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...
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...
קטורה
'Keturah,' as in Genesis 25:1, signifies divine truth spiritual, conjoined to divine good spiritual.
מדן
'Medan' signifies common lots of the Lord’s spiritual kingdom.
מדין
'Midianites' signify people who are in the truth of simple good.
ילד
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....
דדן
Dedan (Gen. 10) signifies the knowledges of celestial things of an inferior order, such as consist in ritual observances. Dedan, in Jer. 49:8 signifies rituals...
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...
חי
'Lives' is used in the plural, because of the will and understanding, and because these two lives make one.
ארץ
Is there any difference in meaning between “earth” and “ground”? At first it doesn’t seem so; both refer to the soil making up the land...
שדה
A "field" in the Bible usually represents the Lord's church, and more specifically the desire for good within the church. It's where good things start,...
בן
'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...
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...
הגר
Hagar, as mentioned in Genesis 16, signifies the affection of sciences of the outward self and also the life of the outer or natural self.
שרה
'Sarah' denotes truth joined to good. Sarai was called 'Sarah' so she would represent the divine intellectual principle by adding the 'H' from the name...
שמות
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...
נפיש
'Naphish' represents things in the spiritual church.
שור
'Shur,' or 'Assyria,' signifies the Lord's state when He first received instruction in matters of doctrine regarding charity and faith.
מצרים
Egyptians represent those who are in natural science, thus the natural, but the Hebrews, those who are of the church, thus respectively the spiritual. The...
נפל
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...
הוליד
To beget or to be begotten is very similar in meaning to birth: It represents one spiritual state leading to the next spiritual state. "Beget,"...
ארבעים
'Forty' means completeness because 'four' means what is complete, as does 'ten.' Forty is the product of four and ten. Compound numbers have a meaning...
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.'
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...
בתואל
Bethuel (Gen. 24), signifies the origin of the affection of good.
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...
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...
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...
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.
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...
איש
The relationship between men and women is deep and nuanced, and one entire book of the Writings – Conjugial Love or Love in Marriage –...
ידע
Like so many common verbs, the meaning of "know" in the Bible is varied and dependent on context. And in some cases – when it...
ציד
'To hunt' signifies in general 'persuading,' and in particular, 'to captivate and ensnare people's minds,' by flattering them in the pursuit of the things of...
ישב
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...
אדום
'Edom' or 'Idumea,' as in Isaiah 34:5, signifies those who are in evil and in falsities thence derived.
למות
Dead (Gen. 23:8) signifies night, in respect to the goodnesses and truths of faith.
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...
עדשים
'Lentils' signify the less noble types of good.
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