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Leviticus 6

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1 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

2 If any one sin and act unfaithfully against Jehovah, and lie to his neighbour as to an entrusted thing or a deposit or [that in which] he hath robbed or wronged his neighbour,

3 or have found what was lost, and denieth it, and sweareth falsely in anything of all that man doeth, sinning therein;

4 then it shall be, if he hath sinned and transgressed, that he shall restore what he robbed or that in which he hath defrauded, or the deposit, or the lost thing which he found,

5 or all that about which he hath sworn falsely; and he shall restore it in the principal, and shall add the fifth part more thereto; to [him to] whom it belongeth shall he give it, on the day of his trespass-offering.

6 And his trespass-offering shall he bring to Jehovah, a ram without blemish out of the small cattle according to thy valuation, as a trespass-offering, unto the priest.

7 And the priest shall make atonement for him before Jehovah, and it shall be forgiven him concerning anything of all that he hath done so as to trespass therein.

8 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

9 Command Aaron and his sons, saying, This is the law of the burnt-offering; this, the burnt-offering, shall be on the hearth on the altar all night unto the morning, and the fire of the altar shall be kept burning on it.

10 And the priest shall put on his linen raiment, and his linen breeches shall he put on his flesh, and take up the ashes to which the fire hath consumed the burnt-offering on the altar, and he shall put them beside the altar.

11 And he shall put off his garments, and put on other garments, and carry forth the ashes without the camp unto a clean place.

12 And the fire upon the altar shall be kept burning on it: it shall not be put out; and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt-offering in order upon it; and he shall burn thereon the fat of the peace-offerings.

13 A continual fire shall be kept burning on the altar: it shall never go out.

14 And this is the law of the oblation: [one of] the sons of Aaron shall present it before Jehovah, before the altar.

15 And he shall take of it his handful of the fine flour of the oblation, and of the oil thereof, and all the frankincense which is on the meat-offering, and shall burn [it] on the altar: [it is] a sweet odour of the memorial thereof to Jehovah.

16 And the remainder thereof shall Aaron and his sons eat: unleavened shall it be eaten in a holy place; in the court of the tent of meeting shall they eat it.

17 It shall not be baken with leaven. As their portion have I given it [unto them] of my offerings by fire: it is most holy; as the sin-offering, and as the trespass-offering.

18 All the males among the children of Aaron shall eat of it. [It is] an everlasting statute in your generations, [their portion] of Jehovah's offerings by fire: whatever toucheth these shall be holy.

19 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

20 This is the offering of Aaron and of his sons, which they shall present to Jehovah on the day when he is anointed: the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour as a continual oblation, half of it in the morning, and half thereof at night.

21 It shall be prepared in the pan with oil: saturated with oil shalt thou bring it: baken pieces of the oblation shalt thou present [for] a sweet odour to Jehovah.

22 And the priest who is anointed of his sons in his stead shall prepare it: [it is] an everlasting statute; it shall be wholly burned to Jehovah.

23 And every oblation of the priest shall be wholly burned; it shall not be eaten.

24 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

25 Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, saying, This is the law of the sin-offering. At the place where the burnt-offering is slaughtered shall the sin-offering be slaughtered before Jehovah: it is most holy.

26 The priest that offereth it for sin shall eat it: in a holy place shall it be eaten, in the court of the tent of meeting.

27 Everything that toucheth the flesh thereof shall be holy; and if there be splashed of the blood thereof on a garment -- that whereon it is sprinkled shalt thou wash in a holy place.

28 And the earthen vessel wherein it hath been sodden shall be broken; and if it have been sodden in a copper pot, it shall be both scoured and rinsed with water.

29 All the males among the priests shall eat thereof: it is most holy.

30 And no sin-offering whereof blood hath been brought to the tent of meeting, to make atonement in the sanctuary, shall be eaten: it shall be burned with fire.

   

Commentary

 

Aaron

The Third Plague of Egypt, by William de Brailes, illustrates the flies, or gnats, rising from the dust.

This page from Walters manuscript W.106 depicts a scene from Exodus, in which God rained plagues upon Egypt. After plagues of blood and frogs, Pharaoh hardened his heart again and would not let the Israelites leave Egypt. God told Moses to tell Aaron to stretch forth his rod and strike the dust of the earth that it may become gnats throughout the land of Egypt. Here, Moses, horned (a sign of his encounter with divinity), carries the rod, while Aaron, wearing the miter of a priest, stands behind him. The gnats arise en masse out of the dust from which they were made and attack Pharaoh, seated and crowned, and his retinue.

Aaron was the brother of Moses. He symbolizes two things, at different stages of the story.

During the first part of the exodus, when he was Moses' spokesperson, Moses represents the Word as it truly is, as it is understood in heaven, while Aaron represents the Word in its external sense, as it is understood by people in the world. This is why Aaron talks for Moses, and the Lord says of him "he shall be as a mouth for you, and you shall be to him as God." (Exodus 4:16)

Later, after the Tabernacle was built and he was inaugurated as high priest (see Leviticus 8,9), Aaron represents the Lord as to the Divine Good, and Moses represents the Lord as to the Divine Truth.

In Exodus 28:1, Aaron signifies the conjunction of Divine Good with Divine Truth in the Divine Human of the Lord. (Arcana Coelestia 9806, 9936)

In Exodus 32:1, Aaron represents the external of the Word, of the church, and of worship, separate from the internal. (Arcana Coelestia 10397)

In Exodus 4:14, before he was initiated into the priesthood, Aaron represents the doctrine of good and truth. (Arcana Coelestia 6998)

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #9936

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9936. 'And it shall be on Aaron's forehead' means from the Lord's Divine Love. This is clear from the representation of 'Aaron' as the Lord in respect of Divine Good, which is the Good of His Divine Love, dealt with in 9806; and from the meaning of 'forehead', when the Lord is the subject, as His Divine Love. 'The Lord's face', which is the same as 'Jehovah's face', means all attributes of Divine Love, such as mercy, peace, goodness, or wisdom, 222, 223, 5585, 6848, 6849, 9306, 9545, 9546. These are meant by 'Jehovah's face' or 'the Lord's face' because in general 'the face' means a person's interiors, that is, a person's affections and consequent thoughts, thus the things which constitute his love and faith, see the places referred to in 9546. These are meant by 'the face' because they shine from the face, as if seen in their imprint or image, which also is why the face is called the image of the mind. So it is that when 'face' is mentioned in connection with Jehovah or the Lord the attributes of His Divine Love are meant. 'Forehead' in particular means Divine Love itself, because interiors have been allotted their own provinces in the face. The interiors that belong to love reside in the province of the forehead, those belonging to wisdom and intelligence in the province of the eyes, those belonging to perception in the province of the nose, and those belonging to utterance in the province of the mouth.

[2] From all this it is evident why 'forehead' - when the Lord, represented by Aaron, is the subject - means Divine Love. Since someone's forehead corresponds to his love those governed by celestial love, that is, by love to the Lord derived from the Lord, are said 'to have a sign on their foreheads', meaning that they are under the Lord's protection because they abide in His Love, as in Ezekiel,

Jehovah said, Go through the middle of Jerusalem and make a sign on the foreheads of the men (vir) who groan and sigh over all the abominations done in the midst of it, and strike; do not let your eye spare. But against any man (vir) on whom there is a sign do not go near. Ezekiel 9:4-6.

In John, in the Book of Revelation,

Behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him a hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father's name written on their foreheads. Revelation 14:1.

In the same book,

They will see the face of God and of the Lamb, and His name will be on their foreheads. Revelation 22:4.

In the same book,

It was declared that they should not harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only the people who did not have God's sign on their foreheads. Revelation 9:4.

[3] 'Having God's sign on their foreheads' and 'having God and the Lamb's name on them' stand for their being kept safe from molestation by evils from hell, because they abide in the Lord through love. 'The grass' and 'any green thing', which were not to be harmed, stand for true factual knowledge by means of which the truth of faith develops, 7571, 7691; and 'any tree', which too was not to be harmed, stands for the perception of truth springing from good, 103, 2163, 2722, 2972, 4552, 7692.

[4] In Moses,

You shall love Jehovah your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. You shall bind these words as a sign onto your hand, and let them be as frontlets between your eyes. Deuteronomy 6:4-5, 8.

'As frontlets' stands for as a sign of love to Jehovah God. The words 'between your eyes' are used because intelligence and wisdom which are born from that love are meant by 'eyes'; and wisdom born from that love consists in having God constantly before one's eyes. This is self-evidently so because the subject is love to Jehovah God. The declaration that they should love Him with all their heart, with all their soul, and with all their strength, means that they should do so with all their human powers. 'With the heart' means with the will where the good of love resides, 7542, 9050, 9300, 9495; and 'with the soul' means with the understanding where the truth of faith resides, and so with faith, 9050. These two powers belong to the internal man. 'With all their strength' means with those powers of will and understanding as they exist in the external man. The strength and power of the love of both, of the external man and of the internal, are meant by 'hands', 4931-4937, 7518; and this is why it says that those words were to be bound 'as a sign on the hand'.

[5] Since 'the forehead' by virtue of its correspondence means celestial or heavenly love with those who are good, with those who are bad it accordingly means hellish love, which is the opposite of heavenly. The forehead of the latter is called a bronze forehead in Isaiah 48:4, and an obstinate forehead in Ezekiel 3:7-8. And in reference to those ruled by hellish love it is said that they had the mark of the beast on their foreheads, Revelation 13:16; 14:9; 20:4, and also the name of Babylon on their foreheads, Revelation 17:5.

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