moses
Moses's name appears 814 times in the Bible (KJV), third-most of any one character (Jesus at 961 actually trails David at 991). He himself wrote...
assembly
A congregation is a group of people with common loves, interests, and purposes. It often refers to a church group. In the Word it is...
children
A child is a young boy or girl in the care of parents, older than a suckling or an infant, but not yet an adolescent....
Israel
'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...
said
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...
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...
six
Like most numbers in the Bible, "six" can have various meanings depending on context, but has a couple that are primary. When used in relation...
Six days
The six days' or periods of time, are the various consecutive states in a person's regeneration. They are, in general, as follows: The first state...
days
"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...
seventh
The number 'seven' was considered holy, as is well known, because of the six days of creation, and the seventh, which is the celestial self,...
holy
The Bible describes many things as being holy, or sacred. The Ark of the Covenant is one very holy object. The inmost chamber of the...
rest
'To slumber' and 'sleep' denotes the state of a person who is not in truths, as in Jeremiah 51:39, 57, Psalm 8:3 and 76:5, and...
Put
'To put' has reference to order, arrangement, application, and influx.
fire
Just as natural fire can be both comforting in keeping you warm or scary in burning down your house, so fire in the spiritual sense...
upon
'Upon' or 'over' signifies being within.
spoke
Like "say," the word "speak" refers to thoughts and feelings moving from our more internal spiritual levels to our more external ones – and ultimately...
the Word
In general, we tend to be very aware of how knowing what's true leads to doing what is good. That starts as children, with parents...
Word
'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...
Every one
The phrase “Every one,” where it occurs in Genesis 20:7, signifies every thing or all things.
one
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...
heart
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...
bring
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...
gold
Gold means good, and just as gold was the most precious metal known to ancient mankind so it represents the good of the highest and...
silver
'Spoil of gold, and silver, and cattle' signifies falsified truths.
Blue
Blue and purple signify celestial goods and truths, and scarlet double-dyed and fine-twined linen, spiritual goods and truths. (Exod. 28:33.) Blue and purple from the...
Purple
'Purple' corresponds to divine celestial good. 'Purple' signifies genuine good.
Scarlet
'Scarlet,' as in Isaiah 1:18, signifies truth derived from good, or truth from a celestial origin, such as is the truth of the Word in...
Goats
'Satyrs,' as in Isaiah 13:21, signify goods adulterated.
hair
The hair is the very outermost part of the body, and "hair" in the Bible represents the outermost expression of whatever the body represents. In...
Rams
'Rams of the breed of Bashan,' as in Deuteronomy 32:14, signify celestial spiritual things.
wood
To ask counsel at their stocks,' as in Hosea 4:12, signifies the good of the delight that comes from some lusts.
oil
In Revelation 18:13, 'wine, oil, flour, and wheat' signify celestial principles of worship.
light
Nov. 4, 1879: Thomas Edison filed a patent for a long-burning light bulb. Nov. 5, 1879: The light bulb was universally accepted as the symbol...
Spices
In Genesis 37:25, 'spices, resin, and myrrh' signify interior natural truths joined to good in the natural level. Among the ancients, they used things with...
Incense
'Incense' or 'odors' signify worship and confession of the Lord, from spiritual goods and truths.
Fragrant
Fragrant signifies the truth of good.
Onyx stones
Onyx stones set in pouches of gold,' as in Exodus 28:11, signifies that the good of love would enter by influx into the truth of...
onyx
'Precious stones,' in application to the Word, symbolizes the Divine truth of the Word in its literal sense which the Divine truth in its spiritual...
stones
Stones in the Bible in general represent truths, or things we know concerning the Lord and what He wants from us and for us in...
Make
'To make,' as in Hosea 8:11, refers to good. In the opposite sense it refers to evil. To make heaven, and earth, and the sea,...
Tabernacle
'The tabernacle' has almost the same meaning as 'temple,' that is, in the highest sense, the Lord’s divine humanity, and in a relative sense, heaven...
Tent
'Tent' is used in the Word to signify the celestial and holy aspects of love, because in ancient time they performed holy worship in their...
Covering
A covering of precious stones (Ezek. 28:4, 13) signifies the truths of intelligence.
boards
Planks' or 'boards,' as in for the tabernacle, signify supports from good, because they were made of wood, and supported the curtains both of the...
bars
In Lamentations 2:8-9, 'wall,' 'rampart,' 'gates,' and 'bars' signify doctrines.
pillars
The images of Beth-Shemesh (the house of the sun), as in Jeremiah 43:13, signify self worship.
Ark
There are three arks mentioned in the Word, the ark of Noah, the ark of bulrushes for the baby Moses, and the ark of the...
Mercy-seat
'The mercy seat' denotes cleansing from evils or remission of sins.
mercy
In regular language, "mercy" means being caring and compassionate toward those who are in poor states. That's a position we are all in relative to...
seat
If you think about sitting, it seems fair to say that where you're sitting is more important than that you're sitting. Sitting in a movie...
Veil
'A veil,' as in Genesis 38:19, signifies obscurity of the truth. The first vail of the tabernacle, which was the screen in front of the...
Separation
'Separation' of good from evil explained.
table
Food and drink in the Bible represent the desire to be loving and the understanding of how to be loving, gifts that flow from the...
Lamp
The light of a lamp' signifies illumination from the Lord. A lamp,' as in Revelation 22, signifies natural light from self-derived intelligence. 'A lamp' signifies...
Stand
'To stand,' and 'come forth' as in Daniel 7:10, refers to truth. In Genesis 24:13, it signifies a state of conjunction of divine truth with...
Altar
The first altar mentioned in the Word was built by Noah after he came out of the ark. On that altar, he sacrificed clean animals...
Court
The court of the tabernacle (Exodus 27:9), etc., signifies the external of heaven, or the first, which is also called the ultimate heaven.
Curtains
Curtains (Exod. 26) signify the interior truths of faith, which are of the new intellectual principle. Curtains and cords (Jer. 4:20, and 10:20), signify spiritual...
gate
"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...
the garments
'To rend the garments' signifies mourning for truth lost or destroyed, or the loss of faith.
garments
In Isaiah 59:6, 'webs' and 'garments' signify aspects of the understanding, or thought, 'Iniquity' and 'violence,' aspects of the will, or works.
Service
'Service' denotes everything beneath, which is subordinate and obeys, and so, truth being derived from good, and ministering to good.
Sanctuary
'Sanctuary' signifies the truth of heaven and the church. 'Sanctuary,' as in Ezekiel 24:21, signifies the Word.
aaron
Aaron was the brother of Moses. He symbolizes two things, one during the first part of the exodus, when he was Moses' spokesperson, and another...
Sons
'Sons of Canaan,' as in Genesis 10, are people who kept external worship separate from internal.
Priests
Priests' represent the Lord regarding His divine good. When they do not acknowledge the Lord, they lose their signification of the Lord.
came
As with common verbs in general, the meaning of “come” in the Bible is highly dependent on context – its meaning is determined largely by...
spirit
There are two aspects to the life of each person. We might call them "heart" and "mind," a part of us that wants and feels...
meeting
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...
Women
'Women,' as in Genesis 45:19, signify the affections of truth. But in Genesis 31:50, 'women' signify affections of not genuine truth, so not of the...
Nose
'A nose' signifies the life of good, because of the respiration which happens through it, which is life in the internal sense, and because of...
Rings
'Rings' signify the conjunction of good and truth. In Exodus 25:12, 'rings' particularly signify divine truth with divine good.
Bracelets
Bracelets (Gen. 25:22) signify truth, and in this passage divine truth, because the Lord is treated of.
man
The relationship between men and women is deep and nuanced, and one entire book of the Writings – Conjugial Love or Love in Marriage –...
Wave
'A wave' denotes life flowing in.
Woman
It is because of a celestial and angelic proprium, or selfhood, that the church is called 'a woman,' 'a wife,' 'a bride,' 'a virgin,' and...
hands
'Washing of the hands' was an ancient declaration of innocence, and signifies purification from evils and falsities, as in Psalms 73:13 and Matthew 27:24.
Wisdom
Throughout the Word, a distinction is made between wisdom, intelligence, and knowledge. 'Wisdom' means from good, 'intelligence' is from truth, and 'knowledge' is in a...
Spice
'Spice,' in Ezekiel 27:22, in an internal sense, is charity. 'Spice,' in 1 Kings 10:2, signifies interior truths.
hand
In Genesis 27:22, 'voice' relates to truth, and 'hand,' to good.
see
The symbolic meaning of "seeing" is "understanding," which is obvious enough that it has become part of common language (think about it; you might see...
called
To call someone or summon someone in the Bible represents a desire for conjunction between higher and lower states of life. For instance, imagine someone...
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...
Son
'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...
Hur
'Hur' signifies the truth of doctrine.
Tribe
'A tribe' signifies the church with respect to its truths and goods, and in the opposite sense, with respect to its falsities and evils. 'A...
Judah
City of Judah,' as in Isaiah 40:9, signifies the doctrine of love towards the Lord and love towards our neighbor in its whole extent.
Filled
'To be satiated,' as in Revelation 19:21, signifies being nourished by lusts, and taking them in with delight.
Spirit of God
'The spirit of God,' as in Genesis 1:2, signifies the divine mercy of the Lord. 'The spirit of God' is His emanation. 'The spirit of...
God
The Lord is love itself, expressed in the form of wisdom itself. Love, then, is His essence, His inmost. Wisdom - the loving understanding of...
Aholiab
('Exodus 31:6') signifies those who are in the good and truth of faith, like the first or lowest heavens
Dan
The tribe of Dan (Jer. 8:16) signifies truth in its own ultimate degree of order, here truth in the church, which is contained in the...
artificer
'A worker of stone' denotes the good of love, in people who become regenerate.
Weaver
'Woven,' as in Exodus 28:32, signifies the celestial degree, or what relates to the will, because the will flows into the understanding and forms it.
