亚伯拉罕
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...
来
Coming (Gen. 41:14) denotes communication by influx.
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...
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...
主
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...
儿子
'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...
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...
说话
Like "say," the word "speak" refers to thoughts and feelings moving from our more internal spiritual levels to our more external ones – and ultimately...
给
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...
骆驼
A camel (Matt. 22:24) signifies scientific knowledge. Camels are confirming scientifics, and cattle are the knowledges of good and truth (Jer. 49:32.)
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...
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...
井
In Genesis 21, 'wells' signify doctrines, both those disputed and not disputed. Without this significance digging wells and disputing about them would have been too...
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...
喝
To be drunken without wine (Isa. 29:9), are they who are unconcerned about the Word, and the truths of faith, and thus have no inclination...
以撒的
'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...
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...
处女
'Virgins,' as in Revelation 14:4, signify people who love truths because they are truths, so from a spiritual affection. 'Virgin' signifies the church as 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 –...
下
"Down" is used many different ways in natural language, and its spiritual meaning in the Bible is highly dependent on context. Phrases like "bowing down,"...
槽
'A trough,' as in Genesis 24:20, signifies the good of truth because the water in the trough signifies truth, and the trough itself has the...
道路
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....
告诉
'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...
女儿
"Behold I have two daughters,” etc. (Gen. 19:8), signifies the affections of good and truth, and the blessedness perceivable from the enjoyment thereof, by those...
父亲
Father in the Word means what is most interior, and in those things that are following the Lord's order, it means what is good. In...
我们
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,...
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...
草
The word 'straw,' as in Genesis 24:25, signifies scientific truths, because it is food for camels. Straw,' as in Isaiah 11:6, signifies the Word in...
话
'Word,' as in Psalms 119:6-17, stands for doctrine in general. 'The Word,' as in Psalms 147:18, signifies divine good united with divine truth. 'Word,' as...
母亲
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...
哥哥
Brethren (Gen. 27:29) signify the affections of good.
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...
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...
洗
It does not take a great leap of imagination to see that “washing” in the Bible represents purification. Washing dirt from the skin is symbolic...
脚
The foot, as in Deuteronomy 33:3, signifies an inferior principle. To set the right foot on the sea and the left on the earth, as...
羊群
'A herd,' as mentioned in Genesis 32:7, denotes exterior or natural good, and also not good things.
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...
金
'Money' relates to truth.
银
'Silver,' in the internal sense of the Word, signifies truth, but also falsity. 'Silver' means the truth of faith, or the truth acquired from selfhood,...
驴
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.)
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...
鼻子
'A blast of the breath of the nostrils' signify the same thing as 'his anger and wrath.'
回答
To "answer" generally indicates a state of spiritual receptivity. Ultimately this means being receptive to the Lord, who is constantly trying to pour true ideas...
好
It seems rather circular to say that “good” in the Bible represents good, but in a general sense it’s true! The case is this: The...
听
'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...
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...
吃了
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...
早
Morning comes with the rising of the sun, and the sun – which gives life to the earth with its warmth and light – represents...
起来
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
Many people were nomadic in Biblical times, especially the times of the Old Testament, and lived in tents that could be struck, moved and re-raised...
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...
後
'A hind,' as mentioned in Genesis 49:21, signifies the affection of natural truth.
叫
'To proclaim' signifies exploration from influx of the Lord.
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...
仆人的
“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...
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...
千
As children, most of us at some point frustrated our mothers into using the phrase “if I've told you once, I've told you a thousand...
门
"Gates" in ancient times had a significance that does not hold in the modern world. Cities then were enclosed by walls for protection; gates in...
骑
'To ride' signifies being elevated regarding the intellectual part of the mind. To ride upon a cherub,' as in Psalm 18:9, 10, denotes the Lord’s...
南
'South' denotes truth in light.
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...
来了
As with common verbs in general, the meaning of “come” in the Bible is highly dependent on context – its meaning is determined largely by...
爱
To some degree, there really is no spiritual meaning to the word “love” in the Bible. Why? Because if you truly love another, that is...
安慰
When the Bible talks about someone being comforted or consoled, it generally means that they are being offered ideas that will help bring them to...
