woord
'Word,' as in Psalms 119:6-17, stands for doctrine in general. 'The Word,' as in Psalms 147:18, signifies divine good united with divine truth. 'Word,' as...
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...
seun
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....
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
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...
inwoners
Inhabitants,' in Isaiah 26:9, signify the men of the church who are in good of doctrine, and thence in the good of life.
land
'Lands' of different nations are used in the Word to signify the different kinds of love prevalent in the inhabitants.
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...
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...
vertel
'To tell' signifies perceiving, because in the spiritual world, or in heaven, they do not need to tell what they think because they communicate every...
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....
kaalvreter
Caterpillars, mentioned in Joel 1:4, signify the evil of the sensual man.
huil
To howl' signifies grief caused by vastation.
mond
In most cases, "mouth" in the Bible represents thought and logic, especially the kind of active, concrete thought that is connected with speech. The reason...
nasie
'A nation,' as in Genesis 21:18, signifies the spiritual church which should receive the good of faith. Nation from afar,' as in Jeremiah 5:17, signifies...
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....
vyeboom
The Writings tell us that the fig tree represents the "natural human," which is our outward life in the world, and the thoughts and feelings...
wit
'White' relates to truths, because it originates in the light of the sun.
roukleed
'Being clothed in sackcloth' signifies lamentation because of the devastation of truth in the church. 'Sackcloth,' as in Revelation 6:12, relates to destroyed good.
omgord
To gird one’s self, as in John. 21:18, signifies to know and perceive truths in the light from good.
huis
A "house" is essentially a container - for a person, for a family, for several families or even for a large group with shared interests...
priesters
Priests' represent the Lord regarding His divine good. When they do not acknowledge the Lord, they lose their signification of the Lord.
dienaars
'To minister,' as in Genesis 40:2, relates to scientific ideas.
treur
In a general sense, mourning in the Bible represents a state of grief over the lack of desires for good and true ideas about life....
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...
koring
Corn,' as in Genesis 42:2, here stands for a word in the original language which means 'breaking,' and also for a similar word meaning to...
oes
'A harvest' symbolizes the state of the church with respect to Divine truth. The reason is that a harvest yields the grain used to make...
verwelk
In the Bible (and in life), the idea of withering is usually connected to plants, and plants generally wither if they don't get enough water....
bome
In general, plants in the Bible represent facts, thoughts and ideas – intellectual things. This makes sense: Plants are rooted in place, but can grow...
altaar
The first altar mentioned in the Word was built by Noah after he came out of the ark. On that altar, he sacrificed clean animals...
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...
rouklere
'Being clothed in sackcloth' signifies lamentation because of the devastation of truth in the church. 'Sackcloth,' as in Revelation 6:12, relates to destroyed good.
God
When the Bible speaks of "Jehovah," it is representing love itself, the inmost love that is the essence of the Lord. That divine love is...
heilig
'To sanctify' denotes being led by the Lord. 'To sanctify' denotes being incapable of being violated.
roep
As with most common verbs, the spiritual meaning of “crying” or “crying out” (meaning a shout or wail, not weeping) is highly dependent on context....
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...
dag
"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...
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...
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...
onder
In the Bible, things that are lower down, or under, physically, generally represent things that are lower or more external spiritually. In some cases, the...
kleinvee
A flock, as in Genesis 26, denotes interior or rational good. A flock signifies those who are in spiritual good. A flock signifies natural interior...
vuur
A flame signifies spiritual good, and the light of it truth from that good. A flame of fire, as in Revelation 1:14, signifies spiritual love,...
woestyn
'Wilderness' signifies something with little life in it, as described in the internal sense in Luke 1:80 'Wilderness' signifies somewhere there is no good because...
verteer
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...
vlam
Just as natural fire can be both comforting in keeping you warm or scary in burning down your house, so fire in the spiritual sense...
diere
"Beasts" represent the affection for doing good things, a true desire to do them from the heart. In the negative sense, "beasts" stand for the...