耶和華
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...
摩西
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...
心
The heart means love. A good heart means love to the Lord and to the neighbor while a hard or stony heart means the love...
埃及
'Mizraim' signifies the same thing as Egypt.
埃及人
Egyptians represent those who are in natural science, thus the natural, but the Hebrews, those who are of the church, thus respectively the spiritual. The...
聽
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...
知道
Like so many common verbs, the meaning of "know" in the Bible is varied and dependent on context. And in some cases – when it...
亞倫
Aaron was the brother of Moses. He symbolizes two things, one during the first part of the exodus, when he was Moses' spokesperson, and another...
希伯來人
The term 'Hebrew' is used in the Word to signify anything relating to service, whatever its nature may be. Hence Abraham, in one passage only...
來
Coming (Gen. 41:14) denotes communication by influx.
神
The Lord is love itself, expressed in the form of wisdom itself. Love, then, is His essence, His inmost. Wisdom - the loving understanding of...
明天
'Tomorrow' signifies eternity.
蝗蟲
'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...
進入
All changes of place in the Bible represent changes in spiritual state. “Entering” – usually used as entering someone’s house or “going in unto” someone...
地面
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...
至
‘To grow’ signifies to be perfected.
看
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...
吃
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...
冰雹
Hail signifies false ideas that destroy good and truth. Hail signifies the false ideas that come from evil in our exterior natural selves. 'Hail of...
樹木
'Trees,' in general, signify the perceptions when discussing the celestial self, but when related to the spiritual church, they signify knowledges. A person in the...
木
'Wood' signifies good, as well the good of love to the Lord as the good of charity towards our neighbor.
房屋
A "house" is essentially a container - for a person, for a family, for several families or even for a large group with shared interests...
轉
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...
法老的
'Pharaoh' signifies scientific ideas, or the natural principle in general. 'Pharaoh' signifies false ideas infesting the truth of the church. Pharaoh,' in Genesis 40, represents...
我們
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,...
回來
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...
羊
A flock, as in Genesis 26, denotes interior or rational good. A flock signifies those who are in spiritual good. A flock signifies natural interior...
羊群
'A herd,' as mentioned in Genesis 32:7, denotes exterior or natural good, and also not good things.
手
Scientists believe that one of the most crucial developments in the evolution of humans was bipedalism – walking on two legs. That left our hands...
風
Because a nearer and stronger divine influx through the heavens disperses truths among the wicked, 'wind' signifies this dispersion of truth and the resulting conjunction...
早晨
Morning comes with the rising of the sun, and the sun – which gives life to the earth with its warmth and light – represents...
後
'A hind,' as mentioned in Genesis 49:21, signifies the affection of natural truth.
罪
In the Word three terms are used to mean bad things that are done. These three are transgression, iniquity, and sin, and they are here...
海
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,...
一
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...
以色列人
'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...
暗
"Darkness" is a state without light. "Light" is truth from the Lord, so "darkness" is a state where truth is lacking.
天
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...
三
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...
人
The relationship between men and women is deep and nuanced, and one entire book of the Writings – Conjugial Love or Love in Marriage –...
起來
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...
住
Habitation, as mentioned in Genesis 27:39, signifies life. The habitation of holiness signifies the celestial kingdom. The habitation of honorableness signifies the spiritual kingdom, as...
光
Nov. 4, 1879: Thomas Edison filed a patent for a long-burning light bulb. Nov. 5, 1879: The light bulb was universally accepted as the symbol...
給
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...
死
Dead (Gen. 23:8) signifies night, in respect to the goodnesses and truths of faith.
說
Like "say," the word "speak" refers to thoughts and feelings moving from our more internal spiritual levels to our more external ones – and ultimately...
