יצחק
'Isaac' represents spiritual love. 'Isaac,' in Genesis 17:19, signifies the rational divine. 'Isaac' signifies the Lord's divine rational in reference to divine good. Isaac' signifies...
יעקב
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...
אשה
The Hebrew of the Old Testament has six different common words which are generally translated as "wife," which largely overlap but have different nuances. Swedenborg...
כנען
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...
בתואל
Bethuel (Gen. 24), signifies the origin of the affection of good.
לבן
'Laban' signifies the affection of good in the natural self, or the affection of external good, and properly collateral good of a common stock. The...
אברהם
Abraham (or Abram, as he is named in the beginning of his story) was the ancestor of all the Children of Israel, through his son...
ארץ
"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...
בן
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....
רבקה
'Rebecca,' as in Genesis 24, signifies divine truth which would be joined to divine good of the Lord’s rational mind, which is 'Isaac.'
עשו
Esau (Gen. 28:5, etc.) signifies the truth of good in the natural principle. Esau (Gen. 32:3) signifies celestial good in the natural principle.
בנות
Marriages among people – both in the Bible and in life – represent spiritual marriage. Women represent the desire to be good and to do...
ישמעאל
'Ishmael' represents the first rationality pertaining to the Lord. 'Ishmael' signifies rationality separate from good. 'Ishmael' signifies the Lord's merely human rational. Ishmael, in Genesis...
מחלת
'Mahalath,' as in Genesis 28:9, signifies truth from a divine origin.
בת
"Behold I have two daughters,” etc. (Gen. 19:8), signifies the affections of good and truth, and the blessedness perceivable from the enjoyment thereof, by those...
אחות
The Lord calls people who are in truth from the good of charity from Him 'sisters,' as in Matthew 12:50. 'Sister' denotes intellectual truth, when...
נביות
'Nebaioth,' as in Genesis 28, denotes good of the spiritual church.
בא
As with common verbs in general, the meaning of “come” in the Bible is highly dependent on context – its meaning is determined largely by...
יהוה
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...
בית
A "house" is essentially a container - for a person, for a family, for several families or even for a large group with shared interests...
שער
"Gates" in ancient times had a significance that does not hold in the modern world. Cities then were enclosed by walls for protection; gates in...
שמן
Oil – typically olive oil – was an extremely important product in Biblical times, for food preparation, medicinal ointment and for burning in lamps. As...
שם
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...
לוז
'Luz,' as in Genesis 28, signifies a state wherein truth and good are together in the ultimate principle of order.
העיר
Cities of the mountain and cities of the plain (Jeremiah 33:13) signify doctrines of charity and faith.
נדר
In Genesis 28:20, 'he vowed a vow' denotes, in the internal sense, willing that the Lord will provide. In the highest sense, where the Lord...
לחם
Just as natural food feeds the natural body, so spiritual food feeds the spiritual body. And since our spiritual body is the expression of what...
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