the Lord
The Bible refers to the Lord in many different ways, which from the text seem indistinguishable and interchangeable. Understood in the internal sense, though, there...
lord
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...
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...
noah
'Noah,' as in Genesis 5:29, signifies the ancient church, or the parent of the three churches after the flood.
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...
seen
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...
upright
He is said to be 'just' in a spiritual sense, who lives according to divine laws. They on the right hand being called 'just,' as...
clean
To be "pure" in the Bible means - unsurprisingly - to be devoid of evil. Thus all the washing for purification prescribed in the Laws...
beast
"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...
seven
The number 'seven' was considered holy, as is well known, because of the six days of creation, and the seventh, which is the celestial self,...
male
The relationship between men and women is deep and nuanced, and one entire book of the Writings – Conjugial Love or Love in Marriage –...
female
Female signifies good.
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...
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...
birds
Fowl signify spiritual truth; a bird, natural truth; and a winged thing, sensual truth. Fowl signify intellectual things. Fowl signify thoughts, and all that creeps...
air
"Air" in the Bible represents thought, but in a very general way – more like our capacity to perceive ideas and the way we tend...
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...
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...
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...
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...
rain
'Rain,' in a positive sense, denotes blessing, but in the opposite sense, damnation Rain,' as in Genesis 2:5-6, Exodus 34:25-27, and Hosea 6:3, signifies the...
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...
nights
The sun in the Bible represents the Lord, with its heat representing His love and its light representing His wisdom. “Daytime,” then, represents a state...
six
Like most numbers in the Bible, "six" can have various meanings depending on context, but has a couple that are primary. When used in relation...
Six hundred years
In Genesis 7:6, 'Noah was a son of six hundred years' means his initial state of temptation. This is clear from the fact that from...
hundred
It's a landmark for a young child to count to 100; it sort of covers all the "ordinary" numbers. One hundred is obviously significant for...
old
Swedenborg tells us that space and time in the physical world correspond to states of life in the spiritual world. So when the Bible talks...
wife
The Hebrew of the Old Testament has six different common words which are generally translated as "wife," which largely overlap but have different nuances. Swedenborg...
wives
The Hebrew of the Old Testament has six different common words which are generally translated as "wife," which largely overlap but have different nuances. Swedenborg...
twos
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...
male and female
Because of their understanding of spiritual marriage, the people of the Most Ancient church perceived 'male and female' as two faculties in the spiritual self:...
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...
noah's
'Noah,' as in Genesis 5:29, signifies the ancient church, or the parent of the three churches after the flood.
life
'Lives' is used in the plural, because of the will and understanding, and because these two lives make one.
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...
day of
'Day of vengeance' signifies a state of damnation.
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...
fountains
A fountain signifies the Lord and the Word. A fountain signifies superior truth, and well, inferior truth. A fountain, as in Psalm 104:10, denotes knowledges....
heaven
"Air" in the Bible represents thought, but in a very general way – more like our capacity to perceive ideas and the way we tend...
open
To open,' as in Revelation 9, signifies communication and conjunction.
Shem
'Shem,' as in Genesis 10:21, signifies the ancient church in general.
Ham
'The land of Ham' signifies the church destroyed.
Japheth
'Shem' can be understood to be internal worship, 'Japheth' is the corresponding external worship, 'Ham' is internal worship corrupted, and 'Canaan' is external worship separate...
bird
"Birds" mean rational concepts in the external man and intellectual concepts in the internal man.
Two and two
'Two and two,' as in Genesis 7:9, means complementary things. This becomes clear to anyone from the fact that they are pairs. It is impossible...
flesh
Flesh has several meanings just in its most obvious form. It can mean all living creatures as when the Lord talks about the flood "destroying...
breath
'Breath' is the life of the body corresponding to spiritual things, just like the motion of the heart is the life of the body corresponding...
shut
There are only a couple of references in the Writings to "close" used as a verb, and both stem from Amos 9:11, which talks about...
lifted
The idea of "lifting" is used in a number of different ways in the Bible. In general, it means connecting with a higher spiritual state...
high
'Height' signifies what is inward, and also heaven.
Face of the waters
The face of the water (Gen. 1:2) signifies the knowledges of good and truth.
mountains
'Hills' signify the good of charity.
under
Generally speaking things that are seen as lower physically in the Bible represent things that are lower or more external spiritually. In some cases this...
covered
The "high mountains being covered " (Gen. 7:19) signifies that all the good things of charity were extinguished.
fifteen
Fifteen, as in Genesis 7:20, signifies so few as to be scarce anything.
living
'Lives' is used in the plural, because of the will and understanding, and because these two lives make one.
Hundred and fifty
'A hundred and fifty,' as mentioned in Genesis 7:24, signifies a last and first term. Here, it refers to the last term of the most...
fifty
God rested on the seventh day of creation. That represents a state of holiness and tranquility that was preserved in the form of the sabbath....
