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...
moses
Moses's name appears 814 times in the Bible (KJV), third-most of any one character (Jesus at 961 actually trails David at 991). He himself wrote...
two
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...
silver
'Silver,' in the internal sense of the Word, signifies truth, but also falsity. 'Silver' means the truth of faith, or the truth acquired from selfhood,...
congregation
A company, congregation, and a multitude, in the Word, are predicated of truths.
camps
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...
door
In a general sense, doors in the Bible represent the initial desires for good and concepts of truth that introduce people to new levels of...
tent
'Tent' is used in the Word to signify the celestial and holy aspects of love, because in ancient time they performed holy worship in their...
one
A company might have executives setting policy and strategy, engineers designing products, line workers building them, managers handling personnel and others handling various functions. They...
heads
The head is the part of us that is highest, which means in a representative sense that it is what is closest to the Lord....
thousands
As children, most of us at some point frustrated our mothers into using the phrase “if I've told you once, I've told you a thousand...
israel
Jacob is told twice that his name will now be Israel. The first time is when he wrestles with an angel on his journey to...
side
'Side' signifies good or spiritual love.
journey
Journeying' or 'going on' denotes progressing or advancing in life, in the opposite sense, it means going back.
journeys
'To journey' signifies the institutes and order of life.
assembly
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...
To
'To jubilate' or 'make a joyful noise' signifies worship from the delight of good.
aaron
Aaron was the brother of Moses. He symbolizes two things, at different stages of the story. During the first part of the exodus, when he...
priests
Priests' represent the Lord regarding His divine good. When they do not acknowledge the Lord, they lose their signification of the Lord.
ever
In many cases, the use of “eternity” in the Bible is pretty literal, simple meaning forever. This is especially true when the text is referring...
generations
To “generate” something is to create it, and that idea underpins the meaning of a “generation” of people – it is a group that was...
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...
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...
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...
remembered
'To remember,' as in Genesis 41:9, signifies conjunction. 'Remembering' denotes conjunction because the remembrance of anyone in the other life joins them together, because as...
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...
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...
saved
To be saved or rescued means getting true ideas that we can hold to even in the face of a storm of false thinking. Sometimes...
enemies
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...
day
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...
day of
'Day of vengeance' signifies a state of damnation.
months
'A month' has respect to the state of truth in a person. 'A month' signifies a full state. Month,' as in Genesis 29, signifies the...
Offerings
'Offerings' signify worship.
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...
memorial
'For a sign and for a memorial,' denotes that a thing should be perpetually remembered.
Second month
'Second month,' as in Genesis 8:14, signifies every state before regeneration, which is because of the significance of 'two' in the Word. 'Two' signifies the...
month
'A month' has respect to the state of truth in a person. 'A month' signifies a full state. Month,' as in Genesis 29, signifies the...
twentieth
'Twenty,' when referring to a quantity, signifies everything, or fullness, because it is ten twice. In Genesis 18:31, 'twenty', like all numbers occurring in the...
cloud
In Isaiah 19:1, "Jehovah rides upon a light cloud, and comes into Egypt", signifies the visitation of the natural man from spiritual-natural Divine Truth, for...
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....
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...
Sinai
'Mount Sinai,' as in Exodus 19:1, signifies, in the highest sense, divine truth from divine good. 'Mount' means divine good, and 'Sinai,' divine truth, and...
Paran
'Paran' or 'Elparan' signifies a state of illumination from the Lord’s divine human.
first
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...
the first
'Resurrection' signifies salvation and eternal life. 'The first,' mentioned in Revelation 20:5, 6, does not mean a first resurrection, but the essence and primary part...
standard
'A standard' denotes a congregation gathering together and the Lord’s protection.
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...
judah
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.
host
A host and an army come from the same Hebrew word and mean the same thing in Bible; when the Children of Israel were numbered...
son
'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...
tribe
'A tribe' signifies the church with respect to its truths and goods, and in the opposite sense, with respect to its falsities and evils. 'A...
Issachar
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...
Zebulun
Zebulon's name comes from a Hebrew root word meaning habitation, or "dwelling together". In Genesis 30:19, 22 and Genesis 49:13, 'Zebulon' signifies the way that...
down
"Down" is used many different ways in natural language, and its spiritual meaning in the Bible is highly dependent on context. Phrases like "bowing down,"...
reuben
'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....
Simeon
In Revelation 7, 'Simeon', in the highest sense, signifies providence, in a spiritual sense, love towards our neighbor, or charity, and in a natural sense,...
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...
bearing
Like many verbs, the spiritual meaning of "bearing" something depends greatly on context – what it is that's being borne, and why. It is further...
coming
Coming (Gen. 41:14) denotes communication by influx.
ephraim
Ephraim was the second son born to Joseph in Egypt and was, along with his older brother Manasseh, elevated by Jacob to the same status...
manasseh
'Manasseh' signifies the will of the spiritual church.
Benjamin
'The tribe of Zebulon' signifies the conjunction of people in the third heaven with the Lord, 'the tribe of Joseph,' the conjunction of people in...
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...
naphtali
'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...
journeyings
'To journey' signifies the institutes and order of life.
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...
Hobab
'Hobab,' or 'Jethro' denotes good of the church.
reuel
'Reuel' was a priest and so denotes the good of the church.
place
'A room' or 'place' denotes state.
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...
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,...
good
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...
spoken
Like "say," the word "speak" refers to thoughts and feelings moving from our more internal spiritual levels to our more external ones – and ultimately...
own
In many cases, the spiritual meaning of "own," both as a verb and as an adjective, is relatively literal. When people are described as the...
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...
mount
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...
three
The Writings talk about many aspects of life using the philosophical terms "end," "cause" and "effect." The "end" is someone’s goal or purpose, the ultimate...
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...
ark
There are three arks mentioned in the Word, the ark of Noah, the ark of bulrushes for the baby Moses, and the ark of the...
went before
To "go before" in the Bible means either to lead or to prepare, depending on context. When it is said of the Lord or things...
seek
The meaning of "to seek" in the Bible is pretty straightforward, but there is a bit of nuance: Swedenborg tells us that in most cases...
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...
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...
scattered
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"...
hate
If you truly hate someone, that means you would kill them and destroy their reputation if you could do so without repercussion – not a...
flee
To flee signifies to escape, and be rescued. To flee signifies to be overcome.
return
There are many instances in the Bible which describe people turning back, looking back or going back. In most cases it is a negative, sometimes...
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