jehovah
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...
God
When the Bible speaks of "Jehovah," it is representing love itself, the inmost love that is the essence of the Lord. That divine love is...
baldness
'A bald head' signifies the Word deprived of the natural sense, which is the sense of the letter.
eyes
It’s common to say “I see” when we understand something. And indeed, “seeing” in the Bible represents grasping and understanding spiritual things. So it makes...
dead
Dead (Gen. 23:8) signifies night, in respect to the goodnesses and truths of faith.
face
“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...
eat
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...
beasts
"Beasts" represent the affection for doing good things, a true desire to do them from the heart. In the negative sense, "beasts" stand for the...
goat
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,...
hart
'A hart' signifies the natural affection of truth.
gazelle
'A hart' signifies the natural affection of truth.
beast
"Beasts" represent the affection for doing good things, a true desire to do them from the heart. In the negative sense, "beasts" stand for the...
hoofs
'A hoof' signifies truth in the ultimate degree, or sensory truth. 'The hooves of horses' signify the lowest intellectual principles. 'The hooves of the horses,'...
open
To open,' as in Revelation 9, signifies communication and conjunction.
camel
A camel (Matt. 22:24) signifies scientific knowledge. Camels are confirming scientifics, and cattle are the knowledges of good and truth (Jer. 49:32.)
unclean
'Pollution' denotes the truth of faith defiled.
flesh
Flesh has several meanings just in its most obvious form. It can mean all living creatures as when the Lord talks about the flood "destroying...
carcase
The body (Matt. 6:22), signifies the man (homo). "His body shall not remain all night upon the tree" (Deut. 21:23), signifies lest it should be...
touch
Imagine having your mother touch your cheek. Then imagine having your spouse or someone you love romantically touch your cheek. Then imagine having a baby...
scales
'The scales of a fish,' as in Ezekiel 29:4, signify scientific ideas of the lowest order, such as the fallacies of the senses.
clean
To be "pure" in the Bible means - unsurprisingly - to be devoid of evil. Thus all the washing for purification prescribed in the Laws...
birds
"Birds" mean rational concepts in the external man and intellectual concepts in the internal man.
eagle
Eagle wings, referred to in Daniel 7:3, signify rational principles grounded in man's proprium.
raven
'A raven,' as in Genesis 8:7, signifies falsities. The spiritual self only knows general truths from the Word, and forms its conscience from these, and...
hawk
'A hawk' represents the natural self separated from the spiritual self.
Owl
'An owl' signifies the falsification of truth.
pelican
'A pelican,' as in Zephaniah 2:14, signifies affections for falsity.
eaten
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...
fowls
Fowl signify spiritual truth; a bird, natural truth; and a winged thing, sensual truth. Fowl signify intellectual things. Fowl signify thoughts, and all that creeps...
give
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...
gates
"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...
sell
'To sell,' as in Genesis 41:56, means transferring to another as their own, because what is sold becomes the property of the one who buys...
foreigner
'The son of a stranger,' as in Genesis 17:12, signifies people born out of the church, and so not principled in the goods and truths...
boil
'To seethe' signifies destroying truths and goods by falsities.
mother
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...
mother's
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...
milk
Water represents true ideas about day-to-day life, and other drinks and liquids in general represent different forms of truth. Milk is a drink that contains...
seed
'A seed' signifies love, and everyone who has love, as in Genesis 12:7. 8:15, 16. 'A seed' signifies faith grounded in charity. 'A seed' signifies...
field
A "field" in the Bible usually represents the Lord's church, and more specifically the desire for good within the church. It's where good things start,...
before
In most cases, the meaning of "before" is pretty straightforward, both as a way of assessing relative time, and in its use meaning "in someone's...
place
'A room' or 'place' denotes state.
name
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...
tithe
'Tithes,' as in tenths, signifies goods and truths stored up from the Lord in a person’s interior self. These goods are called remains. When these...
corn
Corn,' as in Genesis 42:2, here stands for a word in the original language which means 'breaking,' and also for a similar word meaning to...
new wine
'New wine' is the divine truth of the New Testament.
herds
'A herd,' as mentioned in Genesis 32:7, denotes exterior or natural good, and also not good things.
flocks
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...
fear
The fearful signify people who have no faith.
way
'To set a way,' as in Genesis 30:36, signifies being separated.
long
'Long' and thence to prolong, refer to good.
blesseth
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...
money
'Money' relates to truth.
hand
In Genesis 27:22, 'voice' relates to truth, and 'hand,' to good.
go
In the physical world, the places we inhabit and the distances between them are physical realities, and we have to get our physical bodies through...
soul
The nature of the soul is a deep and complicated topic, but it can be summarized as "spiritual life," who we are in terms of...
sheep
It’s pretty easy for most people to read the Bible and get a sense for what “sheep” means without any help. They are simple, peaceful,...
Wine
Wine played a key role in the ancient world, where safe, reliable water sources were scarce. It could be stored for long periods of time;...
rejoice
To make glad signifies influx and reception from joy of heart.
house
A "house" is essentially a container - for a person, for a family, for several families or even for a large group with shared interests...
inheritance
In Biblical times, possessions passed from fathers to sons, a patriarchal system that would not be accepted in today's society – but one that is...
three
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...
fatherless
The fatherless signify those who are in good without truth, and are desirous by truth to be led to good.
come
Coming (Gen. 41:14) denotes communication by influx.
satisfied
'What satisfies' is what nourishes the soul.
bless
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...
work
'Works,' as in Genesis 46:33, denote goods, because they are from the will, and anything from the will is either good or evil, but anything...
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