città
Cities of the mountain and cities of the plain (Jeremiah 33:13) signify doctrines of charity and faith.
sangue
The internal meaning of “blood” is a little tricky, because Swedenborg gives two meanings that seem quite different. In most cases, Swedenborg links blood with...
ruote
'Wheels,' as in Exodus 14:25, signify the power of proceeding and divine intelligence. 'Wheels,' as in Isaiah 5:28, signify the doctrine of natural truth. 'Wheels,'...
cavalli
'A horse' signifies knowledges or understanding of the Word. In an opposite sense it signifies the understanding of the Word falsified by reasonings, and likewise...
cavalieri
'A horseman' signifies intelligence, or one who is intelligent. 'A horseman,' as mentioned in Revelation 9:16, signifies reasonings concerning faith alone. 'A horseman' can also...
spade
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...
prostituta
'A harlot' signifies the affection of falsities, thus the church corrupted.
nazioni
'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...
incantesimi
In Revelation 9:21, 'sorceries' take the place of the eighth commandment, 'thou shalt not bear false witness.' The three other evils, which are murder, fornication,...
dice
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...
l’eterno
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...
degli
A host and an army come from the same Hebrew word and mean the same thing in Bible; when the Children of Israel were numbered...
eserciti
Armies of the heavens and the sands of the sea ('Jeremiah 33:15-22') signify the knowledges of truth and good in the spiritual and natural ma{ign21}
nudità
'Unclothed' signifies being deprived of the truths of faith.
vergogna
On a natural level, there are a variety of things that can cause shame. We might be ashamed of physical weakness or ugliness; we might...
ninive
'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...
no
'No,' as in Ezekiel 30:15, denotes doubt in a state of temptation.
acque
'Waters' signify truths in the natural self, and in the opposite sense, falsities. 'Waters' signify particularly the spiritual parts of a person, or the intellectual...
mare
Water generally represents what Swedenborg calls “natural truth,” or true concepts about day-to-day matters and physical things. Since all water ultimately flows into the seas,...
Egitto
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...
put
'Phut' denotes knowledges from the literal sense of the Word.
nemico
An enemy in the Bible refers to people who are in the love of evil and the false thinking that springs from evil. On a...
fichi
The Writings tell us that the fig tree represents the "natural human," which is our outward life in the world, and the thoughts and feelings...
bocca
In most cases, "mouth" in the Bible represents thought and logic, especially the kind of active, concrete thought that is connected with speech. The reason...
mangiare
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...
donne
The word "woman" is used a number of different ways in the Bible – as a simple description, as someone connected to a man ("his...
porte
"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...
nemici
An enemy in the Bible refers to people who are in the love of evil and the false thinking that springs from evil. On a...
fuoco
Just as natural fire can be both comforting in keeping you warm or scary in burning down your house, so fire in the spiritual sense...
divorato
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...
sbarre
Bars, as in Lamentations 2:9, signify doctrinals
acqua
Water was obviously of tremendous importance in Biblical times (and every other time). It is the basis of life, the essential ingredient in all drinks,...
entra
All changes of place in the Bible represent changes in spiritual state. “Entering” – usually used as entering someone’s house or “going in unto” someone...
spada
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...
cavalletta
Grasshoppers signify the same as locusts: the false which vastates the extremes of the natural part of the mind.
cavallette
Grasshoppers signify the same as locusts: the false which vastates the extremes of the natural part of the mind.
locuste
'Locusts' signify falsities in the extremes, which consume the truths and goods of the church in a person. 'The locusts' which John the Baptist ate...
stelle
'Stars' signify the knowledge of truth and good. 'Stars' are frequently mentioned in the Word, and always signify goods and truths, but in an opposite...
cielo
L'"aria" nella Bibbia rappresenta il pensiero, ma in modo molto generale - più come la nostra capacità di percepire le idee e il modo in...
lungo
'Long' and thence to prolong, refer to good.
giorno
The expression 'even to this day' or 'today' sometimes appears in the Word, as in Genesis 19:37-38, 22:14, 26:33, 32:32, 35:20, and 47:26. In a...
sole
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...
conosce
Like so many common verbs, the meaning of "know" in the Bible is varied and dependent on context. And in some cases – when it...
posto
'A dry place,' as in Luke 11:24, signifies states of evil and falsity which are in the life of someone who does the work of...
re
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...
pastori
The Writings tell us that shepherds represent those who lead and teach others, using knowledge and true ideas to help people reach the goodness of...
monti
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...
malvagità
'Wickedness' signifies evil, and 'iniquity' signifies falsities.
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