The Bible

 

Leviticus 2

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1 When any one shall offer an oblation of sacrifice to the Lord, his offering shall be of fine flour, and he shall pour oil upon it, and put frankincense,

2 And shall bring it to the sons of Aaron the priests: and one of them shall take a handful of the flour and oil, and all the frankincense, and shall put it a memorial upon the altar for a most sweet savour to the Lord.

3 And the remnant of the sacrifice shall be Aaron's, and his sons', holy of holies of the offerings of the Lord.

4 But when thou offerest a sacrifice baked in the oven of flour, to wit, loaves without leaven, tempered with oil, and unleavened wafers, anointed with oil:

5 If thy oblation be from the fryingpan, of flour tempered with oil, and without leaven,

6 Thou shalt divide it into little pieces, and shalt pour oil upon it.

7 And if the sacrifice be from the gridiron, in like manner the flour shall be tempered with oil:

8 And when thou offerest it to the Lord, thou shalt deliver it to the hands of the priest.

9 And when he hath offered it, he shall take a memorial out of the sacrifice, and burn it upon the altar for a sweet savour to the Lord.

10 And whatsoever is left, shall be Aaron's, and his sons', holy of holies of the offerings of the Lord.

11 Every oblation that is offered to the Lord shall be made without leaven, neither shall any leaven or honey be burnt in the sacrifice to the Lord.

12 You shall offer only the firstfruits of them and gifts: but they shall not be put upon the altar, for a savour of sweetness,

13 Whatsoever sacrifice thou offerest, thou shalt season it with salt, neither shalt thou take away the salt of the covenant of thy God from thy sacrifice. In all thy oblations thou shalt offer salt.

14 But if thou offer a gift of the firstfruits of thy corn to the Lord, of the ears yet green, thou shalt dry it at the fire, and break it small like meal, and so shalt thou offer thy firstfruits to the Lord,

15 Pouring oil upon it and putting on frankincense, because it is the oblation of the Lord.

16 Whereof the priest shall burn for a memorial of the gift, part of the corn broken small and of the oil, and all the frankincense.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #8680

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8680. 'And Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God' means worship springing from the good of love and the truths of faith. This is clear from the meaning of 'a burnt offering and sacrifices' as representatives of celestial and spiritual realities that belong to internal worship, 'burnt offerings' being representative of celestial realities, that is, aspects of the good of love, and 'sacrifices' being representative of spiritual ones, that is, aspects of the truth of faith, dealt with in 922, 923, 1823, 2180, 2805, 2807, 2830, 3218, 3519, 6905. The representation of 'burnt offerings' as aspects of the good of love, and of 'sacrifices' as aspects of the truth of faith, is clear from their institution - from the requirement that in burnt offerings everything was to be burnt, both the flesh and the blood, but that in sacrifices the flesh was to be eaten, as may be seen in chapters 1-5 of Leviticus; Numbers 28; and in Deuteronomy, where the following words occur,

You are to present, your burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, on the altar of Jehovah your God; the blood of the sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of Jehovah your God, and the flesh you shall eat. Deuteronomy 12:27.

The reason why those two realities were represented by the burnt offerings and sacrifices is that burnt offerings and sacrifices represented all worship of God in general, 923, 6905; and worship of God in general is founded on love and faith. Without these it is not worship, only ritual such as is performed by the external man who has no internal and so no life within him.

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

The Bible

 

Leviticus 4

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1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

2 "Speak to the children of Israel, saying, 'If anyone sins unintentionally, in any of the things which Yahweh has commanded not to be done, and does any one of them:

3 if the anointed priest sins so as to bring guilt on the people, then let him offer for his sin, which he has sinned, a young bull without blemish to Yahweh for a sin offering.

4 He shall bring the bull to the door of the Tent of Meeting before Yahweh; and he shall lay his hand on the head of the bull, and kill the bull before Yahweh.

5 The anointed priest shall take some of the blood of the bull, and bring it to the Tent of Meeting.

6 The priest shall dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before Yahweh, before the veil of the sanctuary.

7 The priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of sweet incense before Yahweh, which is in the Tent of Meeting; and he shall pour out all of rest of the blood of the bull at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the door of the Tent of Meeting.

8 He shall take all the fat of the bull of the sin offering off of it; the fat that covers the innards, and all the fat that is on the innards,

9 and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the cover on the liver, with the kidneys, he shall take away,

10 as it is taken off of the bull of the sacrifice of peace offerings. The priest shall burn them on the altar of burnt offering.

11 The bull's skin, all its flesh, with its head, and with its legs, its innards, and its dung,

12 even the whole bull shall he carry forth outside the camp to a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn it on wood with fire. where the ashes are poured out it shall be burned.

13 "'If the whole congregation of Israel sins, and the thing is hidden from the eyes of the assembly, and they have done any of the things which Yahweh has commanded not to be done, and are guilty;

14 when the sin in which they have sinned is known, then the assembly shall offer a young bull for a sin offering, and bring it before the Tent of Meeting.

15 The elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before Yahweh; and the bull shall be killed before Yahweh.

16 The anointed priest shall bring of the blood of the bull to the Tent of Meeting:

17 and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before Yahweh, before the veil.

18 He shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar which is before Yahweh, that is in the Tent of Meeting; and the rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the door of the Tent of Meeting.

19 All its fat he shall take from it, and burn it on the altar.

20 Thus shall he do with the bull; as he did with the bull of the sin offering, so shall he do with this; and the priest shall make atonement for them, and they shall be forgiven.

21 He shall carry forth the bull outside the camp, and burn it as he burned the first bull. It is the sin offering for the assembly.

22 "'When a ruler sins, and unwittingly does any one of all the things which Yahweh his God has commanded not to be done, and is guilty;

23 if his sin, in which he has sinned, is made known to him, he shall bring as his offering a goat, a male without blemish.

24 He shall lay his hand on the head of the goat, and kill it in the place where they kill the burnt offering before Yahweh. It is a sin offering.

25 The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering. He shall pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering.

26 All its fat he shall burn on the altar, like the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin, and he will be forgiven.

27 "'If anyone of the common people sins unwittingly, in doing any of the things which Yahweh has commanded not to be done, and is guilty;

28 if his sin, which he has sinned, is made known to him, then he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female without blemish, for his sin which he has sinned.

29 He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and kill the sin offering in the place of burnt offering.

30 The priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering; and the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar.

31 All its fat he shall take away, like the fat is taken away from off of the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall burn it on the altar for a pleasant aroma to Yahweh; and the priest shall make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven.

32 "'If he brings a lamb as his offering for a sin offering, he shall bring a female without blemish.

33 He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and kill it for a sin offering in the place where they kill the burnt offering.

34 The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering; and all the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar.

35 All its fat he shall take away, like the fat of the lamb is taken away from the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall burn them on the altar, on the offerings of Yahweh made by fire; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin that he has sinned, and he will be forgiven.