IBhayibheli

 

Leviticus 4

Funda

   

1 And the Lord said to Moses,

2 Say to the children of Israel: These are the offerings of anyone who does wrong through error, doing any of the things which by the Lord's order are not to be done:

3 If the chief priest by doing wrong becomes a cause of sin to the people, then let him give to the Lord for the sin which he has done, an ox, without any mark, for a sin-offering.

4 And he is to take the ox to the door of the Tent of meeting before the Lord; and put his hand on its head and put it to death before the Lord.

5 And the chief priest is to take some of its blood and take it to the Tent of meeting;

6 And the priest is to put his finger in the blood, shaking drops of it before the Lord seven times, in front of the veil of the holy place.

7 And the priest is to put some of the blood on the horns of the altar on which perfume is burned before the Lord in the Tent of meeting, draining out all the rest of the blood of the ox at the base of the altar of burned offering which is at the door of the Tent of meeting.

8 And he is to take away all the fat of the ox of the sin-offering; the fat covering the inside parts and all the fat of the inside parts,

9 And the two kidneys, with the fat on them, which is by the top part of the legs, and the fat joining the liver and the kidneys, he is to take away,

10 As it is taken from the ox of the peace-offering; and it is to be burned by the priest on the altar of burned offerings.

11 And the skin of the ox and all its flesh, with its head and its legs and its inside parts and its waste,

12 All the ox, he is to take away outside the circle of the tents into a clean place where the burned waste is put, and there it is to be burned on wood with fire.

13 And if all the people of Israel do wrong, without anyone's knowledge; if they have done any of the things which by the Lord's order are not to be done, causing sin to come on them;

14 When the sin which they have done comes to light, then let all the people give an ox for a sin-offering, and take it before the Tent of meeting.

15 And let the chiefs of the people put their hands on its head before the Lord, and put the ox to death before the Lord.

16 And the priest is to take some of its blood to the Tent of meeting;

17 And put his finger in the blood, shaking drops of the blood seven times before the Lord in front of the veil.

18 And he is to put some of the blood on the horns of the altar which is before the Lord in the Tent of meeting; and all the rest of the blood is to be drained out at the base of the altar of burned offering at the door of the Tent of meeting.

19 And he is to take off all its fat, burning it on the altar.

20 Let him do with the ox as he did with the ox of the sin-offering; and the priest will take away their sin and they will have forgiveness.

21 Then let the ox be taken away outside the tent-circle, that it may be burned as the other ox was burned; it is the sin-offering for all the people.

22 If a ruler does wrong, and in error does any of the things which, by the order of the Lord his God, are not to be done, causing sin to come on him;

23 When the sin which he has done is made clear to him, let him give for his offering a goat, a male without any mark.

24 And he is to put his hand on the head of the goat and put it to death in the place where they put to death the burned offering before the Lord: it is a sin-offering.

25 And the priest is to take some of the blood of the offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burned offering, draining out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar of burned offering.

26 And all the fat of it is to be burned on the altar like the fat of the peace-offering; and the priest will take away his sin and he will have forgiveness.

27 And if any one of the common people does wrong in error, doing any of the things which the Lord has given orders are not to be done, causing sin to come on him;

28 When the sin which he has done is made clear to him, then he is to give for his offering a goat, a female without any mark, for the sin which he has done.

29 And he is to put his hand on the head of the sin-offering and put it to death in the place where they put to death the burned offering.

30 And the priest is to take some of the blood with his finger, and put it on the horns of the altar of burned offering, and all the rest of its blood is to be drained out at the base of the altar.

31 And let all its fat be taken away, as the fat is taken away from the peace-offerings, and let it be burned on the altar by the priest for a sweet smell to the Lord; and the priest will take away his sin and he will have forgiveness.

32 And if he gives a lamb as his sin-offering, let it be a female without any mark;

33 And he is to put his hand on the head of the offering and put it to death for a sin-offering in the place where they put to death the burned offering.

34 And the priest is to take some of the blood of the offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burned offering, and all the rest of the blood is to be drained out at the base of the altar;

35 And let him take away all its fat, as the fat is taken away from the lamb of the peace-offerings; and let it be burned by the priest on the altar among the offerings made by fire to the Lord: and the priest will take away his sin and he will have forgiveness.

   

Okususelwe Emisebenzini kaSwedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia #10034

Funda lesi Sigaba

  
Yiya esigabeni / 10837  
  

10034. 'And you shall burn [them on] the altar' means springing from the Lord's Divine Love. This is clear from the meaning of 'burning' as springing from Divine Love; and from the representation of 'the altar' as that which was representative of the Lord in respect of the Divine Good of Love, dealt with in 9388, 9389, 9714. The reason why springing from Divine Love is meant is that the fire on the altar was the sign of Divine Love, 6832.

  
Yiya esigabeni / 10837  
  

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

Okususelwe Emisebenzini kaSwedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia #8568

Funda lesi Sigaba

  
Yiya esigabeni / 10837  
  

8568. 'And the people thirsted there for water' means an increase in the desire for truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'thirsting' as craving and desiring, and as having reference to truth just as 'hungering' has reference to good; and from the meaning of 'water' as the truth of faith, dealt with above in 8562. The fact that 'thirsting' is craving and desiring - desiring truth, meant by 'water' - is plainly evident from a large number of places in the Word, such as in Amos,

Behold, the days are going to come, in which I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but for hearing the words of Jehovah. And they will wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east; and they will run to and fro to seek the Word of Jehovah, and will not find it. On that day the beautiful virgins and the young men will faint for thirst. Amos 8:11-13.

The desire to know the truth is described here by 'thirsting'. The desire for truth is meant by 'I will not send a thirst for water, but for hearing the words of Jehovah' and by 'they will run to and fro to seek the Word of Jehovah'. The lack of truth and a resulting deprivation of spiritual life is described by 'on that day the beautiful virgins and the young men will faint for thirst', 'the beautiful virgins' being those with affections for good, and 'the young men' those with affections for truth.

[2] In Isaiah,

Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy [and] eat! Come and buy wine and milk without money and without price. Isaiah 55:1.

'Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters' plainly stands for one desiring the truths of faith. 'Buying wine and milk without price' stands for acquiring from the Lord, thus for nothing, the good and truth of faith. For the meaning of 'the waters' as the truth of faith, see above in 8562; for 'wine' as the good of faith, 6377; and also 'milk', 2184. Anyone may see that 'going to the waters and buying wine and milk' is not used to mean the acquisition of wine and milk, but the kinds of things that belong to heaven and the Church.

[3] The like occurs in John,

To him who thirsts I will give from the spring of the water of life for nothing. Revelation 21:6.

'The spring of the water of life' stands for the truth and good of faith. 'The thirsting one' stands for one desiring them from affection for them, as accords with the Lord's words in John,

Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, but he who drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up into eternal life. John 4:13-14.

'Water' here plainly stands for the truth of faith obtained from the Word, and so from the Lord; and 'not thirsting' stands for his being never again in want of truth.

[4] Something similar appears elsewhere in John,

Jesus said, I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. John 6:35.

And in the same gospel,

Jesus cried out, saying, If anyone thirsts let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, Out of his belly will flow rivers of living water. John 7:37-38.

'Thirsting stands for desiring truth, 'drinking for receiving instruction, and 'rivers of living water' for Divine Truth that flows from the Lord alone.

[5] In Isaiah,

To the thirsty bring water, O inhabitants of the land of Tema; meet with his bread the fugitive. Isaiah 21:14.

'To the thirsty bring water' stands for giving instruction in truths to one desiring them, and so refreshing the life of his soul. In the same prophet,

The fool will speak folly, and his heart will work iniquity, to practice hypocrisy, and to utter error against Jehovah; to empty the soul of the hungry one, and to cause the drink of the thirsting one to fail. Isaiah 32:6.

'The hungry one' stands for one desiring good, and 'one thirsting for drink' for one desiring truth.

[6] In the same prophet,

The poor and the needy are seeking water, but there is none; their tongue is parched with thirst. I will open streams on the sloping heights, and I will place springs in the midst of valleys; I will make the wilderness into a pool of water, and the dry land into wellsprings of water. Isaiah 41:17-18.

It is perfectly clear to anyone that 'seeking water' is seeking truth, that

'being parched with thirst' is being deprived of spiritual life owing to the lack of truth, and that 'streams, springs, a pool, and wellsprings of water' are the truths of faith in which they are to receive instruction.

In the same prophet,

Say, Jehovah has redeemed His servant Jacob. At that time they will not thirst; in waste places He will lead them. He will make water flow for them from the rock; and He will cleave the rock so that water flows out. Isaiah 48:20-21.

'They will not thirst' stands for their having no lack of truths; here 'water' plainly stands for the truths of faith.

[7] In the same prophet,

They will not hunger, nor will they thirst, nor will heat or the sun strike them; for the One having mercy on them will lead them, so that also by the wellsprings of water He will lead them. Isaiah 49:10.

'They will not hunger' stands for their having no lack of good, 'they will not thirst' for their having no lack of truth. 'Wellsprings of water' stands for cognitions of truth out of the Word.

[8] Something similar occurs in Moses,

Jehovah was leading you through a great and frightening wilderness, with serpents, fiery snakes, and scorpions, and dry places where there was no water; and He brought water for you out of the rock of the crag. Deuteronomy 8:15.

In Isaiah,

Behold, your God will come. At that time waters will break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the plain of the wilderness; and the dry place will become a pool and the thirsty ground wellsprings of water. Isaiah 35:4, 6-7.

'Waters in the wilderness which will break forth', 'streams', 'a pool', and

'wellsprings of water' plainly stand for the truths of faith and cognitions of those truths, which would be received from the Lord when He came into the world.

[9] In David,

O God, [You are] my God; in the morning I seek You. My soul thirsts for You; my flesh in a dry land longs for You, and I am weary without water. Psalms 63:1.

Here 'thirsting' has reference to truth, and 'I am weary without water' stands for the fact that there are no truths. 'Thirst' stands for a lack of truth and the resulting deprivation of spiritual life in Isaiah,

Therefore My people will go into exile because they have no knowledge, and their honourable men will be famished, 1 and their multitude parched with thirst. Isaiah 5:13.

In the same prophet,

I make the rivers into a desert; their fish become putrid because there is no water, and they will die of thirst. Isaiah 50:2.

[10] From all this one may now see what is meant in the present chapter by there was no water for the people to drink, verse 1; by their saying, Give us water and let us drink, verse 2; by the people thirsted there for water, verse 3; and by the declaration that water would come out of the rock, verse 6. All of this makes it clear that their grumbling because of the lack of water means temptation arising from a lack of truth. For when a person enters temptation because of a lack of truth he is gripped by an intense desire for it, and at the same time by despair of eternal salvation on account of this. These feelings are responsible for the grief at that time and for the complaining.

Imibhalo yaphansi:

1. literally, their glory will be men (homo) of famine

  
Yiya esigabeni / 10837  
  

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