Abraham
Abraham (or Abram, as he is named in the beginning of his story) is one of the major characters in the story of the sacred...
vrou
The Hebrew of the Old Testament has six different common words which are generally translated as "wife," which largely overlap but have different nuances. Swedenborg...
naam
It's easy to see that names are important in the Bible. Jehovah changed Abram and Sarai to Abraham and Sarah, changed Jacob to Israel and...
Ketúra
'Keturah,' as in Genesis 25:1, signifies divine truth spiritual, conjoined to divine good spiritual.
Joksan
Jokshan' signifies common lots of the Lord's spiritual kingdom.
Medan
'Medan' signifies common lots of the Lord’s spiritual kingdom.
Mídian
'Midian' signifies people who are in falsity.
Jisbak
Ishbak' represents the common lots, or heritable divisions of the Lord's spiritual kingdom.
gebaar
In a general sense, being "born" in the Bible represents one spiritual state producing another, usually some form of love or affection producing or "giving...
was die vader van
To beget or to be begotten is very similar in meaning to birth: It represents one spiritual state leading to the next spiritual state. "Beget,"...
die vader
To beget or to be begotten is very similar in meaning to birth: It represents one spiritual state leading to the next spiritual state. "Beget,"...
Dedan
Dedan (Gen. 10) signifies the knowledges of celestial things of an inferior order, such as consist in ritual observances. Dedan, in Jer. 49:8 signifies rituals...
kinders
A child is a young boy or girl in the care of parents, older than a suckling or an infant, but not yet an adolescent....
Letusiete
'Letushim' signify varieties of faith.
Leümmiete
'Leummim' signify the good of faith and its varieties.
seuns
A child is a young boy or girl in the care of parents, older than a suckling or an infant, but not yet an adolescent....
Henog
'Hanoch' denotes those who are in the truth of faith.
Isak
'Isaac' represents spiritual love. 'Isaac,' in Genesis 17:19, signifies the rational divine. 'Isaac' signifies the Lord's divine rational in reference to divine good. Isaac' signifies...
gegee
Like other common verbs, the meaning of "give" in the Bible is affected by context: who is giving what to whom? In general, though, giving...
seun
'A son,' as in Genesis 5:28, signifies the rise of a new church. 'Son,' as in Genesis 24:3, signifies the Lord’s rationality regarding good. 'A...
geskenke
The gift which Abraham gave to the sons of the concubines which he had, as in Genesis 25:6, signifies lots in the Lord's spiritual kingdom....
lewe
'Lives' is used in the plural, because of the will and understanding, and because these two lives make one.
dae
"Day" describes a state in which we are turned toward the Lord, and are receiving light (which is truth) and heat (which is a desire...
honderd
It's a landmark for a young child to count to 100; it sort of covers all the "ordinary" numbers. One hundred is obviously significant for...
vyf
Five also signifies all things of one part.
goeie
It seems rather circular to say that “good” in the Bible represents good, but in a general sense it’s true! The case is this: The...
versamel
To gather, as in Genesis 6:21, refers to those things which are in the memory of man, where they are gathered. It also implies that...
Ismael
'Ishmael' represents the first rationality pertaining to the Lord. 'Ishmael' signifies rationality separate from good. 'Ishmael' signifies the Lord's merely human rational. Ishmael, in Genesis...
Magpéla
'Macpelah,' as in Genesis 23:17, signifies regeneration by truth, which relates to faith.
Efron
Ephron (Gen. 23:8, 17) signifies those with whom the good and truth of faith, which are the constituents of the church, might be received.
Hetiet
'A Hittite' in a good sense, signifies the spiritual church, or the truth of the church. The Hittites were among the upright Gentiles who were...
Mamre
Mamre was an Amorite who lived in the land of Canaan, in the area called Hebron in what would much later be the kingdom of...
Het
The daughters of Heth, as mentioned in Genesis 27:46, signify the affections of truth from a ground that is not genuine. Here they are the...
sara
'Sarah' denotes truth joined to good. Sarai was called 'Sarah' so she would represent the divine intellectual principle by adding the 'H' from the name...
dood
Dead (Gen. 23:8) signifies night, in respect to the goodnesses and truths of faith.
God
The Lord is love itself, expressed in the form of wisdom itself. Love, then, is His essence, His inmost. Wisdom - the loving understanding of...
Hagar
Hagar, as mentioned in Genesis 16, signifies the affection of sciences of the outward self and also the life of the outer or natural self.
slavin
'A handmaid' signifies the affection of rational and scientific things. 'A handmaid,' as mentioned in Genesis 30:3, signifies the affirming medium of conjoining inner truths...
name
It's easy to see that names are important in the Bible. Jehovah changed Abram and Sarai to Abraham and Sarah, changed Jacob to Israel and...
eersgeborene
When the Bible talks about generations or birth order, the internal meaning has to do with the progression of spiritual states and their relative importance....
Nébajot
'Nebaioth,' as in Genesis 28, denotes good of the spiritual church.
Kedar
'Kedar' or 'Arabia' signifies spiritual good. Kedar' denotes people of the Gentiles who are in simple truth. 'Arabia' signifies the same thing.
Mibsam
'Mibsam' means things pertaining to the spiritual church.
tema
'Tema' represents aspects of the spiritual church among the Gentiles.
Jetur
Jetur' represents the spiritual church among the gentiles.
Nafis
'Naphish' represents things in the spiritual church.
Kedma
Kedemah' represents things of the spiritual church among the Gentiles.
dorpe
'Villages' signify the external aspects of faith and the church. Rituals are the external parts of the church. Doctrines are the internal parts when they...
sewe
The number 'seven' was considered holy, as is well known, because of the six days of creation, and the seventh, which is the celestial self,...
dertig
'Thirty' has a twofold significance because it is is the product of five and six, and also three and ten. From five multiplied by six,...
Háwila
'Havilah,' as mentioned in Genesis 10:28, signifies a ritual of the church called Eber. 'The land of Havilah,' as mentioned in Genesis 2:11, signifies the...
Sur
'Shur,' or 'Assyria,' signifies the Lord's state when He first received instruction in matters of doctrine regarding charity and faith.
Egipte
'Mizraim' signifies the same thing as Egypt.
broers
Brethren (Gen. 27:29) signify the affections of good.
veertig
'Forty' means completeness because 'four' means what is complete, as does 'ten.' Forty is the product of four and ten. Compound numbers have a meaning...
Rebekka
'Rebecca,' as in Genesis 24, signifies divine truth which would be joined to divine good of the Lord’s rational mind, which is 'Isaac.'
dogter
"Behold I have two daughters,” etc. (Gen. 19:8), signifies the affections of good and truth, and the blessedness perceivable from the enjoyment thereof, by those...
suster
The Lord calls people who are in truth from the good of charity from Him 'sisters,' as in Matthew 12:50. 'Sister' denotes intellectual truth, when...
Laban
'Laban' signifies the affection of good in the natural self, or the affection of external good, and properly collateral good of a common stock. The...
Here
The Lord, in the simplest terms, is love itself expressed as wisdom itself. In philosophic terms, love is the Lord's substance and wisdom is His...
verhoor
To 'intreat' denotes humiliation.
sê
As with many common verbs, the meaning of “to say” in the Bible is highly dependent on context. Who is speaking? Who is hearing? What...
twee
The number "two" has two different meanings in the Bible. In most cases "two" indicates a joining together or unification. This is easy to see...
nasies
'Nations' signify people who are in the good of love and charity from the Lord. Two nations in the womb,' as in Genesis 25:23, signify...
dien
Generally speaking, those who are at lower levels of an organization serve those at higher levels. Bosses boss and their employees serve; coaches devise strategy...
tweeling
'Twins in the womb,' as in Genesis 25:24, signifies that both good and truth, represented by Esau and Jacob, were conceived together.
eerste
Why would it be insulting for a man to refer to his married partner as his “first wife”? Because it implies there will be a...
hare
The hair is the very outermost part of the body, and "hair" in the Bible represents the outermost expression of whatever the body represents. In...
Esau
Esau (Gen. 28:5, etc.) signifies the truth of good in the natural principle. Esau (Gen. 32:3) signifies celestial good in the natural principle.
genoem
To call someone or summon someone in the Bible represents a desire for conjunction between higher and lower states of life. For instance, imagine someone...
broer
Brethren (Gen. 27:29) signify the affections of good.
Gebore
In a general sense, being "born" in the Bible represents one spiritual state producing another, usually some form of love or affection producing or "giving...
hand
Scientists believe that one of the most crucial developments in the evolution of humans was bipedalism – walking on two legs. That left our hands...
sestig
'Sixty' means the full time and state of the implantation of truth.
geboorte
To beget or to be begotten is very similar in meaning to birth: It represents one spiritual state leading to the next spiritual state. "Beget,"...
man
The relationship between men and women is deep and nuanced, and one entire book of the Writings – Conjugial Love or Love in Marriage –...
veld
When we have a desire to be good people and to do good things, the natural first questions are "What does that mean?" "What should...
tente
'The tabernacle' has almost the same meaning as 'temple,' that is, in the highest sense, the Lord’s divine humanity, and in a relative sense, heaven...
wildsvleis
'Venison,' as in Genesis 26:2, signifies the truth of the natural which the good of life comes from.
Edom
'Edom' or 'Idumea,' as in Isaiah 34:5, signifies those who are in evil and in falsities thence derived.
verkoop
'To sell,' as in Genesis 41:56, means transferring to another as their own, because what is sold becomes the property of the one who buys...
sterwe
Dead (Gen. 23:8) signifies night, in respect to the goodnesses and truths of faith.
sweer
The Lord swearing by himself signifies that divine truth testifies, for He is divine truth itself, and this testifies from itself and means itself. It...
gesweer
'To sware' is a binding.
brood
The word “bread” is used two ways in the Bible. In some cases it means actual bread; in others it stands for food in general....
lensies
'Lentils' signify the less noble types of good.
geëet
When we eat, our bodies break down the food and get from it both energy and materials for building and repairing the body. The process...
gedrink
Food in the Bible represents the desire for good, and water and other drinks represent the understanding and true ideas we need to recognize what...
opgestaan
It is common in the Bible for people to "rise up," and it would be easy to pass over the phrase as simply describing a...
