La Bibbia

 

4 Mózes 11

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1 És lõn, hogy panaszolkodék a nép az Úr hallására, [hogy] rosszul [van dolga.] És meghallá az Úr, és haragra gerjede, és felgyullada ellenök az Úrnak tüze és megemészté a tábornak szélét.

2 Kiálta azért a nép Mózeshez, és könyörge Mózes az Úrnak, és megszünék a tûz.

3 És nevezé azt a helyet Thaberának; mert felgyulladt vala ellenök az Úrnak tüze.

4 De a gyülevész nép, a mely köztök vala, kívánságba esék, és Izráel fiai is újra síránkozni kezdének, és mondának: Kicsoda ád nékünk húst ennünk?

5 Visszaemlékezünk a halakra, a melyeket ettünk Égyiptomban ingyen, az ugorkákra és dinnyékre, a párhagymákra, vereshagymákra és a foghagymákra.

6 Most pedig a mi lelkünk eleped, mindennek híjával lévén; szemünk elõtt nincs egyéb mint manna.

7 (A manna pedig olyan vala mint a kóriándrum magva, a színe pedig mint a bdelliomnak színe.

8 Kiomol vala pedig a nép, és szedik vala [a mannát], és õrlik vala kézimalmokban, vagy megtörik vala mozsárban, és megfõzik vala fazékban, és csinálnak vala abból pogácsákat: az íze pedig olyan vala, mint az olajos kalácsé.

9 Mikor pedig a harmat leszáll vala a táborra éjjel, a manna is mindjárt leszáll vala arra.)

10 És meghallá Mózes, hogy sír a nép, az õ nemzetsége szerint, kiki az õ sátorának nyílása elõtt; és igen felgerjede az Úr haragja, és nem tetszék az Mózesnek.

11 És monda Mózes az Úrnak: Miért nyomorítád meg a te szolgádat? és miért nem találék kegyelmet a te szemeid elõtt, hogy ez egész népnek terhét én reám vetéd?

12 Avagy tõlem fogantatott-e mind ez egész nép? avagy én szûltem-e õt, hogy azt mondod nékem: Hordozd õt a te kebleden, a miképen hordozza a dajka a csecsemõt, arra a földre, a mely felõl megesküdtél az õ atyáinak?

13 Hol vegyek én húst, hogy adjam azt mind ez egész népnek? mert reám sírnak, mondván: Adj nékünk húst, hadd együnk!

14 Nem viselhetem én magam mind ez egész népet; mert erõm felett van.

15 Ha így cselekszel velem, kérlek ölj meg engemet, ölj meg ha kedves vagyok elõtted, hogy ne lássam az én nyomorúságomat.

16 Monda azért az Úr Mózesnek: Gyûjts egybe nékem hetven férfiút Izráel vénei közül, a kikrõl tudod, hogy vénei a népnek és annak elõljárói, és vidd õket a gyülekezet sátorához, és álljanak ott veled.

17 Akkor alá szállok, és szólok ott veled, és elszakasztok abból a lélekbõl, a mely te benned van, és teszem õ beléjök, hogy viseljék te veled a népnek terhét, és ne viseljed te magad.

18 A népnek pedig mondd meg: Készítsétek el magatokat holnapra, és húst esztek; mert sírtatok az Úr hallására, mondván: Kicsoda ád nékünk húst ennünk? mert jobban vala nékünk dolgunk Égyiptomban. Azért az Úr ád néktek húst és enni fogtok.

19 Nem [csak] egy napon esztek, sem két napon, sem öt napon, sem tíz napon, sem húsz napon;

20 Hanem egy egész hónapig, míglen kijön az orrotokon, és útálatossá lesz elõttetek; mivelhogy megvetettétek az Urat, a ki közöttetek van; és sírtatok õ elõtte mondván: Miért jöttünk ide ki Égyiptomból?

21 És monda Mózes: Hatszáz ezer gyalogos e nép, a mely között én vagyok, és te azt mondod: Húst adok nékik, és esznek egy egész hónapig?!

22 Nemde juhok és ökrök vágattatnak-é nékik, hogy elég legyen nékik? vagy a tengernek minden hala összegyûjtetik-é nékik, hogy elég legyen nékik?

23 Akkor monda az Úr Mózesnek: Avagy megrövidült-é az Úrnak keze? Majd meglátod: beteljesedik-é néked az én beszédem vagy nem?

24 Kiméne azért Mózes, és elmondá a népnek az Úr beszédét, és összegyûjte hetven férfiút a nép vénei közül, és állatá õket a sátor körül.

25 Akkor leszálla az Úr felhõben, és szóla néki, és elszakaszta abból a lélekbõl, a mely vala õ benne, és adá a hetven vén férfiúba. Mihelyt pedig megnyugovék õ rajtok a lélek, menten prófétálának, de nem többé.

26 Két férfiú azonban elmaradt vala a táborban; egyiknek neve Eldád, a másiknak neve Médád, és ezeken is megnyugodott vala a lélek; mert azok is az összeírottak közül valók, de nem mentek vala el a sátorhoz, és mégis prófétálának a táborban.

27 Elfutamodék azért egy ifjú, és megjelenté Mózesnek, és monda: Eldád és Médád prófétálnak a táborban.

28 Akkor felele Józsué, a Nún fia, Mózes szolgája, az õ választottai közül való, és monda: Uram, Mózes, tiltsd meg õket!

29 És felele néki Mózes: Avagy érettem buzgólkodol-é? Vajha az Úrnak minden népe próféta volna, hogy adná az Úr az õ lelkét õ beléjök.

30 Ezután visszatére Mózes a táborba, õ és az Izráel vénei.

31 És szél jöve ki az Úrtól, és hoza fürjeket a tengertõl, és bocsátá a táborra egynapi járásnyira egy felõl, és egynapi járásnyira más felõl a tábor körül, és mintegy két sing magasságnyira a földnek színén.

32 Akkor felkele a nép [és] azon az egész napon, és egész éjjel, és az egész következõ napon gyûjtének magoknak fürjeket, a ki keveset gyûjtött is, gyûjtött tíz hómert, és kiteregeték azokat magoknak a tábor körül.

33 A hús még foguk között vala, és meg sem emésztették vala, a mikor az Úrnak haragja felgerjede a népre és megveré az Úr a népet igen nagy csapással.

34 És elnevezék azt a helyet Kibrot-thaavának: mert ott temeték el a mohó népet.

35 Kibrot-thaavától elméne a nép Haseróthba; és ott valának Haseróthban.

   

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Arcana Coelestia #8464

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8464. 'It is the bread which Jehovah has given you to eat' means that this is the good that will become their own and constitute their life, in the highest sense that this is the Lord within you. This is clear from the meaning of 'bread' as celestial and spiritual good, and in the highest sense as the Lord, dealt with in 276, 680, 2165, 2177, 3464, 3478, 3735, 3813, 4211, 4217, 4735, 4976, 5915, at this point spiritual good, that is, good as it exists with a member of the spiritual Church, which is the good of truth, dealt with just above in 8458. Since that bread was the manna it follows that this good is meant by 'the manna'. This is also made plain by the description of it in verse 31 of the present chapter, which says 'it was like coriander seed, white, and its taste was like that of a cake with honey', as well as from the description of it in Numbers 11,

The man[na] was like coriander seed, and its appearance like the appearance of bdellium. They ground it in mills or beat it in mortars, and cooked it in a pan, and made cakes out of it; and its taste was like the taste of fresh oil. 1 Numbers 11:7-8.

From the details given here it is evident that 'manna' in the spiritual sense means the good of truth, that is, good as it exists with the spiritual Church. They also explain why it is called 'the grain of the heavens' in David,

He commanded the skies from above, and threw open the doors of the heavens. And He caused man[na] to rain down onto them, and gave them the grain of the heavens. Psalms 78:23-24.

'The grain' is the good of truth, see 5295, 5410. 'Manna' again stands for the good of truth, which is given to those who undergo temptations and overcome in them, in John,

He who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white pebble. Revelation 2:17.

The fact that 'manna' in the highest sense is the Lord within us is clear from actual words used by the Lord in John,

Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that anyone eating of it may not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread he will live forever. John 6:49-51, 58.

From these words it is clearly evident that 'the manna' in the highest sense means the Lord. The reason why is that 'manna' is the good of truth; but all good comes from the Lord, so that the Lord is within good and is Himself that good.

As regards that good, that this will become their own and constitute their life, this is meant by 'eating', 3168, 3513, 3596, 4745; for good which comes from the Lord brings the life of heaven to a person, and from then on nourishes and sustains it.

Note a piè di pagina:

1. literally, the taste of the juice of oil

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

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Arcana Coelestia #2177

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2177. That 'meal of fine flour' means the spiritual and celestial ingredients [of the rational] which were present at that time with the Lord, and 'cakes' the same when both had been joined together, is quite clear from the sacrifices of the representative Church and from the minchah presented at the same time, which consisted of fine flour mixed with oil and made into cakes. Representative worship consisted primarily in burnt offerings and sacrifices. What these represented has been stated above where 'bread' was the subject, in 2165, namely the celestial things of the Lord's kingdom in heaven and of the Lord's kingdom on earth, which is the Church, and also the things of the Lord's kingdom or Church as it exists with every individual, and in general everything that is in essence love and charity, since these are celestial entities. In those times all the sacrifices were called 'bread'. Along with those sacrifices a minchah was included - which, as has been stated, consisted of fine flour mixed with oil to which also incense was added - and also a wine-offering.

[2] What these latter represented becomes clear too, namely things similar to those represented by sacrifices but of a lower order, thus the things which belong to the spiritual Church, and also those which belong to the external Church. It may become clear to anyone that such things would never have been prescribed unless they had represented Divine things, and also that each one represented some specific thing. For unless they had represented Divine things they would have been no different from similar things found among gentiles, among whom also there were sacrifices, minchahs, libations, and incense, as well as perpetual fires and many other things which had come down to them from the Ancient Church, especially from the Hebrew Church. But because they were separated from the internal, that is, the Divine things represented by them, those external forms of worship were nothing but idolatrous, as they also came to be among the Jews, who likewise sank into all kinds of idolatry. From this it may become clear to anyone that heavenly arcana were present within every form of ritual, especially so within the sacrifices and every detail of them.

[3] As regards the minchah, the nature of it and how it was to be made into cakes is described in a whole chapter in Moses - in Leviticus 2; also Numbers 15, and elsewhere. The law regarding the minchah is described in Leviticus in the following words,

Fire shall be kept burning unceasingly on the altar; it shall not be put out. And this is the law of the minchah: Aaron's sons shall bring it before Jehovah to the front of the altar, and he shall take up from it a fistful of fine flour of the minchah and of the oil of it and all the frankincense which is on the minchah, and he shall burn it on the altar; it is an odour of rest for a memorial to Jehovah. And the rest of it Aaron and his sons shall eat. Unleavened bread shall be eaten in a holy place. In the court of the tent of meeting shall they eat it. It shall not be cooked leavened; I have given it as their portion from My fire-offerings; it is most holy. Leviticus 6:13-17.

[4] The fire which was to be kept burning unceasingly on the altar represented the Lord's love, that is, His mercy, which is constant and eternal. 'Fire' in the Word means love, see 934, and therefore 'the fire-offerings made for an odour of rest' means the good pleasure which the Lord takes in those things that belong to love and charity. That 'odour' means good pleasure, that is, that which is pleasing, see 925, 1519. Their 'taking a fistful' represented their being required to love with all their soul or strength, for 'the hand' or 'the palm' of the hand means power, as shown in 878, from which 'the fist' also means the same. 'The fine flour together with the oil and the frankincense' represented all things of charity - 'fine flour' the spiritual ingredient of it, 'oil' the celestial, and 'frankincense' that which was in this manner pleasing. That 'fine flour' represents the spiritual ingredient is evident from what has just been stated and from what is stated below. That 'oil' represents the celestial ingredient, or the good or charity, see 886, and that 'frankincense' on account of its odour represents that which is pleasing and acceptable, 925.

[5] Its being 'unleavened bread' or not fermented means that it was to be genuine, thus something offered from genuineness of heart and having no uncleanness. The eating of the rest by Aaron and his sons represented man's reciprocation and his making it his own, and thus represented conjunction by means of love and charity; and it is for this reason that they were commanded to eat it 'in a holy place'. Hence it is called something most holy. These were the things which were represented by the minchah. It was also the way in which the representatives themselves were perceived in heaven; and when the member of the Church understood them in the same way his ideas were like the perception which the angels possess, so that he was in the Lord's kingdom in heaven even though he was on earth.

[6] For more about the minchah - what it was to consist of in any particular kind of sacrifice; the way in which it was to be baked into cakes; what kind was to be offered by those who were being cleansed, and also what kinds on other occasions (all of which would take too long to introduce and explain here) - see what is said about it in Exodus 29:39-41; Leviticus 5:11-13; 6:16-17, 19-21; 10:12-13; 23:10-13, 6, 17; Numbers 5:15 and following verses; 6:15-17, 19-20; 7: in various places; 28:5, 8, 9, 12-13, 20-21, 28-29; 29:3-4, 9-10, 14-15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30, 33, 37

[7] 'Fine flour made into cakes' had in general the same representation as bread, namely the celestial ingredient of love, while 'meals represented its spiritual ingredient, as becomes clear in the places indicated above. The loaves which were called 'the bread of the Presence' or 'the shewbread' consisted of fine flour, which was made into cakes and placed on the table to provide an unceasing representation of the Lord's love, that is, of His mercy, towards the whole human race, and man's reciprocation. These loaves are spoken of in Moses as follows,

You shall take fine pour and bake it into twelve cakes; two-tenths [of an ephah] shall there be in one cake And you shall place them in two rows, six in a row, on the clean table before Jehovah. And you shall put pure frankincense on each row, and it shall be bread serving as a memorial, a fire-offering to Jehovah. Every sabbath day [Aaron] shall set it out in order before Jehovah continually; it is from the children of Israel as an eternal covenant. And it shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place, for it is to him the most holy of fire-offerings to Jehovah, by an eternal statute. Leviticus 24:5-9.

Every item and smallest detail mentioned here represented the holiness of love and charity, 'fine flour' having the same representation as meal of fine flour, namely that which is celestial and that which is spiritual that goes with it, and 'cake' the two when joined together.

[8] From this it is clear what the holiness of the Word is to those who possess heavenly ideas, and indeed what holiness was present within this particular representative observance, on account of which it is called 'most holy'. It is also clear how devoid of holiness the Word is to those who imagine that it does not have anything heavenly within it and who keep solely to externals. Exemplifying the latter are those who in the present verse under consideration perceive 'the meal' to be merely meal, 'the fine flour' merely fine flour, and 'the cake' merely a cake, and who imagine that these things have been stated without each one that is mentioned embodying something of the Divine within it. Their attitude is similar to that of those who imagine that the bread and wine of the Holy Supper are no more than a certain religious observance that does not have anything holy within it. Yet in fact it possesses such holiness that the minds of men are linked by means of it to the minds of those in heaven, when from an internal affection they think that the bread and wine mean the Lord's love and man's reciprocation, and by virtue of that interior thought and affection they abide in holiness.

[9] Much the same was implied by the requirement that when the children of Israel entered the land they were to present as a heave-offering to Jehovah a cake made from the first of their dough, Numbers 15:20. The fact that such things are meant is also evident in the Prophets, from' among whom for the moment let this one place in Ezekiel be introduced here,

You were adorned with gold and silver, and your raiment was of fine linen and silk and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour, honey, and oil. You became exceedingly beautiful, and attained to a kingdom. Ezekiel 16:13.

This refers to Jerusalem, by which is meant the Church, which Church in its earliest days bore an appearance such as this, that is to say, the Ancient Church, which is described by means of raiment and many other adornments. Its affections for truth and good are also described by 'the fine flour, honey, and oil'. It may become clear to anyone that all these details mean in the internal sense something altogether different from what they do in the sense of the letter. And the same applies to Abraham's saying to Sarah, 'Take quickly three measures of meal of fine flour, knead it, and make cakes'. That 'three' means things that are holy has been shown already in 720, 901.

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