10262. 'A hin' means how far things are joined together. This is clear from the meaning of 'a hin' - which was a liquid measure, at this point a measure of oil - as the extent to which things are joined together. 'Oil' means the Lord's celestial Divine Good, which is the essential power that binds all things together in heaven; consequently the measure of the oil means how far things are joined together, and the fullness of their being joined together. The reason why the Lord's celestial Divine Good is the essential power that binds all things together is that it is the essential being (ipsum esse) of the life that all things have. For that Divine Good imparts life to all things through the Divine Truth emanating from itself; and it imparts life in accordance with the specific character of whatever receives it. Angels are recipients; so too are people in the world. The truths and forms of good they have form their specific character, and this conditions the reception that takes place within them, and so conditions any joining together.

[2] Two measures which were used for sacred purposes are mentioned in the Word; one was for liquids, which was called the hin, the other was for dry substances, which was called the ephah. The hin served to measure oil and wine, and the ephah to measure flour and fine flour. The hin, used for oil and wine, was divided into four, whereas the ephah was divided into ten. The reason why the hin was divided into four was in order that it might mean that which binds things together; for 'four' means a joining together. But the reason why the ephah was divided into ten was in order that it might mean reception, the nature of which was indicated by the numbers; for 'ten' means much, all, and what is complete.

'Four' means a joining together, see 8877, 9601, 9674, 10136, 10137.

'Ten' means much, all, and what is complete, as 'a hundred' does, 1988, 3107, 4400, 4638, 8468, 8540, 9745, 10253.

[3] The fact that the hin was used for the oil and wine in the sacrifices, and was divided into four, whereas the ephah was used for the flour and fine flour, which were for the minchah in the sacrifices, and that it was divided into ten, becomes clear in Exodus 29:40; Leviticus 5:11; 23:13; Numbers 15:3-10; 28:5, 7, 14. From these verses it is evident that 'a hin' means the extent to which things are joined together, and 'an ephah' the amount of reception. Furthermore the oil served to bind the fine flour together, and the fine flour to receive the oil; for a minchah consisted of oil and fine flour.

[4] In addition there were other measures that were used for ordinary purposes, both for dry substances and for liquids. The measures for dry substances were called the homer and the omer, and the measures for liquids the cor and the bath. A homer contained ten ephahs, and an ephah ten omers, whereas a cor contained ten baths, and a bath ten smaller parts; regarding all these, see Exodus 16:36; Ezekiel 45:11, 13, 24.

[5] But where the new temple is dealt with in Ezekiel a different division of the ephah and the bath occurs. There the ephah and the bath are divided not into ten but into six, and the hin corresponds to the ephah, as is evident in the same prophet, in Ezekiel 45:13-14, 24; 46:5, 7, 11, 14. The reason for this is that in those places the subject is not celestial good and its ability to bind things together, but spiritual good and its ability to do so; and the numbers 'twelve', 'six', and 'three' have their correspondence in the spiritual kingdom, because they mean all and, when used in reference to truths and forms of good, mean all aspects of truth and good in their entirety. The fact that these are meant by 'twelve', see 3272, 3858, 3913, 7973, also by 'six', 3960(end), 7973, 8148, 10217; and in like manner 'three', by which from beginning to end, thus what is complete, is meant, and - in respect of real things - all, 2788, 4495, 5159, 7715, 9825, 10127. The reason why these numbers imply similar things is that larger numbers are similar in meaning to the simple ones which when multiplied produce them, 5291, 5335, 5708, 7973.

[6] Since 'a hin' also means how far something is joined to spiritual truth, a third part of a hin of oil was taken for the minchah in the sacrifices of a ram, and a third part of wine for the drink offering, Numbers 15:6-7; for spiritual good is meant by 'a ram', 2830, 9991. From all this it is again plainly evident that numbers are used in the Word to mean real things. What other reason could there be for the numbers used so often in Moses, Ezekiel, and elsewhere to specify amounts and measures?

5335. 'And Joseph was a son of thirty years' means a state when the quantity of remnants was complete. This is clear from the meaning of 'thirty' as a completed number of remnants, dealt with below, and from the meaning of 'years' as states, dealt with in 482, 487, 488, 493, 893. In the Word the number thirty can mean some existence of conflict, or else it can mean a completed number of remnants. The reason why that number has this twofold meaning is that it is arrived at by multiplying five and six, or else by multiplying three and ten. When it is the product of five times six it means some existence of conflict, 2276, because 'five' means some, 649, 4638, 5291, and 'six' conflict, 720, 737, 900, 1709. But when thirty is the product of three times ten it means a completed number of remnants, because 'three' means that which is complete, 2788, 4495, and 'ten' means remnants, 576, 1906, 2284. A composite number implies much the same as the simple ones of which it is the product, 5291. Remnants are the truths joined to good which have been stored away by the Lord in a person's interior parts, see 468, 530, 560, 561, 576, 660, 1050, 1738, 1906, 2284, 5135.

[2] A completed number of remnants is likewise meant by 'thirty' - as it is also by 'sixty', and by 'a hundred' too - in Mark,

The seed which fell into good ground yielded fruit growing up and increasing. One bore thirty-fold, and another sixty, and another a hundred. Mark 4:8, 10.

Each of these numbers, being a multiple of ten, means a completed number of remnants. Also, because no one can be regenerated - that is, permitted to enter into spiritual temptations, by means of which regeneration is effected - until he has received a completed number of remnants, it was therefore laid down that no Levite should carry out any work in the tent of meeting until he was fully thirty years old. Their work or function is also called 'military service', being referred to in Moses as follows,

Take a census of the sons of Kohath from the midst of the sons of Levi - from sons thirty years of age and over, up to sons fifty years of age, everyone coming to perform military service, to do the work in the tent of meeting. Numbers 4:2-3.

Much the same is said regarding the sons of Gershon, and much the same regarding the sons of Merari, in verses 22, 23, 29, 30, and then in verses 35, 39, 43. Of that same chapter in Moses. And something similar is implied where it says that David began to reign when he was a son thirty years of age, 2 Samuel 5:4.

[3] From all this one may now see why the Lord did not make Himself known until He was thirty years of age, Luke 3:23. At that age a completed number of remnants existed with Him, though these remnants which the Lord possessed were ones that He Himself had acquired for Himself. They were also Divine ones and the means by which He united His Human Essence to His Divine Essence and made that Human Essence Divine, 1906. In Him therefore lies the reason why 'thirty years' means a state when the quantity of remnants is complete and why the priests the Levites began to perform their specific functions when they were thirty years old. And because he was to represent the Lord's kingship, David did not begin to reign until he was that same age. For every representative is derived from the Lord, and therefore every representative has reference to Him.