From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #9371

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9371. THE INTERNAL SENSE.

Verses 1-2. And He said unto Moses, Come up unto Jehovah, thou and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and bow yourselves afar off; and Moses, he alone, shall come near unto Jehovah; and they shall not come near; and the people shall not come up with him. “And He said unto Moses,” signifies that which concerns the Word in general; “come up unto Jehovah,” signifies conjunction with the Lord; “thou and Aaron,” signifies the Word in the internal sense and the external sense; “Nadab and Abihu,” signifies doctrine from both senses; “and seventy of the elders of Israel,” signifies the chief truths of the church which are of the Word, or of doctrine, and which agree with good; “and bow yourselves afar off,” signifies humiliation and adoration from the heart, and then the influx of the Lord; “and Moses, he alone, shall come near unto Jehovah,” signifies the conjunction and presence of the Lord through the Word in general; “and they shall not come near,” signifies no separate conjunction and presence; “and the people shall not come up with him,” signifies no conjunction whatever with the external apart from the internal.

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

Commentary

 

Raiment

  

'Soft raiment,' as in Matthew 11:9, represents the internal sense of the Word.

(References: Arcana Coelestia 9372)

The Bible

 

Leviticus 22

Study

   

1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

2 "Tell Aaron and his sons to separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, which they make holy to me, and that they not profane my holy name. I am Yahweh.

3 "Tell them, 'If anyone of all your seed throughout your generations approaches the holy things, which the children of Israel make holy to Yahweh, having his uncleanness on him, that soul shall be cut off from before me. I am Yahweh.

4 "'Whoever of the seed of Aaron is a leper or has an issue; he shall not eat of the holy things, until he is clean. Whoever touches anything that is unclean by the dead, or a man whose seed goes from him;

5 or whoever touches any creeping thing, whereby he may be made unclean, or a man of whom he may take uncleanness, whatever uncleanness he has;

6 the person that touches any such shall be unclean until the evening, and shall not eat of the holy things, unless he bathe his body in water.

7 When the sun is down, he shall be clean; and afterward he shall eat of the holy things, because it is his bread.

8 That which dies of itself, or is torn by animals, he shall not eat, defiling himself by it. I am Yahweh.

9 "'They shall therefore follow my requirements, lest they bear sin for it, and die therein, if they profane it. I am Yahweh who sanctifies them.

10 "'No stranger shall eat of the holy thing: a foreigner living with the priests, or a hired servant, shall not eat of the holy thing.

11 But if a priest buys a slave, purchased by his money, he shall eat of it; and such as are born in his house, they shall eat of his bread.

12 If a priest's daughter is married to an outsider, she shall not eat of the heave offering of the holy things.

13 But if a priest's daughter is a widow, or divorced, and has no child, and has returned to her father's house, as in her youth, she may eat of her father's bread: but no stranger shall eat any of it.

14 "'If a man eats something holy unwittingly, then he shall add the fifth part of its value to it, and shall give the holy thing to the priest.

15 The priests shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel, which they offer to Yahweh,

16 and so cause them to bear the iniquity that brings guilt, when they eat their holy things: for I am Yahweh who sanctifies them.'"

17 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

18 "Speak to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them, 'Whoever is of the house of Israel, or of the foreigners in Israel, who offers his offering, whether it be any of their vows, or any of their freewill offerings, which they offer to Yahweh for a burnt offering;

19 that you may be accepted, you shall offer a male without blemish, of the bulls, of the sheep, or of the goats.

20 But whatever has a blemish, that you shall not offer: for it shall not be acceptable for you.

21 Whoever offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh to accomplish a vow, or for a freewill offering, of the herd or of the flock, it shall be perfect to be accepted; no blemish shall be therein.

22 Blind, injured, maimed, having a wart, festering, or having a running sore, you shall not offer these to Yahweh, nor make an offering by fire of them on the altar to Yahweh.

23 Either a bull or a lamb that has any deformity or lacking in his parts, that you may offer for a freewill offering; but for a vow it shall not be accepted.

24 That which has its testicles bruised, crushed, broken, or cut, you shall not offer to Yahweh; neither shall you do thus in your land.

25 Neither shall you offer the bread of your God from the hand of a foreigner of any of these; because their corruption is in them. There is a blemish in them. They shall not be accepted for you.'"

26 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

27 "When a bull, or a sheep, or a goat, is born, then it shall remain seven days with its mother; and from the eighth day and thenceforth it shall be accepted for the offering of an offering made by fire to Yahweh.

28 Whether it is a cow or ewe, you shall not kill it and its young both in one day.

29 "When you sacrifice a sacrifice of thanksgiving to Yahweh, you shall sacrifice it so that you may be accepted.

30 It shall be eaten on the same day; you shall leave none of it until the morning. I am Yahweh.

31 "Therefore you shall keep my commandments, and do them. I am Yahweh.

32 You shall not profane my holy name, but I will be made holy among the children of Israel. I am Yahweh who makes you holy,

33 who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. I am Yahweh."