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Leviticus 14

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1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

2 "This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing. He shall be brought to the priest,

3 and the priest shall go forth out of the camp. The priest shall examine him, and behold, if the plague of leprosy is healed in the leper,

4 then the priest shall command them to take for him who is to be cleansed two living clean birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop.

5 The priest shall command them to kill one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water.

6 As for the living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water.

7 He shall sprinkle on him who is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird go into the open field.

8 "He who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave off all his hair, and bathe himself in water; and he shall be clean. After that he shall come into the camp, but shall dwell outside his tent seven days.

9 It shall be on the seventh day, that he shall shave all his hair off his head and his beard and his eyebrows, even all his hair he shall shave off. He shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his body in water, then he shall be clean.

10 "On the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without blemish, and one ewe lamb a year old without blemish, and three tenths of an ephah of fine flour for a meal offering, mingled with oil, and one log of oil.

11 The priest who cleanses him shall set the man who is to be cleansed, and those things, before Yahweh, at the door of the Tent of Meeting.

12 "The priest shall take one of the male lambs, and offer him for a trespass offering, with the log of oil, and wave them for a wave offering before Yahweh.

13 He shall kill the male lamb in the place where they kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the place of the sanctuary; for as the sin offering is the priest's, so is the trespass offering. It is most holy.

14 The priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and the priest shall put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.

15 The priest shall take some of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand.

16 The priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle some of the oil with his finger seven times before Yahweh.

17 The priest shall put some of the rest of the oil that is in his hand on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, upon the blood of the trespass offering.

18 The rest of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed, and the priest shall make atonement for him before Yahweh.

19 "The priest shall offer the sin offering, and make atonement for him who is to be cleansed because of his uncleanness: and afterward he shall kill the burnt offering;

20 and the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the meal offering on the altar. The priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be clean.

21 "If he is poor, and can't afford so much, then he shall take one male lamb for a trespass offering to be waved, to make atonement for him, and one tenth of an ephah of fine flour mingled with oil for a meal offering, and a log of oil;

22 and two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, such as he is able to afford; and the one shall be a sin offering, and the other a burnt offering.

23 "On the eighth day he shall bring them for his cleansing to the priest, to the door of the Tent of Meeting, before Yahweh.

24 The priest shall take the lamb of the trespass offering, and the log of oil, and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before Yahweh.

25 He shall kill the lamb of the trespass offering. The priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering and put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.

26 The priest shall pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand;

27 and the priest shall sprinkle with his right finger some of the oil that is in his left hand seven times before Yahweh.

28 Then the priest shall put some of the oil that is in his hand on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the place of the blood of the trespass offering.

29 The rest of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before Yahweh.

30 He shall offer one of the turtledoves, or of the young pigeons, such as he is able to afford,

31 even such as he is able to afford, the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, with the meal offering. The priest shall make atonement for him who is to be cleansed before Yahweh."

32 This is the law for him in whom is the plague of leprosy, who is not able to afford the sacrifice for his cleansing.

33 Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

34 "When you have come into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession, and I put a spreading mildew in a house in the land of your possession,

35 then he who owns the house shall come and tell the priest, saying, 'There seems to me to be some sort of plague in the house.'

36 The priest shall command that they empty the house, before the priest goes in to examine the plague, that all that is in the house not be made unclean: and afterward the priest shall go in to inspect the house.

37 He shall examine the plague; and behold, if the plague is in the walls of the house with hollow streaks, greenish or reddish, and it appears to be deeper than the wall;

38 then the priest shall go out of the house to the door of the house, and shut up the house seven days.

39 The priest shall come again on the seventh day, and look. If the plague has spread in the walls of the house,

40 then the priest shall command that they take out the stones in which is the plague, and cast them into an unclean place outside of the city:

41 and he shall cause the inside of the house to be scraped all over, and they shall pour out the mortar, that they scraped off, outside of the city into an unclean place.

42 They shall take other stones, and put them in the place of those stones; and he shall take other mortar, and shall plaster the house.

43 "If the plague comes again, and breaks out in the house, after he has taken out the stones, and after he has scraped the house, and after it was plastered;

44 then the priest shall come in and look; and behold, if the plague has spread in the house, it is a destructive mildew in the house. It is unclean.

45 He shall break down the house, its stones, and its timber, and all the house's mortar. He shall carry them out of the city into an unclean place.

46 "Moreover he who goes into the house while it is shut up shall be unclean until the evening.

47 He who lies down in the house shall wash his clothes; and he who eats in the house shall wash his clothes.

48 "If the priest shall come in, and examine it, and behold, the plague hasn't spread in the house, after the house was plastered, then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, because the plague is healed.

49 To cleanse the house he shall take two birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop.

50 He shall kill one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water.

51 He shall take the cedar wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet, and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird, and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times.

52 He shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, and with the running water, with the living bird, with the cedar wood, with the hyssop, and with the scarlet;

53 but he shall let the living bird go out of the city into the open field. So shall he make atonement for the house; and it shall be clean."

54 This is the law for any plague of leprosy, and for an itch,

55 and for the destructive mildew of a garment, and for a house,

56 and for a rising, and for a scab, and for a bright spot;

57 to teach when it is unclean, and when it is clean. This is the law of leprosy.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 643

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643. As for the meaning itself of these expressions - that 'planks of gopher' means lusts and 'rooms' the two parts of this man - this becomes clear from the Word. Gopher is a wood full of sulphur, as is the fir and others of that group. It is on account of the sulphur in it that it is said to mean lusts, for it catches fire easily. The most ancient people compared and likened those elements that exist with man to gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, his inmost celestial to gold, the lower celestial to bronze, and the lowest or bodily descending from this to wood, while the inmost spiritual they compared and likened to silver, the lower spiritual to iron, and the lowest degree of it to stone. When those objects are mentioned in the Word these are the things meant by them in the internal sense, as in Isaiah,

Instead of bronze I will bring gold, and instead of iron I will bring silver, and instead of wood, bronze, and instead of stones, iron. And I will make peace your assessment and righteousness your tax-collectors. Isaiah 60:17.

This refers to the Lord's kingdom in which no such metals exist, but instead celestial and spiritual elements. It is quite clear that the latter are meant because of the reference to peace' and 'righteousness'. Here, gold, bronze, and wood correspond to one another and mean celestial elements or those belonging to the will, as has been stated. Silver, iron, and stone also correspond to one another, and mean spiritual elements or those belonging to the understanding.

[2] In Ezekiel,

They will spoil your riches, they will despoil your merchandise, your stones and your timbers. Ezekiel 26:12.

It is quite clear that 'riches' and 'merchandise' do not mean material riches and merchandise, but celestial and spiritual ones. So also 'stones' and 'timbers' - 'stones' being things of the understanding and 'timbers' those of the will. In Habakkuk,

The stone cries out from the wall, and the beam out of the woodwork answers back. Habakkuk 2:11.

'Stone' stands for the lowest degree of the understanding, and 'wood' for the lowest degree of the will, which answers back when anything is drawn from sensory knowledge. In the same prophet,

Woe to him who says to a piece of wood, Awake! or to a dumb stone, Arise, this will teach! Behold, this is bound in gold and silver, and there is no spirit 1 at all in the midst of it. But Jehovah is in His holy temple. Habakkuk 2:19-20.

Here also 'wood' stands for evil desire, 'stone' for the lowest degree of the understanding, and therefore 'being dumb' and 'teaching' are used in reference to that stone. 'No spirit in the midst of it' means that it represents nothing celestial or spiritual, like a temple in which there is stone and wood, overlaid with gold and silver, existing with people who give no thought to what those things represent.

[3] In Jeremiah,

Our waters we drink for silver, our timbers come for a price. Lamentations 5:4.

Here 'waters' and 'silver' mean things of the understanding, 'timbers' those of the will. In the same prophet,

Who say to wood, You are my father; and to a stone, You gave birth to us. Jeremiah 2:27.

Here 'wood' stands for desire which belongs to the will, from which there is conception, and 'stone' for sensory knowledge, from which there is birth. All through the Prophets therefore 'serving wood and stone' stands for images carved out of wood or stone, which means that people were slaves to evil desires and to delusions. The Prophets also speak of 'committing adultery with wood and stone', as in Jeremiah 3:9. In Hosea,

The people inquire of their piece of wood, and their staff makes declaration to them, for the spirit of whoredom has led them astray. Hosea 4:12.

This stands for their inquiring of a wooden image, or evil desires. In Isaiah,

The tophet has been prepared since yesterday. Its pyre is fire and much wood; the breath of Jehovah is like a stream of burning brimstone. Isaiah 30:33.

Here 'fire', brimstone', and 'wood' stand for filthy desires.

[4] In general 'wood' means those elements which constitute the lowest parts of the will. Precious kinds of wood, such as cedar and so on, mean elements that are good - for example, the cedar timbers in the Temple, or the cedarwood used in cleansing leprosy, Leviticus 14:4, 6-7, or the wood cast into the bitter waters at Marah, by which the waters were made sweet, Exodus 15:25. These in the Lord's Divine mercy will be dealt with in their proper places. Non-precious kinds of wood however, also those which were made into images, and those that were used for a pyre as well, and the like, mean evil desires, as do planks of gopher here on account of the brimstone or sulphur in them. As in Isaiah,

The day of Jehovah's vengeance - her streams will be turned into pitch, and her dust into brimstone, and her land will become burning pitch. Isaiah 34:8-9.

'Pitch' stands for dreadful delusions, 'brimstone' for filthy desires.

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1. or breath

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