noah
'Noah,' as in Genesis 5:29, signifies the ancient church, or the parent of the three churches after the flood.
Shem
'Shem' can be understood to be internal worship, 'Japheth' is the corresponding external worship, 'Ham' is internal worship corrupted, and 'Canaan' is external worship separate...
Ham
'Shem' can be understood to be internal worship, 'Japheth' is the corresponding external worship, 'Ham' is internal worship corrupted, and 'Canaan' is external worship separate...
Japheth
'Shem' can be understood to be internal worship, 'Japheth' is the corresponding external worship, 'Ham' is internal worship corrupted, and 'Canaan' is external worship separate...
born
In a general sense, being "born" in the Bible represents one spiritual state producing another, usually some form of love or affection producing or "giving...
after
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...
Sons of Japheth
In Genesis 10, the people called 'the sons of Japheth,' were those who kept external worship corresponding with internal, or lived in simplicity, friendship, and...
Gomer
‘Gomer’ denotes those who are in outward worship.
Magog
'Magog' signifies people in external natural worship.
madai
'Madai,' as in Isaiah 21:1, signifies the external church, or external worship in which is the internal. See Genesis 10:2, where 'Madai' is called 'the...
Javan
'Tarshish, Pul, Lud, Tubal, and Javan,' as in Isaiah 66:19, signify varieties of external worship.
Tubal
'Tarshish, Pul, Lud, Tubal, and Javan,' as in Isaiah 66:19, signify varieties of external worship.
Tiras
'Tiras,' as in Genesis 10:2, was one of the nations practicing external worship corresponding with internal. These nations, in an internal sense, signify several doctrines,...
Riphath
'Riphath,' in Genesis 10:3, was one of several nations which had an external form of worship, and signifies several doctrinal matters, which respected ritual observances...
Togarmah
'Togarmah,' as in Ezekiel 27:14, signifies people in internal worship.
Sons of Javan
'Sons of Zion' and 'Javan,' as in Zechariah 9:13, signify the internal and external truths of the Word. The Apocalypse Explained 724. In Arcana Coelestia...
Elishah
Elishah, Tarshish, Kitthin, and Dodanium (Gen. 10:4) signify so many several doctrinals respecting ritual observances, and derived from external worship prevailing with Javan.
Tarshish
'Tarshish, Pul, Lud, Tubal, and Javan,' as in Isaiah 66:19, signify varieties of external worship.
isles
Islands' signify the natural mind, or the natural human, regarding truths and falsities. People who are steeped in the internal sense of the Word, such...
nations
'A nation,' as in Genesis 21:18, signifies the spiritual church which should receive the good of faith. Nation from afar,' as in Jeremiah 5:17, signifies...
Lands
'Lands' of different nations are used in the Word to signify the different kinds of love prevalent in the inhabitants.
tongue
In Psalms 5:9, 'the throat an open sepulcher,' relates to evil, 'the tongue speaking smooth things,' to falsity.
families
Families (as in Genesis 8:19) signify goodnesses and truths arranged in man by the Lord, according to order. See Secrets of Heaven 917. In Nahum...
Sons of Ham
In Genesis 10, the people called 'the sons of Ham,' had a corrupt internal worship.
mizraim
'Mizraim' signifies the same thing as Egypt.
phut
'Phut' denotes knowledges from the literal sense of the Word.
canaan
Canaan signifies a worship in things external without internals, which arose out of the internal church corrupted, called Ham. Thus it is that Ham is...
Havilah
'Sheba, Havilah, Sabthah, Regmah, and Sabthecha,' the sons of Cush, as in Genesis 10:7, were several nations which were did not have internal worship, but...
Raamah
From Arcana Coelestia 1168: 'The sons of Raamah,' as in Genesis 10:7, signify the knowledges of celestial things. From Arcana Coelestia 1171: That by "the...
sons of Raamah
From Arcana Coelestia 1168: 'The sons of Raamah,' as in Genesis 10:7, signify the knowledges of celestial things. From Arcana Coelestia 1171: That by "the...
Sheba and Dedan
'Sheba and Dedan' are people who constitute the first class in the Lord’s spiritual kingdom, who are principled in the good of faith and have...
Sheba
'Sheba, Havilah, Sabthah, Regmah, and Sabthecha,' the sons of Cush, as in Genesis 10:7, were several nations which were did not have internal worship, but...
dedan
Dedan (Gen. 10) signifies the knowledges of celestial things of an inferior order, such as consist in ritual observances. Dedan, in Jer. 49:8 signifies rituals...
begot
To beget or to be begotten is very similar in meaning to birth: It represents one spiritual state leading to the next spiritual state. "Beget,"...
Nimrod
'Nimrod,' as in Genesis 10, signifies people who make internal worship external by depending upon external worship alone.
mighty
Mighty,' as in Revelation 19:18, signify people who are educated about doctrine derived from the Word. By extension, 'mighty' signifies education or learning derived from...
earth
Generally in the Bible a "country" means a political subdivision ruled by a king, or sometimes a tribe with a territory ruled by a king...
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...
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...
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...
beginning
In the Word, "beginning" doesn't just mean the beginning of something in time. In the inner sense, it means the initial phase of a spiritual...
babel
Babylon was an ancient city built on the Euphrates river in what is now southern Iraq. It once was the capital of a great empire...
land
"Earth" in the Bible can mean a person or a group of like-minded people as in a church. But it refers specifically to the external...
Shinar
'The land of Shinar,' as in Genesis 10:10, signifies external worship, which has profane internal.
built
There are really two meanings for "build" in the Bible. When something is being built for the first time, or built in the most typical...
nineveh
'Nineveh' signifies the falsities of doctrinal matters, also the Gentiles, or the falsities originating in the fallacies of the senses, in the obscurity of an...
rehoboth
'Rehoboth,' as in Genesis 10:11, signifies false doctrines coming from the illusions of the senses, or ignorance, with a predominating desire for innovation or superiority.
Calah
Calah (Gen. 10:12) signifies falsity derived from evil lusts.
Resen
'Resen, between Nineveh and Calah,' as in Genesis 10:12, signifies false doctrinal matters of life, originating in the specific falsities signified by 'Nineveh' and 'Calah.'
great
The word "great" is used in the Bible to represent a state with a strong degree of love and affection, of the desire for good;...
city
In the ancient world cities were very nearly nations unto themselves – they existed within walls, with their own laws and customs, generally centered on...
Ludim
'Lydians,' as in Jeremiah 46:8, signify fact based rituals.
Lehabim
'Lehabim' signify the rituals of external worship, from a merely scientific perspective.
Naphtuhim
'Naphtuhim' signify external rituals of worship.
philistines
The Philistines play a large role in the Bible as one of the longest-standing and most bitter rivals of the people of Israel, clashing with...
and Canaan
'Shem' can be understood to be internal worship, 'Japheth' is the corresponding external worship, 'Ham' is internal worship corrupted, and 'Canaan' is external worship separate...
firstborn
When the Bible talks about generations or birth order, the internal meaning has to do with the progression of spiritual states and their relative importance....
heth
The daughters of Heth, as mentioned in Genesis 27:46, signify the affections of truth from a ground that is not genuine. Here they are the...
hivite
The Hivites' represent those who were in idolatry, but in which there was something of good.
Hamathite
A 'Hamathite' signifies variety of idolatry.
border
A 'hem,' 'skirt,' or 'border' signifies the extremes, or the natural principle.
goes
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...
Gerar
Gerar, as in Genesis 10:19, signifies those things which are revealed concerning faith.
sodom
"Sodom" in the Bible represents the love of self and the love of ruling or dominating others springing from the love of self. This is...
Gomorrah
'Sodom' signifies the evil of self-love, and 'Gomorrah,' the falsity derived from it.
tongues
'The tongue,' as an organ, signifies doctrine, but as speech, or language, it signifies religion. 'Tongue' signifies perception of truth with respect to speech, and...
father
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...
Eber
Eber is mentioned for the first time in Genesis 10:21, and then again in Genesis 11. In "Secrets of Heaven", Swedenborg says that Eber is...
brother
Brethren (Gen. 27:29) signify the affections of good.
elder
In general, things that are “elder” in the Bible represent spiritual states that come before others. For example, of the two sisters Jacob married, Leah...
Sons of Shem
'Sons of Shem,' as in Genesis 10, signify internal people who worship the Lord, love their neighbor, and whose church was similar to the true...
elam
Elam, mentioned in Isaiah 21:1, signifies faith originating in charity, consequently, the internal church. Elam, in Jeremiah 49:34, signifies the falsification of doctrine. In Jeremiah...
arphaxad
Arphaxad (Genesis 10:24) signifies science.
lud
'Tarshish, Pul, Lud, Tubal, and Javan,' as in Isaiah 66:19, signify varieties of external worship.
aram
'Syria,' as in Ezekiel 27:16, signifies the church regarding knowledges of truth and good.
Uz
'Uz, Hul, Gether and Mash,' as in Genesis 10:23, signify several kinds of knowledges derived from the knowledges of good, and anything pertaining those knowledges....
Hul
'Hul' signifies so many several kinds of knowledges derived from the knowledges of good.
Gether
Gether denotes various knowledges concerning good.
Mash
'Mash' denotes various knowledges concerning good.
two
The number "two" has two different meanings in the Bible. In most cases "two" indicates a joining together or unification. This is easy to see...
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...
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...
Peleg
'Peleg,' as in Genesis 10:25, signifies the internal worship of the ancient church called Eber. Peleg,' as in Genesis 11:16, being mentioned as the son...
days
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...
Joktan
Joktan,' as in Genesis 10:25, signifies the external worship in the church called Eber.
Almodad
Almodad (Genesis 10:26) was a ritual of the ancient church amongst the posterity of Eber.
Sheleph
'Sheleph,' as in Genesis 10:26, is a ritual of the worship of the church called Eber.
Hazarmaveth
'Hazarmaveth,' as mentioned in Genesis 10:26, signifies a ritual of the worship of the church called Eber.
Jerah
'Jerah,' in Genesis 10:27, is a ritual of the church called 'Eber.'
hadoram
Hadoram, as mentioned in Genesis 27, signifies a ritual of the church called 'Eber.'
Uzal
'Usal,' as in Genesis 10:27, signifies a ritual of the church called Eber.
Diklah
Diklah, mentioned in Genesis 10:27, signifies a ritual of the church called Eber.
Obal
'Obal,' as in Genesis 10:28, signifies a ritual of the church called Eber.
Abimael
Abimael, in Genesis 10:28, represents one of the ritual forms of the church called Eber. See Secrets of Heaven 1245. Abimael was the son of...
ophir
'Ophir,' as in Genesis 10:28, signifies a ritual of the church called 'Eber.' Gold of Ophir,' as in Isaiah 8:13 and Psalm 45, signifies spiritual...
dwelling
Habitation, as mentioned in Genesis 27:39, signifies life. The habitation of holiness signifies the celestial kingdom. The habitation of honorableness signifies the spiritual kingdom, as...
Sephar
'Sephar,' as in Genesis 10:30, signifies good.
mountain
The Writings tell us that the Lord's love is the sun of heaven, and it is natural for us to look above ourselves to the...
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