gods
The Lord is called "Jehovah" in the Bible when the text is referring to his essence, which is love itself. He is called "God" when...
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...
image
'Images' denote things fashioned from man’s own intelligence.
statue
'A statue' signifies worship from the truths of faith, but in the opposite sense, worship from falsities, and so, idolatrous worship.
Put
'To put' has reference to order, arrangement, application, and influx.
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...
imagery
'An image' signifies falsities from self-derived intelligence.
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...
bow
To bow, as in Genesis 18:2 signifies to humble.
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...
sabbaths
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.
keep
"Keeping" in the Bible generally has to do with controlling the actual actions of life, though in some cases it can mean holding something away...
fear
The fearful signify people who have no faith.
walk
To walk in the Bible represents living, and usually means living according to the true things taught to us by the Lord -- to "walk...
statutes
All laws, even civil and judicial laws, which are in the Word, correspond to the laws of good and truth, which are in heaven.
commandments
In Deuteronomy 11:1, 'statutes' signify the external parts of the Word, such as rituals, and representations of the internal sense. 'Judgments' signify the internal parts...
give
Like other common verbs, the meaning of "give" in the Bible is affected by context: who is giving what to whom? In general, though, giving...
Time
Time is an aspect of the physical world, but according to Swedenborg is not an aspect of the spiritual world. The same is true of...
tree
In general, plants in the Bible represent facts, thoughts and ideas – intellectual things. This makes sense: Plants are rooted in place, but can grow...
field
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,...
fruit
We tend to think of "fruit" in two ways in natural language. One is as food that grows on trees and vines, sweet and delicious,...
Overtake
'To overtake' denotes communication and influx.
seed
'A seed' signifies love, and everyone who has love, as in Genesis 12:7. 8:15, 16. 'A seed' signifies faith grounded in charity. 'A seed' signifies...
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...
bread
The word “bread” is used two ways in the Bible. In some cases it means actual bread; in others it stands for food in general....
dwell
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...
peace
In ordinary life, we tend to think of "peace" as essentially "a lack of conflict." As a nation, if we're not at war, it's a...
evil
'Wickedness' signifies evil, and 'iniquity' signifies falsities.
sword
The three words, sword, famine and pestilence, appear in a group in 26 different Bible verses. That's not an accident. Sword, famine and pestilence describe...
pass
'To pass,' as in Genesis 31:52, signifies flowing in. 'To pass the night,' as in Genesis 24:54, signifies having peace. 'To pass through,' as in...
pursue
'To pursue,' as in Genesis 14:16, signifies a state of purification, because 'to pursue enemies' is the expulsion of evils and falsities which were with...
enemies
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...
fall
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...
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...
five
Five also signifies all things of one part.
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...
fruitful
To be fruitful is predicated of goodnesses, and to be multiplied, of truths.
multiply
'Spreading themselves on the earth,' as in Genesis 8:17, signifies the internal self operating on the external.
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...
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...
servants
“Servant” literally means “a person who serves another,"" and its meaning is similar in reference to the spiritual meaninngs of the Bible. Our lives in...
broken
To “break” something creates an image that is much different from “attacking,” “destroying,” or “shattering.” It is less emotional, less violent in its intent; it...
hearken
'To hearken to father and mother,' as mentioned in Genesis 28:7, signifies obedience from affection. 'To hearken,' as mentioned in Genesis 30:22, signifies providence. See...
judgments
'Great judgments' signify the laws of divine order, or divine truths.
visit
The end time of the church and each individual, is called 'the visitation,' and precedes judgment. 'Visitation' is nothing but an exploration of the quality...
eyes
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...
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...
struck
To strike or smite, when used in the Bible, means to attack, harm or destroy, and is usually in reference to an attack on someone’s...
hate
If you truly hate someone, that means you would kill them and destroy their reputation if you could do so without repercussion – not a...
flee
To flee signifies to escape, and be rescued. To flee signifies to be overcome.
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,...
sins
In the Word three terms are used to mean bad things that are done. These three are transgression, iniquity, and sin, and they are here...
break
To “break” something creates an image that is much different from “attacking,” “destroying,” or “shattering.” It is less emotional, less violent in its intent; it...
pride
'Pride' signifies the love of self.
strength
Strength' relates truth and falsity. Strength,' as in Luke 10:27, signifies the will and understanding extended to extremes. Strength,' as in Revelation 1:6, signifies divine...
heavens
Heavens are celestial and spiritual things. Consequently, they are inmost things, both of the Lord's kingdom in heaven the and in the earth. This also...
iron
'Iron,' in Deuteronomy 8:9, signifies natural or rational truth. Iron' signifies natural truth, and consequently, the natural sense of the Word. At the same time,...
earth
Generally in the Bible a "country" means a political subdivision ruled by a king, or sometimes a tribe with a territory ruled by a king...
send
'To send' signifies revealing.
animals
"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...
beasts
"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...
ways
'To set a way,' as in Genesis 30:36, signifies being separated.
smite
'The smitten' signify people who are oppressed by the falsities of ignorance.
bring
As with common verbs in general, the meaning of “bring” is highly dependent on context, but in general it represents an introduction to a new...
avenge
'To be avenged seventy and seven fold' denotes damnation.
Vengeance
'To be avenged seventy and seven fold' denotes damnation.
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...
cities
In the ancient world cities were very nearly nations unto themselves – they existed within walls, with their own laws and customs, generally centered on...
pestilence
The three words, sword, famine and pestilence, appear in a group in 26 different Bible verses. That's not an accident. Sword, famine and pestilence describe...
given
Like other common verbs, the meaning of "give" in the Bible is affected by context: who is giving what to whom? In general, though, giving...
hand
Scientists believe that one of the most crucial developments in the evolution of humans was bipedalism – walking on two legs. That left our hands...
enemy
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...
ten
Most places in Swedenborg identify “ten” as representing “all,” or in some cases “many” or “much.” The Ten Commandments represent all the guidance we get...
women
The word "woman" is used a number of different ways in the Bible – as a simple description, as someone connected to a man ("his...
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...
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...
oven
'An oven,' as in Malachi 4:1, signifies hell, where the people live who confirm themselves in false doctrines and evils of life from earthly and...
return
There are many instances in the Bible which describe people turning back, looking back or going back. In most cases it is a negative, sometimes...
satisfied
'What satisfies' is what nourishes the soul.
fury
Fury is a receding from good, and anger is a receding from truth.
flesh
Flesh has several meanings just in its most obvious form. It can mean all living creatures as when the Lord talks about the flood "destroying...
daughters
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....
high
'Height' signifies what is inward, and also heaven.
idols
Idols of stone signify worship from falsities of doctrine. Idols of wood signify worship from evils of doctrine. Idols of silver signify worship from what...
smell
'The sense of smell,' in general, corresponds to the affection for perceiving.
Offerings
'Offerings' signify worship.
nations
The Bible generally uses two different terms for large groups: “people” and “nations.” When it uses “nation,” it is talking about a group with the...
after
Behind, or after, (Gen. 16:13), signifies within or above, or an interior or superior principle.
days
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...
dwelt
Inhabitants,' in Isaiah 26:9, signify the men of the church who are in good of doctrine, and thence in the good of life.
Lands
'Lands' of different nations are used in the Word to signify the different kinds of love prevalent in the inhabitants.
voice
'Voice' signifies what is announced from the Word. 'Voice' often refers and is applied to things that cannot have a voice, as in Exodus 4,...
leaf
'Leaves' symbolize rational truths because a tree symbolizes a person, and every part of the tree symbolizes accordant elements in the person.
fleeing
To flee signifies to escape, and be rescued. To flee signifies to be overcome.
stumble
To 'stumble' denotes being scandalized or offended, and falling, as a result, from truths into falsities.
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...
stand
'To sit before Jehovah' is to be with Him, and so, it also means willing and acting from Him. 'To stand before Him,' is to...
iniquity
Folly, iniquity, hypocrisy, and error, as in Isaiah 32:6: Folly has respect to the false, iniquity signifies evil, hypocrisy, the evils spoken against goods, and...
iniquities
In the Word three terms are used to mean bad things that are done. These three are transgression, iniquity, and sin, and they are here...
fathers
Father in the Word means what is most interior, and in those things that are following the Lord's order, it means what is good. In...
walked
To walk in the Bible represents living, and usually means living according to the true things taught to us by the Lord -- to "walk...
uncircumcised
'The uncircumcised,' as in Ezekiel 31:18, signifies people lacking the good of charity.
punishment
Punishment' is the consummation of evil, because after punishment, reformation succeeds. This is why it says in Deuteronomy 25:3, 'that no more than forty stripes...
remember
'To remember,' as in Genesis 41:9, signifies conjunction. 'Remembering' denotes conjunction because the remembrance of anyone in the other life joins them together, because as...
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...
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...
Abraham
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...
abhorred
'To loathe' denotes aversion.
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...
laws
All laws, even civil and judicial laws, which are in the Word, correspond to the laws of good and truth, which are in heaven.
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...
mount
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...
Sinai
'Mount Sinai,' as in Exodus 19:1, signifies, in the highest sense, divine truth from divine good. 'Mount' means divine good, and 'Sinai,' divine truth, and...
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...
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