Arcana Coelestia (Potts) n. 10221

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10221. Half a shekel, in the shekel of holiness. That this signifies all things of truth from good, is evident from the signification of "half," as being all things; and from the signification of a "shekel," as being truth from good. That "half" signifies all things, is because half a shekel was ten gerahs, or oboli, and by "ten" are signified all things (see n. 4638), and also remains (n. 576, 1906, 1988, 2284), which are the truths and goods with man stored up in his interiors by the Lord (n. 5135, 5342, 5897, 5898, 7560, 7564). That a "shekel" denotes truth from good is because a shekel was a weight of silver and also of gold, and by "silver" is signified truth, and by "gold" good; but how much of truth from good and of good through truth, is determined by the number of gerahs or oboli in the shekel; and in itself, regarded as a weight, a "shekel" denotes the quantity; and when it is called "the shekel of holiness," it denotes the quantity of truth and good, for truth and good are what are called "holy," because they are from the Lord who alone is holy. (More may be seen concerning the shekel and its signification in n. 2959.)


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