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...
war
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...
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...
vale
Mountains in the Bible represent people's highest points, where we are closest to the Lord - our love of the Lord and the state of...
salt sea
'The vale of Siddim, which is the salt sea' as in Genesis 14:3, signifies the filthiness of lusts and the falsities derived from them.
salt
'Salt' is the desire of conjunction of truth with good, which is why only salt will conjoin water, which corresponds to truth, and oil, which...
sea
'The sea and the waves roaring' means heresy and controversies in the church and individual.
served
Generally speaking, those who are at lower levels of an organization serve those at higher levels. Bosses boss and their employees serve; coaches devise strategy...
thirteenth
'Thirteen,' between twelve and fourteen, denotes the intermediate state. 'Thirteen,' as the sum of ten and three, denotes remains.
Thirteenth year
'The thirteenth year,' as in Genesis 14, signifies the beginning of the Lord’s temptations in childhood.
fourteenth
Fourteen, as in Genesis 31:40, signifies a first period of time. The fourteenth year, as in Genesis 14:5, signifies the first temptation 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...
kings
The human mind is composed of two parts, a will and an understanding, a seat of loves and affections, and a seat of wisdom and...
smote
To strike or smite, when used in the Bible, means to attack, harm or destroy, and is usually in reference to an attack on someone’s...
Zuzim
In Genesis 14:5, a tribe of people named the Zuzim are mentioned. The Zuzim have a similar spiritual meaning to the Nephilim, who are mentioned...
mountains
In Isaiah 40:12 'to weigh the mountains in a balance, and the hills in scales,' signifies that the celestial aspects of love and charity are...
Seir
'Seir,' as in Genesis 33:14, signifies the conjunction of spiritual and celestial things in the natural level, that is, the truth of faith with the...
wilderness
'The wilderness of Sin,' as in Exodus 16, signifies the good from truth in a state of temptation.
returned
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...
fountain
The Word is sometimes called 'a well,' and sometimes 'a fountain.' It is called 'a well' regarding the literal sense, and 'a fountain' regarding the...
cades
'Kadesh' denotes truths, and contention about truths.
dwelt
'Inhabit' refers to good.
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...
four
The number "four" in the Bible represents things being linked together or joined. This is partly because four is two times two, and two represents...
five
Five also signifies all things of one part.
slime
'Tar and pitch,' as in Exodus 2:3, signifies good mixed with evils and falsities, because 'tar' signifies good mixed with evils, and 'pitch' signifies good...
fled
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...
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...
sodomites
"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...
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....
son
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....
Abram
Abram and Nahor taking to themselves wives, Sarah and Milcah (Gen 11:29), signifies marriages of evil with falsity in idolatrous worship. Abram, Nahor, and Haran,...
brother
Brethren (Gen. 27:29) signify the affections of good.
hebrew
The term 'Hebrew' is used in the Word to signify anything relating to service, whatever its nature may be. Hence Abraham, in one passage only...
heard
'To hearken to father and mother,' as mentioned in Genesis 28:7, signifies obedience from affection. 'To hearken,' as mentioned in Genesis 30:22, signifies providence. See...
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...
three
The Writings talk about many aspects of life using the philosophical terms "end," "cause" and "effect." The "end" is someone’s goal or purpose, the ultimate...
Three hundred
'Three hundred' signifies fullness, because the number comes from three and a hundred multiplied. Both 'three' and 'a hundred' signifies fullness. The significance of products...
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...
pursued
'To pursue,' as in Genesis 14:16, signifies a state of purification, because 'to pursue enemies' is the expulsion of evils and falsities which were with...
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...
night
The sun in the Bible represents the Lord, with its heat representing His love and its light representing His wisdom. “Daytime,” then, represents a state...
Left hand
'The left hand' in a negative sense signifies falsity which is used to produce evil.
damascus
Damascus and Aroer (Isaiah 17:1, 2) signify the knowledges of truth and good. See Eliezer of Damascus.
back
Everyone knows the phrase "the natural order of things." It means that everything is in its proper place, occupying the niche it is meant to...
women
The word "woman" is used a number of different ways in the Bible – as a simple description, as someone connected to a man ("his...
meet
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...
after
Behind, or after, (Gen. 16:13), signifies within or above, or an interior or superior principle.
slaughter
'Slaughter' signifies perdition and damnation. 'Slaughter' and 'a storm of slaughter,' signifies evils which destroy the goods of the church. 'The day of great slaughter'...
salem
'Salem' signifies a state of peace and perfection, or the tranquility of peace. 'Salem,' as in Psalm 76:3, signifies the Lord’s spiritual kingdom where there...
bread
The word “bread” is used two ways in the Bible. In some cases it means actual bread; in others it stands for food in general....
Wine
In Revelation 18:13, 'wine, oil, flour, and wheat' signify celestial principles of worship.
Most high
'The most high' signifies the inmost.
high
'Height' signifies what is inward, and also heaven.
blessed
The Lord is perfect love expressed as perfect wisdom. He created us so that He could love us, could give us love and wisdom of...
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...
Heaven and earth
'Heaven and earth' signify, in general, the internal and external church. In particular, they signify the internal and external, or the spiritual and the natural...
heaven
Heavens are celestial and spiritual things. Consequently, they are inmost things, both of the Lord's kingdom in heaven the and in the earth. This also...
earth
"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...
hands
Scientists believe that one of the most crucial developments in the evolution of humans was bipedalism – walking on two legs. That left our hands...
tithes
'Tithes,' as in tenths, signifies goods and truths stored up from the Lord in a person’s interior self. These goods are called remains. When these...
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...
hand
Scientists believe that one of the most crucial developments in the evolution of humans was bipedalism – walking on two legs. That left our hands...
the Lord
The Bible refers to the Lord in many different ways, which from the text seem indistinguishable and interchangeable. Understood in the internal sense, though, there...
lord
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...
shoe
'A shoe latchet' signifies evil.
Latchet
'A shoe latchet' signifies evil.
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...
young
"Youths" or "Young men" generally represent intelligence or the understanding of truth. This is fitting, since adolescent boys tend to be more advanced intellectually than...
young men
"Youths" or "Young men" generally represent intelligence or the understanding of truth. This is fitting, since adolescent boys tend to be more advanced intellectually than...
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...
