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Exodus 12

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1 And Jehovah spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,

2 This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.

3 Speak unto all the assembly of Israel, saying, On the tenth of this month let them take themselves each a lamb, for a father's house, a lamb for a house.

4 And if the household be too small for a lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take [it] according to the number of the souls; each according to [the measure] of his eating shall ye count for the lamb.

5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a yearling male; ye shall take [it] from the sheep, or from the goats.

6 And ye shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; and the whole congregation of the assembly of Israel shall kill it between the two evenings.

7 And they shall take of the blood, and put [it] on the two door-posts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.

8 And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; with bitter [herbs] shall they eat it.

9 Ye shall eat none of it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roast with fire; its head with its legs and with its in-wards.

10 And ye shall let none of it remain until the morning; and what remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire.

11 And thus shall ye eat it: your loins shall be girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste; it is Jehovah's passover.

12 And I will go through the land of Egypt in that night, and smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am Jehovah.

13 And the blood shall be for you as a sign on the houses in which ye are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be among you for destruction, when I smite the land of Egypt.

14 And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall celebrate it [as] a feast to Jehovah; throughout your generations [as] an ordinance for ever shall ye celebrate it.

15 Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread: on the very first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses; for whoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day -- that soul shall be cut off from Israel.

16 And on the first day ye shall have a holy convocation, and on the seventh day a holy convocation: no manner of work shall be done on them, save what is eaten by every person -- that only shall be done by you.

17 And ye shall keep the [feast of] unleavened [bread]; for in this same day have I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt; and ye shall keep this day in your generations [as] an ordinance for ever.

18 In the first [month], on the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, ye shall eat unleavened bread until the one and twentieth day of the month in the evening.

19 Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses; for whoever eateth what is leavened -- that soul shall be cut off from the assembly of Israel, whether he be a sojourner, or born in the land.

20 Ye shall eat nothing leavened: in all your dwellings shall ye eat unleavened bread.

21 And Moses called all the elders of Israel, and said to them, Seize and take yourselves lambs for your families, and kill the passover.

22 And take a bunch of hyssop, and dip [it] in the blood that is in the bason, and smear the lintel and the two door-posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning.

23 And Jehovah will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he sees the blood on the lintel, and on the two door-posts, Jehovah will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come into your houses to smite [you].

24 And ye shall observe this as an ordinance for thee and for thy sons for ever.

25 And it shall come to pass, when ye are come into the land that Jehovah will give you, as he has promised, that ye shall keep this service.

26 And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say to you, What mean ye by this service?

27 that ye shall say, It is a sacrifice of passover to Jehovah, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when he smote the Egyptians and delivered our houses. And the people bowed their heads and worshipped.

28 And the children of Israel went away, and did as Jehovah had commanded Moses and Aaron; so did they.

29 And it came to pass that at midnight Jehovah smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of cattle.

30 And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his bondmen, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house in which there was not one dead.

31 And he called Moses and Aaron in the night, and said, Rise up, go away from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve Jehovah, as ye have said.

32 Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and go; and bless me also.

33 And the Egyptians urged the people, to send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We are all dead [men]!

34 And the people took their dough before it was leavened; their kneading-troughs bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders.

35 And the children of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, and they had asked of the Egyptians utensils of silver, and utensils of gold, and clothing.

36 And Jehovah had given the people favour in the eyes of the Egyptians, and they gave to them; and they spoiled the Egyptians.

37 And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot [that were] men, besides children.

38 And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks and herds -- very much cattle.

39 And they baked the dough that they brought forth out of Egypt into unleavened cakes, for it was not leavened; for they were driven out of Egypt, and could not wait; neither had they prepared for themselves any food.

40 And the residence of the children of Israel that they resided in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years.

41 And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, on that same day it came to pass that all the hosts of Jehovah went out from the land of Egypt.

42 It is a night of observance to Jehovah, because of their being brought out from the land of Egypt: that same night is an observance to Jehovah for all the children of Israel in their generations.

43 And Jehovah said to Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the passover: No stranger shall eat of it;

44 but every man's bondman that is bought for money -- let him be circumcised: then shall he eat it.

45 A settler and a hired servant shall not eat it.

46 In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth any of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof.

47 All the assembly of Israel shall hold it.

48 And when a sojourner sojourneth with thee, and would hold the passover to Jehovah, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and hold it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land; but no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof.

49 One law shall be for him that is home-born and for the sojourner that sojourneth among you.

50 And all the children of Israel did as Jehovah had commanded Moses and Aaron; so did they.

51 And it came to pass on that same day, [that] Jehovah brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt according to their hosts.

   

Das Obras de Swedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia # 7967

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7967. 'Their kneading bowls bound up in their clothes' means delights that belong to affections and cling to truths. This is clear from the meaning of 'kneading bowls' as delights belonging to affections, dealt with in 7356; from the meaning of 'being bound' as clinging to; and from the meaning of 'clothes' as truths, dealt with in 1073, 2576, 4545, 4763, 5248, 5319, 5954, 6914, 6918. What delights that belong to affections and cling to truths are must be stated. All the truths that enter and reside with a person have become linked to some delight; for without delight truths have no vitality. The delights that have become linked to the truths residing with a person reveal what the situation is with those truths. If his delights belong to evil affections the situation is bad, but if his delights belong to good affections it is good. For the angels present with a person enter in constantly with good affections and stir to life the truths that have become linked to them. On the other hand if truths have not become linked to good affections the angels strive in vain to arouse any stirrings of matters of faith and charity. These considerations show what one is to understand by delights that belong to affections and cling to truths, meant by 'kneading bowls bound up in their clothes'.

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

Das Obras de Swedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia # 5319

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5319. 'And clothed him in robes of fine linen' means an outward sign denoting the celestial of the spiritual, 'robes of fine linen' being truths going forth from the Divine. This is clear from the meaning of 'robes' as truths, dealt with in 1073, 2576, 4545, 4763, 5248. The reason 'robes of fine linen' means truths going forth from the Divine is that a robe made of fine linen was absolutely white and at the same time shining, and truth going forth from the Divine is represented by robes which have that kind of brightness and splendour. And the reason for this is that heaven derives its brightness and splendour from the light that flows from the Lord; and the light that flows from the Lord is Divine Truth itself, 1053, 1521-1533, 1619-1632, 1776, 3195, 3222, 3339, 3485, 3636, 3643, 3862, 4415, 4419, 4526, 5219. This explains why, when the Lord was transfigured before Peter, James, and John, His clothing appeared as the light, Matthew 17:2; glistening, intensely white like snow, as no fuller on earth could bleach them, Mark 9:3; and dazzling, Luke 9:29. It was Divine Truth itself going forth from the Lord's Divine Human that was represented in this manner. But they are exterior truths that are represented in heaven by the brightness of robes, whereas interior truths are represented by the brightness and splendour of the face. This is why 'being clothed in robes of fine linen' at this point means an outward sign denoting truth going forth from the celestial of the spiritual, for this was what the Lord's Divine consisted in at this time.

[2] There are other places too in the Word where truth going forth from the Divine is meant by 'fine linen' and 'robes of fine linen', as in Ezekiel,

I clothed you with embroidered cloth, and shed you with badger, and swathed you in fine linen, and covered you in silk. Thus were you adorned with gold and silver, and your robes were fine linen, and silk, and embroidered cloth. Ezekiel 16:10, 13.

This refers to Jerusalem, which is used in these verses to mean the Ancient Church. The truths of this Church are described by robes made of embroidered cloth, fine linen, and silk, and by being adorned with gold and silver. 'Embroidered cloth' means truths existing as facts, 'fine linen' natural truths, and 'silk' spiritual truths.

[3] In the same prophet,

Fine linen with embroidered work from Egypt was your sail, that it might be to you an ensign; violet and purple from the islands of Elishah was your covering. Ezekiel 27:7.

This refers to Tyre, which too is used to mean the Ancient Church, but so far as cognitions of good and truth are concerned. 'Fine linen with embroidered work from Egypt, which was its sail' means truth obtained from factual knowledge, which was the outward sign of that Church.

[4] In John,

The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over Babylon, since no one buys their wares any more, wares of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and every vessel of ivory, and every vessel made of most precious wood, and bronze, and iron, and marble. Revelation 18:11-12.

All the specific commodities mentioned here mean the kinds of things that have to do with the Church and so truth and goodness. Here however they are used in the contrary sense because they are spoken of in reference to Babylon. Anyone may see that such commodities would never have been listed in the Word which has come down from heaven unless each one held something heavenly within it. What other reason can there be for a list of worldly wares when Babylon, meaning an unholy Church, is the subject? Similarly in the same book,

Woe, woe, the great city, you that were clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, covered 1 with gold, and precious stones, and pearls. Revelation 18:16.

[5] The fact that each commodity means something Divine and heavenly is quite evident in the same book where it states what fine linen is, namely the righteous acts of the saints,

The time of the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. At that time she was given fine linen, clean and shining, to wear; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Revelation 19:7-8.

'Fine linen' is 'the righteous acts of the saints' for the reason that all those with whom truth received from the Divine exists are clothed with the Lord's righteousness. For their robes which are bright and shining are products of the light which flows from the Lord. Therefore in heaven truth itself is represented by 'brightness', 3301, 3997, 4007; and people who are being raised to heaven from a state of vastation are seen to be clothed with brightness because they are at this point casting off the robe of their own righteousness and putting on that of the Lord's righteousness.

[6] So that truth from the Divine might be represented in the Jewish Church, they were commanded to use cotton or fine linen in Aaron's vestments, and also in the curtains around the Ark, referred to in Moses as follows,

You shall make in chequered pattern for Aaron a tunic of cotton, and you shall make a turban of cotton. Exodus 28:39.

They made tunics of cotton, the work of a weaver, for Aaron and his sons. Exodus 39:27.

You shall make the Dwelling-place, ten curtains - fine-twined cotton, violet and purple and twice-dyed scarlet. Exodus 26:1; 36:8.

You shall make the court of the Dwelling-place. The hangings for the court shall be of fine-twined cotton. Exodus 27:9, 18; 38:9.

The screen for the gate of the court, the work of an embroiderer, violet and purple, and twice-dyed scarlet, and fine-twined cotton. Exodus 38:18.

Cotton is fine linen, which they were commanded to use because each object in the Ark and around the Ark, also every detail of Aaron's vestments, were representative of spiritual and celestial realities. From this one may see that a person has only a meagre understanding of the Word if he does not know what such things represent, and scarcely any understanding at all if he thinks that the Word possesses no holiness other than that which presents itself in the letter.

[7] When angels with whom truth from the Divine is present are seen by anyone they are clothed so to speak in fine linen, that is, in shining brightness, as is evident in John where 'a white horse' is referred to,

The One seated on a white horse was clothed in a garment dyed with blood, and His name is called the Word. His armies in heaven were following Him on white horses; they were clothed in fine linen, white and clean. Revelation 19:11, 13-14.

These words show quite plainly that 'fine linen' is an outward sign denoting truth from the Divine, for 'the One seated on a white horse' is the Lord as to the Word; indeed those words state quite explicitly that He is the Word. The Word is truth itself received from the Divine, and 'a white horse' is the internal sense of the Word, see 2760-2762. Consequently truths received from the Divine are meant by 'white horses', for such truths constitute the whole of the internal sense of the Word. This was why His armies were seen 'on white horses' and why 'they were clothed in fine linen, white and clean'.

Notas de rodapé:

1. literally, gilded

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