the Word
In general, we tend to be very aware of how knowing what's true leads to doing what is good. That starts as children, with parents...
word
'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...
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...
son
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....
hear
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...
inhabitants
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.
days
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...
fathers
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...
tell
'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...
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....
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...
palmer-worm
Canker-worm, caterpillar, and palmer-worm, in Joel 2:25, signify the falsities and evils vastating or consuming the truths and goods of the church.
worm
Caterpillars, mentioned in Joel 1:4, signify the evil of the sensual man.
locust
'Locusts' signify falsities in the extremes, which consume the truths and goods of the church in a person. 'The locusts' which John the Baptist ate...
eaten
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...
Canker-worm
Canker-worm, caterpillar, and palmer-worm, in Joel 2:25, signify the falsities and evils vastating or consuming the truths and goods of the church.
caterpillar
Canker-worm, caterpillar, and palmer-worm, in Joel 2:25, signify the falsities and evils vastating or consuming the truths and goods of the church.
weep
'Weeping with a loud voice' signifies the ultimate of grief.
wail
To howl' signifies grief caused by vastation.
Wine
In Revelation 18:13, 'wine, oil, flour, and wheat' signify celestial principles of worship.
Cut off
To be cut off, as in Genesis 41:36, signifies to perish.
mouth
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...
nation
'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...
without number
In Joel 1:6, 'strong' relates to the power of evil, and 'without number,' of the power of falsity.
teeth
'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....
lion
'A lion' signifies the good of celestial love and the truth from that good.
fig
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...
white
'White' relates to truths, because it originates in the light of the sun.
virgin
In the Word, the words 'virgin' and 'girl' are used, although the word translated 'girl' rarely occurs in the original language. In Exodus 2:8, 'a...
girded
To gird one’s self, as in John. 21:18, signifies to know and perceive truths in the light from good.
sackcloth
'A sack' in Genesis 42:25, means a receptacle, and here 'a receptacle' on the natural level, because it is a story about the truths and...
youth
'Tender of age' denotes the state of truths newly received not yet genuine.
offering
It was customary in the representative Ancient Church, and later in the Jewish Church, when people went to the judges, and at a later time,...
house
A "house" is essentially a container - for a person, for a family, for several families or even for a large group with shared interests...
priests
Priests' represent the Lord regarding His divine good. When they do not acknowledge the Lord, they lose their signification of the Lord.
jehovah's
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...
ministers
'To minister,' as in Genesis 40:2, relates to scientific ideas.
mourn
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....
field
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...
mourneth
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....
grain
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...
new wine
'New wine' is the divine truth of the New Testament.
dried
'Withering and drying up,' as in Ezekiel 17:10, referring to the east wind, signifies when there is no good or truth.
Wheat
In Revelation 18:13, 'wine, oil, flour, and wheat' signify celestial principles of worship.
barley
'Wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and vetches,' as in Ezekiel 4:9, 12, signify various kinds of good, and their derivative truths. Bread, or a cake,...
harvest
'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...
withered
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....
tree
In general, plants in the Bible represent facts, thoughts and ideas – intellectual things. This makes sense: Plants are rooted in place, but can grow...
pomegranate
'Pomegranates,' as in Exodus 28:34, signify the scientific ideas of good and truth, which are doctrinal matters from the Word in the memory, which is...
pomegranate-tree
'Pomegranates,' as in Exodus 28:34, signify the scientific ideas of good and truth, which are doctrinal matters from the Word in the memory, which is...
apple
'An apple', as in Joel 1:12, signifies joy of heart from natural good derived from spiritual good.
trees
In general, plants in the Bible represent facts, thoughts and ideas – intellectual things. This makes sense: Plants are rooted in place, but can grow...
Trees of the field
'The trees of the field,' as in Ezekiel 31:15, signify the knowledges of truth in the church.
gird
To gird one’s self, as in John. 21:18, signifies to know and perceive truths in the light from good.
altar
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...
come
Coming (Gen. 41:14) denotes communication by influx.
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...
sanctify
'To sanctify' denotes being led by the Lord. 'To sanctify' denotes being incapable of being violated.
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...
gather
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...
the inhabitants
'The inhabitants of Teman,' as in Jeremiah 49:20, signifies the evils and falsities opposed to the Lord’s celestial kingdom.
cry
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....
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...
day of
'Day of vengeance' signifies a state of damnation.
almighty
'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...
food
'The spoil in mine house,' as in Malachi 3:10, signifies remains in the internal self, because they are stealthily implanted among many evils and falsities.
eyes
'Pairs of hands, eyes, etc.' relate to the will and understanding, or to good and truth. The right side to the will or good, and...
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...
beasts
"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...
herds
'A herd,' as mentioned in Genesis 32:7, denotes exterior or natural good, and also not good things.
pasture
Plants in the Bible generally represent facts, knowledge that can be gleaned from the world. Plants that can serve animals as food represent facts that...
flocks
It’s pretty easy for most people to read the Bible and get a sense for what “sheep” means without any help. They are simple, peaceful,...
sheep
It’s pretty easy for most people to read the Bible and get a sense for what “sheep” means without any help. They are simple, peaceful,...
fire
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,...
devoured
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...
wilderness
'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...
flame
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...
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...
)