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2 Mose 26

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1 Und die Wohnung sollst du aus zehn Teppichen machen; von gezwirntem Byssus (Feinste, weiße Baumwolle) und blauem und rotem Purpur und Karmesin, mit Cherubim in Kunstweberarbeit sollst du sie machen.

2 Die Länge eines Teppichs 28 Ellen, und vier Ellen die Breite eines Teppichs: ein Maß für alle Teppiche.

3 Fünf Teppiche sollen zusammengefügt werden, einer an den anderen, und wieder fünf Teppiche zusammengefügt, einer an den anderen.

4 Und mache Schleifen von blauem Purpur an den Saum des einen Teppichs am Ende, bei der Zusammenfügung; und also sollst du es machen an dem Saume des äußersten Teppichs bei der anderen Zusammenfügung.

5 Fünfzig Schleifen sollst du an den einen Teppich machen, und Fünfzig Schleifen sollst du an das Ende des Teppichs machen, der bei der anderen Zusammenfügung ist, die Schleifen eine der anderen gegenüber.

6 Und mache fünfzig Klammern von Gold, und füge die Teppiche mit den Klammern zusammen, einen an den anderen, so daß die Wohnung ein Ganzes sei.

7 Und du sollst Teppiche von Ziegenhaar machen zum Zelte über die Wohnung; elf solcher Teppiche sollst du machen.

8 Die Länge eines Teppichs dreißig Ellen, und vier Ellen die Breite eines Teppichs: ein Maß für die elf Teppiche.

9 Und füge zusammen fünf Teppiche besonders und sechs Teppiche besonders, und den sechsten Teppich an der Vorderseite des Zeltes lege doppelt.

10 Und mache fünfzig Schleifen an den Saum des einen Teppichs, des äußersten, bei der Zusammenfügung, und fünfzig Schleifen an den Saum des Teppichs der anderen Zusammenfügung.

11 Und mache fünfzig Klammern von Erz, und bringe die Klammern in die Schleifen und füge das Zelt zusammen, so daß es ein Ganzes sei.

12 Und das Überhangende, das übrig ist an den Teppichen des Zeltes, der halbe Teppich, der übrig ist, soll über die Hinterseite der Wohnung hangen.

13 Und die Elle diesseits und die Elle jenseits, von dem, was übrig ist an der Länge der Teppiche des Zeltes, soll über die Seiten der Wohnung hangen, diesseits und jenseits, sie zu bedecken.

14 Und mache für das Zelt eine Decke von rotgefärbten Widderfellen und eine Decke von Dachsfellen oben darüber.

15 Und die Bretter zu der Wohnung sollst du von Akazienholz machen, aufrechtstehend;

16 zehn Ellen die Länge eines Brettes, und eine und eine halbe Elle die Breite eines Brettes;

17 zwei Zapfen an einem Brette, einer dem anderen gegenüber eingefügt: also sollst du es machen zu allen Brettern der Wohnung.

18 Und mache die Bretter zu der Wohnung: zwanzig Bretter an der Seite gegen Mittag, südwärts;

19 und vierzig Füße von Silber sollst du unter die zwanzig Bretter machen: zwei Füße unter ein Brett für seine zwei Zapfen, und wieder zwei Füße unter ein Brett für seine zwei Zapfen;

20 und an der anderen Seite der Wohnung, an der Nordseite, zwanzig Bretter,

21 und ihre vierzig Füße von Silber: zwei Füße unter ein Brett, und wieder zwei Füße unter ein Brett;

22 und an der Hinterseite der Wohnung gegen Westen sollst du sechs Bretter machen;

23 und zwei Bretter sollst du für die Winkel der Wohnung an der Hinterseite machen;

24 und sie sollen zweifach sein von unten auf, und sollen an (O. bis zu) ihrem Oberteil völlig aneinander sein in einem inge; also soll es mit ihnen beiden sein, an den beiden Winkeln sollen sie sein.

25 Und so sollen es acht Bretter sein, und ihre Füße von Silber, sechzehn Füße: zwei Füße unter einem Brette, und wieder zwei Füße unter einem Brette.

26 Und du sollst iegel von Akazienholz machen: fünf zu den Brettern der einen Seite der Wohnung,

27 und fünf iegel zu den Brettern der anderen Seite der Wohnung, und fünf iegel zu den Brettern der Seite der Wohnung an der Hinterseite gegen Westen;

28 und den mittleren iegel in der Mitte der Bretter durchlaufend von einem Ende zum anderen.

29 Und die Bretter sollst du mit Gold überziehen; und ihre inge, die Behälter für die iegel, sollst du von Gold machen und die iegel mit Gold überziehen.

30 Und so richte die Wohnung auf, nach ihrer Vorschrift, wie sie dir auf dem Berge gezeigt worden ist.

31 Und du sollst einen Vorhang (W. ein Scheidendes. So auch v 33. u. 35) machen von blauem und rotem Purpur und Karmesin und gezwirntem Byssus; in Kunstweberarbeit soll man ihn machen, mit Cherubim.

32 Und hänge ihn auf (W. setze (tue) ihn; so auch nachher) an vier Säulen von Akazienholz, überzogen mit Gold, ihre Haken von Gold, auf vier Füßen von Silber;

33 und hänge den Vorhang auf unter die Klammern; und bringe dorthin, innerhalb des Vorhanges, die Lade des Zeugnisses. Und der Vorhang soll euch eine Scheidung machen zwischen dem Heiligen und dem Allerheiligsten. (W. dem Heiligen der Heiligen)

34 Und lege den Deckel auf die Lade des Zeugnisses im Allerheiligsten.

35 Und stelle den Tisch außerhalb des Vorhangs und den Leuchter dem Tische gegenüber an die Seite der Wohnung gegen Süden; und den Tisch sollst du an die Nordseite setzen.

36 Und mache für den Eingang des Zeltes einen Vorhang (W. eine Decke; desgl. v 37;27,16 usw.) von blauem und rotem Purpur und Karmesin und gezwirntem Byssus, in Buntwirkerarbeit.

37 Und mache zu dem Vorhang fünf Säulen von Akazienholz und überziehe sie mit Gold, ihre Haken von Gold, und gieße für sie fünf Füße von Erz.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #9437

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9437. 'And Moses was in the mountain forty days and forty nights' means the instructions given and influx in their completeness. This is clear from the meaning of 'forty' as completeness. 'Forty' means completeness because 'four' means that which is complete, 9103, as similarly does 'ten', 3107, 4638, and forty is the product of four multiplied by ten. For compound numbers have a meaning similar to the simple numbers of which they are the product, 5291, 5335, 5708, 7973; and all numbers in the Word mean spiritual realities, see 575, 3252, 4264, 4495, 4670, 5265, 6175. All this goes to explain why Moses was in the mountain forty days and forty nights. The fact that 'forty' here means the instructions given and the influx in their completeness is evident from Chapters 25-32 which come next, recording the instructions Moses received, that is, instructions regarding the ark, Aaron, the urim and thummim, and sacrifices. The reason why influx in its completeness is also meant is that at that time Moses began to represent the outward holiness of the Word, which acted as the intermediary between the Lord and the people, and mediation is accomplished by means of influx through that holiness into the representative existing among that people, 9419.

[2] It was because 'forty' represented completeness that Moses remained on Mount Sinai forty days and forty nights not only this time but also on another occasion, Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 9:18, 25; 10:10. For the same reason the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness forty years until, as it says in Numbers 14:33-34; 32:13, all that generation had been consumed; Jonah told the Ninevites that their city would be overturned after forty days, Jonah 3:4; the prophet was commanded to lie on his right side and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days, Ezekiel 4:6; it says regarding Egypt that it would be made completely desolate for forty years, after which they would be gathered from the peoples, Ezekiel 29:11-13; and the earth was rained on forty days and forty nights, so that it was inundated with the flood, Genesis 7:4, 12, 17. From all this it is evident why the wicked person was to receive forty blows, Deuteronomy 25:3, for 'forty blows' meant the punishment in its completeness. It is also evident what should be understood in the prophecy of Deborah and Barak when it says that no shield or spear was seen among the forty thousand of Israel, Judges 5:8, 'among the forty thousand of Israel' meaning among them all. It is in addition evident why the temple built by Solomon was forty cubits long, 1 Kings 6:17, as was the new temple, according to Ezekiel 41:2; for in the highest sense 'the temple' means the Lord, and in the internal sense heaven and the Church, so that 'forty' means completeness in respect of representation. And it has a like meaning in other places.

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #2180

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2180. 'And took a young bull, tender and good' means a celestial-natural which the rational took to itself in order that it might join itself to perception from the Divine. This is clear from the meaning of 'a young bull' or 'a son of an ox' in the Word as natural good. And because the subject is the Lord's Rational, it is called 'tender' from the celestial-spiritual, which is truth grounded in good, and 'good' from the celestial itself, which is good itself. Within the genuine rational there is both the affection for truth and the affection for good, but that which is first and foremost there is the affection for truth, as shown already in 2072. This explains why 'tender' is mentioned before 'good'; but even so, as is quite usual in the Word, both are mentioned on account of the marriage of truth and good which is referred to above in 2173.

[2] That 'a young bull' or 'a son of an ox' means the celestial-natural, or what amounts to the same, natural good, becomes especially clear from the sacrifices, which were the principal representatives in the worship of the Hebrew Church and after this of the Jewish Church. Their sacrifices were made either from the herd or from the flock, thus from animals of various kinds that were clean, such as oxen, young bulls, he-goats, sheep, rams, she-goats, kids, and lambs, besides doves and fledgling pigeons. All of these creatures meant the internal features of worship, that is, celestial and spiritual things, 2165, 2177, those from the herd meaning celestial-natural, those from the flock celestial-rational. Because both of these - natural things and rational things - are more and more interior and are various, so many genera and so many species of these creatures were therefore employed in sacrifices. This fact becomes clear also from its being laid down as to which creatures were to be offered in burnt offerings and also which in every kind of sacrifice - the daily sacrifices; those offered on sabbaths and at festivals; those made as free-will, eucharistic, or votive offerings; and those offered in purifications, cleansings, and also in inaugurations. Which creatures were to be used, and how many, in each kind of sacrifice is mentioned explicitly. This would never have been done unless each one had had some specific meaning, as is quite evident from those places where the sacrifices are the subject, as in Chapter 29 of Exodus; Chapters 1, 3, 4, 9, 16, and 23 of Leviticus; and Chapters 7, 8, 15, and 29 of Numbers. But this is not the place to explain what each one meant. The situation is similar in the Prophets where those animals are mentioned, from which it may become clear that young bulls meant celestial-natural things.

[3] That none but heavenly things were meant becomes clear also from the cherubim seen by Ezekiel and from the living creatures before the throne which were seen by John. Regarding the cherubim the prophet says,

The likeness of their faces was the face of a man (homo); and they four had the face of a lion on the right side; and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; and they four had the face of an eagle. Ezekiel 1:10.

Regarding the four living creatures before the throne John says,

Around the throne were four living creatures - the first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a young bull, the third living creature had a face like a man (homo), the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle - saying, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come. Revelation 4:7-8.

Anyone may see that holy things were represented by the cherubim and these living creatures, thus also by the oxen and young bulls in the sacrifices. The same applies in the prophecy of Moses concerning Joseph,

Let it come upon the head of Joseph and upon the crown of the head of the Nazirite among his brothers. The firstborn of his ox has honour, and his horns are the horns of a unicorn; with these he will thrust the peoples together, to the ends of the earth. Deuteronomy 33:16-17.

These words are not intelligible to anyone unless he knows what ox, unicorn, horns, and many other things mean in the internal sense.

[4] As for sacrifices in general they were indeed commanded to the Israelites through Moses. But the Most Ancient Church which existed before the Flood never knew anything at all about sacrifices, nor did it ever enter their minds to worship the Lord by the slaughtering of animals. The Ancient Church which existed after the Flood knew nothing about it either. Representatives did indeed exist there, but not sacrifices. These were first introduced in the subsequent Church called the Hebrew Church, and from there they spread to the gentile nations, and even to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and so to Jacob's descendants. The fact that the gentile nations had sacrificial worship has been shown in 1343, and the fact that Jacob's descendants also had such worship before they left Egypt, thus before sacrifices were commanded through Moses on Mount Sinai, becomes clear from Exodus 5:3; 10:25, 27; 18:12; 24:4-5.

[5] This is especially clear from their idolatrous worship in front of the golden calf, regarding which the following is said in Moses,

Aaron built an altar in front of the calf, and Aaron made a proclamation and said, Tomorrow there will be a feast to Jehovah. And they rose up early the next morning and presented burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Exodus 32:5-6.

This happened while Moses was on Mount Sinai, and so before the command came to them regarding the altar and the sacrifices. That command came to them for the reason that sacrificial worship among them had been turned, as it had among the gentiles, into idolatrous worship, from which they could not be drawn away because they looked upon it as-the chief holy thing. Once something has been implanted in people from their earliest years as being holy, the more so if received from their fathers, and thus is inrooted, the Lord in no way breaks it - provided it is not contrary to order itself - but bends it. This was the reason for its being laid down that the sacrificial system should be established, such as one reads in the books of Moses.

[6] The fact that sacrifices were by no means acceptable to Jehovah, and so were merely permitted and tolerated for the reason just stated, is quite evident in the Prophets. Concerning them the following is said in Jeremiah,

Thus said Jehovah Zebaoth, the God of Israel, Add your burnt offerings on to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh. I did not speak with your fathers and I did not command them on the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt on the matters of burnt offering and sacrifice. But this matter I commanded them, saying, Obey My voice, and I will be your God. Jeremiah 7:21-23.

In David,

O Jehovah, sacrifice and offering You have not desired; burnt offering and sin-sacrifices You have not sought. I have delighted to do Your will, O my God. Psalms 40:6, 8.

In the same author,

You do not delight in sacrifice that I should give it; burnt offering You do not accept. The sacrifices of God are a contrite spirit. Psalms 51:16-17.

In the same author,

I will not take any young bull from your house, nor he-goats from your folds. Sacrifice to God confession. Psalms 50:9, 14; 107:21-22; 116:17; Deuteronomy 23:18.

In Hosea,

I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. Hosea 6:6.

Samuel said to Saul,

Has Jehovah great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices? Behold, to be submissive is better than sacrifice, to be obedient than the fat of rams. - 1 Samuel 15:22.

In Micah,

With what shall I come before Jehovah and bow myself to God on high? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will Jehovah be pleased with thousands of rams, with tens of thousands of rivers of oil? He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does Jehovah require of you but to carry out judgement, and to love mercy, and to humble yourself by walking with your God? Micah 6:6-8.

[7] From these quotations it is now evident that sacrifices were not commanded but permitted, and also that in sacrifices nothing else was regarded except that which was internal, and that it was that which was internal that was pleasing, not that which was external. For this reason also the Lord abolished them, as was also foretold through Daniel in the following words when he was speaking about the Lord's Coming,

In the middle of the week He will cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease. Daniel 9:27.

See what has been stated about sacrifices in Volume One, in 922, 923, 1128, 1823. As for 'the young bull' which Abraham made ready or prepared for the three men, the meaning is similar to that of the same animals when used in sacrifices. That it had a similar meaning becomes clear also from the fact that he told Sarah to take three measures of fine flour. Regarding the fine flour that went with the offering of a young bull the following is said in Moses - referring to when they were to come into the land,

When you make ready a young bull for a burnt offering or a sacrifice in the declaring of a vow, or for peace offerings to Jehovah, you shall bring with the young bull a minchah of three tenths of fine flour mixed with oil. Numbers 15:8-9.

Here similarly the number 'three' appears, though three 'tenths' here but three 'measures' in Abraham's instruction to Sarah. But only two tenths went with the offering of a ram, one tenth with that of a lamb, Numbers 15:4-6.

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