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Lévitique 11

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1 L'Eternel parla à Moïse et à Aaron, et leur dit:

2 Parlez aux enfants d'Israël, et dites: Voici les animaux dont vous mangerez parmi toutes les bêtes qui sont sur la terre.

3 Vous mangerez de tout animal qui a la corne fendue, le pied fourchu, et qui rumine.

4 Mais vous ne mangerez pas de ceux qui ruminent seulement, ou qui ont la corne fendue seulement. Ainsi, vous ne mangerez pas le chameau, qui rumine, mais qui n'a pas la corne fendue: vous le regarderez comme impur.

5 Vous ne mangerez pas le daman, qui rumine, mais qui n'a pas la corne fendue: vous le regarderez comme impur.

6 Vous ne mangerez pas le lièvre, qui rumine, mais qui n'a pas la corne fendue: vous le regarderez comme impur.

7 Vous ne mangerez pas le porc, qui a la corne fendue et le pied fourchu, mais qui ne rumine pas: vous le regarderez comme impur.

8 Vous ne mangerez pas de leur chair, et vous ne toucherez pas leurs corps morts: vous les regarderez comme impurs.

9 Voici les animaux dont vous mangerez parmi tous ceux qui sont dans les eaux. Vous mangerez de tous ceux qui ont des nageoires et des écailles, et qui sont dans les eaux, soit dans les mers, soit dans les rivières.

10 Mais vous aurez en abomination tous ceux qui n'ont pas des nageoires et des écailles, parmi tout ce qui se meut dans les eaux et tout ce qui est vivant dans les eaux, soit dans les mers, soit dans les rivières.

11 Vous les aurez en abomination, vous ne mangerez pas de leur chair, et vous aurez en abomination leurs corps morts.

12 Vous aurez en abomination tous ceux qui, dans les eaux, n'ont pas des nageoires et des écailles.

13 Voici, parmi les oiseaux, ceux que vous aurez en abomination, et dont on ne mangera pas: l'aigle, l'orfraie et l'aigle de mer;

14 le milan, l'autour et ce qui est de son espèce;

15 le corbeau et toutes ses espèces;

16 l'autruche, le hibou, la mouette, l'épervier et ce qui est de son espèce;

17 le chat-huant, le plongeon et la chouette;

18 le cygne, le pélican et le cormoran;

19 la cigogne, le héron et ce qui est de son espèce, la huppe et la chauve-souris.

20 Vous aurez en abomination tout reptile qui vole et qui marche sur quatre pieds.

21 Mais, parmi tous les reptiles qui volent et qui marchent sur quatre pieds, vous mangerez ceux qui ont des jambes au-dessus de leurs pieds, pour sauter sur la terre.

22 Voici ceux que vous mangerez: la sauterelle, le solam, le hargol et le hagab, selon leurs espèces.

23 Vous aurez en abomination tous les autres reptiles qui volent et qui ont quatre pieds.

24 Ils vous rendront impurs: quiconque touchera leurs corps morts sera impur jusqu'au soir,

25 et quiconque portera leurs corps morts lavera ses vêtements et sera impur jusqu'au soir.

26 Vous regarderez comme impur tout animal qui a la corne fendue, mais qui n'a pas le pied fourchu et qui ne rumine pas: quiconque le touchera sera impur.

27 Vous regarderez comme impurs tous ceux des animaux à quatre pieds qui marchent sur leurs pattes: quiconque touchera leurs corps morts sera impur jusqu'au soir,

28 et quiconque portera leurs corps morts lavera ses vêtements et sera impur jusqu'au soir. Vous les regarderez comme impurs.

29 Voici, parmi les animaux qui rampent sur la terre, ceux que vous regarderez comme impurs: la taupe, la souris et le lézard, selon leurs espèces;

30 le hérisson, la grenouille, la tortue, le limaçon et le caméléon.

31 Vous les regarderez comme impurs parmi tous les reptiles: quiconque les touchera morts sera impur jusqu'au soir.

32 Tout objet sur lequel tombera quelque chose de leurs corps morts sera souillé, ustensile de bois, vêtement, peau, sac, tout objet dont on fait usage; il sera mis dans l'eau, et restera souillé jusqu'au soir; après quoi, il sera pur.

33 Tout ce qui se trouvera dans un vase de terre où il en tombera quelque chose, sera souillé, et vous briserez le vase.

34 Tout aliment qui sert à la nourriture, et sur lequel il sera tombé de cette eau, sera souillé; et toute boisson dont on fait usage, quel que soit le vase qui la contienne, sera souillée.

35 Tout objet sur lequel tombera quelque chose de leurs corps morts sera souillé; le four et le foyer seront détruits: ils seront souillés, et vous les regarderez comme souillés.

36 Il n'y aura que les sources et les citernes, formant des amas d'eaux, qui resteront pures; mais celui qui y touchera de leurs corps morts sera impur.

37 S'il tombe quelque chose de leurs corps morts sur une semence qui doit être semée, elle restera pure;

38 mais si l'on a mis de l'eau sur la semence, et qu'il y tombe quelque chose de leurs corps morts, vous la regarderez comme souillée.

39 S'il meurt un des animaux qui vous servent de nourriture, celui qui touchera son corps mort sera impur jusqu'au soir;

40 celui qui mangera de son corps mort lavera ses vêtements et sera impur jusqu'au soir, et celui qui portera son corps mort lavera ses vêtements et sera impur jusqu'au soir.

41 Vous aurez en abomination tout reptile qui rampe sur la terre: on n'en mangera point.

42 Vous ne mangerez point, parmi tous les reptiles qui rampent sur la terre, de tous ceux qui se traînent sur le ventre, ni de tous ceux qui marchent sur quatre pieds ou sur un grand nombre de pieds; car vous les aurez en abomination.

43 Ne rendez point vos personnes abominables par tous ces reptiles qui rampent; ne vous rendez point impurs par eux, ne vous souillez point par eux.

44 Car je suis l'Eternel, votre Dieu; vous vous sanctifierez, et vous serez saints, car je suis saint; et vous ne vous rendrez point impurs par tous ces reptiles qui rampent sur la terre.

45 Car je suis l'Eternel, qui vous ai fait monter du pays d'Egypte, pour être votre Dieu, et pour que vous soyez saints; car je suis saint.

46 Telle est la loi touchant les animaux, les oiseaux, tous les êtres vivants qui se meuvent dans les eaux, et tous les êtres qui rampent sur la terre,

47 afin que vous distinguiez ce qui est impur et ce qui est pur, l'animal qui se mange et l'animal qui ne se mange pas.

   

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Arcana Coelestia #3994

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3994. 'And every black one among the lambs' means a proprium of innocence, which belongs to the good meant by 'Laban'. This is clear from the meaning of 'black' as the proprium, dealt with immediately above in 3993, and from the meaning of 'a lamb' as innocence, dealt with below. With regard to a proprium of innocence meant by 'black one among the lambs' the position is that, to be good, all good must contain innocence. Charity devoid of innocence is not charity, and still less can love to the Lord exist without it. Innocence is therefore an absolutely essential element of love and charity, and consequently of good. A proprium of innocence consists in knowing, acknowledging, and believing, not with the lips but with the heart, that nothing but evil originates in oneself, and everything good in the Lord, and therefore that such a proprium is altogether black, that is to say, both the will side of the proprium, which is evil, and the understanding side, which is falsity. When a person confesses and believes that in his heart, the Lord flows in with good and truth and instills a heavenly proprium into him which is bright and shining. Nobody can possibly be truly humble unless that acknowledgement and belief are present in his heart; and when they are present he is self-effacing, indeed self-loathing, and so is not preoccupied with himself, in which case he is in a fit state to receive the Lord's Divine. These are the circumstances in which the Lord flows in with good into a humble and contrite heart.

[2] Such is the proprium of innocence meant here by 'the black one among the lambs' which Jacob chose for himself, whereas 'the white one among the iambs' means the merit that is placed in good deeds - 'white' meaning merit, as stated above in 3993. Jacob did not choose this because it goes against innocence. Indeed anyone who places merit in good deeds acknowledges and believes that all good originates in himself, for he regards himself, not the Lord, in the good deeds he does and as a consequence seeks reward on the basis of that merit. For the same reason he also despises others in comparison with himself, indeed he even condemns them, and therefore to the same extent departs from heavenly order, that is, from good and truth. From all this it may be seen that charity towards the neighbour and love to the Lord are by no means able to exist unless they have innocence within them, and consequently that no one can enter heaven unless he possesses some degree of innocence, according to the Lord's words,

Truly I say to you, Whoever has not received the kingdom of God like a young child will not enter into it. Mark 10:15; Luke 18:17.

Here and elsewhere in the Word 'a young child' means innocence - see what has been stated already on these matters in the following paragraphs,

Early childhood is not innocence, but innocence resides in wisdom, 2305, 3494.

The nature of the innocence of early childhood, and the nature of the innocence of wisdom, 2306, 3183; also the nature of the proprium when, with innocence and charity, the Lord gives it life, 154.

Innocence causes good to be good, 2526, 2780.

[3] The fact that innocence is meant by 'lambs' may be seen from many places in the Word, of which let the following be quoted to confirm the point,

The wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the ox together; and a little child will lead them. Isaiah 11:6.

This refers to the Lord's kingdom and to the state of peace and of innocence there. 'The wolf' stands for those who are opposed to innocence, 'the lamb' for those in whom innocence is present. A similar example occurs elsewhere in the same prophet,

The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; and for the serpent, dust will be his bread. They will not hurt and will not destroy on all My holy mountain. Isaiah 65:25.

As above, 'the wolf' stands for those who are opposed to innocence, and 'the lamb' for those in whom innocence is present. Because 'the wolf' and 'the lamb' are opposites, the Lord also said to the seventy whom He sent out, in Luke,

Behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Luke 10:3.

In Moses,

He causes him to suck honey out of the crag, and oil out of the stony rock - butter from the cattle, and milk from the flock, with the fat of lambs and rams, the breed 1 of Bashan. Deuteronomy 32:13-14.

This refers in the internal sense to the celestial qualities of the Ancient Church. 'The fat of lambs' stands for the charity that goes with innocence.

[4] In the original language various nouns exist for lambs, and each is used to mean a different degree of innocence, for as has been stated, all good, if it is to be good, must have innocence within it. And so also must truth. Here in Genesis 30:32 the word used for lambs is also used for sheep, as in Leviticus 1:10; 3:7; 5:6; 17:3; 22:19; Numbers 18:17; and by that word is meant the innocence belonging to faith grounded in charity. Different words are used elsewhere, as in Isaiah,

Send the lamb of the ruler of the land from the rock towards the wilderness, to the mountain of the daughter of Zion. Isaiah 16:1.

A different word again is used in the same prophet,

The Lord Jehovih is coming with strength, and His arm will exercise dominion for Him. He will pasture His flock like a shepherd, He will gather the lambs into His arm, He will carry them in His bosom, and will lead those that give suck. Isaiah 40:9-11.

'Gathering the lambs into the arm and carrying in the bosom' stands for people who are governed by charity that has innocence within it.

[5] In John,

When He appeared [to the disciples] Jesus said to Peter, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these? He said to Him, Yes, Lord; You know that I love You. He said to him, Feed My lambs. He said to him again, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me? He said to Him, Yes, Lord, You know that I love You. He said to him, Feed My sheep. John 21:15-16.

Here as elsewhere 'Peter' means faith - see the Prefaces to Chapters 18 and 22, and 3750. And since faith is not faith if it does not arise out of charity towards the neighbour, and so out of love to the Lord, neither are charity and love charity and love if they do not arise out of innocence. This is why the Lord first asks whether he loves Him, that is, whether love is present within faith, and after that says, 'Feed My lambs', that is, feed those who are innocent. Then after putting the same question again, He says, 'Feed My sheep', that is, feed those who have charity.

[6] Because the Lord is the Innocence itself which exists in His kingdom, for He is the source of all innocence, the Lord is therefore called the Lamb, as in John,

The next day John Baptist saw Jesus coming towards him, and said, Behold, the Lamb of God who bears away the sin of the world. John 1:29, 36.

And in Revelation,

They will fight with the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings, and those with Him have been called and chosen. Revelation 17:14.

There are other places in Revelation besides this - 5:6; 6:1, 16; 7:9, 14, 17; 12:11; 13:8; 14:1, 4; 19:7, 9; 21:22-23, 27; 22:1, 3. It is well known that in the highest sense the paschal lamb means the Lord - for the Passover meant the Lord's glorification, that is, His enduing the Human with the Divine - and in the representative sense means the regeneration of man. Indeed the paschal lamb means that which is the essential feature of regeneration, namely innocence; for nobody can be regenerated except by means of charity that has innocence within it.

[7] Because innocence is the first essential in the Lord's kingdom and is the celestial itself there, and because sacrifices and burnt offerings used to represent the spiritual and celestial things of the Lord's kingdom, the essential itself of the Lord's kingdom, which is innocence, was therefore represented by 'lambs'. This was why the continual or daily burnt offering was made from lambs, the first in the morning and the second 'between the evenings', Exodus 29:37-39; Numbers 28:3-4; and a double offering on the sabbath, Numbers 28:9-10; and many more lambs still at the appointed festivals, Leviticus 23:12; Numbers 28:11, 14, 19, 27; 28:1-end. After the days of her cleansing had been completed a woman who had given birth was required to offer a lamb as a burnt offering, also a young pigeon or else a turtledove, Leviticus 12:6. This was required in order that the sign of the fruit of conjugial love - a love which is innocence itself, see 2736 - might be represented, and because innocence is meant by 'babes'.

Notes de bas de page:

1. literally, sons

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