以實瑪利
'Ishmael' represents the first rationality pertaining to the Lord. 'Ishmael' signifies rationality separate from good. 'Ishmael' signifies the Lord's merely human rational. Ishmael, in Genesis...
月
'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...
王
The human mind is composed of two parts, a will and an understanding, a seat of loves and affections, and a seat of wisdom and...
兒子
'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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
迦勒底
Chaldea was a land lying along the Euphrates river near its mouth, south of Babylon, part of what is now southern Iraq. It was a...
人
The relationship between men and women is deep and nuanced, and one entire book of the Writings – Conjugial Love or Love in Marriage –...
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...
天
"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...
八十
Swedenborg tells us that 80, like 40, can represent a state of temptation, when we face and battle our desires for evil – and that...
示劍
In Genesis 12:6, 'Abram’s passing through the land unto the place Shechem' signifies a new state of the Lord when the celestial aspects of love...
撒瑪利亞
'Samaria,' as in Amos 4:1. 6:1, signifies the spiritual church perverted.
來
Coming (Gen. 41:14) denotes communication by influx.
衣服
It is said, in Deuteronomy 22:11, "Thou shalt not wear a garment of diverse sorts; as of woolen and linen together…”. This means that the...
撕裂
'Torn,' as in Genesis 31:38, signifies death caused by another, so evil without blame. 'Torn' relates to good, which falsity is injected into, which means...
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...
耶和華的
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...
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...
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...
說
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...
坑
Broken cisterns (Jer. 2:13) signify false doctrines.
中間
The "midst" of something in the Bible represents the thing that is most central and most important to the spiritual state being described, the motivation...
死
Dead (Gen. 23:8) signifies night, in respect to the goodnesses and truths of faith.
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,...
小麥
As the finest of the grains, wheat fittingly represents the finest of spiritual food, what Swedenborg calls "the good of love and charity" – which...
油
Oil – typically olive oil – was an extremely important product in Biblical times, for food preparation, medicinal ointment and for burning in lamps. As...
兄弟
Brethren (Gen. 27:29) signify the affections of good.
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...
被殺
'The slain' when referring to the Lord, as in Revelation 5, means the separation of everything from the divine. In denial of His divinity, He...
填
There are two ways something can be filled: It can be filled with something bad against the wishes of its owner, or it can be...
聽
'To hearken to father and mother,' as mentioned in Genesis 28:7, signifies obedience from affection. 'To hearken,' as mentioned in Genesis 30:22, signifies providence. See...
基遍
sun standing still upon Gibeon signifies total vastation of the church.
水
Water was obviously of tremendous importance in Biblical times (and every other time). It is the basis of life, the essential ingredient in all drinks,...
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...
轉身
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...
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...
八
According to Swedenborg, the number eight represents something that is complete within itself, in every respect. Two reasons are offered for this. First, eight is...
後
按照瑞典博格的说法，时间和空间不存在于精神现实中，它们是纯粹的自然事物，只存在于物质层面。这就意味着，一个精神性的东西不可能在时间上的另一个精神性的东西 "之后 "发生，因为没有时间。而一个精神性的东西也不可能在空间上 "追随 "另一个精神性的东西，因为没有空间。 相反，灵性的现实是建立在灵性状态的基础上，或天使的爱和思想。这些爱和思想以因果链的方式连接在一起，天使们的体验就像我们体验时间一样；一个思想在精神层面上流向另一个思想，而天使们感觉到这种进步，就像我们感觉到一个时刻流向另一个时刻的进步一样。当天使有类似的思想和感觉时，他们体验到的亲近感和我们对肉体亲近感的体验是非常相同的；他们对 "空间 "的概念是整个精神世界中的灵魂所拥有的思想和情感的变化。 当《圣经》将某件事情描述为 "后边 "的东西时，那么，属灵的意义就与属灵状态的递进有关；它是在前边的东西基础上产生的新的属灵状态。由于较高的状态会流入较低的状态，所以 "之后 "的东西往往是较低的、较外在的状态。例如，内心深处对他人的善的渴望，会自动地流向具体的想法，即我们可以做的具体的善事。那么，这些具体的想法，就会 "在 "善的欲望之后。
回來
在《圣经》中，有很多描述人回头看、回头看或回去的例子。在大多数情况下，这是一种消极的，有时是毁灭性的（就像罗得的妻子，当她回望所多玛的毁灭时，变成了一根盐柱子）。一般情况下，这代表着我们的状态，当我们进入到一个新的精神境界，发现自己希望得到旧的安逸和轻松时，回去代表着回到更早的低级阶段。 当 "回 "与物联系在一起的时候，"回 "的意义更多的是字面意义。当有人拿东西回来或给东西时，其精神意义大多是以物与行为人为中心。
伯利恆
在圣经中，以法拉和伯利恒之间有很强的关系；它们可能是同一个城镇的两个不同名称，也可能是以法拉描述的地区包括伯利恒。不管是什么情况，它们在《圣经》中都扮演着重要的角色。当然，伯利恒是众所周知的耶稣的出生地，但也是大卫和本雅明的出生地，本雅明的母亲拉结也葬在那里。 原因是以法拉和伯利恒（顺便说一下，还有本雅明）代表了我们属灵的线的一个关键元素，这个元素使我们有可能拥有属灵的生活。 在最深层次上，我们的身份、我们的人性，是由爱所决定的--我们所爱的东西使我们成为什么样的人、什么样的人。但这种爱被锁在我们的内心深处；它不是我们可以直接与他人分享的。要分享它，我们必须给它一个形式--而给它一个形式意味着我们实际上是把它变成了思想，变成了真理。作为真理，它可以被分享，如果我们幸运的话，接受它的人将能够反其道而行之，感受到并内化为真理中所包含的爱。 不过，这个过程，涉及到两种 "量子飞跃"。爱是一种内在的东西，而真理是一种外在的东西（或如瑞典博格所说，爱是天体性的，真理是精神性的），内在的东西和外在的东西是分开的，处于两个不同的存在平面。把爱作为真理表达出来，需要一个特殊的过程，从真理中接受爱也需要一个特殊的过程。这就是伯利恒的意义所在。 伯利恒（和以法拉和本雅明）代表了瑞典博格所说的 "天人之灵"。这就是天体元素--爱--可以向着一种形式推进，可以尽可能地变得 "像真理一样"。与之相匹配的是一种叫做 "精神的天体"，在这里，精神元素--真理--可以尽可能地变成 "爱的样子"。通过这些中间人，爱可以跳过这道鸿沟，有点像神经冲动穿越突触，或者像磁场把两块磁铁拉到一起。这是我们把爱变成有用的形式的唯一途径，也是我们分享爱的唯一途径。 这也解释了为什么约瑟要等到本雅明与他的弟兄们同在埃及时，才能向他们显明自己--约瑟代表灵界的天人，需要与天人的灵界的灵界配对才能沟通。这也解释了为什么主必须在伯利恒出生的原因。祂以人的形式降临，使祂的完美、无限的、神圣的爱能以真理的形式出现，与我们分享。这必须通过把一个内在的、天上的东西----祂的爱----变成一个外在的、属灵的形式----祂的真理来实现。只有通过天体的灵性，也就是伯利恒，才能实现这一点。
埃及
In the Bible, Egypt means knowledge and the love of knowledge. In a good sense that means knowledge of truth from the Lord through the...
迦勒底人
Chaldea was a land lying along the Euphrates river near its mouth, south of Babylon, part of what is now southern Iraq. It was a...
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