring the Levites before Jehovah, and the sons of Israel should lay their hands upon the Levites, and the Levites should lay their hands upon the heads of the bullocks, one of which was to be offered for a sacrifice, the other for a burnt-offering; and in this way they were to separate the Levites from the midst of the sons of Israel, and they should be Jehovah’s (Numbers 8:7-14).

That the sons of Israel were “to lay their hands upon the Levites” signified the transfer of the power of ministering for them, and its reception by the Levites, thus separation; and by the Levites “laying hands upon the head of the bullocks” was signified the transfer of this power to Jehovah, that is, to the Lord. Therefore it is said that in this way they should be “separated from the midst of the sons of Israel, and should be Jehovah’s.”

[4] In the same:

After the sons of Israel had confessed their sins, then Aaron was to lay both his hands upon the head of the living goat Asasel, and was to confess over him all the iniquities of the sons of Israel, and all their sins, and was to put them upon the head of the goat, and send him into the wilderness (Leviticus 16:21).

That “the laying on of the hands upon the goat” signified the communication and transfer of all the iniquities and sins of the sons of Israel, and their reception by the goat, is plain; “the wilderness whither the goat was to be sent” denotes hell. That the witnesses and all who heard were “to lay their hands upon him who was to be stoned” (Leviticus 24:14), signified testification so communicated and transferred, which being received, the man was adjudged to death.

[5] In the same:

The man who bringeth from the herd or from the flock a burnt-offering for a gift to Jehovah shall lay the hand on the head of the burnt-offering; then it shall be received from him with good pleasure, to expiate him (Leviticus 1:2-4).

In like manner “upon the head of the gift that was for sacrifice” (Leviticus 3:1-2, 8, 13). In like manner was “the priest to do if he sinned,” in like manner the elders, in like manner the whole congregation. Also the chief if he sinned. And in like manner every soul that sinned. (Leviticus 4:4, 15, 24, 29). By the laying on of their hand upon the burnt-offering and upon the sacrifice was signified all the worship of him who offered, namely, the acknowledgment of sins, confession, the consequent purification, the implantation of good and truth, thus conjunction with the Lord, all of which were effected by communication, transfer, and reception. By transfer and reception is meant that which is signified by “bearing iniquities” (n. 9937, 9938).

[6] As communications, transfers, and receptions were signified by the laying on of hands, it may be known what is signified by the “laying on of hands” in Matthew:

The chief came to Jesus and said, My daughter is even now dead, but come and lay Thy hand upon her, then she shall live. Jesus entered in, and took her hand, and the girl arose (Matthew 9:18-19, 25).

Jesus laid His hand upon the eyes of the blind man, and he was restored (Mark 8:25).

They bring unto Jesus one that was deaf, that He should lay His hand on him; and He, taking him from the people, put His finger into his ears, and touched his tongue, and his hearings were opened (Mark 7:32-33, 35).

A woman was bowed down with a spirit of infirmity, and Jesus laid hands on her, and healed her (Luke 13:11, 13).

Jesus laid hands on the sick, and healed them (Mark 6:5).

[7] By the “laying on of the hand” by the Lord, and also by His “touching,” is here signified the communication and reception of Divine power, as is clearly manifest in Mark:

A certain woman came behind, and touched the garment of Jesus, saying, If I touch but His garment, I shall be healed; and immediately she was healed of the plague and Jesus knew in Himself that power was gone forth from Him (Mark 5:27-30).

A woman touching the garment of Jesus was healed; and Jesus said, Some one hath touched Me; for I knew that power had gone forth from Me (Luke 8:44, 46).

The whole crowd sought to touch Jesus, because power went forth from Him, and healed all (Luke 6:19).

[8] From this is plain what is signified by “touching with the hand” or “finger;” and also what in the same:

Jesus came nigh and touched the bier in which the dead man was, and the bearers stood still. Then He said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak (Luke 7:14-15).

And what by the “laying on of the hand upon children” and “upon babes”—“upon children,” in Matthew:

There were brought unto Jesus children, that He should lay His hands upon them. Jesus said, Suffer the children, and forbid them not, to come unto Me; for of such is the kingdom of the heavens. And He laid His hands on them (Matthew 19:13-15);

and “upon babes,” in Mark:

Jesus took babes upon His arms, and put His hands upon them, and blessed them (Mark 10:16).

By the “laying on of the hand upon children” and “upon babes” is here also signified the communication and reception of Divine power, through which is the healing of the interiors, which is salvation.

[9] That such things are signified by “touching,” which is done with the hands, has its origin from the representatives in the other life, where they who are in an unlike state of life appear removed to a distance, but they who are in a like state appear consociated; and in that life those who touch each other communicate the state of their life to each other. If this is done by the hands, everything of the life is communicated, because by the hands, as above said, from the correspondence, is signified power, which is the active of life; thus whatever pertains to anyone. Such representatives come forth in the world of spirits, but they are effected by influx from heaven, where there are perceived nothing but consociations in respect to the affections of good and truth.

9806. And thou shalt cause to draw near unto thee Aaron thy brother. That this signifies the conjunction of Divine truth with Divine good in the Lord’s Divine Human, is evident from the representation of Moses, who here causes Aaron to draw near to himself, as being the Lord in respect to Divine truth (see n. 6752, 6771, 7014, 9372); from the signification of “drawing near,” as being conjunction and presence (n. 9378); from the representation of Aaron, as being the Lord in respect to Divine good (of which in what follows); and from the signification of “brother,” as being good (n. 3303, 3803, 3815, 4121, 4191, 5686, 5692, 6756). From all this it is plain that by “Moses causing Aaron his brother to draw near unto him” is signified the conjunction of Divine truth with Divine good in the Lord. That it signifies in His Divine Human, is because this was the very thing in which this conjunction was effected; for the Lord first made His Human Divine truth, and afterward Divine good (see the places cited in n. 9199, 9315). That Aaron was chosen to minister in the priesthood, was because he was the brother of Moses; for in this way there was at the same time represented the brotherhood of Divine truth and Divine good in heaven, because as before said, Moses represented Divine truth, and Aaron Divine good.

[2] All things in the universe, both in heaven and in the world, bear relation to good and to truth in order to be anything; for good is the being of truth, and truth is the coming-forth of good; and therefore good without truth does not come-forth, and truth without good has no being; from which it is evident that they must be conjoined. Their conjunction is represented in the Word by two married partners, and also by two brothers; by two married partners, when the subject treated of is the heavenly marriage, which is that of good and truth, and successive derivation from it; and by two brothers, when the subject treated of is the double ministry of judgment and of worship.

Those who ministered in judgment were called “judges,” and afterward “kings;” and those who ministered in worship were called “priests.” And because all judgment is effected by means of truth, and all worship is effected from good, therefore by “judges” in the Word, in a sense abstracted from person, is signified truth from good; but by “kings,” truth from which is good; and by “priests” is signified good itself. It is from this that in the Word the Lord is called a “Judge,” also a “Prophet,” and likewise a “King,” when truth is treated of; but a “Priest” when good is treated of. In like manner He is called “the Christ,” “the Anointed,” or “the Messiah,” when truth is treated of; but “Jesus,” or “Savior,” when good is treated of.

[3] On account of this brotherhood, which is that of the truth which is of judgment and the good which is of worship, Aaron the brother of Moses was chosen to minister in the priesthood. That by “Aaron and his house” is therefore signified good, is evident in David:

O Israel, trust thou in Jehovah; He is their help and their shield. O house of Aaron, trust ye in Jehovah; He is their help and their shield. Jehovah hath remembered us, He will bless the house of Israel, He will bless the house of Aaron (Psalms 115:9-10, 12).

Let Israel now say, that His mercy is forever. Let the house of Aaron now say, that His mercy is forever (Psalms 118:2-3).

O house of Israel, bless ye Jehovah; O house of Aaron, bless ye Jehovah (Psalms 135:19).

“The house of Israel” denotes those who are in truths; “the house of Aaron,” those who are in goods; for in the Word, where truth is treated of, good is also treated of, because of the heavenly marriage (n. 9263, 9314); (that “the house of Israel” denotes those who are in truths, see n. 5414, 5879, 5951, 7956, 8234).

[4] Again;

Jehovah sent Moses His servant, Aaron whom He had chosen (Psalms 105:26); where Moses is called a “servant” because a “servant” is predicated of truths (n. 3409); and a “chosen one” is predicated of good (n. 3755). Again:

Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. It is like the good oil upon the head, that went down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard; that went down upon the mouth of his garments (Psalms 133:1-2).

He who does not know what is signified by a “brother,” what by “oil,” what by “the head,” what by “the beard,” what by “garments,” and likewise what Aaron represents, cannot apprehend why these things are compared to the dwelling together of brethren, for how can the oil that went down from the head upon Aaron’s beard, and from thence upon his garments, be like the concord of brethren? But the likeness in the comparison is plain from the internal sense, in which the subject treated of is the influx of good into truths, and the brotherhood of these is described in this way. For “oil” denotes good; “the head of Aaron,” the inmost of good; “the beard,” the most external of it; “garments” denote truths; and “to go down” denotes influx. From this it is clear that by these words is signified the influx of good from interiors to exteriors into truths, and conjunction there. Without the internal sense, who can see that these heavenly things are contained in these words? (That “oil” denotes the good of love, see n. 886, 4582, 4638, 9780; that “the head” denotes what is inmost, n. 5328, 6436, 7859, 9656; that “the beard” denotes what is most external, is evident in Isaiah 7:20; 15:2; in Jeremiah 48:37; and in Ezekiel 5:1; that “garments” denote truths, n. 2576, 4545, 4763, 5319, 5954, 6914, 6917, 9093, 9212, 9216; and that “Aaron” denotes celestial good, may be seen above.)

[5] From the fact that Aaron was chosen to minister in the priest’s office, thus to administer the most holy things, it may be comprehended how the case was with the representations in the Jewish Church, namely, that they did not regard the person who represented, but the thing that was represented; thus that a holy thing, nay, a most holy one, could be represented by persons whose interiors were unclean, and even idolatrous, provided that while they were in worship their externals were disposed to holiness. The quality of Aaron can be seen from the following words in Moses:

Aaron took the gold from the hand of the sons of Israel, and fashioned it with a graving tool, and made it a molten calf. And Aaron built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and said, Tomorrow shall be a feast to Jehovah (Exodus 32:4-5, 25).

Jehovah was moved with anger exceedingly against Aaron, to destroy him; but I prayed for Aaron also in that time (Deuteronomy 9:20).

(That the representatives of the church with the Israelitish and Jewish nation did not regard persons, but the things themselves, see the places cited in n. 9229)