Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 10601

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10601. THE INTERNAL SENSE

Verses 1-9 And Jehovah said to Moses, Hew for yourself two tablets of stone like the first ones, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you broke. And be ready by the morning; and you shall come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and you shall stand with Me there on the top of the mountain. And no one shall come up with you, and also no one shall be seen on all the mountain; also no flock or herd shall feed before this mountain. And he hewed two tablets of stone like the first ones; and Moses rose early in the morning, and went up to Mount Sinai, as Jehovah had commanded him, and took the two tablets of stone in his hand. And Jehovah descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of Jehovah. And Jehovah passed through above his face, and proclaimed, Jehovah, Jehovah, God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering with regard to angera, and great in goodness and truth, keeping goodness for thousands, bearing iniquity and transgression and sin; and He does not at all absolveb, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the sons and on the sons of sons, on the third and on the fourth [generations]. And Moses made haste and bowed to the earth, and adored. And he said, If now I have found grace in Your eyes, O Lord, let [my] Lord, I beg You, go in our midst, for they are a stiff-necked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sinc, and make us Your inheritance.

'And Jehovah said to Moses' means the conclusion regarding the Israelite nation. 'Hew for yourself two tablets of stone like the first ones' means the kind of outward form that the Word, the Church, and worship take on account of that nation. 'And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you broke' means the Divine celestial and spiritual realities belonging to the interior level of these three entities, which are present also in those external things. 'And be ready by the morning; and you shall come up to Mount Sinai' means a new beginning in the revelation of Divine Truth. 'And you shall stand with Me there on the top of the mountain' means coming from the inmost heaven, where Divine Love is. 'And no one shall come up with you' means that the Israelite nation is incapable of standing in Divine Truth. 'And also no one shall be seen on all the mountain' means that they are entirely remote from that Truth, and so stand outside it. 'Also no flock or herd shall feed before this mountain' means that neither were they capable of receiving instruction concerning the interior and exterior good of the Church, worship, and the Word. 'And he hewed two tablets of stone like the first ones' means the kind of outward form that the Word, the Church, and worship take on account of the Israelite nation. 'And Moses rose early in the morning, and went up to Mount Sinai' means a new beginning in the revelation of Divine Truth. 'As Jehovah had commanded him' means that such a thing should be done because of their insistence. 'And took the two tablets in his hand' means the kind of outward form that the Word, the Church, and worship take on account of the Israelite nation. 'And Jehovah descended in the cloud and stood with him there' means the outward form that the Word takes, in which the Divine is present. 'And proclaimed the name of Jehovah' means worship of the Lord springing from the truths and forms of the good of faith and love, and so preparation for reception. 'And Jehovah passed through above his face' means the internal and Divine realities above the external things. 'And proclaimed, Jehovah, Jehovah, God, merciful and gracious' means the Divine itself, the Divine Human, and the Divine proceeding, the Source of everything good. 'Long-suffering with regard to anger' means Divine leniency. 'And great in goodness and truth' means that He is absolute Goodness and absolute Truth. 'Keeping goodness for thousands' means eternally so. 'Bearing iniquity, transgression, and sin' means shifting evil and its falsity away in order that it may not be apparent. 'And He does not at all absolve' means allowing them to exist until they reach their closing stage. 'Visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the sons and on the sons of sons' means the rejection and condemnation of evils and of a long line of falsities arising from them. 'On the third and on the fourth [generations]' means the condemnation of falsities and the evils arising from them. 'And Moses made haste and bowed to the earth, and adored' means the reception at that time of what flowed into the outward form, and worship as a result of humility. 'And he said, If now I have found grace in Your eyes, O Lord' means because such an outward form was accepted. 'Let [my] Lord, I beg You, go in our midst' means in order that what is Divine may be inwardly present in it. 'For they are a stiff-necked people' means even though the Israelite nation does not accept what is Divine from an interior level. 'And pardon our iniquity and our sin' means being so in order that the things interiorly present within them, which teem with falsities and evils, may be shifted away. 'And make us Your inheritance' means in order that nevertheless the Church may exist there.

Notes

a lit. angers
b lit. and absolving He does not absolve
c lit. and be propitious towards our iniquity and towards our sin


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