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Exodus第29章

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1 καὶ ταῦτά ἐστιν ἃ ποιήσεις αὐτοῖς ἁγιάσαι αὐτοὺς ὥστε ἱερατεύειν μοι αὐτούς λήμψῃ μοσχάριον ἐκ βοῶν ἓν καὶ κριοὺς δύο ἀμώμους

2 καὶ ἄρτους ἀζύμους πεφυραμένους ἐν ἐλαίῳ καὶ λάγανα ἄζυμα κεχρισμένα ἐν ἐλαίῳ σεμίδαλιν ἐκ πυρῶν ποιήσεις αὐτά

3 καὶ ἐπιθήσεις αὐτὰ ἐπὶ κανοῦν ἓν καὶ προσοίσεις αὐτὰ ἐπὶ τῷ κανῷ καὶ τὸ μοσχάριον καὶ τοὺς δύο κριούς

4 καὶ ααρων καὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς αὐτοῦ προσάξεις ἐπὶ τὰς θύρας τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου καὶ λούσεις αὐτοὺς ἐν ὕδατι

5 καὶ λαβὼν τὰς στολὰς ἐνδύσεις ααρων τὸν ἀδελφόν σου καὶ τὸν χιτῶνα τὸν ποδήρη καὶ τὴν ἐπωμίδα καὶ τὸ λογεῖον καὶ συνάψεις αὐτῷ τὸ λογεῖον πρὸς τὴν ἐπωμίδα

6 καὶ ἐπιθήσεις τὴν μίτραν ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐπιθήσεις τὸ πέταλον τὸ ἁγίασμα ἐπὶ τὴν μίτραν

7 καὶ λήμψῃ τοῦ ἐλαίου τοῦ χρίσματος καὶ ἐπιχεεῖς αὐτὸ ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ καὶ χρίσεις αὐτόν

8 καὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς αὐτοῦ προσάξεις καὶ ἐνδύσεις αὐτοὺς χιτῶνας

9 καὶ ζώσεις αὐτοὺς ταῖς ζώναις καὶ περιθήσεις αὐτοῖς τὰς κιδάρεις καὶ ἔσται αὐτοῖς ἱερατεία ἐμοὶ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα καὶ τελειώσεις τὰς χεῖρας ααρων καὶ τὰς χεῖρας τῶν υἱῶν αὐτοῦ

10 καὶ προσάξεις τὸν μόσχον ἐπὶ τὰς θύρας τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου καὶ ἐπιθήσουσιν ααρων καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ αὐτοῦ τὰς χεῖρας αὐτῶν ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν τοῦ μόσχου ἔναντι κυρίου παρὰ τὰς θύρας τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου

11 καὶ σφάξεις τὸν μόσχον ἔναντι κυρίου παρὰ τὰς θύρας τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου

12 καὶ λήμψῃ ἀπὸ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ μόσχου καὶ θήσεις ἐπὶ τῶν κεράτων τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου τῷ δακτύλῳ σου τὸ δὲ λοιπὸν πᾶν αἷμα ἐκχεεῖς παρὰ τὴν βάσιν τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου

13 καὶ λήμψῃ πᾶν τὸ στέαρ τὸ ἐπὶ τῆς κοιλίας καὶ τὸν λοβὸν τοῦ ἥπατος καὶ τοὺς δύο νεφροὺς καὶ τὸ στέαρ τὸ ἐπ' αὐτῶν καὶ ἐπιθήσεις ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον

14 τὰ δὲ κρέα τοῦ μόσχου καὶ τὸ δέρμα καὶ τὴν κόπρον κατακαύσεις πυρὶ ἔξω τῆς παρεμβολῆς ἁμαρτίας γάρ ἐστιν

15 καὶ τὸν κριὸν λήμψῃ τὸν ἕνα καὶ ἐπιθήσουσιν ααρων καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ αὐτοῦ τὰς χεῖρας αὐτῶν ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν τοῦ κριοῦ

16 καὶ σφάξεις αὐτὸν καὶ λαβὼν τὸ αἷμα προσχεεῖς πρὸς τὸ θυσιαστήριον κύκλῳ

17 καὶ τὸν κριὸν διχοτομήσεις κατὰ μέλη καὶ πλυνεῖς τὰ ἐνδόσθια καὶ τοὺς πόδας ὕδατι καὶ ἐπιθήσεις ἐπὶ τὰ διχοτομήματα σὺν τῇ κεφαλῇ

18 καὶ ἀνοίσεις ὅλον τὸν κριὸν ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον ὁλοκαύτωμα κυρίῳ εἰς ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας θυσίασμα κυρίῳ ἐστίν

19 καὶ λήμψῃ τὸν κριὸν τὸν δεύτερον καὶ ἐπιθήσει ααρων καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ αὐτοῦ τὰς χεῖρας αὐτῶν ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν τοῦ κριοῦ

20 καὶ σφάξεις αὐτὸν καὶ λήμψῃ τοῦ αἵματος αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐπιθήσεις ἐπὶ τὸν λοβὸν τοῦ ὠτὸς ααρων τοῦ δεξιοῦ καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ ἄκρον τῆς χειρὸς τῆς δεξιᾶς καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ ἄκρον τοῦ ποδὸς τοῦ δεξιοῦ καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς λοβοὺς τῶν ὤτων τῶν υἱῶν αὐτοῦ τῶν δεξιῶν καὶ ἐπὶ τὰ ἄκρα τῶν χειρῶν αὐτῶν τῶν δεξιῶν καὶ ἐπὶ τὰ ἄκρα τῶν ποδῶν αὐτῶν τῶν δεξιῶν

21 καὶ λήμψῃ ἀπὸ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ ἀπὸ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐλαίου τῆς χρίσεως καὶ ῥανεῖς ἐπὶ ααρων καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν στολὴν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς στολὰς τῶν υἱῶν αὐτοῦ μετ' αὐτοῦ καὶ ἁγιασθήσεται αὐτὸς καὶ ἡ στολὴ αὐτοῦ καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ αἱ στολαὶ τῶν υἱῶν αὐτοῦ μετ' αὐτοῦ τὸ δὲ αἷμα τοῦ κριοῦ προσχεεῖς πρὸς τὸ θυσιαστήριον κύκλῳ

22 καὶ λήμψῃ ἀπὸ τοῦ κριοῦ τὸ στέαρ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸ στέαρ τὸ κατακαλύπτον τὴν κοιλίαν καὶ τὸν λοβὸν τοῦ ἥπατος καὶ τοὺς δύο νεφροὺς καὶ τὸ στέαρ τὸ ἐπ' αὐτῶν καὶ τὸν βραχίονα τὸν δεξιόν ἔστιν γὰρ τελείωσις αὕτη

23 καὶ ἄρτον ἕνα ἐξ ἐλαίου καὶ λάγανον ἓν ἀπὸ τοῦ κανοῦ τῶν ἀζύμων τῶν προτεθειμένων ἔναντι κυρίου

24 καὶ ἐπιθήσεις τὰ πάντα ἐπὶ τὰς χεῖρας ααρων καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς χεῖρας τῶν υἱῶν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀφοριεῖς αὐτοὺς ἀφόρισμα ἔναντι κυρίου

25 καὶ λήμψῃ αὐτὰ ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν αὐτῶν καὶ ἀνοίσεις ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον τῆς ὁλοκαυτώσεως εἰς ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας ἔναντι κυρίου κάρπωμά ἐστιν κυρίῳ

26 καὶ λήμψῃ τὸ στηθύνιον ἀπὸ τοῦ κριοῦ τῆς τελειώσεως ὅ ἐστιν ααρων καὶ ἀφοριεῖς αὐτὸ ἀφόρισμα ἔναντι κυρίου καὶ ἔσται σοι ἐν μερίδι

27 καὶ ἁγιάσεις τὸ στηθύνιον ἀφόρισμα καὶ τὸν βραχίονα τοῦ ἀφαιρέματος ὃς ἀφώρισται καὶ ὃς ἀφῄρηται ἀπὸ τοῦ κριοῦ τῆς τελειώσεως ἀπὸ τοῦ ααρων καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν υἱῶν αὐτοῦ

28 καὶ ἔσται ααρων καὶ τοῖς υἱοῖς αὐτοῦ νόμιμον αἰώνιον παρὰ τῶν υἱῶν ισραηλ ἔστιν γὰρ ἀφαίρεμα τοῦτο καὶ ἀφαίρεμα ἔσται παρὰ τῶν υἱῶν ισραηλ ἀπὸ τῶν θυμάτων τῶν σωτηρίων τῶν υἱῶν ισραηλ ἀφαίρεμα κυρίῳ

29 καὶ ἡ στολὴ τοῦ ἁγίου ἥ ἐστιν ααρων ἔσται τοῖς υἱοῖς αὐτοῦ μετ' αὐτόν χρισθῆναι αὐτοὺς ἐν αὐτοῖς καὶ τελειῶσαι τὰς χεῖρας αὐτῶν

30 ἑπτὰ ἡμέρας ἐνδύσεται αὐτὰ ὁ ἱερεὺς ὁ ἀντ' αὐτοῦ τῶν υἱῶν αὐτοῦ ὃς εἰσελεύσεται εἰς τὴν σκηνὴν τοῦ μαρτυρίου λειτουργεῖν ἐν τοῖς ἁγίοις

31 καὶ τὸν κριὸν τῆς τελειώσεως λήμψῃ καὶ ἑψήσεις τὰ κρέα ἐν τόπῳ ἁγίῳ

32 καὶ ἔδονται ααρων καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ αὐτοῦ τὰ κρέα τοῦ κριοῦ καὶ τοὺς ἄρτους τοὺς ἐν τῷ κανῷ παρὰ τὰς θύρας τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου

33 ἔδονται αὐτά ἐν οἷς ἡγιάσθησαν ἐν αὐτοῖς τελειῶσαι τὰς χεῖρας αὐτῶν ἁγιάσαι αὐτούς καὶ ἀλλογενὴς οὐκ ἔδεται ἀπ' αὐτῶν ἔστιν γὰρ ἅγια

34 ἐὰν δὲ καταλειφθῇ ἀπὸ τῶν κρεῶν τῆς θυσίας τῆς τελειώσεως καὶ τῶν ἄρτων ἕως πρωί κατακαύσεις τὰ λοιπὰ πυρί οὐ βρωθήσεται ἁγίασμα γάρ ἐστιν

35 καὶ ποιήσεις ααρων καὶ τοῖς υἱοῖς αὐτοῦ οὕτως κατὰ πάντα ὅσα ἐνετειλάμην σοι ἑπτὰ ἡμέρας τελειώσεις αὐτῶν τὰς χεῖρας

36 καὶ τὸ μοσχάριον τῆς ἁμαρτίας ποιήσεις τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τοῦ καθαρισμοῦ καὶ καθαριεῖς τὸ θυσιαστήριον ἐν τῷ ἁγιάζειν σε ἐπ' αὐτῷ καὶ χρίσεις αὐτὸ ὥστε ἁγιάσαι αὐτό

37 ἑπτὰ ἡμέρας καθαριεῖς τὸ θυσιαστήριον καὶ ἁγιάσεις αὐτό καὶ ἔσται τὸ θυσιαστήριον ἅγιον τοῦ ἁγίου πᾶς ὁ ἁπτόμενος τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου ἁγιασθήσεται

38 καὶ ταῦτά ἐστιν ἃ ποιήσεις ἐπὶ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου ἀμνοὺς ἐνιαυσίους ἀμώμους δύο τὴν ἡμέραν ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον ἐνδελεχῶς κάρπωμα ἐνδελεχισμοῦ

39 τὸν ἀμνὸν τὸν ἕνα ποιήσεις τὸ πρωὶ καὶ τὸν ἀμνὸν τὸν δεύτερον ποιήσεις τὸ δειλινόν

40 καὶ δέκατον σεμιδάλεως πεφυραμένης ἐν ἐλαίῳ κεκομμένῳ τῷ τετάρτῳ τοῦ ιν καὶ σπονδὴν τὸ τέταρτον τοῦ ιν οἴνου τῷ ἀμνῷ τῷ ἑνί

41 καὶ τὸν ἀμνὸν τὸν δεύτερον ποιήσεις τὸ δειλινόν κατὰ τὴν θυσίαν τὴν πρωινὴν καὶ κατὰ τὴν σπονδὴν αὐτοῦ ποιήσεις εἰς ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας κάρπωμα κυρίῳ

42 θυσίαν ἐνδελεχισμοῦ εἰς γενεὰς ὑμῶν ἐπὶ θύρας τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου ἔναντι κυρίου ἐν οἷς γνωσθήσομαί σοι ἐκεῖθεν ὥστε λαλῆσαί σοι

43 καὶ τάξομαι ἐκεῖ τοῖς υἱοῖς ισραηλ καὶ ἁγιασθήσομαι ἐν δόξῃ μου

44 καὶ ἁγιάσω τὴν σκηνὴν τοῦ μαρτυρίου καὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον καὶ ααρων καὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς αὐτοῦ ἁγιάσω ἱερατεύειν μοι

45 καὶ ἐπικληθήσομαι ἐν τοῖς υἱοῖς ισραηλ καὶ ἔσομαι αὐτῶν θεός

46 καὶ γνώσονται ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι κύριος ὁ θεὸς αὐτῶν ὁ ἐξαγαγὼν αὐτοὺς ἐκ γῆς αἰγύπτου ἐπικληθῆναι αὐτοῖς καὶ θεὸς εἶναι αὐτῶν

   

来自斯威登堡的著作

 

Arcana Coelestia#9229

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9229. 'And men of holiness shall you be to Me' means a state of life then composed of good. This is clear from the meaning of 'men of holiness' as those who are led by the Lord, for the Divine which emanates from the Lord is holiness itself, 6788, 7499, 8127 (end), 8302, 8806. Consequently those who receive that emanation in faith and also in love are called holy ones. Anyone who imagines that a person is holy from any other source, or that anything present with a person is holy apart from that which comes and is received from the Lord is very much mistaken; for that which is the person's own, and is called his proprium, is evil.

The human proprium is nothing but evil, see 210, 215, 694, 874-876, 987, 1047, 4328, 5660, 5786, 8480, 8944.

To the extent that a person can be withheld from his proprium, the Lord can be present with him, and therefore to the same extent holiness resides with him, 1023, 1044, 1581, 2256, 2388, 2406, 2411, 8206, 8393, 8988 (end), 9014.

[2] The truth that the Lord is the Only Holy One, and that nothing is holy except that which emanates from the Lord, and so that which a person receives from the Lord, is evident from everywhere in the Word, as in John,

I make Myself holy, that they also may be made holy in the truth. John 17:19.

'Making Himself holy' means making Himself Divine by His own power. Consequently those who receive Divine Truth emanating from the Lord in faith and life are said to be 'made holy in the truth'.

[3] This also explains why after the Resurrection, when the Lord spoke to the disciples, He breathed on them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit, John 20:22. 'Breathing on (or into)' was a sign that represented the imparting of life through faith and love, as also in Genesis,

Jehovah breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man (homo) became a living soul. Genesis 2:7.

Other examples like this may be seen elsewhere, such as Psalms 33:6; 104:29-30; Job 32:8; 33:4; John 3:8. Therefore also the Word is said to be inspired because it comes from the Lord, and those who wrote the Word have been called 'inspired'. Breathing, and so breathing on or inspiring, corresponds to the life of faith, see 97, 1119, 1120, 3883-3896. This explains why the term spirit in the Word is derived from the word for wind, and holiness from the Lord is called Jehovah's wind, 8286, and why the Holy Spirit is the holiness emanating from the Lord, 3704, 4673 (end), 5307, 6788, 6982, 6993, 8127 (end), 8302, 9199.

[4] So also it says in John 1:33 that the Lord baptizes with the Holy Spirit, and in Luke 3:16 that He baptizes with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 'Baptizing' in the internal sense means regenerating, 4255, 5120 (end), 9088; 'baptizing with the Holy Spirit' means regenerating by means of the good of faith; and 'baptizing with fire' means regenerating by means of the good of love, 'fire' being the good of love, see 934, 4906, 5215, 6314, 6832, 6834, 6849, 7324. In John,

Who is not going to fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. Revelation 15:4.

In Luke the angel telling Mary about the Lord said,

That which is holy will be born from you. Luke 1:35.

And in Daniel,

I saw in the visions of my head while on my bed, and behold, a vigilant and holy one came down from heaven. Daniel 4:13.

In these places 'that which is holy' and 'a holy one' stand for the Lord.

[5] Because the Lord alone is holy He is called in the Old Testament the Holy One of Israel, the Redeemer, the Saviour, and the Regenerator, as in Isaiah 1:4; 5:19, 24; 10:20; 12:6; 17:7; 29:19; 30:11-12, 15; 31:1; 37:23; 41:14, 16, 20; 43:3, 14; 45:11; 47:4; 48:17; 49:7; 54:5; 55:5; 60:9, 14; Jeremiah 50:29; 51:5; Ezekiel 39:7; Psalms 71:22; 78:41; 89:18. This is why the Lord in heaven, and consequently heaven itself, is called the dwelling-place of holiness, Jeremiah 25:30; 31:23; 1 Isaiah 63:15; the sanctuary, 2 Ezekiel 11:16; 24:21; and also the mountain of holiness, Psalms 3:4. It is also why the middle of the tent [of meeting], where the ark containing the law was, was called The Holy of Holies, Exodus 26:33-34; for the law in the ark in the middle of the tent [of meeting], represented the Lord in respect of the Word. For the law is the Word, 6752, 7463.

[6] All this shows why it is that the angels are called holy in Matthew 25:31; Mark 8:38; Luke 9:26; Psalms 149:1; Daniel 8:13; also the prophets, Luke 1:70; and the apostles too, Revelation 18:20. Not that they are holy by their own virtue but that the Lord, who alone is holy and the only source of holiness, makes them so. For truths are meant by 'the angels', because they are those who receive truth from the Lord, 1925, 4085, 4295, 4402, 7268, 7873, 8192, 8301; teachings which present the truth that comes through the Word from the Lord are meant by 'the prophets', 2534, 7269; and all the truths and forms of the good of faith in their entirety which come from the Lord are meant by 'the apostles', 3488, 3858 (end), 6397.

[7] Consecrations 3 among the Israelite and Jewish people took place in order that the Lord who alone was holy might be represented, and in order that holiness, which He alone is the source of, might be represented. This is the reason for the consecration of Aaron and his sons, Exodus 29:1ff; Leviticus 8:10-11, 13, 30; the consecration of their garments, Exodus 29:21ff; the consecration of the altar in order that it might be most holy, 4 Exodus 29:37ff; the consecration of the tent of meeting, the ark of the Testimony, the table, all the vessels, the altar of incense, the altar of burnt offering and its vessels, and the laver and its base, Exodus 30:26ff.

[8] The truth that the Lord is the real Holiness that was represented is evident also from the Lord's words in Matthew when they are seen in the internal sense,

Fools and blind! Which of the two is greater, the gold or the temple that makes the gold holy? And which of the two is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift holy? Matthew 23:17-19.

'The temple' represented the Lord Himself, and so did 'the altar', while 'the gold' was a sign of the good that comes from the Lord, and 'the gift' or a sacrifice was a sign of things constituting faith and charity that come from the Lord.

The Lord was represented by 'the temple', see 2777, 3720, and by 'the altar', 2777, 2811, 4489, 8935, 8940. 'Gold' was a sign of good that comes from the Lord, 1551, 1552, 5658, and 'a sacrifice' a sign of worship springing from faith and charity that come from the Lord, 922, 923, 2805, 2807, 2830, 6905, 8680, 8682, 8936.

[9] From all this it is now evident why it is that the children of Israel were called a holy people in Deuteronomy 26:19 and elsewhere, or as in the present verse men of holiness. That is to say, they were so called because every single aspect of their worship represented Divine realities that are the Lord's, and celestial and spiritual things of His kingdom and Church. On this account they were called holy in a representative sense; they themselves were not holy on that account, because representatives had regard to the holy things that were represented, not to the person who represented them, see 665, 1097 (end), 1361, 3147, 3881 (end), 4208, 4281, 4288, 4293, 4307, 4444, 4500, 6304, 7048, 7439, 8588, 8788, 8806.

[10] On that account also was Jerusalem called holy, and Zion the mountain of holiness in Zechariah 8:3 and elsewhere, as well as in Matthew,

And the tombs were opened, and many bodies of dead holy ones were raised; and coming out of their tombs after the Lord's resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many. Matthew 27:52-53.

Here Jerusalem is called 'the holy city', when in fact, quite to the contrary, it was unholy because the Lord was crucified there at that time, for which reason it is called 'Sodom and Egypt' in John,

Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. Revelation 11:8.

Yet it is called holy, because it means the Lord's kingdom and the Church, 402, 2117, 3654. The appearance of 'dead holy ones' there, an event witnessed by some in vision, was a sign of the salvation of people who belonged to the spiritual Church, and of the raising of those people to the Holy Jerusalem, which is heaven - the people who had been kept up to that time on the lower earth, spoken of in 6854, 6914, 7091, 7828, 7932, 8049, 8054, 8159, 8321.

脚注:

1Jeremiah 31:23 refers to a dwelling-place of righteousness [and] mountain of holiness, to be exact

2. i.e. an especially holy place

3. i.e. dedicating persons or things to holy functions or purposes

4. literally, the holiness of holinesses

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

来自斯威登堡的著作

 

Arcana Coelestia#3670

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3670. 'And He will give you the blessing of Abraham' means the joining of the Divine itself to the good and truth of the natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'blessing' as a joining together, dealt with above in 3660, 3667, and from the representation of 'Abraham' as the Lord's Divine itself, which is called the Father, dealt with in 2011, 3251, 3439. And as these words are addressed to Jacob, who is to represent the Divine Good and Truth of the Lord's Divine Natural, it is a joining together of the Divine itself to the good and truth of the Natural - this joining together being meant in the internal sense by 'He will give you the blessing of Abraham'. In the sense of the letter it is possession of the land of Canaan that is meant by 'the blessing of Abraham', and also by the words that follow, 'to inherit the land of your sojournings, which God gave to Abraham'. This also is what these words are taken to mean by all who believe that the historical descriptions of the Word do not embody anything more heavenly and deeper than that. This is especially so with the Jewish nation, which also claims from that sense to hold a superior position to all other nations and peoples. Their forefathers understood those words in the same way, especially Jacob, who had that kind of disposition, as becomes clear from what has been stated just above in 3667. That is to say, he did not know Jehovah and was unwilling to acknowledge Him unless He conferred bodily and worldly benefits on him. The fact that neither Abraham, nor Isaac, nor Jacob were meant, but that Jacob represented the Lord's Natural which He was to make Divine is abundantly evident from the explanations given. The same applies to the character of any person who represents, whether evil or good; for the evil are no less able to represent, and have represented, the Lord's Divine, see 665, 1097, 1361.

[2] The same may be seen from the representatives which also exist at the present day. For all kings, no matter who they are or what they are like, represent the Lord through the kingly office itself residing with them; and in like manner all priests, no matter who they are or what they are like, do so through their priestly office. The kingly office itself and the priestly office itself are sacred, no matter who serves in them. Consequently the Word taught by someone evil is no less sacred; nor is the Sacrament of Baptism, or the Holy Supper, or similar ministrations any less so. From this it may also be seen that no king can possibly claim as his own the sacredness that goes with his kingly office, nor any priest the sacredness that goes with his priestly office. Insofar as he does claim it or attribute it to himself he brands himself with the sign of a spiritual thief, or the mark of spiritual theft. And insofar as he commits what is evil, that is, acts contrary to what is right and fair, and contrary to what is good and true, a king throws off his representation of the sacred kingly office, and a priest his representation of the sacred priestly office, and then represents the reverse of this. This explains why so many laws were laid down in the Jewish representative Church concerning the sacredness which was to be attached in particular to priests when ministering. More on this matter will in the Lord's Divine mercy be stated later on.

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