israel
Jacob is told twice that his name will now be Israel. The first time is when he wrestles with an angel on his journey to...
Vine
In Zechariah 8:12, 'the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground her increase,' signifies that the spiritual affection of truth produces the good of...
fruit
We tend to think of "fruit" in two ways in natural language. One is as food that grows on trees and vines, sweet and delicious,...
altars
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...
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...
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...
say
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...
feared
Fear of the unknown and fear of change are both common ideas, and together cover a broad spectrum of the fears we tend to have...
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...
us
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,...
words
'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...
judgment
Judgement' pertains to the Lord's divine human and holy proceeding. Judgment' has two sides, a principle of good, and a principle of truth. The faithful...
spring
'Spring' signifies the first state of a church or spiritual era, the same as 'morning.'
hemlock
'Hemlock' signifies unpleasantness.
fields
When we have a desire to be good people and to do good things, the natural first questions are "What does that mean?" "What should...
samaria
'Samaria,' as in Amos 4:1. 6:1, signifies the spiritual church perverted.
mourn
In a general sense, mourning in the Bible represents a state of grief over the lack of desires for good and true ideas about life....
present
It was customary in the representative Ancient Church, and later in the Jewish Church, when people went to the judges, and at a later time,...
Jareb
In Hosea 5:13, 'the Assyrian' and 'King Jareb' signify the rational principle, perverted of its good and of its truth.
ephraim
Ephraim was the second son born to Joseph in Egypt and was, along with his older brother Manasseh, elevated by Jacob to the same status...
shame
On a natural level, there are a variety of things that can cause shame. We might be ashamed of physical weakness or ugliness; we might...
ashamed
On a natural level, there are a variety of things that can cause shame. We might be ashamed of physical weakness or ugliness; we might...
own
In many cases, the spiritual meaning of "own," both as a verb and as an adjective, is relatively literal. When people are described as the...
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...
high
'Height' signifies what is inward, and also heaven.
sin
In the Word three terms are used to mean bad things that are done. These three are transgression, iniquity, and sin, and they are here...
To
‘To grow’ signifies to be perfected.
mountains
'Hills' signify the good of charity.
cover
The "high mountains being covered " (Gen. 7:19) signifies that all the good things of charity were extinguished.
hills
'Hills' signify the good of charity.
fall
Like other common verbs, the meaning of "fall" is highly dependent on context in regular language, and is highly dependent on context in a spiritual...
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...
gibeah
Gibeah, as in 2 Samuel 6, signifies the natural or ultimate principle of the church. Gibeah, Ramah, and Bethaven, as in Hosea 5:8, denote those...
stood
'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...
battle
War in the Word represents the combat of temptation when what is good is assaulted by what is evil or false. The evil that attacks...
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....
Overtake
'To overtake' denotes communication and influx.
bound
Being bound, as in Genesis 42:16, denotes to be separated, for he who is kept b. is separated, viz., from the spiritual good, which is...
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...
passed
'To pass,' as in Genesis 31:52, signifies flowing in. 'To pass the night,' as in Genesis 24:54, signifies having peace. 'To pass through,' as in...
neck
'The neck' signifies influx and the communication of interior and exterior levels and the following conjunction. The inmost or third heaven has reference to the...
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.
Jacob
Jacob is told twice that his name will now be Israel. The first time is when he wrestles with an angel on his journey to...
righteousness
'Justice' signifies both good and truth.
reap
'To reap' signifies executing judgment. 'Reaping' denotes the reception of truth in good.
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...
Time
Time is an aspect of the physical world, but according to Swedenborg is not an aspect of the spiritual world. The same is true of...
seek
The meaning of "to seek" in the Bible is pretty straightforward, but there is a bit of nuance: Swedenborg tells us that in most cases...
come
Coming (Gen. 41:14) denotes communication by influx.
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...
way
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....
mighty
'Might' denotes the forces or power of truth.
Mighty men
'Mighty men,' as in Lamentations 1:15, denotes people who are in the good of love.
tumult
'A tumult,' as in Isaiah 8:4, signifies eager desire to combat against truths.
arise
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...
spoiled
'A spoiler,' as in Jeremiah 48:32, signifies evil and its derivative falsity.
day of
'Day of vengeance' signifies a state of damnation.
day
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...
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...
bethel
When Jacob had his famous dream, of a staircase leading to heaven, he named the place "Bethel," which is Hebrew for "the house of God."...
wickedness
'Wickedness' signifies evil, and 'iniquity' signifies falsities.
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