medan
'Simran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Jishbak, and Shuah,' as in Genesis 25:2, represent the general divisions of the Lord’s spiritual kingdom, in the heavens and in...
ishbak
Ishbak' represents the common lots, or heritable divisions of the Lord's spiritual kingdom.
jokshan
'Simran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Jishbak, and Shuah,' as in Genesis 25:2, represent the general divisions of the Lord’s spiritual kingdom, in the heavens and in...
Sheba
'Sheba, Havilah, Sabthah, Regmah, and Sabthecha,' the sons of Cush, as in Genesis 10:7, were several nations which were did not have internal worship, but...
Sheba and Dedan
'Sheba and Dedan' are people who constitute the first class in the Lord’s spiritual kingdom, who are principled in the good of faith and have...
dedan
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...
Letushim
'Letushim' signify varieties of faith.
Leummim
'Leummim' signify the good of faith and its varieties.
midian
'Midian' signifies people who are in falsity.
ephah
The Bible uses a somewhat dizzying array of unfamiliar measurement, leaving translators a choice between being accurate and confusing or inaccurate and clear. Since they...
enoch
Enoch (Gen. 5:18) signifies the seventh church from Adam, and which consisted of those who had framed doctrines out of the things which had been...
keturah
'Keturah,' as in Genesis 25:1, signifies divine truth spiritual, conjoined to divine good spiritual.
sons of the
The sons of the Javanites,' as in Joel 3:6, signify worship in externals, separate from the internal.
gifts
The gift which Abraham gave to the sons of the concubines which he had, as in Genesis 25:6, signifies lots in the Lord's spiritual kingdom....
sent
'Being sent' everywhere signifies, in an internal sense, going forth, as in John 17:8. In similar manner, it is said of the holy of the...
living
'Lives' is used in the plural, because of the will and understanding, and because these two lives make one.
land
"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...
Lives
'Lives' is used in the plural, because of the will and understanding, and because these two lives make one.
five
Five also signifies all things of one part.
good
It seems rather circular to say that “good” in the Bible represents good, but in a general sense it’s true! The case is this: The...
Machpelah
'Macpelah,' as in Genesis 23:17, signifies regeneration by truth, which relates to faith.
ephron
Ephron (Gen. 23:8, 17) signifies those with whom the good and truth of faith, which are the constituents of the church, might be received.
hittite
'A Hittite' in a good sense, signifies the spiritual church, or the truth of the church. The Hittites were among the upright Gentiles who were...
face
“The eyes are the windows of the soul.” That’s a sentiment with roots somewhere in murky antiquity, but one that has become hopelessly cliché because...
Mamre
Mamre was an Amorite who lived in the land of Canaan, in the area called Hebron in what would much later be the kingdom of...
heth
The daughters of Heth, as mentioned in Genesis 27:46, signify the affections of truth from a ground that is not genuine. Here they are the...
buried
'Being buried' or 'put into monuments' signifies resurrection and continuation of life.
wife
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...
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...
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...
dwelt
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...
hagar
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.
sarah
'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...
handmaid
'A handmaid' signifies the affection of rational and scientific things. 'A handmaid,' as mentioned in Genesis 30:3, signifies the affirming medium of conjoining inner truths...
firstborn
When the Bible talks about generations or birth order, the internal meaning has to do with the progression of spiritual states and their relative importance....
nebaioth
'Nebaioth,' as in Genesis 28, denotes good of the spiritual church.
Kedar
'Kedar' or 'Arabia' signifies spiritual good. Kedar' denotes people of the Gentiles who are in simple truth. 'Arabia' signifies the same thing.
Mibsam
'Mibsam' means things pertaining to the spiritual church.
Tema
'Tema' represents aspects of the spiritual church among the Gentiles.
jetur
Jetur' represents the spiritual church among the gentiles.
naphish
'Naphish' represents things in the spiritual church.
kedemah
Kedemah' represents things of the spiritual church among the Gentiles.
names
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...
villages
'Villages' signify the external aspects of faith and the church. Rituals are the external parts of the church. Doctrines are the internal parts when they...
castles
(Gen. 25:17) signify the intellectual things of faith and of the church.
life
'Lives' is used in the plural, because of the will and understanding, and because these two lives make one.
Ishmael
'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...
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...
thirty
'Thirty' has a twofold significance because it is is the product of five and six, and also three and ten. From five multiplied by six,...
seven
The number 'seven' was considered holy, as is well known, because of the six days of creation, and the seventh, which is the celestial self,...
died
Dead (Gen. 23:8) signifies night, in respect to the goodnesses and truths of faith.
gathered
To gather, as in Genesis 6:21, refers to those things which are in the memory of man, where they are gathered. It also implies that...
Havilah
'Havilah,' as mentioned in Genesis 10:28, signifies a ritual of the church called Eber. 'The land of Havilah,' as mentioned in Genesis 2:11, signifies the...
Shur
'Shur,' or 'Assyria,' signifies the Lord's state when He first received instruction in matters of doctrine regarding charity and faith.
faces
“The eyes are the windows of the soul.” That’s a sentiment with roots somewhere in murky antiquity, but one that has become hopelessly cliché because...
egypt
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...
coming
Coming (Gen. 41:14) denotes communication by influx.
fell
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...
brothers
There are two ways "brother" is used in the Bible, ways that are still reflected in modern language. One denotes an actual blood relationship; the...
Abraham
Abraham (or Abram, as he is named in the beginning of his story) is one of the major characters in the story of the sacred...
begot
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,"...
forty
'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...
Bethuel
'Uz, Buz, Kemuel, Kesed, Haza, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel,' as in Genesis 22:22, 23, signify various religions and the kinds of worship practiced in them....
Paddan-Aram
'Padan Aram,' as in Genesis 28:2, signifies the exterior knowledges of good and truth.
sister
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...
laban
'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...
Woman
'Women,' as in Genesis 45:19, signify the affections of truth. But in Genesis 31:50, 'women' signify affections of not genuine truth, so not of the...
barren
"Sarai was barren, she had no child" (Gen 11:30), signifies that evil and falsity were not productive.
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...
two
The number "two" has two different meanings in the Bible. In most cases "two" indicates a joining together or unification. This is easy to see...
nations
The Bible generally uses two different terms for large groups: “people” and “nation.” When it uses the term “nation,” it is talking about a group...
people
The Bible generally uses two different terms for large groups: “people” and “nation.” When it uses the term “nation,” it is talking about a group...
peoples
The Bible generally uses two different terms for large groups: “people” and “nation.” When it uses the term “nation,” it is talking about a group...
serve
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...
days
"Day" describes a state in which we are turned toward the Lord, and are receiving light (which is truth) and heat (which is a desire...
twins
'Twins in the womb,' as in Genesis 25:24, signifies that both good and truth, represented by Esau and Jacob, were conceived together.
belly
The belly (Psalms 16:4) signifies the interior understanding.
the first
'Resurrection' signifies salvation and eternal life. 'The first,' mentioned in Revelation 20:5, 6, does not mean a first resurrection, but the essence and primary part...
first
Why would it be insulting for a man to refer to his married partner as his “first wife”? Because it implies there will be a...
hair
The hair is the very outermost part of the body, and "hair" in the Bible represents the outermost expression of whatever the body represents. In...
after
Behind, or after, (Gen. 16:13), signifies within or above, or an interior or superior principle.
brother
There are two ways "brother" is used in the Bible, ways that are still reflected in modern language. One denotes an actual blood relationship; the...
hand
In Genesis 27:22, 'voice' relates to truth, and 'hand,' to good.
heel
'The heel' signifies natural things of the lowest order. 'The heel which the serpent should bruise,' as mentioned in Genesis 3:15, signifies the lowest natural...
son
'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...
sixty
'Sixty' means the full time and state of the implantation of truth.
birth
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,"...
man
"Man" is a tricky word to discuss, because the Hebrew of the Old Testament uses six different words that are generally translated as "man," with...
knowing
Like so many common verbs, the meaning of "know" in the Bible is varied and dependent on context. And in some cases – when it...
hunting
'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...
dwelling
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...
Tents
'The tabernacle' has almost the same meaning as 'temple,' that is, in the highest sense, the Lord’s divine humanity, and in a relative sense, heaven...
isaac
'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...
loved
To some degree, there really is no spiritual meaning to the word “love” in the Bible. Why? Because if you truly love another, that is...
mouth
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...
rebekah
'Rebecca,' as in Genesis 24, signifies divine truth which would be joined to divine good of the Lord’s rational mind, which is 'Isaac.'
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...
field
When we have a desire to be good people and to do good things, the natural first questions are "What does that mean?" "What should...
called
'To proclaim' signifies exploration from influx of the Lord.
name
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...
edom
'Edom' or 'Idumea,' as in Isaiah 34:5, signifies those who are in evil and in falsities thence derived.
sell
'To sell,' as in Genesis 41:56, means transferring to another as their own, because what is sold becomes the property of the one who buys...
die
Dead (Gen. 23:8) signifies night, in respect to the goodnesses and truths of faith.
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...
today
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...
sold
'To sell,' as in Genesis 41:56, means transferring to another as their own, because what is sold becomes the property of the one who buys...
Jacob
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...
esau
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.
bread
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...
lentils
'Wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and vetches,' as in Ezekiel 4:9, 12, signify various kinds of good, and their derivative truths. Bread, or a cake,...
eat
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...
drink
To be drunken without wine (Isa. 29:9), are they who are unconcerned about the Word, and the truths of faith, and thus have no inclination...
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...
despised
We tend to think of "despising" something or someone as just a strong way of expressing dislike, but there is a further shade of meaning...
