2966. Four hundred shekels of silver. That this signifies the price of redemption, was shown above (n. 2959); but what the price of redemption is shall now be told. Redemption is of the Lord alone, and so too is the price of redemption; and this price is also predicated of the reception by man, with whom the price is great according to the reception. The price of redemption is the Lord’s merit and righteousness through the most grievous temptations, whereby He united the Human Essence to the Divine, and the Divine Essence to the Human, and this by His own power; and by this unition saved the human race, and especially those who are of the spiritual church. (That the Lord was made righteousness through the most grievous temptations, may be seen above, n. 1813, 2025-2027; also that He united the Human Essence to the Divine Essence, and the Divine to the Human, n. 1725, 1729, 1733, 1737, 1813, 2083; and that He did this from His own power, n. 1616, 1921, 2025, 2026, 2083, 2500, 2523, 2632; and by this unition saved the human race, and especially those who are of the spiritual church, n. 2661, 2716.) These are the things which are signified by the “price of redemption.”

[2] That this price is also predicated of the reception with man, with whom it is great in proportion to his reception, is evident from the fact that it is the Lord’s Divine which makes the church with man; for nothing is called the church that is not the Lord’s own; for it is the good which is of love and charity, and it is the truth which is of faith, which make that which is called the church. That all good is from the Lord, and that all truth is from Him, is well known; good and truth that are from man are not good and truth; and from this it is plain that the price of redemption with a man is great in proportion to his reception.

[3] As with the Jews the Lord’s redemption was so little esteemed as to be scarcely anything, it is said in Zechariah:

I said unto them, If it be good in your eyes, give me my hire, and if not, forbear. And they weighed my hire, thirty pieces of silver. And Jehovah said unto me, Cast it unto the potter, the goodly price that I was priced at of them (Zech. 11:12-13).

And in Matthew:

They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of Him that was priced, whom they had bought from the sons of Israel, and gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord appointed me (Matthew 27:9-10).

That “thirty” denotes what is so little as to be scarcely anything, may be seen above (n. 2276); thus this passage denotes that the Jews placed no value on the merit and redemption of the Lord. But with those who believe all good and all truth to be from the Lord, the price of redemption is signified by “forty,” and in a higher degree by “four hundred.”

2025. I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land of thy sojournings. That this signifies that the Lord acquired to Himself all things by His own forces or powers, which are “the land of the sojournings,” is evident from the signification of “sojourning,” as being to be instructed (see n. 1463). And as a man acquires life to himself especially by means of instruction in memory-knowledges, doctrinal matters, and the knowledges of faith, therefore “sojourning,” signifies the life so acquired. As applied to the Lord, “sojourning” signifies the life which He procured to Himself by means of knowledges, combats of temptations, and victories therein; and as He procured for Himself that life by His own forces, this is here signified by “the land of the sojournings.”

[2] That the Lord procured all things to Himself by His own forces, and by His own forces united the Human Essence to the Divine Essence, and the Divine Essence to the Human Essence; and that He alone thus became righteousness, is clearly evident in the Prophets. As in Isaiah:

Who is this that cometh from Edom, marching in the multitude of his strength? I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the peoples there was none with Me; I looked around, and there was no one helping; and I was amazed, and there was no one upholding; therefore Mine arm brought salvation unto Me (Isaiah 63:1, 3, 5)

“Edom” denotes the Lord’s Human Essence; “strength,” and “arm,” power that this was from what was His own is clearly said, in that “there was no one helping,” “no one upholding,” and that “His own arm brought salvation unto Him.”

[3] In the same Prophet:

He saw that there was not anyone, and He was amazed that there was none to intercede; and His arm achieved salvation unto Him, and His righteousness supported Him; and He put on righteousness as a coat of mail, and a helmet of salvation upon His head (Isaiah 59:16-17)

meaning in like manner by His own power, and that thereby He became righteousness. That the Lord is righteousness is stated in Daniel:

Seventy weeks are decreed to expiate iniquity, and to bring in the righteousness of the ages, and to seal up vision and prophet, and to anoint the holy of holies (Dan 9:24). And in Jeremiah:

I will raise unto David a righteous offshoot, and He shall reign as King, and shall act intelligently, and shall do judgment and righteousness in the land.

In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell in confidence; and this is His name whereby they shall call Him, Jehovah our righteousness (Jeremiah 23:5-6; 33:15-16).

For this reason He is also called “the Habitation of righteousness,” in Jeremiah (31:23; 50:7); and in Isaiah (9:6), “Wonderful,” and “Hero.”

[4] The reason why the Lord so often attributes to the Father that which is His own, has been explained above (n. 1999, 2004); for Jehovah was in Him, and consequently in everything that was His. This can be illustrated by what is similar, though not equal, in man. A man’s soul is in him; and as it is in him, it is in the veriest singulars of him, that is in the veriest singulars of his thought, and of his action. Whatever has not his soul in it, is not his. The Lord’s soul was Life itself, or Being [Esse] itself, which is Jehovah, for He was conceived from Jehovah; and consequently Jehovah or Life itself was in His veriest singulars; and as Life itself, or Being itself, which is Jehovah, was His, as the soul is man’s, so that which was Jehovah’s was His, which is what the Lord says: that He “is in the bosom of the Father” (John 1:18), and that “all things whatsoever that the Father hath are His” (John 16:15, 17:10-11).

[5] From good, which is Jehovah’s, He united the Divine Essence to the Human Essence; and from truth He united the Human Essence to the Divine Essence; thus He did all things both in general and in particular from Himself; in fact His Human was left to itself, in order that He might fight of Himself against all the hells, and overcome them; and as He had life in Himself that was His own-as already said-He overcame them by His own power and by His own forces, as is also clearly stated in the Prophets, in the passages that have been cited. Consequently, as He acquired all things for Himself by His own forces, He became righteousness, emancipated the world of spirits from infernal genii and spirits, and thereby delivered the human race from destruction-for the human race is ruled by means of spirits-and so redeemed it. For this reason He is so often called in the Word of the Old Testament the Deliverer and the Redeemer, and the Saviour, which is the meaning of His name Jesus.