turned
Swedenborg says that the Lord is the sun of heaven, and like the natural sun of our world shines on everyone, good or evil. What...
journey
'To journey' signifies the institutes and order of life.
wilderness
'The wilderness of Sin,' as in Exodus 16, signifies the good from truth in a state of temptation.
way
In John 14:6, 'the way is doctrine,' 'the truth' is every thing pertaining to doctrine, and 'the life' is the essential good which is the...
Red sea
'The Red sea' signifies hell and damnation, or temptation.
sea
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,...
jehovah
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...
spake
Like "say," the word "speak" refers to thoughts and feelings moving from our more internal spiritual levels to our more external ones – and ultimately...
compassed
To encompass, as in Genesis 19:4, signifies to be contrary, or to attack and assault with a hostile intention.
mount
'Mount Seir' denotes the human essence of the Lord.
Seir
'Mount Seir' denotes the human essence of the Lord.
many
Intellectual things – ideas, knowledge, facts, even insight and understanding – are more separate and free-standing than emotional things, and it’s easier to imagine numbering...
days
"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...
mountain
The Writings tell us that the Lord's love is the sun of heaven, and it is natural for us to look above ourselves to the...
long
'Long' and thence to prolong, refer to good.
Enough
'Sufficiency' relates to the reception of good, because good is the spiritual nourishment of the soul, as natural food is the nourishment of the body.
turn
Swedenborg says that the Lord is the sun of heaven, and like the natural sun of our world shines on everyone, good or evil. What...
northward
'North' signifies people who are in obscurity regarding truth. North,' in Isaiah 14:31, signifies hell. The North,' as in Jeremiah 3:12, signifies people who are...
command
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,...
pass
'To pass,' as in Genesis 31:52, signifies flowing in. 'To pass the night,' as in Genesis 24:54, signifies having peace. 'To pass through,' as in...
border
A border as in Isaiah 54:12 signifies the scientific and sensual principle. "And thou shalt make unto it a border of an hand-breath round about."...
brethren
Brethren (Gen. 27:29) signify the affections of good.
children
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....
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.
dwell
Many people were nomadic in Biblical times, especially the times of the Old Testament, and lived in tents that could be struck, moved and re-raised...
afraid
Fear of the unknown and fear of change are both common ideas, and together cover a broad spectrum of the fears we tend to have...
give
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...
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...
foot
Our feet are the lowest parts of our bodies, and they're very useful! In the Bible, feet represent the lowest and most utilitarian part of...
given
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...
money
'Money' relates to truth.
eat
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...
water
'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...
drink
To be drunken without wine (Isa. 29:9), are they who are unconcerned about the Word, and the truths of faith, and thus have no inclination...
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...
blessed
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...
work
'Works,' as in Genesis 46:33, denote goods, because they are from the will, and anything from the will is either good or evil, but anything...
hand
In Genesis 27:22, 'voice' relates to truth, and 'hand,' to good.
known
Like so many common verbs, the meaning of "know" in the Bible is varied and dependent on context. And in some cases – when it...
Walking
To walk in the Bible represents living, and usually means living according to the true things taught to us by the Lord -- to "walk...
great
The word "great" is used in the Bible to represent a state with a strong degree of love and affection, of the desire for good;...
forty
'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...
lacked
For something to “fail” in the Bible means there is not enough understanding of truth and desire for good for someone to attain a higher...
passed
'To pass,' as in Genesis 31:52, signifies flowing in. 'To pass the night,' as in Genesis 24:54, signifies having peace. 'To pass through,' as in...
moab
'Moab,' in a positive sense, signifies people who are in natural good, and allow themselves to be easily seduced, but in an opposite sense, it...
said
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...
battle
War in the Word represents the combat of temptation when what is good is assaulted by what is evil or false. The evil that attacks...
Ar
Ar, mentioned in Deuteronomy 2:17, signifies good not as yet defiled with falsities.
dwelt
'Inhabit' refers to good.
rephaim
'The Rephaim' signify people who, above all others, were in the love of self, and so most completely natural. From the persuasion of their own...
call
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...
horites
'Horites,' as mentioned in Genesis 14:6, represent those who are principled in the persuasions of what is false, grounded in self-love.
before
In most cases, the meaning of "before" is pretty straightforward, both as a way of assessing relative time, and in its use meaning "in someone's...
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...
rise
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...
rise up
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...
brook
A 'stream' signifies aspects of intelligence.
thirty
'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,...
eight
According to Swedenborg, the number eight represents something that is complete within itself, in every respect. Two reasons are offered for this. First, eight is...
generation
To “generate” something is to create it, and that idea underpins the meaning of a “generation” of people – it is a group that was...
war
War in the Word represents the combat of temptation when what is good is assaulted by what is evil or false. The evil that attacks...
camp
Camps in the Bible represent spiritual order – a person’s (or a church community’s) whole collection of desires for good and true ideas on how...
sware
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...
dead
Dead (Gen. 23:8) signifies night, in respect to the goodnesses and truths of faith.
day
"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...
Ammon
The children of Ammon ('Jeremiah 49:1'), signify those who falsify the truths of the Word, and of the church.
Zamzummim
The Zanzummim who were expelled by the Ammonites, as mentioned in Deuteronomy 2:19-21, signify falsities and evils infesting the regenerate man. See Arcana Coelestia 1868.
gaza
Azzah, (Gen 10:19), signifies those things which are revealed concerning charity.
heshbon
'Heshbon,' as mentioned in Jeremiah 49:3, signifies the fructification of truth in the natural self.
Put
'To put' has reference to order, arrangement, application, and influx.
under
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...
heaven
Heavens are celestial and spiritual things. Consequently, they are inmost things, both of the Lord's kingdom in heaven the and in the earth. This also...
hear
'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...
sent
'To send' signifies revealing.
messengers
In the most ancient church, their method of expressing themselves was such, that when they mentioned earthly and worldly things, they thought of the spiritual...
words
'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...
peace
In ordinary life, we tend to think of "peace" as essentially "a lack of conflict." As a nation, if we're not at war, it's a...
go
In the physical world, the places we inhabit and the distances between them are physical realities, and we have to get our physical bodies through...
Right hand
'The right hand' signifies the whole of a person regarding intellectual power, and so, regarding faith. 'To place the right hand on the head,' signifies...
food
To give food, as in Genesis 41:48, signifies to store up.
feet
Our feet are the lowest parts of our bodies, and they're very useful! In the Bible, feet represent the lowest and most utilitarian part of...
jordan
The river Jordan separates the land of Canaan from the lands to the east. This separation represents the division of the human mind into an internal...
giveth
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...
us
Angels do give us guidance, but they are mere helpers; the Lord alone governs us, through angels and spirits. Since angels have their assisting role,...
might
'Might' denotes the forces or power of truth.
smote
'To smite' signifies condemnation. 'To smite,' as in Genesis 14:15, signifies vindication. 'To smite,' as in Genesis 32:8, signifies destruction. 'To smite the earth with...
cities
In the ancient world cities were very nearly nations unto themselves – they existed within walls, with their own laws and customs, generally centered on...
Time
Time is an aspect of the physical world, but according to Swedenborg is not an aspect of the spiritual world. The same is true of...
city
Cities of the mountain and cities of the plain (Jeremiah 33:13) signify doctrines of charity and faith.
women
The word "woman" is used a number of different ways in the Bible – as a simple description, as someone connected to a man ("his...
spoil
'Spoil of gold, and silver, and cattle' signifies falsified truths.
Gilead
Gilead, as in Genesis 31:21, 23, was a boundary of the land of Canaan, in a wide sense. In the spiritual sense, it means "the...
high
'Height' signifies what is inward, and also heaven.
near
'Near,' in the Word, signifies presence and conjunction. 'To be near' signifies being on internal levels. Near,' as in Genesis 19:20, signifies truth bordering upon...
side
'Side' signifies good or spiritual love.
river
A 'stream' signifies aspects of intelligence.
hill
The Writings tell us that the Lord's love is the sun of heaven, and it is natural for us to look above ourselves to the...
country
Generally in the Bible a "country" means a political subdivision ruled by a king, or sometimes a tribe with a territory ruled by a king...
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