Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 8511

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8511. Verses 28-31 And Jehovah said to Moses, How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws? See! Because Jehovah has given you the sabbath, therefore on the sixth day He gives you the bread of two days; rest, each of you in his place,a let no one go out of his place on the seventh day. And the people rested on the seventh day. And the house of Israel called its name Man;b and it was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like that of a cake with honey.

'And Jehovah said to Moses' means that the appearance of the Divine had become obscured. 'How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws?' means because their actions were not in keeping with Divine order. 'See!' means that they should pay attention and stop to reflect. 'Because Jehovah has given you the sabbath' means the joining together of goodness and truth by the Lord. 'Therefore on the sixth day He gives you the bread of two days' means that for this reason right at the end of the former state He imparts so great an amount of good through truth that the joining together takes place after that. 'Rest, each of you in his place' means a state of peace. 'Let no one go out of his place on the seventh day' means that they must now remain in that state. 'And the people rested on the seventh day' means that the joining together of goodness and truth in a state of peace was now represented. 'And the house of Israel called its name Man' means its essential nature among them. 'And it was like coriander seed, white' means the truth within it, that it was pure. 'And the taste of it was like that of a cake with honey' means that the good was delightful, like that which began as truth but was made into good by means of delight.

Notes

a lit. each under himself
b i.e. The Hebrew interrogative word What? From which the word manna is derived; see 8462.


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