10407. 'And made out of it a calf of molded [metal]' means in keeping with the delight belonging to that nation's loves. This is clear from the meaning of 'a calf' as external or natural good, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'molded [metal]' as worship fashioned in support of external kinds of love, dealt with immediately above in 10406. And since the Israelite nation is the subject in the present chapter and that nation's interest lay in external things and not in what was internal, and so was ruled by external kinds of love, the expression 'in keeping with the delight belonging to that nation's loves' is used. For 'the calf', being an idol, means that delight.

[2] The ancients among whom representative worship existed knew what the various kinds of living creatures were the signs of; for the living creatures each have their own spiritual meaning, and their spiritual meanings govern the manifestations of such creatures in heaven as well, consequently the mention of them in the Word, and also their use in burnt offerings and sacrifices. 'A calf' means the good of innocence and charity within the external or natural man, see 9391, 9990, 10132; but when no good of innocence and charity is present, as is the case with those whose interest lies in external things and not in what is internal, 'a calf' means natural delight on the level of the senses, which is a delight belonging to a person's own wishes, desires, self-love, and love of the world. This delight is the one that exists with those whose interest lies in external things and not in what is internal, and the one they worship; for what a person loves above all things, that he worships. They say, it is true, that they worship the God of all creation; but they say it with their lips and not their heart. People such as these are meant by those who worship the calf of molded [metal].

[3] The Egyptians were such more than all others. Because they possessed a greater knowledge of correspondences and representations than all other nations they made various idols for themselves, as is evident from the Egyptian idols that are still in existence. But their chief idol was the calf, by which they wished to signify their external good within worship. But when their knowledge of correspondences and representations, which was greater than that of other nations, was turned into magic, the calf took on a contrary meaning, namely that of the delight belonging to external kinds of love. And when the calf was placed in temples and worshipped as a god it meant that kind of delight expressed in worship.

[4] Because the Israelite nation brought that idolatrous practice with them out of Egypt, in their case the calf, when worshipped by them as a god, means the delight belonging to their particular loves expressed in worship. What kind of loves these were may be recognized from what has been shown in the places referred to above in 10396. For they were ruled, as they are at the present day, by self-love and love of the world more than all others. It is well known that at the present day they are ruled by a most earthly kind of love; for they love silver and gold not because of any use these can serve but for the sake of silver and gold themselves. This love is the most earthly of all, for it is foul avarice. With them self-love is not plainly visible but lies hidden in their heart, as is normally so with all who are foully avaricious. It is well known too that no love of the neighbour exists with them; and to the extent that love of the neighbour is absent from someone, self-love resides in him.

[5] From all this it now becomes clear what the calf of molded [metal] made by Aaron for that nation means. The like is meant by it in the following places: In Jeremiah,

A very beautiful heifer was Egypt; destruction has come from the north. And her hired servants in the midst of her are like calves of the fattening stall ¹ . Jeremiah 46:20-21.

In David,

They made a calf in Horeb and bowed down to the molded image; and they changed the glory into the effigy of the ox that eats the plant ² . Psalms 106:19-20.

In Hosea,

They sin more and more, and make for themselves a molded image from their silver, idols by their own intelligence, completely the work of craftsmen, saying to them, Those who offer human sacrifice ³ kiss the calves. Hosea 13:2.

In Isaiah,

The unicorns will come down with them, and the calves with the powerful ones; and their land will become drunk with blood, and their dust will be made fat with fatness. Isaiah 34:7.

In the same prophet,

The fortified city will be solitary, a habitation forsaken and left [like a wilderness]; there the calf will feed, and there it will lie down and consume its branches. And its harvest will wither. Isaiah 27:10-11.

In David,

Rebuke the wild animal of the reeds, the congregation of the strong ones, among the calves of the peoples, trampling on the fragments of silver. They have scattered the peoples. Psalms 68:30.

In Jeremiah,

I will give the men who transgressed My covenant, who did not keep the terms of the covenant which they made before Me, that of the calf which they cut in two, in order that they might pass between its parts - the princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the royal ministers and the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf - I will give them into the hand of their enemies, that their dead bodies may be food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth. Jeremiah 34:18-20.

And in Hosea,

They have made a king, and not by Me; they have made princes, and I did not know. Their silver and their gold they have made into idols, that they may be cut off. Your calf has deserted [you], O Samaria. For from Israel is this also. A smith has made it, and it is not God; for the calf of Samaria will be broken to ⁴ pieces. Hosea 8:4-6.

For explanations of all these quotations, see 9391.

Notas a pie de página:

1756. All these matters presented above are those which in general are embodied in the internal sense of this chapter; but the whole train of thought, and its beauty, cannot be seen when every single thing is explained according to the meaning of the words, as they would be if they were comprehended in a single idea. When all are comprehended in a single idea those things which hitherto have lain scattered now appear beautifully joined and linked together. The situation is as with someone who listens to another speaking but pays attention solely to the words he uses. In this case he does not grasp the speaker's idea nearly so well as he would if he paid no attention to the words and their particular shades of meaning; for the internal sense of the Word in relation to the external or literal sense is very similar to speech in relation to the actual words used when these are scarcely listened to, still less paid attention to, as when the mind is intent on the sense alone of the things meant by the words used by the speaker.

[2] The most ancient manner of writing represented real things by the use of persons and of expressions which they employed to mean things entirely different from those persons or expressions. Secular authors of those times compiled their historical narratives in this way, including those things which had to do with public life and private life. Indeed they compiled them in such a way that nothing at all was to be taken literally as written, but something other was to be understood beneath the literal narrative. They even went so far as to present affections of every kind as gods and goddesses, to whom the heathen subsequently offered up divine worship, as every well-educated person may know, for ancient books of that kind are still extant. This manner of writing they derived from the most ancient people who lived before the Flood, who used to represent heavenly and Divine things to themselves by means of visible objects on earth and in the world, and in so doing filled their minds and souls with joys and delights when they beheld the objects in the universe, especially those that were beautiful on account of their form and order. This is why all the books of the Church in those times were written in the same style. Job is one such book; and Solomon's Song of Songs is an imitation of them too. Both the books mentioned by Moses in Numbers 21:14, 27, were of this nature, in addition to many that have perished.

[3] Because it had come down from antiquity this style was later venerated both among the gentiles and among the descendants of Jacob, so much so that whatever was not written in this style was not venerated as Divine. This is why when they were moved by the prophetic spirit - as were Jacob, Genesis 49:3-27; Moses, Exodus 15:1-21; Deuteronomy 33:2-end; Balaam, who was one of the sons of the east in Syria, where the Ancient Church continued to exist, Numbers 23:7-10, 19 24; 24:5-9, 17-24; Deborah and Barak, Judges 5:2-end; Hannah, 1 Samuel 2:2-10; and many others - they spoke in that same manner, and for many hidden reasons. And although, with very few exceptions, they neither understood nor knew that their utterances meant the heavenly things of the Lord's kingdom and Church, they were nevertheless struck and filled with awe and wonder, and sensed that those utterances carried what was Divine and Holy within them.

[4] But that the historical narratives of the Word are of a similar nature, that is to say, that the particular names and particular expressions used represent and mean the celestial and spiritual things of the Lord's kingdom, the learned world has not yet come to know, except that the Word is inspired right down to the tiniest jot, and that every single detail has heavenly arcana within it.