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...
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...
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
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...
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...
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.
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...
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
'A pit,' as in Genesis 41:14, signifies a state of temptation.
中間
'Middle' denotes what is primary, principal, or inmost.
死
Dead (Gen. 23:8) signifies night, in respect to the goodnesses and truths of faith.
我們
Because people are governed by angels and spirits, in Genesis 1:26 it says 'let us make man into our image.' But because the Lord alone...
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...
水
'Waters' signify truths in the natural self, and in the opposite sense, falsities. 'Waters' signify particularly the spiritual parts of a person, or the intellectual...
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
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
According to Swedenborg, time and space don’t exist in spiritual reality; they are purely natural things that exist only on the physical plane. This means...
伯利恆
There is a strong relationship between Ephrath and Bethlehem in the Bible; they might be two different names for the same town, or it’s possible...
埃及
'Mizraim' signifies the same thing as Egypt.
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...
