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Exodus 37

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1 And Bezaleel maketh the ark of shittim wood, two cubits and a half its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height;

2 and he overlayeth it with pure gold within and without, and maketh for it a wreath of gold round about;

3 and he casteth for it four rings of gold, on its four feet, even two rings on its one side, and two rings on its second side;

4 and he maketh staves of shittim wood, and overlayeth them with gold,

5 and he bringeth in the staves into the rings, by the sides of the ark, to bear the ark.

6 And he maketh a mercy-seat of pure gold, two cubits and a half its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth;

7 and he maketh two cherubs of gold, of beaten work he hath made them, at the two ends of the mercy-seat;

8 one cherub at the end on this [side], and one cherub at the end on that, out of the mercy-seat he hath made the cherubs, at its two ends;

9 and the cherubs are spreading out wings on high, covering over the mercy-seat with their wings, and their faces [are] one towards another; towards the mercy-seat have the faces of the cherubs been.

10 And he maketh the table of shittim wood; two cubits its length, and a cubit its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height,

11 and overlayeth it with pure gold, and maketh for it a wreath of gold round about.

12 And he maketh for it a border of a handbreadth round about, and maketh a wreath of gold for its border round about;

13 and he casteth for it four rings of gold, and putteth the rings on the four corners which [are] to its four feet;

14 over-against the border have the rings been, places for staves to bear the table.

15 And he maketh the staves of shittim wood, and overlayeth them with gold, to bear the table;

16 and he maketh the vessels which [are] upon the table, its dishes, and its bowls, and its cups, and the cups by which they pour out, of pure gold.

17 And he maketh the candlestick of pure gold; of beaten work he hath made the candlestick, its base, and its branch, its calyxes, its knops, and its flowers, have been of the same;

18 and six branches are coming out of its sides, three branches of the candlestick out of its one side, and three branches of the candlestick out of its second side;

19 three calyxes, made like almonds, in the one branch, a knop and a flower; and three calyxes, made like almonds, in another branch, a knop and a flower; so to the six branches which are coming out of the candlestick.

20 And in the candlestick [are] four calyxes, made like almonds, its knops, and its flowers,

21 and a knop under the two branches of the same, and a knop under the two branches of the same, and a knop under the two branches of the same, [are] to the six branches which are coming out of it;

22 their knops and their branches have been of the same; all of it one beaten work of pure gold.

23 And he maketh its seven lamps, and its snuffers, and its snuff-dishes, of pure gold;

24 of a talent of pure gold he hath made it, and all its vessels.

25 And he maketh the perfume-altar of shittim wood; a cubit its length, and a cubit its breadth (square), and two cubits its height; its horns have been of the same;

26 and he overlayeth it with pure gold, its top and its sides round about, and its horns; and he maketh for it a wreath of gold round about;

27 and two rings of gold he hath made for it under its wreath, at its two corners, at its two sides, for places for staves to bear it with them.

28 And he maketh the staves of shittim wood, and overlayeth them with gold;

29 and he maketh the holy anointing oil, and the pure spice-perfume -- work of a compounder.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 9475

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9475. 'And for the incense of spices' means for delightful perception. This is clear from the meaning of 'incense' as the things of worship that are perceived with delight, such as acts of thanksgiving, adoration, prayer, and the like; and from the meaning of 'spices' as truths of faith which are delightful because they originate in good. For sweet odours, such as spicy ones, mean that which is delightful; and whatever is delightful is such by virtue of the good made known through truths. So it is that 'the incense of spices' means the delightful perception that belongs to truth originating in good. The spices which went into the making of that incense are listed, and the preparation of it is described in the following words,

Take for yourself spices, stacte and onycha and galbanum - [these] spices, and pure frankincense. You shall make them an incense, salted, pure, holy. You shall beat some of it very small, and put some of it before the Testimony in the tent of meeting. Most holy 1 shall it be to you. The incense shall be to you holy for Jehovah. Exodus 30:34-38.

The altar of incense, along with the incense itself, is described as follows,

You shall make an altar for burning incense. You shall overlay it with pure gold. You shall put it before the veil that is over the ark of the Testimony before the mercy-seat, that Aaron may burn on it spicy incense every morning; when he trims the lamps he shall burn it, and between the evenings. Exodus 30:1-10; 37:25-end; 40:26-27.

And elsewhere,

When Aaron comes into the Holy Place he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire 2 from upon the altar, with his hands full of spicy incense beaten fine. 3 Then he shall bring it inside the veil, in order that he may put the incense onto the fire before Jehovah, and the cloud of incense may cover the mercy-seat which is over the Testimony. Leviticus 16:12-13.

[2] Since 'incense' meant acts of worship such as had their origin in good made known through truths, as do all expressions of faith that have their origin in the good of love, the fire was taken from the altar; for the fire on the altar meant the good of God's love, 934, 4906, 5071 (end), 5215, 6314, 6832, 6834, 6849, 7324, 7852. On this account when fire had been taken from any other source they were struck down by a plague and died, Leviticus 10:1-2ff; Numbers 16:45-48; for fire from any other source, or 'foreign fire', meant love that was not God's.

[3] The fact that expressions of faith having their origin in the good of love and charity, for example thanksgivings, acts of adoration, and prayers, are meant by 'incense' is clear in David,

My prayers are acceptable, [as] incense before You. Psalms 141:2.

In John,

The four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. Revelation 5:8.

In the same book,

An angel holding a golden censer ... And much incense was given to him, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar which was before the throne. The smoke of the incense went up from the prayers of the saints. Revelation 8:3-4.

[4] The reason why such expressions of faith are meant by 'incense' is that they are matters of thought and consequently of the lips. But matters of affection and consequently of the heart are meant by 'the minchah' in Malachi 1:11, where it says that from the rising of the sun even to its setting Jehovah's name will be great among the nations, and 'in every place incense has been offered to My name, and a pure minchah'; and the same things are meant by 'the burnt offering' in Moses,

The sons of Levi will teach Jacob Your judgements and Israel Your law. They will put incense in Your nose, and burnt offering on Your altar. Deuteronomy 33:10.

'Incense' in these places stands for such things as are matters of thought and the lips and have regard to the truths of faith; 'minchah' and 'burnt offering' stand for such things as are matters of affection and the heart and have regard to forms of the good of love. All this being so, in the contrary sense worship arising from falsities of faith is meant by burning incense to other gods, Jeremiah 1:16; 44:3, 5; burning incense to idols, Ezekiel 8:11; 16:18; and burning incense to the baalim, Hosea 2:13.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. literally, The holy thing of holy things

2. literally, the fullness of a censer, burning coals of fire

3. literally, the fullness of his fists, spicy incense [beaten] fine

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