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....
gesê
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...
verkondig
To "declare" something means to say it formally, publicly and with emphasis; you might say what you think, but you only declare things you're sure...
dae
The expression 'even to this day' or 'today' sometimes appears in the Word, as in Genesis 19:37-38, 22:14, 26:33, 32:32, 35:20, and 47:26. In a...
Hoor
Thanks to modern science, we now understand that hearing actually happens in the brain, not the ears. The ears collect vibrations in the air and...
luister
'To hearken to father and mother,' as mentioned in Genesis 28:7, signifies obedience from affection. 'To hearken,' as mentioned in Genesis 30:22, signifies providence. See...
Israel
'Israel,' in Jeremiah 23:8, signifies the spiritual natural church. The children of Israel dispersed all the literal sense of the Word by falsities. 'The children...
Ruben
'Reuben,' in the highest sense, signifies omniscience. In a spiritual sense, he signifies wisdom, intelligence, science, and faith. In a natural sense, he signifies sight....
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....
eersteling
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....
mag
'Might' denotes the forces or power of truth.
waters
'Waters' signify truths in the natural self, and in the opposite sense, falsities. 'Waters' signify particularly the spiritual parts of a person, or the intellectual...
bed
A bed of ivory (Amos 6:4) are doctrines apparently from rational truths.
Levi
'Levi' signifies truth in practice, which is the good of life. 'Levi,' in the highest sense, signifies love and mercy, in a spiritual sense, he...
broers
There are two ways "brother" is used in the Bible, ways that are still reflected in modern language. One denotes an actual blood relationship; the...
geweld
'Violence' signifies the outrage done to charity and the destruction of charity and faith. 'Violence,' as in Jeremiah 15:21, signifies falsities which assault the good...
laat
As with common verbs in general, the meaning of “bring” is highly dependent on context, but in general it represents an introduction to a new...
siel
The nature of the soul is a deep and complicated topic, but it can be summarized as "spiritual life," who we are in terms of...
kom
As with common verbs in general, the meaning of “come” in the Bible is highly dependent on context – its meaning is determined largely by...
vergadering
A congregation is a group of people with common loves, interests, and purposes. It often refers to a church group. In the Word it is...
toorn
'Wrath,' as in Genesis 49:7, signifies aversion from truth. 'Great wrath,' as in Revelation 12:12, signifies hatred against the new church.
verstrooi
The meaning of "scatter" in the Bible is relatively literal, but it is used in regard to spiritual things, not natural ones. So to "scatter"...
Juda
City of Judah,' as in Isaiah 40:9, signifies the doctrine of love towards the Lord and love towards our neighbor in its whole extent.
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...
vyande
An enemy in the Bible refers to people who are in the love of evil and the false thinking that springs from evil. On a...
leeu
'A lion' signifies the good of celestial love and the truth from that good.
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...
septer
'A lawgiver,' as in Numbers 21:18, signifies the Lord.
voete
The foot, as in Deuteronomy 33:3, signifies an inferior principle. To set the right foot on the sea and the left on the earth, as...
wyn
Wine played a key role in the ancient world, where safe, reliable water sources were scarce. It could be stored for long periods of time;...
kleed
'Vestments' signify truth, and in relation to the Lord, divine truth. 'Vesture' signifies truth clothing good, and when describing the Word, it signifies the Word...
gewaad
'Vestments' signify truth, and in relation to the Lord, divine truth. 'Vesture' signifies truth clothing good, and when describing the Word, it signifies the Word...
oë
It’s common to say “I see” when we understand something. And indeed, “seeing” in the Bible represents grasping and understanding spiritual things. So it makes...
witter
'White' relates to truths, because it originates in the light of the sun.
tande
'Teeth' signify the outer edges of the life of the natural self, or the sensory level. This has two kinds, the will, and the understanding....
melk
Water represents true ideas about day-to-day life, and other drinks and liquids in general represent different forms of truth. Milk is a drink that contains...
strand
Water generally represents what Swedenborg calls “natural truth,” or true concepts about day-to-day matters and physical things. Since all water ultimately flows into the seas,...
see
Water generally represents what Swedenborg calls “natural truth,” or true concepts about day-to-day matters and physical things. Since all water ultimately flows into the seas,...
skepe
Ships were used in the ancient world – as they generally are now – to carry freight from nation to nation for trade. The various...
Issaskar
Issachar,' in the highest sense, signifies the divine good of truth, and truth of good. In a spiritual sense, he signifies celestial conjugial love, which...
sien
The symbolic meaning of "seeing" is "understanding," which is obvious enough that it has become part of common language (think about it; you might see...
land
Land' in the Word, denotes the church, for the things which signify the church also signify the things relating to the church, for these constitute...
Dan
The tribe of Dan (Jer. 8:16) signifies truth in its own ultimate degree of order, here truth in the church, which is contained in the...
stamme
In general, 'the twelve tribes' signify every aspect of the doctrine of truth and good, or of faith and love. Truth and good, or faith...
slang
Serpents in the Bible represent reasoning that is based on what we know through our senses. This is the lowest and most outward mode of...
pad
'A path' denotes truths, and in the opposite sense, falsities.
perd
'A horse' signifies knowledges or understanding of the Word. In an opposite sense it signifies the understanding of the Word falsified by reasonings, and likewise...
verlossing
'Salvation, to the Lord our God,' as in Revelation 19:1, signifies an acknowledgment and confession that salvation is from the Lord.
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...
Gad
Gad, in a supreme sense, signifies omnipotence; in a spiritual sense, the good of life, or use; and in a natural sense, works. Gad, in...
bende
'A troop,' as in Genesis 30:11, signifies omnipotence and omniscience in the highest sense, in an internal sense, the good of faith, and in an...
vet
Fat signifies the celestial principle. Fat things, full of marrow, signify goodnesses. Fat and blood signify interior goods and truths, and hence the Israelites, prior...
Náftali
'Naphtali' in a supreme sense, signifies the proper power of the Lord’s divine human. In a spiritual sense, he signifies temptation and victory and a...
woorde
'Words,' as in Exodus 34:28, signify everything pertaining to doctrine.
muur
'A wall' signifies truth in outer extremes. 'A wall,' as in Revelation 21, signifies the divine truth proceeding from the Lord, and so, the truth...
boog
A bow signifies falsity of doctrine destroying truth, and spear, the falsity of evil destroying good. (Jer. 6:23.)
arms
Arms and feet (Daniel 10:6) signify the exterior things of the Word, which are its literal sense.
hande
Scientists believe that one of the most crucial developments in the evolution of humans was bipedalism – walking on two legs. That left our hands...
magtige
'Might' denotes the forces or power of truth.
almagtige
'Shaddai,' as in Genesis 43:14, signifies temptation, and consolation after temptation. This is because the ancients called the one and only God by various names...
seën
The Lord is perfect love expressed as perfect wisdom. He created us so that He could love us, could give us love and wisdom of...
seëninge
The Lord is perfect love expressed as perfect wisdom. He created us so that He could love us, could give us love and wisdom of...
hemel
"Air" in the Bible represents thought, but in a very general way – more like our capacity to perceive ideas and the way we tend...
borste
The breast (Ezek. 16:7), signifies natural good.
ewige
'Perpetual' in the literal sense, means to the end of one’s life, after death, and eternity.
Benjamin
Also, Benjamin signifies the Word in its ultimate sense (Deut. 33:12)
wolf
'A wolf' signifies eagerness to seize, but also eagerness to rescue and deliver the good.
môre
Morning comes with the rising of the sun, and the sun – which gives life to the earth with its warmth and light – represents...
eet
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...
aand
Since the light and warmth of the sun represent the Lord’s wisdom and love, it makes sense that evening, a time when the light and...
buit
'To spoil,' as in Genesis 34:27, signifies destruction. 'Spoil,' as in Deuteronomy 13:16, signifies the falsification of truth.
bevel
To command is to give an order that something must be done, and is directed to an individual, or a group. It is an imperative,...
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...
vaders
Father in the Word means what is most interior, and in those things that are following the Lord's order, it means what is good. In...
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...
grond
Is there any difference in meaning between “earth” and “ground”? At first it doesn’t seem so; both refer to the soil making up the land...
Magpéla
'Macpelah,' as in Genesis 23:17, signifies regeneration by truth, which relates to faith.
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...
Kanaän
Canaan signifies a worship in things external without internals, which arose out of the internal church corrupted, called Ham. Thus it is that Ham is...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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.'
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...
