after
Behind, or after, (Gen. 16:13), signifies within or above, or an interior or superior principle.
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...
joseph
'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...
father
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...
ill
'The sick,' as in Matthew 25:35, signify people in evil, and those who acknowledge that in themselves there is nothing but evil.
manasseh
'Manasseh' signifies the will of the spiritual church.
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...
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...
Jacob
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...
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....
coming
Coming (Gen. 41:14) denotes communication by influx.
see
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...
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...
ruler
'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...
luz
'Luz,' as in Genesis 28, signifies a state wherein truth and good are together in the ultimate principle of order.
land
'Lands' of different nations are used in the Word to signify the different kinds of love prevalent in the inhabitants.
Land of Canaan
The land of Canaan' in the Word, means love, and consequently, the will of the celestial self.
canaan
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...
blessing
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...
fertile
To be fruitful is predicated of goodnesses, and to be multiplied, of truths.
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...
increase
'Produce' denotes fruit derived from the good of charity, and truth of faith.
seed
'A seed' signifies love, and everyone who has love, as in Genesis 12:7. 8:15, 16. 'A seed' signifies faith grounded in charity. 'A seed' signifies...
ever
'Perpetual' in the literal sense, means to the end of one’s life, after death, and eternity.
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...
came
As with common verbs in general, the meaning of “come” in the Bible is highly dependent on context – its meaning is determined largely by...
birth
To beget or to be begotten is very similar in meaning to birth: It represents one spiritual state leading to the next spiritual state. "Beget,"...
egypt
'Mizraim' signifies the same thing as Egypt.
way
These days we tend to think of "roads" as smooth swaths of pavement, and judge them by how fast we can drive cars on them....
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,...
brothers
Brethren (Gen. 27:29) signify the affections of good.
heritage
In Biblical times, possessions passed from fathers to sons, a patriarchal system that would not be accepted in today's society – but one that is...
rachel
'Rachel' denotes the affection of interior truth.
ephrath
Ephrata (Gen. 35:16, 19 and Psalms 132:6) signifies the spiritual of the celestial principle, in a former state, the new state succeeding that, is called...
Put
'To put' has reference to order, arrangement, application, and influx.
road
These days we tend to think of "roads" as smooth swaths of pavement, and judge them by how fast we can drive cars on them....
joseph's
Joseph, Jacob’s eleventh son, is one of the favorite characters in the Bible, with his troubles, his triumphs over them, and his constant trust in...
God
The Lord is love itself, expressed in the form of wisdom itself. Love, then, is His essence, His inmost. Wisdom - the loving understanding 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...
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...
near
'Nigh' denotes truth in affinity with good.
kiss
To kiss' signifies uniting or conjunction from affection. To kiss,' as in c, signifies initiation. 'To kiss' signifies conjunction and acknowledgment.
seeing
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...
face
“The eyes are the windows of the soul.” That’s a sentiment with roots somewhere in murky antiquity, but one that has become hopelessly cliché because...
knees
A knee,' as in Genesis 30:5, signifies conjugial love. The king,' as in Isaiah 66:12, signifies celestial love. A knee,' as in Ezekiel 7:17, signifies...
earth
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...
Right hand
'The man of the right hand,' as in Psalm 80:17, signifies the Lord with respect to the Word. He is called 'the man of the...
israel's
'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...
side
'Side' signifies good or spiritual love.
Left hand
'The left hand' in a negative sense signifies falsity which is used to produce evil.
stretching out
The hand in the Bible represents power, which is easy to understand, so to reach out or stretch out the hand means to exercise power,...
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...
head
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....
hands
Scientists believe that one of the most crucial developments in the evolution of humans was bipedalism – walking on two legs. That left our hands...
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...
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...
isaac
'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...
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...
angel
'A messenger' signifies communication.
saviour
The Lord from the essential divine, through the divine human, is the savior. The Lord became the savior by His spiritual temptations, or combats.
evil
'To hurt,' as mentioned in Revelation 6:6, signifies violation and profanation. 'To hurt' as mentioned in Revelation 9:4, signifies perverting the truths and goods of...
name
It's easy to see that names are important in the Bible. Jehovah changed Abram and Sarai to Abraham and Sarah, changed Jacob to Israel and...
To
‘To grow’ signifies to be perfected.
saw
To look,' as in Genesis 18:22, signifies thinking, because seeing denotes understanding. Look not back behind thee,' as in Genesis 19:17, means that Lot, who...
nation
The Bible generally uses two different terms for large groups: “people” and “nation.” When it uses the term “nation,” it is talking about a group...
younger
In general, birth order in the Bible reflects the progression of spiritual states, but the specifics of those states depends greatly on context: who the...
brother
Brethren (Gen. 27:29) signify the affections of good.
nations
'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...
say
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...
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...
back
Everyone knows the phrase "the natural order of things." It means that everything is in its proper place, occupying the niche it is meant to...
sword
The three words, sword, famine and pestilence, appear in a group in 26 different Bible verses. That's not an accident. Sword, famine and pestilence describe...
bow
A bow signifies falsity of doctrine destroying truth, and spear, the falsity of evil destroying good. (Jer. 6:23.)
