command
To command is to give an order that something must be done, and is directed to an individual, or a group. It is an imperative,...
olive
'An olive,' as in Isaiah 17:6, signifies celestial remains. 'An olive' signifies love and charity, because 'the olive tree' signifies the celestial church, and so...
oil
In Revelation 18:13, 'wine, oil, flour, and wheat' signify celestial principles of worship.
lamp
The light of a lamp' signifies illumination from the Lord. A lamp,' as in Revelation 22, signifies natural light from self-derived intelligence. 'A lamp' signifies...
tabernacle
'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...
evening
Since the light and warmth of the sun represent the Lord’s wisdom and love, it makes sense that evening, a time when the light and...
morning
Morning comes with the rising of the sun, and the sun – which gives life to the earth with its warmth and light – represents...
generations
To “generate” something is to create it, and that idea underpins the meaning of a “generation” of people – it is a group that was...
lamps
(Luke 15:8.) By the woman lighting a candle to find the piece of silver she had lost, is signified inquisition in herself from affection.
pure
To be "pure" in the Bible means - unsurprisingly - to be devoid of evil. Thus all the washing for purification prescribed in the Laws...
lampstand
The light of a lamp' signifies illumination from the Lord. A lamp,' as in Revelation 22, signifies natural light from self-derived intelligence. 'A lamp' signifies...
flour
Flour, or meal, signifies celestial truth, and wheat, celestial good. Flour and oil signify truth and good from a spiritual origin, and honey, good from...
bake
In a broad sense, there are two things we get from our food. One is energy, in the form of carbohydrates and fats. The other...
cakes
Cake denotes the conjunction of the spiritual and celestial principles, which appertained to the Lord, (Gen. 18:16.)
cake
Cake denotes the conjunction of the spiritual and celestial principles, which appertained to the Lord, (Gen. 18:16.)
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...
six
Like most numbers in the Bible, "six" can have various meanings depending on context, but has a couple that are primary. When used in relation...
clean
To be "pure" in the Bible means - unsurprisingly - to be devoid of evil. Thus all the washing for purification prescribed in the Laws...
table
Food and drink in the Bible represent the desire to be loving and the understanding of how to be loving, gifts that flow from the...
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...
day
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...
sabbath
In Exodus 31:13, 'verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep,' signifies continuous holy thought about the union of the Lord’s divine with His human.
before
In most cases, the meaning of "before" is pretty straightforward, both as a way of assessing relative time, and in its use meaning "in someone's...
aaron
Aaron was the brother of Moses. He symbolizes two things, one during the first part of the exodus, when he was Moses' spokesperson, and another...
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...
holy
'Sanctuary' signifies the truth of heaven and the church. 'Sanctuary,' as in Ezekiel 24:21, signifies the Word.
place
'A room' or 'place' denotes state.
holies
The Bible describes many things as being holy, or sacred. The Ark of the Covenant is one very holy object. The inmost chamber of the...
Offerings
'Offerings' signify worship.
eternal
In many cases, the use of “eternity” in the Bible is pretty literal, simple meaning forever. This is especially true when the text is referring...
midst
'Middle' denotes what is primary, principal, or inmost.
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....
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...
reviled
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...
mother
In general, mothers in the Bible represent the Lord's church on earth, or the church among those who know and follow the Lord. In some...
tribe
'A tribe' signifies the church with respect to its truths and goods, and in the opposite sense, with respect to its falsities and evils. 'A...
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...
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...
might
'Might' denotes the forces or power of truth.
heard
Thanks to modern science, we now understand that hearing actually happens in the brain, not the ears. The ears collect vibrations in the air and...
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...
head
The head is the part of us that is highest, which means in a representative sense that it is what is closest to the Lord....
speak
Like "say," the word "speak" refers to thoughts and feelings moving from our more internal spiritual levels to our more external ones – and ultimately...
bear
Like many verbs, the spiritual meaning of "bearing" something depends greatly on context – what it is that's being borne, and why. It is further...
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...
die
Dead (Gen. 23:8) signifies night, in respect to the goodnesses and truths of faith.
congregation
A company, congregation, and a multitude, in the Word, are predicated of truths.
soul
The nature of the soul is a deep and complicated topic, but it can be summarized as "spiritual life," who we are in terms of...
man
The relationship between men and women is deep and nuanced, and one entire book of the Writings – Conjugial Love or Love in Marriage –...
eye
It’s common to say “I see” when we understand something. And indeed, “seeing” in the Bible represents grasping and understanding spiritual things. So it makes...
tooth
'Tooth,' as in Exodus 21:24, denotes the exterior understanding, and natural truth.
beast
"Beasts" represent the affection for doing good things, a true desire to do them from the heart. In the negative sense, "beasts" stand for the...
repay
'To repay' denotes making amends by truth.
Put
'To put' has reference to order, arrangement, application, and influx.
one
A company might have executives setting policy and strategy, engineers designing products, line workers building them, managers handling personnel and others handling various functions. They...
judgment
Judgement' pertains to the Lord's divine human and holy proceeding. Judgment' has two sides, a principle of good, and a principle of truth. The faithful...
sojourner
'A sojourner' or 'stranger,' as in Matthew 25:32, signifies someone who is willing to be instructed.
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...
moses
Moses's name appears 814 times in the Bible (KJV), third-most of any one character (Jesus at 961 actually trails David at 991). He himself wrote...
spoke
Like "say," the word "speak" refers to thoughts and feelings moving from our more internal spiritual levels to our more external ones – and ultimately...
Sons of Israel
'The camp of the sons of Israel' represents the church.
israel
'Israel,' in Jeremiah 23:8, signifies the spiritual natural church. The children of Israel dispersed all the literal sense of the Word by falsities. 'The children...
reviling
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...
camp
Camps in the Bible represent spiritual order – a person’s (or a church community’s) whole collection of desires for good and true ideas on how...
stone
Stones in the Bible in general represent truths, or things we know concerning the Lord and what He wants from us and for us in...
stones
Stones in the Bible in general represent truths, or things we know concerning the Lord and what He wants from us and for us in...
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...
commanded
To command is to give an order that something must be done, and is directed to an individual, or a group. It is an imperative,...
