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Numbers 11

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1 And when the people complained, it displeased the LORD; and the LORD heard it: and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the LORD burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp.

2 And the people cried to Moses; and when Moses prayed to the LORD, the fire was quenched.

3 And he called the name of the place Taberah; because the fire of the LORD burnt among them.

4 And the mixed multitude that was among them fell to lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?

5 We remember the fish which we ate in Egypt freely: the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic:

6 But now our soul is dried away; there is nothing at all, besides this manna, before our eyes.

7 And the manna was as coriander-seed, and the color of it as the color of bdellium.

8 And the people went about, and gathered it and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil.

9 And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it.

10 Then Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, every man in the door of his tent: and the anger of the LORD was kindled greatly: Moses also was displeased.

11 And Moses said to the LORD, Why hast thou afflicted thy servant? and Why have I not found favor in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me?

12 Have I conceived all this people? have I begotten them, that thou shouldest say to me, Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing-father beareth the sucking child, to the land which thou sworest to their fathers?

13 Whence should I have flesh to give to all this people? for they weep to me, saying, give us flesh, that we may eat.

14 I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me.

15 And if thou dealest thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favor in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness.

16 And the LORD said to Moses, Gather to me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them to the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee.

17 And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou mayest not bear it thyself alone.

18 And say thou to the people, Sanctify yourselves against to-morrow, and ye shall eat flesh; for ye have wept in the ears of the LORD, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat? for it was well with us in Egypt: therefore the LORD will give you flesh, and ye shall eat.

19 Ye shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days;

20 But even a whole month, until it shall come out at your nostrils, and it be lothsome to you; because ye have despised the LORD who is among you, and have wept before him, saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt?

21 And Moses said, The people among whom I am, are six hundred thousand footmen; and thou hast said, I will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month.

22 Shall the flocks and the herds be slain for them, to suffice for them? or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered for them, to suffice for them?

23 And the LORD said to Moses, Is the LORD'S hand shortened? thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass to thee, or not.

24 And Moses went out, and told the people the words of the LORD, and gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them around the tabernacle.

25 And the LORD came down in a cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it to the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that when the spirit rested upon them; they prophesied, and did not cease.

26 But there remained two of the men in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad: and the spirit rested upon them, and they were of them that were described, but went not out to the tabernacle: and they prophesied in the camp.

27 And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp.

28 And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My lord, Moses, forbid them.

29 And Moses said to him, Enviest thou for my sake? I would that all the LORD'S people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit upon them.

30 And Moses withdrew into the camp, he and the elders of Israel.

31 And there went forth a wind from the LORD, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, as it were a day's journey on this side, and as it were a day's journey on the other side, around the camp, and as it were two cubits high upon the face of the earth.

32 And the people stood up all that day, and all that night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quails: he that gathered least gathered ten homers: and they spread them all abroad for themselves around the camp.

33 And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote the people with a very great plague.

34 And he called the name of that place Kibroth-hattaavah: because there they buried the people that lusted.

35 And the people journeyed from Kibroth-hattaavah to Hazeroth: and abode at Hazeroth.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 6524

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6524. The elders of his house. That this signifies that were in agreement with good, is evident from the signification of “elders,” as being the chief things of wisdom, thus those which agree with good (of which in what follows); and from the signification of “house,” as being good (see n. 2559, 3652, 3720, 4982). That “elders” denote the chief things of wisdom is because in the Word “old men” signify the wise, and in a sense abstracted from person, wisdom. As the “twelve tribes of Israel” signified all truths and goods in the complex, there were set over them princes and elders, and by “princes” were signified the primary truths which are of intelligence, and by “elders” the chief things of wisdom, thus those which are of good.

[2] That “princes” signify the primary truths which are of intelligence, may be seen above (n. 1482, 2089, 5044); but that “elders” signified the chief things of wisdom, and “old men,” wisdom, is plain from the following passages.

In David:

Let them extol Jehovah in the congregation of the people, and praise Him in the assembly of the elders (Psalms 107:32); where the “congregation of the people” denotes those who are in the truths that belong to intelligence, “congregation” being predicated of truths (n. 6355), and also “people” (n. 1259, 1260, 2928, 3295, 3581); and the “assembly of the elders” denotes those who are in good, which is of wisdom; for wisdom is of life, thus of good, but intelligence is of knowledges, thus of truth (n. 1555). Again:

I am wiser than the elders, because I have kept Thy commandments (Psalms 119:100); where the “elders” manifestly denote him who is wise. So in Job:

In old men there is wisdom, and in length of days intelligence (Job 12:12).

In Moses:

Thou shalt rise up before the gray head, and honor the faces of the old man (Leviticus 19:32);

this was commanded because old men represented wisdom.

[3] In Revelation:

Upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, who had golden crowns upon their heads (Revelation 4:4);

“elders” denote the things which belong to wisdom, thus those which belong to good; that “elders” denote these things is evident from the description-that they “sat on thrones, were clothed in white garments, and had crowns of gold on their heads;” for “thrones” denote the truths of intelligence from the good of wisdom (n. 5313); in like manner “white garments” (that “garments” are truths, n. 1073, 4545, 4763, 5248, 5954; and that “white” is predicated of truth, n. 3301, 5319). “Golden crowns upon their heads” denote the goods of wisdom; for “gold” is the good of love (n. 113, 1551, 1552, 5658), and the “head” is the celestial, where is wisdom (n. 4938, 4939, 5328, 6436). They are called “wise” who are in the third or inmost heaven, thus who are nearest the Lord; but they are called “intelligent” who are in the middle or second heaven, thus who are not so near the Lord.

[4] Again:

All the angels stood round about the throne, and the elders, and the four animals (Revelation 7:11); where also “elders” denote the things that belong to wisdom. So in the following passages.

In Isaiah:

The child will puff himself up against the old man, and the despised against the honored one (Isaiah 3:5);

Again:

Jehovah Zebaoth shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem; and before His elders shall be glory (Isaiah 24:23).

In Jeremiah:

My priests and mine elders expired in the city, because they have sought food for themselves wherewith to refresh their soul (Lam. 1:19).

Again:

Her king and her princes are among the nations, the law is not; the elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the earth, they keep silence (Lam. 2:9-10).

Again:

They ravished the women in Zion, the virgins in the cities of Judah; princes were hanged up by their hand; the faces of the old were not honored; the elders have ceased from the gate (Lam. 5:11-12, 14).

In Ezekiel:

Misery shall come upon misery, and rumor shall be upon rumor; therefore they shall seek a vision from the prophet; but the law hath perished from the priest, and counsel from the elders. The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with amazement (Ezekiel 7:26-27).

In Zechariah:

There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for multitude of days (Zech. 8:4).

That the elders might represent the things that belong to wisdom, the spirit of Moses was taken and given them, whence they prophesied (Numbers 11:16, et seq.). In the opposite sense “elders” denote the things that are contrary to wisdom (Ezekiel 8:11-12).

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