Spiritual Meaning of EXODUS 32:21-25
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AC 10467. Verses 21-25. And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people to thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them? And Aaron said, Let not thine anger wax hot, my lord; thou knowest the people, that it is in evil; and they said unto me, Make us gods which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that made us come up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what hath become of him. And I said to them, Whosoever hath any gold, tear ye it off; and they gave it me; and I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf. And Moses saw that the people was lax, for Aaron had made them lax unto annihilation by those rising up against them. "And Moses said unto Aaron," signifies perception from the internal concerning such an external; "What did this people to thee, that thou hast brought so great as in upon them?" signifies whence is it that this nation has so turned itself away from the Divine; "and Aaron said," signifies that it was perceived; "Let not thine anger wax hot, my lord," signifies let not the internal turn itself away on this account; "thou knowest the people, that it is in evil," signifies that that nation is in an external separate from a holy internal; "and they said unto me," signifies exhortation; "Make us gods which shall go before us," signifies falsities of doctrine and of worship, thus things idolatrous; "for as for this Moses, the man that made us come up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what hath become of him," signifies that it is altogether unknown what other Divine truth there is in the Word, which raises man from what is external to what is internal, and makes the church; "and I said to them, whosoever hath any gold, tear ye it off," signifies the drawing forth of such things from the sense of the letter as favor the delight of external loves and the principles thence derived; "and they gave it to me," signifies a bringing together into a one, and the effect; "and I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf," signifies the loves of self and of the world, from which and according to which is such worship; "and Moses saw the people that it was lax," signifies that it was perceived by the internal that that nation had turned away from what is internal, thus from the Divine; "for Aaron had made them lax," signifies that this was from the external things which they loved; "unto annihilation by those rising up against them," signifies that they lacked all power to resist the evils and falsities which are from hell.

AC 10468. And Moses said unto Aaron. That this signifies perception from the internal concerning such an external, is evident from the signification of "saying," as being perception (n. 10290); from the representation of Moses, as being the Word (n. 9372), here its internal; and from the representation of Aaron, as being the external of the Word, of the church, and of worship (n. 10397). That "Moses" here denotes the internal is because he speaks to Aaron, by whom is represented the external. Whether you say the internal and the external of the Word, or simply the internal and the external, it is here the same thing, for the Word is Divine truth, from which man has perception, here perception concerning such an external as there was with the Israelitish nation, whether in worship, or in everything of the church, or in everything of the Word. Be it known that all perception about the external is from the internal, for that which is in the external can be seen from the internal; but not from the external what is in itself; and still less from the external what is in the internal. From this it is that those who are in external things without what is internal do not acknowledge internal things, because they do not feel and see them; and also that some deny them, and, together with them, things heavenly and Divine.

AC 10469. What did this people to thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them? That this signifies whence is it that this nation has so turned itself away from the Divine, is evident from the signification of "what did this people to thee," which signifies whence is it that this nation is such; for by "doing" is not here signified doing, because by "Aaron" is not signified Aaron, but the external which is being surveyed by the internal in respect to its quality; and therefore when understood abstractedly from persons, by "what did they to thee" is signified whence is it; and from the signification of "sin," as being a turning away from the Divine (n. 5841, 9346).

AC 10470. And Aaron said. That this signifies that it was perceived, is evident from the signification of "saying," when said of the internal surveying and exploring what is in the external, as being to perceive; thus conversely, when said of the external, as being that which is perceived.

AC 10471. Let not thine anger wax hot, my lord. That this signifies let not the internal turn itself away on this account, is evident from the signification of "waxing hot with anger," when said of Moses, by whom is signified the internal, as being to turn one’s self away; here, let it not turn itself away; and from the representation of Moses, who here is "my lord," as being the internal (n. 10468). Moses is here called "my lord" by Aaron, because relatively the internal is a lord, and the external is a servant; for the internal with man is in heaven, and consequently when it is open it is the man‘s heaven; while the external with him is in the world, thus is his world; and the world was made to serve heaven as a servant his lord. It is similar with the external of worship, and likewise with the external of the church, and also of the Word, relatively to their internal.

AC 10472. Thou knowest the people, that it is in evil. That this signifies that that nation is in an external separate from a holy internal, is evident from the signification of "evil," and "sin," as being disjunction, separation, and a turning away from the Divine (n. 4997, 5746, 5841, 9346). It is said "separate from a holy internal," because the external separate from the internal is also separate from what is holy, for what is holy of man is in his internal. That is called "holy" which flows into man out of heaven, that is, through heaven from the Lord. Heaven flows into the internal of man, and through this into his external, because the internal of man has been formed according to the image of heaven, thus for the reception of the spiritual things which are there; and the external has been formed according to the image of the world, thus for the reception of the natural things which are there (n. 9279, 10156). From this it is evident what is the quality of the man with whom the external is separate from the internal, namely, that he is in worldly, earthly, and bodily things only. They who are in these only, do not apprehend what the internal is, thus neither what it is to be in things heavenly and Divine. They suppose that when they engage in those things which belong to the external worship of the church, they are also in things Divine. Nevertheless it is not so; for at such times they are either in a bodily delight to which they have been accustomed from infancy, or are acting for the sake of the world and appearances, or from the duty of their office for the sake of profit and honor; thus they are in worldly, earthly, and bodily things; and not in things heavenly and Divine. It is otherwise with those who are in things external from what is internal.

AC 10473. And they said unto me. That this signifies exhortation, is evident from the signification of "saying," when said of those who are in things external separate from what is internal, as being exhortation (n. 10398).

AC 10474. Make us gods which shall go before us. That this signifies falsities of doctrine and of worship, thus things idolatrous, may be seen above (n. 10399).

AC 10475. For as for this Moses, the man that made us come out of the land of Egypt, we know not what hath become of him. That this signifies that it is altogether unknown what other Divine truth there is in the Word, which raises man from what is external to what is internal, and makes the church (n. 10400).

AC 10476. And I said to them, Whosoever hath any gold, tear ye it off. That this signifies the drawing forth of such things from the sense of the letter of the Word as favor the delight of external loves and the principles thence derived, is evident from what was unfolded and shown above (n. 10402).

AC 10477. And they gave it me, signifies a bringing together into a one, and the effect (n. 10403, 10404).

AC 10478. And I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf. That this signifies the loves of self and of the world from which and according to which is such worship, is evident from the signification of "fire," as being love in both senses (n. 4906, 5071, 5215, 6314, 6832, 6834, 6849, 7324, 7575, 10055), here the love of self and the love of the world, because that nation was in these loves, seeing that it was in external things separate from what is internal; consequently "to cast into the fire" denotes to be in these loves, and to draw forth such things from the sense of the letter of the Word as favor them; and from this to make doctrine; and from the signification of a "calf," as being worship from these loves, and according to them, which is infernal (n. 10459)

AC 10479. And Moses saw the people that it was lax. That this signifies that it was perceived by the internal that that nation had turned away from what is internal, thus from the Divine, is evident from the signification of "seeing," as being to perceive; from the representation of Moses, as being the internal (n. 10468); and from the signification of "lax," as being to be turned away, here from what is internal, thus from the Divine, according to what was unfolded above (n. 10472). Moreover by this word in the original tongue is signified to be turned away and to go back, and also to be stripped; I and by being "stripped" is signified to be deprived of the good of love and the truth of faith, which are the internals of the church and of its worship (n. 9960).

AC 10480. For Aaron had made them lax. That this signifies that this was from the external things which they loved, is evident from the signification of "making lax," as being to be turned away from what is internal, thus from the Divine (n. 10479); and from the representation of Aaron, as being what is external (n. 10468). That it denotes which they loved, is because those who are in external things separate from what is internal, love external things only. The reason why by "making lax," is here signified to be turned away, and not to cause to turn away, is that by "Aaron" in the internal sense is not meant Aaron, but abstractedly from person, what is external (n. 10469).

AC 10481. Unto annihilation by those rising up against them. That this signifies that they lacked all power to resist the evils and falsities which are from hell, is evident from the signification of "annihilation," as being that they lacked all power to resist evils and falsities, for in the spiritual world this is to have no power; and from the signification of "those rising up against," or enemies, as being evils and the derivative falsities, for in the spiritual sense these are the enemies which rise up. Wherefore also these are signified in the Word by "enemies," and "those who rise up against," as in David:--

Author:  E. Swedenborg (1688-1772).

Design:  I.J. Thompson, Feb 2002.

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