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...
child
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....
loved
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...
egypt
In the Bible, Egypt means knowledge and the love of knowledge. In a good sense that means knowledge of truth from the Lord through the...
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...
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...
baals
Baalim and her lovers (Hosea 2:13) signify those things which belong to the natural man, and are loved; such as the lusts and falsities thence...
images
'An image' signifies falsities from self-derived intelligence.
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...
walk
To walk in the Bible represents living, and usually means living according to the true things taught to us by the Lord -- to "walk...
arms
Arms and feet (Daniel 10:6) signify the exterior things of the Word, which are its literal sense.
knew
In a general sense, men represent things of the intellect – facts, ideas, knowledge, everything from the deepest truths to the most pernicious falsities about...
cords
Rope or cord denotes conjunction.
jaws
Jaws,' in Isaiah 30:28, signify thoughts from the sensory bodily principle, and so: thoughts from fallacies.
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...
return
There are many instances in the Bible which describe people turning back, looking back or going back. In most cases it is a negative, sometimes...
land
Land' in the Word, denotes the church, for the things which signify the church also signify the things relating to the church, for these constitute...
sword
A 'sword,' in the Word, signifies the truth of faith combating and the vastation of truth. In an opposite sense, it signifies falsity combating and...
cities
Cities of the mountain and cities of the plain (Jeremiah 33:13) signify doctrines of charity and faith.
devour
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...
call
'To proclaim' signifies exploration from influx of the Lord.
high
'Height' signifies what is inward, and also heaven.
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...
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...
turned
Swedenborg says that the Lord is the sun of heaven, and like the natural sun of our world shines on everyone, good or evil. What...
anger
'Wrath,' as in Genesis 49:7, signifies aversion from truth. 'Great wrath,' as in Revelation 12:12, signifies hatred against the new church.
man
"Man" is a tricky word to discuss, because the Hebrew of the Old Testament uses six different words that are generally translated as "man," with...
come
As with common verbs in general, the meaning of “come” in the Bible is highly dependent on context – its meaning is determined largely by...
after
Behind, or after, (Gen. 16:13), signifies within or above, or an interior or superior principle.
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...
lion
'A lion' signifies the good of celestial love and the truth from that good.
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....
bird
"Birds" mean rational concepts in the external man and intellectual concepts in the internal man.
dove
'A turtle dove' and 'young pigeon,' as in Genesis 15:9, represents exterior and interior spiritual things.
dwell
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...
houses
A "house" is essentially a container - for a person, for a family, for several families or even for a large group with shared interests...
saith
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...
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...
deceit
The spiritual meaning of being deceitful is pretty close to the literal meaning: According to the Writings it means using false thinking and logic to...
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.
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