La Bibbia

 

Esodo 26

Studio

   

1 Farai poi il tabernacolo di dieci teli di lino fino ritorto, di filo color violaceo, porporino e scarlatto, con dei cherubini artisticamente lavorati.

2 La lunghezza d’ogni telo sarà di ventotto cubiti, e la larghezza d’ogni telo di quattro cubiti; tutti i teli saranno d’una stessa misura.

3 Cinque teli saranno uniti assieme, e gli altri cinque teli saran pure uniti assieme.

4 Farai de’ nastri di color violaceo all’orlo del telo ch’è all’estremità della prima serie; e lo stesso farai all’orlo del telo ch’è all’estremità della seconda serie.

5 Metterai cinquanta nastri al primo telo, e metterai cinquanta nastri all’orlo del telo ch’è all’estremità della seconda serie di teli: i nastri si corrisponderanno l’uno all’altro.

6 E farai cinquanta fermagli d’oro, e unirai i teli l’uno all’altro mediante i fermagli, perché il tabernacolo formi un tutto.

7 Farai pure dei teli di pel di capra, per servir da tenda per coprire il tabernacolo: di questi teli ne farai undici.

8 La lunghezza d’ogni telo sarà di trenta cubiti, e la larghezza d’ogni telo, di quattro cubiti; gli undici teli avranno la stessa misura.

9 Unirai assieme, da sé, cinque di questi teli, e unirai da sé gli altri sei, e addoppierai il sesto sulla parte anteriore della tenda.

10 E metterai cinquanta nastri all’orlo del telo ch’è all’estremità della prima serie, e cinquanta nastri all’orlo del telo ch’è all’estremità della seconda serie di teli.

11 E farai cinquanta fermagli di rame, e farai entrare i fermagli nei nastri e unirai così la tenda, in modo che formi un tutto.

12 Quanto alla parte che rimane di soprappiù dei teli della tenda, la metà del telo di soprappiù ricadrà sulla parte posteriore del tabernacolo;

13 e il cubito da una parte e il cubito dall’altra parte che saranno di soprappiù nella lunghezza dei teli della tenda, ricadranno sui due iati del tabernacolo, di qua e di là, per coprirlo.

14 Farai pure per la tenda una coperta di pelli di montone tinte di rosso, e sopra questa un’altra coperta di pelli di delfino.

15 Farai per il tabernacolo delle assi di legno d’acacia, messe per ritto.

16 La lunghezza d’un’asse sarà di dieci cubiti, e la larghezza d’un’asse, di un cubito e mezzo.

17 Ogni asse avrà due incastri paralleli; farai così per tutte le assi del tabernacolo.

18 Farai dunque le assi per il tabernacolo: venti assi dal lato meridionale, verso il sud.

19 Metterai quaranta basi d’argento sotto le venti assi: due basi sotto ciascun’asse per i suoi due incastri.

20 E farai venti assi per il secondo lato dei tabernacolo, il lato di nord,

21 e le oro quaranta basi d’argento: due basi sotto ciascun’asse.

22 E per la parte posteriore del tabernacolo, verso occidente, farai sei assi.

23 Farai pure due assi per gli angoli del tabernacolo, dalla parte posteriore.

24 Queste saranno doppie dal basso in su, e al tempo stesso formeranno un tutto fino in cima, fino al primo anello. Così sarà per ambedue le assi, che saranno ai due angoli.

25 Vi saranno dunque otto assi, con le loro basi d’argento: sedici basi: due basi sotto ciascun’asse.

26 Farai anche delle traverse di legno d’acacia: cinque, per le assi di un lato del tabernacolo;

27 cinque traverse per le assi dell’altro lato del tabernacolo, e cinque traverse per le assi della parte posteriore del tabernacolo, a occidente.

28 La traversa di mezzo, in mezzo alle assi, passera da una parte all’altra.

29 E rivestirai d’oro le assi, e farai d’oro i loro anelli per i quali passeranno le traverse, e rivestirai d’oro le traverse.

30 Erigerai il tabernacolo secondo la forma esatta che te n’è stata mostrata sul monte.

31 Farai un velo di filo violaceo, porporino, scarlatto, e di lino fino ritorto con de’ cherubini artisticamente lavorati,

32 e lo sospenderai a quattro colonne di acacia, rivestite d’oro, che avranno i chiodi d’oro e poseranno su basi d’argento.

33 Metterai il velo sotto i fermagli; e quivi, al di là del velo, introdurrai l’arca della testimonianza; quel velo sarà per voi la separazione del luogo santo dal santissimo.

34 E metterai il propiziatorio sull’arca della testimonianza nel luogo santissimo.

35 E metterai la tavola fuori del velo, e il candelabro dirimpetto alla tavola dal lato meridionale del tabernacolo; e metterai la tavola dal lato di settentrione.

36 Farai pure per l’ingresso della tenda una portiera di filo violaceo, porporino, scarlatto, e di lino fino ritorto, in lavoro di ricamo.

37 E farai cinque colonne di acacia per sospendervi la portiera; le rivestirai d’oro, e avranno i chiodi d’oro e tu fonderai per esse cinque basi di rame.

   

Dalle opere di Swedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia #9642

Studia questo passo

  
/ 10837  
  

9642. 'The boards for the south side, southwards' means even to the more internal and the inmost parts [of it], where truth dwells in light. This is clear from the meaning of 'the boards of the dwelling-place' as the good supporting heaven, dealt with in 9634; from the meaning of 'the side (or corner)', when the term is used in reference to the four quarters, as the specific state meant by that quarter, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'the south, southwards' 1 as the more internal and the inmost parts, where truth dwells in light. 'The south' or 'midday' means a state of light, which is a state of intelligence produced by truths, thus also an interior state; for in the heavens the light, and the intelligence and wisdom that accompany the light, increases towards the more internal parts. Further away from those parts truth dwells in shade; and this state of truth is meant by 'the north'. This then is why 'the south side, southwards' means even to the more internal and the inmost parts, where truth dwells in light.

[2] The same things are meant by 'the south' in Isaiah,

I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Do not withhold. Bring My sons from afar, and My daughters from the end of the earth. Isaiah 43:6.

This refers to a new Church. 'Saying to the north' means speaking to those who are in darkness or have no knowledge of the truths of faith, who are gentiles outside the Church. 'Saying to the south' means speaking to those who dwell in the light provided by cognitions or knowledge of goodness and truth, who are people within the Church. This explains why the latter are told not to 'withhold' [those sons and daughters], but the former 'to give them up'.

[3] In Ezekiel,

Set your face the way of the south, and drop [your words] towards the south, and prophesy against the forest of the field to the south, and say to the forest of the south, Behold, I am kindling in you a fire, which will devour in you every green tree; and all faces from south to north will be scorched. Set your face towards Jerusalem, and drop [your words] against the sanctuaries, and prophesy against the land of Israel. Ezekiel 20:46-21:2.

'The south' here stands for those who have the light of truth provided by the Word, thus those who belong to the Church, yet who are influenced by falsities which they substantiate from the sense of the letter of the Word wrongly explained. This is why the expressions 'the forest of the field towards the south' and 'the forest of the south' are used. 'A forest' is a state in which factual knowledge is predominant, whereas 'a garden' is one in which truth is predominant. From this it is evident what the meaning is of 'setting one's face the way of the south, and dropping [one's words] towards the south, and prophesying against the forest of the field to the south', and then of 'set your face towards Jerusalem, and drop [your words] against the sanctuaries, and prophesy against the land of Israel'. 'Jerusalem' and 'the land of Israel' mean the Church, and 'the sanctuaries' there things of the Church.

[4] In Isaiah,

If you bring out for the hungry your soul 2 and satisfy the afflicted soul, your light will rise in the darkness, and your thick darkness will be as at midday. Isaiah 58:10.

'Darkness' and 'thick darkness' stand for lack of knowledge of truth and good, 'light' and 'midday' for an understanding of them. In the same prophet, Give counsel, execute judgement, set your shade like the night in the middle of the day; 3 hide the outcasts, do not reveal the wanderer. Isaiah 16:3.

'In the middle of the day' stands for in the midst of the light of truth. In Jeremiah,

Prepare for 4 battle against the daughter of Zion; arise, and let us go up into the south, 5 for the day goes away, for the shadows of evening are set at an angle. Jeremiah 6:4.

'Going up into the south' stands for going up against the Church, where truth dwells in light from the Word. In Amos,

I will make the sun go down in the south, 5 and I will darken the land in broad daylight. Amos 8:9.

This stands for blotting out all the light of truth which is provided by the Word.

[5] In David,

You will not be afraid of the terror of the night, of the arrow that flies by day, of the pestilence in thick darkness, of death that lays waste at noonday. Psalms 91:5-6.

'The terror of the night' stands for falsities arising from evil that come from hell; 'the arrow that flies by day' stands for falsity which is taught openly; 'death that lays waste at noonday' stands for evil that is openly present in people's lives, and that destroys truth wherever it is able to dwell in its own light from the Word.

[6] And in Isaiah,

The prophecy of the wilderness of the sea. As whirlwinds in the south sweep through, 6 it comes from the wilderness, from a terrible land. Isaiah 21:1.

In Daniel,

The he-goat of the she-goats made himself exceedingly great, and his horn grew exceedingly towards the south, and towards the east, and towards the glorious [land]. And it grew even towards the host of heaven, and cast down to the earth some of the host, and of the stars, and trampled on them. Daniel 8:8-10.

This refers to the state of the future Church. It foretells that the Church will be ruined by teachings about faith separated from the good of charity, 'the he-goat of the she-goats' being this kind of faith, 4169 (end), 4769. 'The horn's growing towards the south' stands for the power of falsity from this faith directed against truths, 'towards the east' for directing it against forms of good, and 'towards the glorious [land]' for directing it against the Church. 'Towards the host of heaven' stands for directing that power against all the forms of good and the truths belonging to heaven, and 'casting down to the earth some of the host, and of the stars' stands for destroying these, and also even the cognitions or knowledge of good and truth, 4697.

[7] The whole of Chapter 11 in the same prophet describes a war between the king of the south and the king of the north. 'The king of the south' means the light of truth derived from the Word, and 'the king of the north' reasoning about truths which is based on factual knowledge. The shifting fortunes which the Church will experience until it ceases to exist are described by the different phases in the course of that war.

[8] Because 'the south' meant truth dwelling in light it was decreed that the tribes of Reuben, Simeon, and Gad should camp towards the south, Numbers 2:10-15. Encampments represented the arrangement of all things in heaven as determined by the truths and forms of the good of faith and love, 4236, 8103 (end), 8193, 8196, and 'the twelve tribes' which formed the camp meant all the truths and forms of good in their entirety, 3858, 3862, 3926, 3939, 4060, 6335, 6337, 6397, 6640, 7836, 7891, 7996, 7997. 'The tribe of Reuben' meant the truth of faith present in doctrine, 3861, 3866, 5542, 'the tribe of Simeon' the truth of faith subsequently present in life, 3869-3872, 4497, 4502, 4503, 5482, and 'the tribe of Gad' works motivated by that truth in doctrine and life, 6404, 6405. From these meanings it is evident why these three camped towards the south; for all things on the side of truth or faith belong in the south because they are in light.

[9] From all this it is now clear what 'the south side' means, namely where the state of truth dwelling in light is to be found. For all states of the good of love and the truth of faith are meant by the four corners of the earth, states of the good of love being meant by the east and west sides, and states of the truth of faith by the south and north ones. Much the same is meant by 'the four winds', as in the Book of Revelation,

... angels standing over the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, in order that the wind should not blow onto the earth. Revelation 7:1.

And elsewhere,

Satan will come out to deceive the nations which are at the four corners of the earth. Revelation 20:7-8.

In Matthew,

He will send angels, and gather the elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. 7 Matthew 24:31.

And in Ezekiel,

Come from the four winds, O spirit, and breathe into these killed, that they may live. Ezekiel 37:9.

[10] Because those winds, that is, those four quarters, meant all aspects of good and truth, thus all aspects of heaven and the Church, and 'a temple' meant heaven or the Church, it had been the custom since ancient times to site temples in an east-west direction. This was because the east meant the good of love on the rise, and the west the good of love on the decline. This custom had its origin in representative signs, which were well known to the ancients who belonged to the Church.

Note a piè di pagina:

1. Two different words denoting the south are used here. The first (meridies) also means noon or midday and is translated as such in some quotations below. The second (auster) is sometimes used to mean more specifically a south wind.

2. i.e. If you bring food out of store for the hungry

3. or the south

4. literally, Sanctify

5. or at noon

6. literally, for passing through

7. literally, from the bounds of the heavens to the bounds of the heavens

  
/ 10837  
  

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

Dalle opere di Swedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia #9634

Studia questo passo

  
/ 10837  
  

9634. 'And you shall make the boards for the dwelling-place' means the good supporting that heaven. This is clear from the meaning of 'the boards' as good that lends support, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'the dwelling-place' as the middle or second heaven, dealt with in 9594. The reason why good that lends support is meant by 'the boards' is that they were made from wood and supported the curtains both of the dwelling-place and of the tent, as well as the two coverings over them. Consequently supports are meant by 'the boards'; and since they were made from wood they meant ones that were formed from good, for everything made from wood means some form of good, even to actual houses built from wood, 3720. The particular nature of the good is meant by 'shittim wood' from which they were built. Since all representatives on the natural level resemble the human form and carry the same meaning as the parts of it they resemble, 9496, so it is with the boards of the dwelling-place. They correspond to the parts consisting of muscle or flesh in the human being which lend support to encompassing membranes and skin. 'Flesh' furthermore means good, 7850, 9127. This explains why the boards were made from shittim wood, by which the good that supports heaven is meant, 9472, 9486, and also why they were overlaid with gold, by which also good is meant.

  
/ 10837  
  

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