雅各
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...
路
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....
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...
遇見
In natural language, to "meet" someone can be positive or negative: it can be a welcoming and greeting, or it can be "meeting" them in...
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...
地方
'A dry place,' as in Luke 11:24, signifies states of evil and falsity which are in the life of someone who does the work of...
叫
'To proclaim' signifies exploration from influx of the Lord.
以東
'Edom' or 'Idumea,' as in Isaiah 34:5, signifies those who are in evil and in falsities thence derived.
哥哥
Brethren (Gen. 27:29) signify the affections of good.
以掃
Esau (Gen. 28:5, etc.) signifies the truth of good in the natural principle. Esau (Gen. 32:3) signifies celestial good in the natural principle.
主
In most cases, a "master" in the Bible refers to truth: knowledge, an understanding of the situation at hand, an understanding of the Lord's wishes,...
拉班
'Laban' signifies the affection of good in the natural self, or the affection of external good, and properly collateral good of a common stock. The...
驢
Donkeys signify the things relating to the self-intelligence of the sensual man; and camels, the things of self-intelligence in the natural man (Isa 30:6, 7.)
帶
As with common verbs in general, the meaning of “bring” is highly dependent on context, but in general it represents an introduction to a new...
四
The number "four" in the Bible represents things being linked together or joined. This is partly because four is two times two, and two represents...
百
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...
人
The relationship between men and women is deep and nuanced, and one entire book of the Writings – Conjugial Love or Love in Marriage –...
來
Coming (Gen. 41:14) denotes communication by influx.
群
'A herd,' as mentioned in Genesis 32:7, denotes exterior or natural good, and also not good things.
駱駝
A camel (Matt. 22:24) signifies scientific knowledge. Camels are confirming scientifics, and cattle are the knowledges of good and truth (Jer. 49:32.)
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...
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...
亞伯拉罕的
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...
以撒
'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...
說過
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...
約旦河
The river Jordan separates the land of Canaan from the lands to the east. This separation represents the division of the human mind into an internal...
約旦
The land of Jordan,' as in Psalm 42:6, signifies what is lowly, consequently, what is distant from the celestial, as the external parts of a...
救
The Lord from the essential divine, through the divine human, is the savior. The Lord became the savior by His spiritual temptations, or combats.
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...
母親
In general, mothers in the Bible represent the Lord's church on earth, or the church among those who know and follow the Lord. In some...
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,...
數
To number,' as in Isaiah 22:10, signifies falsifying. To number bones,' as in Psalm 22:14-18, signifies desiring to dissipate truths by reasonings and false principles....
晚上
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...
禮物
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,...
山羊
From correspondences, a goat signifies the natural man. The goat which was sacrificed, as in Leviticus 16:5-10, signifies the natural man regarding a part purified,...
羊
'A ram' signifies the Lord’s divine spiritual nature pertaining to a person. 'A ram' signifies the good of innocence and charity in the internal self....
二十
'Twenty,' when referring to a quantity, signifies everything or fullness, because it is ten twice. 'Twenty,' as in Genesis 18:31, like all numbers occurring in...
哺乳
To 'suckle' denotes taking in good, because 'a nurse,' or 'one who suckles' signifies implanting good. To 'suckle,' as in Genesis 21:7, signifies implanting the...
三十
'Thirty' has a twofold significance because it is is the product of five and six, and also three and ten. From five multiplied by six,...
十
Most places in Swedenborg identify “ten” as representing “all,” or in some cases “many” or “much.” The Ten Commandments represent all the guidance we get...
牛
'The heifer whereby labor has not been done,' as mentioned in Deuteronomy 21:3, signifies the innocence of the external self, which is in ignorance. 'The...
四十
'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...
僕人的
“Servant” literally means “a person who serves another,"" and its meaning is similar in reference to the spiritual meaninngs of the Bible. Our lives in...
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,...
後
'A hind,' as mentioned in Genesis 49:21, signifies the affection of natural truth.
第三
'Three' denotes fullness, and 'a third,' not full.
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...
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...
營
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...
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...
妻子
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...
都
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...
河
A 'stream' signifies aspects of intelligence.
大腿
In Revelation 19:16, 'the Lord’s thigh' signifies the Word regarding its divine good. 'The thigh and loins' signify conjugial love, and because this is the...
祝福
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...
名字
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...
以色列
'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...
告訴
'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...
面對
“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...
太陽
The 'sun' signifies celestial and spiritual love. The 'sun' in the Word, when referring to the Lord, signifies His divine love and wisdom. Because the...
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...
筋
'A sinew' signifies truth, because truths are in good like sinews in flesh. This is what is being described in Ezekiel 37:6, 8.
