At face value, the Ten Commandments can seem intense and unforgiving. But Emanuel Swedenborg’s understanding of the internal sense of the Bible—spiritual meanings that lie beneath the literal words—can give us a new perspective on these familiar rules.

In this episode of their Swedenborg and Life web series, hosts Curtis Childs and Jonathan Rose study the inner meaning of the first commandment.

(Notae: Apocalypse Revealed 950; Arcana Coelestia 8864, 8865, 8868, 8869, 8875, 8878, 8879, 8880, 8881)

3237. 'And her name was Keturah' means the essence of this Divine Truth. This is clear from the meaning of the word 'name' as the essential nature, and of 'calling by name' as knowing the essential nature, dealt with in 144, 145, 1754, 1896, 2009. Now because one does not speak of the nature of what is Divine but of the Esse of this, 'name' here means the essence, indeed the essence of Divine Truth - Divine Truth being meant here by 'the wife', to whom 'her' refers. For here 'the wife' means Divine Truth, see just above in 3236. From this it is evident what 'Keturah' in general embodies.