jonah
'Jonah' represents the Jewish nation.
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...
flee
Flight, as in Matthew 14:20, signifies removal from a state of the good of love and innocence. Flight, as in Mark 8:18, signifies the last...
Tarshish
Elishah, Tarshish, Kitthin, and Dodanium (Gen. 10:4) signify so many several doctrinals respecting ritual observances, and derived from external worship prevailing with Javan.
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...
merciful
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...
anger
Anger is an emotion so common to people that it requires no definition. However a couple of points of interest can be raised. 1) The...
kindness
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...
evil
'To hurt,' as mentioned in Revelation 6:6, signifies violation and profanation. 'To hurt' as mentioned in Revelation 9:4, signifies perverting the truths and goods of...
life
'Lives' is used in the plural, because of the will and understanding, and because these two lives make one.
city
Cities of the mountain and cities of the plain (Jeremiah 33:13) signify doctrines of charity and faith.
sat
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...
side
'Side' signifies good or spiritual love.
under
In the Bible, things that are lower down, or under, physically, generally represent things that are lower or more external spiritually. In some cases, the...
shade
'The shadow is good' of the oak, poplar and elm means complacence.
might
'Might' denotes the forces or power of truth.
see
To look,' as in Genesis 18:22, signifies thinking, because seeing denotes understanding. Look not back behind thee,' as in Genesis 19:17, means that Lot, who...
elohim
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...
gourd
The gourd which God prepared to come up over the head of the prophet Jonah, in Jonah 4:6, signifies the evil and self-love of the...
head
The head is the part of us that is highest, which means in a representative sense that it is what is closest to the Lord....
trouble
Matthew 24:21 mentions an affliction "such as was not from the beginning of the world, no nor ever shall be". There, the affliction means the...
glad
To make glad signifies influx and reception from joy of heart.
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...
worm
'A worm' denotes falsity of evil in the good derived from the proprium or selfhood. 'That dies not,' denotes infernal torment related to falsity. 'Worm'...
rose
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...
smote
'The smitten' signify people who are oppressed by the falsities of ignorance.
withered
In the Bible (and in life), the idea of withering is usually connected to plants, and plants generally wither if they don't get enough water....
sun
The 'sun' signifies celestial and spiritual love. The 'sun' in the Word, when referring to the Lord, signifies His divine love and wisdom. Because the...
Wind
In the Bible, the wind represents the power of the Lord working on us through the heavens. The Lord is love itself, and by extending...
die
Dead (Gen. 23:8) signifies night, in respect to the goodnesses and truths of faith.
Grow
‘To grow’ signifies to be perfected.
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...
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;...
hundred
It's a landmark for a young child to count to 100; it sort of covers all the "ordinary" numbers. One hundred is obviously significant for...
twenty
'Twenty,' when referring to a quantity, signifies everything, or fullness, because it is ten twice. In Genesis 18:31, 'twenty', like all numbers occurring in the...
thousand
As children, most of us at some point frustrated our mothers into using the phrase “if I've told you once, I've told you a thousand...
Right hand
'The man of the right hand,' as in Psalm 80:17, signifies the Lord with respect to the Word. He is called 'the man of the...
much
Intellectual things – ideas, knowledge, facts, even insight and understanding – are more separate and free-standing than emotional things, and it’s easier to imagine numbering...