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Leviticus 15

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1 Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

2 "Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, 'When any man has a discharge from his body, because of his discharge he is unclean.

3 This shall be his uncleanness in his discharge: whether his body runs with his discharge, or his body has stopped from his discharge, it is his uncleanness.

4 "'Every bed whereon he who has the discharge lies shall be unclean; and everything he sits on shall be unclean.

5 Whoever touches his bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.

6 He who sits on anything whereon the man who has the discharge sat shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.

7 "'He who touches the body of him who has the discharge shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.

8 "'If he who has the discharge spits on him who is clean, then he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.

9 "'Whatever saddle he who has the discharge rides on shall be unclean.

10 Whoever touches anything that was under him shall be unclean until the evening. He who carries those things shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.

11 "'Whoever he who has the discharge touches, without having rinsed his hands in water, he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.

12 "'The earthen vessel, which he who has the discharge touches, shall be broken; and every vessel of wood shall be rinsed in water.

13 "'When he who has a discharge is cleansed of his discharge, then he shall count to himself seven days for his cleansing, and wash his clothes; and he shall bathe his flesh in running water, and shall be clean.

14 "'On the eighth day he shall take two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, and come before Yahweh to the door of the Tent of Meeting, and give them to the priest:

15 and the priest shall offer them, the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering. The priest shall make atonement for him before Yahweh for his discharge.

16 "'If any man has an emission of semen, then he shall bathe all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the evening.

17 Every garment, and every skin, whereon the semen is, shall be washed with water, and be unclean until the evening.

18 If a man lies with a woman and there is an emission of semen, they shall both bathe themselves in water, and be unclean until the evening.

19 "'If a woman has a discharge, and her discharge in her flesh is blood, she shall be in her impurity seven days: and whoever touches her shall be unclean until the evening.

20 "'Everything that she lies on in her impurity shall be unclean. Everything also that she sits on shall be unclean.

21 Whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.

22 Whoever touches anything that she sits on shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.

23 If it is on the bed, or on anything whereon she sits, when he touches it, he shall be unclean until the evening.

24 "'If any man lies with her, and her monthly flow is on him, he shall be unclean seven days; and every bed whereon he lies shall be unclean.

25 "'If a woman has a discharge of her blood many days not in the time of her period, or if she has a discharge beyond the time of her period; all the days of the discharge of her uncleanness shall be as in the days of her period: she is unclean.

26 Every bed whereon she lies all the days of her discharge shall be to her as the bed of her period: and everything whereon she sits shall be unclean, as the uncleanness of her period.

27 Whoever touches these things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.

28 "'But if she is cleansed of her discharge, then she shall count to herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean.

29 On the eighth day she shall take two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, and bring them to the priest, to the door of the Tent of Meeting.

30 The priest shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering; and the priest shall make atonement for her before Yahweh for the uncleanness of her discharge.

31 "'Thus you shall separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness, so they will not die in their uncleanness, when they defile my tabernacle that is in their midst.'"

32 This is the law of him who has a discharge, and of him who has an emission of semen, so that he is unclean thereby;

33 and of her who has her period, and of a man or woman who has a discharge, and of him who lies with her who is unclean.

   

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Arcana Coelestia #9470

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9470. 'And wool of she-goats' means the good from this, that is to say, from the good of mutual love. The reason why 'wool of she-goats' means this good is that 'a she-goat' means the good of innocence in the external or natural man, 3519, 7840, and therefore 'wool' means the truth belonging to that good. However, since not truth but good is meant, the original language does not actually say 'wool of she-goats', only 'she-goats', as is also the case in other places, such as in the following words in Exodus,

All the skilled 1 women brought what they had spun, violet, purple, twice-dyed scarlet, [and] fine linen thread; and all the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun she-goats. Exodus 35:25-26.

'Spinning she-goats' stands for producing things woven from the wool of she-goats.

[2] The fact that 'wool' means truth from a celestial origin, which in itself is good, is clear from places in the Word where the actual word is used, as in Hosea,

[Their mother has committed whoredom.] She said, I will go after my lovers, those giving me my bread and my water, my wool and my linen. Therefore I will return and take back My grain in its season, and I will snatch away My wool and My linen. Hosea 2:5, 9.

This refers to a corrupted Church, meant here by 'mother'. 'The lovers' with whom she is said to have committed whoredom are those who pervert forms of good and truths. 'Bread' and 'water' mean internal forms of the good of love, and the internal truths of faith; 'wool' and 'flax' mean external ones.

[3] In Daniel,

I saw until thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days was seated. His clothing was white as snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool. Daniel 7:9.

This refers to the Church laid waste so far as every truth of faith was concerned, and then restored by the Lord, its having been completely laid waste being meant in the words 'thrones were placed'. 'The Ancient of Days' is the Lord in respect of celestial good as this existed in the Most Ancient Church, which was a celestial Church. In the Word that good is called 'ancient', its external truth being meant by clothing which was 'white as snow', and its external good by hair of the head which was 'like pure wool'. Similar words occur in John,

... in the midst of the seven lampstands one like the Son of Man. His head and hair were white, like white wool, like snow. Revelation 1:13-14.

[4] This kind of truth, being in itself good because it is the outward form of celestial good, is again meant by 'wool' in Ezekiel,

Damascus was your merchant in the wine of Helbon and the wool of Zachar. 2 Ezekiel 27:18.

And in Isaiah,

Though your sins are like twice-dyed, they will be as white as snow. Though they are as red as scarlet, they will be as wool. Isaiah 1:18.

[5] Because Aaron's garments represented the kinds of realities that belong to the Lord's spiritual kingdom, thus the spiritual realities that belong to truth, his 'holy garments' were made of linen and not of wool. For 'linen' is spiritual truth, whereas 'wool' is celestial truth, which in comparison is good. On this account it says in Ezekiel,

The priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok, when they enter the gates of the inner court they shall put on the linen garments, and no wool shall come upon them. The linen turbans shall be on their heads, the linen undergarments shall be over their loins. Ezekiel 44:17-18.

The fact that Aaron's garments were made not of wool but of linen is clear from Leviticus 16:4, 32.

[6] From all this it becomes clear that 'linen' means spiritual truth, which is the truth of the good of faith, whereas 'wool' means celestial truth, which is the truth of the good of love. And since those endued with the latter kind of truth cannot be endued with the former, because the two are as different as the light of the sun is from the light of the stars, it was laid down that no one should wear a garment made of wool and linen mixed together, Deuteronomy 22:10-11. The fact that between what is celestial and what is spiritual there is such a difference, and that both cannot be together in one and the same person, see the places referred to in 9277.

Notes de bas de page:

1. literally, wise

2. The Hebrew word which Swedenborg, following the Latin version of Sebastian Schmidt, renders Zachar is not usually considered to be a proper name.

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

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Hosea 2:5

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5 For their mother has played the prostitute. She who conceived them has done shamefully; for she said, 'I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.'