Bible

 

Exodo 27

Studie

   

1 At gagawin mong kahoy ng akasia ang dambana, na limang siko ang haba at limang siko ang luwang; ang dambana ay gagawing parisukat: at ang taas ay magkakaroon ng tatlong siko.

2 At gagawin mo ang mga anyong sungay sa ibabaw ng apat na sulok niyaon: ang mga anyong sungay ay kaputol din, at iyong babalutin ng tanso.

3 At igagawa mo ng kaniyang mga kawa upang magalis ng mga abo, at ng mga pala, at ng mga mangkok, at ng mga pangalawit at ng mga suuban: lahat ng mga kasangkapa'y gagawin mong tanso.

4 At igagawa mo ng isang salang tanso na tila lambat ang yari, at ang ibabaw ng nilambat ay igagawa mo ng apat na argolyang tanso sa apat na sulok niyaon.

5 At ilalagay mo sa ibaba ng gilid ng dambana, sa dakong ibaba, upang ang nilambat ay umabot hanggang sa kalahatian ng dambana.

6 At igagawa mo ng mga pingga ang dambana, mga pinggang kahoy na akasia at babalutin mo ng tanso.

7 At ang mga pingga niyao'y isusuot sa mga argolya, at ang mga pingga ay ilalagay sa dalawang tagiliran ng dambana, pagka dinadala.

8 Gagawin mo ang dambana na kuluong sa pamamagitan ng mga tabla kung paano ang ipinakita sa iyo sa bundok, ay gayon gagawin nila.

9 At iyong gagawin ang looban ng tabernakulo: sa tagilirang timugan na dakong timugan ay magkakaroon ng mga tabing sa looban na linong pinili, na may isang daang siko ang haba sa isang tagiliran:

10 At ang ihahaligi doo'y dalawang pu, at ang mga tungtungan ng mga yaon ay dalawang pu na tanso; ang mga sima ng mga haligi at ang mga pilete niyaon ay pilak.

11 At gayon din sa tagilirang dakong hilagaan, sa kahabaan ay magkakaroon ng mga tabing na may isang daang siko ang haba, at ang mga haligi ng mga yaon ay dalawangpu, at ang mga tungtungan ng mga yaon ay dalawangpu na tanso; ang mga sima ng mga haligi at ang mga pilete ng mga yaon ay pilak.

12 At sa kaluwangan ng looban sa kalunuran ay magkakaroon ng mga tabing na may limangpung siko: ang haligi ng mga yaon ay sangpu at ang mga tungtungan ng mga yaon ay sangpu.

13 At sa kaluwangan ng looban sa dakong silanganan, sa dakong sinisikatan ng araw, ay magkakaroon ng limangpung siko.

14 Ang mga tabing sa isang dako ng pintuang-daan ay magkakaroon ng labinglimang siko: ang mga haligi ng mga yaon ay tatlo, at ang mga tungtungan ng mga yaon ay tatlo rin.

15 At sa kabilang dako'y magkakaroon ng mga tabing na ma'y labing limang siko: ang mga haligi ng mga yao'y tatlo, at ang mga tungtungan ng mga yao'y tatlo.

16 At sa pintuan ng looban ay magkakaroon ng isang tabing na may dalawang pung siko, na ang kayo'y bughaw, at kulay-ube, at pula, at kayong linong pinili, na yari ng mangbuburda: ang mga haligi ng mga yao'y apat, at ang mga tungtungan ng mga yao'y apat.

17 Lahat ng haligi sa palibot ng looban ay pagsusugpungin ng mga pileteng pilak; ang mga sima ng mga yaon ay pilak, at ang mga tungtungan ng mga yaon ay tanso.

18 Ang haba ng looban ay magkakaroon ng isang daang siko, at ang luwang ay limang pu magpasaan man, at ang taas ay limang siko, kayong linong pinili, at ang mga tuntungan ay tanso.

19 Lahat ng mga kasangkapan ng tabernakulo, sa buong paglilingkod doon, at lahat ng mga tulos niyaon, at lahat ng mga tulos ng looban ay tanso.

20 At iyong iuutos sa mga anak ni Israel na sila'y magdala sa iyo ng taganas na langis ng binayong oliba na pangilawan, upang papagningasing palagi ang ilawan.

21 Sa tabernakulo ng kapisanan sa labas ng lambong na nasa harap ng kaban ng patotoo, ay aayusin yaon ni Aaron at ng kaniyang mga anak mula sa hapon hanggang sa umaga sa harap ng Panginoon: magiging palatuntunan sa buong panahon ng kanilang lahi sa ikagagaling ng mga anak ni Israel.

   

Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

Apocalypse Explained # 70

Prostudujte si tuto pasáž

  
/ 1232  
  

70. The reason why the feet are said to be like unto fine brass is, that by fine brass is meant brass polished and shining, like something fiery; and brass in the Word signifies natural good. Metals, like all other things in the Word, are significative. Gold in the Word signifies celestial good, which is inmost good; silver signifies its truth, which is spiritual good; brass natural good, which is ultimate good, and iron its truth, which is natural truth. That such things are signified by metals, is from correspondence; for many things are seen in heaven shining like gold and silver, and also many things shining like brass and iron. And it is there known, that by those things are signified the above-mentioned kinds of good and truth; this is why the ancients, who were in the knowledge of correspondences, named the ages after those metals. The first age they called the golden age, because innocence, love and wisdom therefrom, then reigned; but the second age they called the silver age, because truth from that good, or spiritual good, and intelligence therefrom, then reigned; the third age they called the brazen, or copper, age, because only natural good, which is what is just and sincere pertaining to moral life, then reigned; but the last age they called the iron age, because only truth without good then reigned, and when that reigns, then also falsity reigns. The reason why the ages were thus distinguished, was from the spiritual signification of those metals.

[2] From these considerations it is evident what is signified by the statue of Nebuchadnezzar, seen in his dream,

"whose head was of gold, the chest and arms of silver, the belly and thighs of brass, the legs of iron, and the feet partly of iron and partly of clay" (Dan. 2:32, 33).

The state of the church from its first time to its last as to good and truth, is here signified; its last time was when the Lord came into the world.

When it is known that gold signifies celestial good, silver spiritual good, brass natural good, and iron natural truth, many arcana in the Word where those metals are mentioned can be known. For example, what is signified by these words in Isaiah:

"For brass I will bring gold, for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron; I will also make thy government peace, and thine exactors justice" (60:17).

[3] But as the signification of brass is what is here treated of, as being natural good, it is necessary only to adduce a few passages where brass is mentioned and signifies that good. Thus in Moses:

"Asher acceptable to his brethren, and dipping his foot in oil; iron and brass thy shoe, and as thy day, thy fame" (Deuteronomy 33:24, 25).

Asher, as one of the tribes, signifies the happiness of life, and the delight of the affections (see Arcana Coelestia 3938, 3939, 6408); to dip the foot in oil signifies natural delight (that oil denotes delight, see n. 9954, and that the foot denotes the Natural, see above, n. 69); the shoe being iron and brass signifies the lowest Natural derived from truth and good, shoe denoting the lowest Natural (see n. 1748, 1860, 6844); iron is its truth, and brass its good, as above. Again,

"Jehovah thy God will bring thee into a rich land; a land out of whose stones thou shalt cut iron, and out of whose mountains brass" (Deuteronomy 8:7, 9).

And in Jeremiah:

"I will give thee unto this people for a fortified wall of brass, that they may fight against thee, and not prevail over thee" (15:20).

And in Ezekiel:

"Javan, Tubal, and Mesech, they were thy merchants; with the soul of man and vessels of brass they gave thy merchandise" (27:13).

In this chapter the merchandises of Tyre are treated of, by which are signified the knowledges (cognitiones) of good and truth. By the names Javan, Tubal, and Mesech, are signified those things that pertain to good and truth, to which the knowledges relate; the soul of man denotes the truth of life; vessels of brass denote scientifics of natural good.

[4] (What is signified by Tyre, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 1201; what by merchandises, n. 2967, 4453; what by Tubal and Mesech, n. 1151; what by Javan, n. 1152, 1153, 1155; what by the soul of man, n. 2930, 9050, 9281; what by vessels, n. 3068, 3079, 3316, 3318.)

Again, in the same prophet:

The feet of the cherubs "shone like the appearance of polished brass" (1:7).

(What the cherubs and the feet signify, may be seen above, n. 69.) And in the same prophet:

"I saw, and, lo, a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, and a thread of flax in his hands; he stood in the gate" (40:3).

Because the angel here mentioned measured the wall and the gates of the house of God, which signify the externals of the church, his appearance was seen to be the appearance of brass.

He who knows that brass signifies the external of the church, which in itself is natural, may in some measure understand why the altar of burnt-offering was overlaid with brass, and the gate round it was of brass, and the vessels of brass (Exodus 27:1-4), also why the great vessel, which was called the sea, with the twelve oxen under it, and the ten lavers with the bases, and also all the vessels of the tabernacle for the house of God, were made by Solomon of polished brass (1 Kings 7:43-47). He who knows what brass signifies, can also enter into the arcanum why a serpent of brass was commanded to be set up for the people to look at, concerning which it is thus written in Moses:

"Jehovah sent serpents among the people, which bit the people. And he said unto Moses, Make thee a serpent, and set it upon a pole; and it shall come to pass that every one that is bitten, when he hath looked upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and set it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that when a serpent had bitten any man, and he looked upon the serpent of brass, he lived" (Numbers 21:6, 8, 9).

That the Lord was signified by that serpent, He himself teaches in John:

"As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (3:14, 15).

By the serpent is signified the ultimate of life in man, which is called the external Sensual, which is natural. To represent this ultimate, which in the Lord was Divine, among the sons of Israel, with whom all things were representative, a serpent of brass was made; and the signification was, that, if they looked to the Divine Human of the Lord, they would revive, that is, if they believed in Him, they should have eternal life, as the Lord himself also teaches. (That to see in the spiritual sense is to believe, may be seen above, n. 37, 68; and that a serpent denotes the external Sensual, which is the ultimate of the life of man, see Arcana Coelestia 195-197, 6398, 6949, 10313.) That brass and iron in the Word also signify what is hard, as in Isaiah 48:4; Dan. 7:19; and other places, will be seen in the following pages.

  
/ 1232  
  

Translation by Isaiah Tansley. Many thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.