turned
Swedenborg says that the Lord is the sun of heaven, and like the natural sun of our world shines on everyone, good or evil. What...
way
In John 14:6, 'the way is doctrine,' 'the truth' is every thing pertaining to doctrine, and 'the life' is the essential good which is the...
Og
'Og, king of Bashan' signifies being in evils of every kind.
king of Bashan
'Og, king of Bashan' signifies being in evils of every kind.
us
Angels do give us guidance, but they are mere helpers; the Lord alone governs us, through angels and spirits. Since angels have their assisting role,...
battle
War in the Word represents the combat of temptation when what is good is assaulted by what is evil or false. The evil that attacks...
the Lord
The Bible refers to the Lord in many different ways, which from the text seem indistinguishable and interchangeable. Understood in the internal sense, though, there...
lord
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...
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...
fear
Fear has various significations according to the thing which causes it. Fear signifies love. Fear, as in Gen 28:17, signifies a holy change.
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...
hand
In Genesis 27:22, 'voice' relates to truth, and 'hand,' to good.
dwelt
'Inhabit' refers to good.
heshbon
In Isaiah 16:9, 'Jazer,' 'the vine of Sibmah,' and 'Heshbon and Elealeth,' signify the people of the external church, who explain the Word to favor...
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...
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...
smote
'To smite' signifies condemnation. 'To smite,' as in Genesis 14:15, signifies vindication. 'To smite,' as in Genesis 32:8, signifies destruction. 'To smite the earth with...
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...
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...
city
Cities of the mountain and cities of the plain (Jer. 33:13) signify doctrines of charity and faith.
threescore
'Sixty' means the full time and state of the implantation of truth.
high
'Height' signifies what is inward, and also heaven.
gates
In Lamentations 2:8-9, 'wall,' 'rampart,' 'gates,' and 'bars' signify doctrines.
and bars
In Lamentations 2:8-9, 'wall,' 'rampart,' 'gates,' and 'bars' signify doctrines.
bars
Bars, as in Lamentations 2:9, signify doctrinals
towns
In the ancient world cities were very nearly nations unto themselves – they existed within walls, with their own laws and customs, generally centered on...
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...
spoil
'To spoil,' as in Genesis 34:27, signifies destruction. 'Spoil,' as in Deuteronomy 13:16, signifies the falsification of truth.
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...
kings
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...
side
'Side' signifies good or spiritual love.
jordan
The land of Jordan,' as in Psalm 42:6, signifies what is lowly, consequently, what is distant from the celestial, as the external parts of a...
river
A 'stream' signifies aspects of intelligence.
mount
'Mount Olivet' signifies the celestial church, or celestial good, which comes from love towards the Lord, and divine love.
Hermon
'The dew of Hermon' signifies divine truth.
call
To call someone or summon someone in the Bible represents a desire for conjunction between higher and lower states of life. For instance, imagine someone...
Gilead
Gilead, as in Genesis 31:21, 23, was a boundary of the land of Canaan, in a wide sense. In the spiritual sense, it means "the...
giants
Giants, as in Genesis 6:4, signify those who, through a persuasion of their own height and pre-eminence view whatever is holy and true as nothing.
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,...
rabbath
Rabbath
children
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....
Ammon
Ammonite and Moabite ('Deuteronomy 23:3'), signify the profanation of the celestial and spiritual things of faith.
nine
'Nine' signifies conjunction.
length
'Length' symbolizes goodness, here, the goodness of the church, for the same reason that 'breadth' symbolizes truth. This is because 'length means the sweep of...
four
The number "four" in the Bible represents things being linked together or joined. This is partly because four is two times two, and two represents...
man
The relationship between men and women is deep and nuanced, and one entire book of the Writings – Conjugial Love or Love in Marriage –...
half
Half and double in reference to numbers in the world have a similar signification as the numbers themselves.
Mount Gilead
Gilead, as in Genesis 31:21, 23, was a boundary of the land of Canaan, in a wide sense. In the spiritual sense, it means "the...
manasseh
'Manasseh' signifies the will of the spiritual church.
called
To call someone or summon someone in the Bible represents a desire for conjunction between higher and lower states of life. For instance, imagine someone...
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...
own
In many cases, the spiritual meaning of "own," both as a verb and as an adjective, is relatively literal. When people are described as the...
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...
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...
machir
Machir' signifies the same as 'Manasseh' because Machir was the son of Manasseh.
border
Often translated as “edge,” “border,” “boundary,” “outskirts,” “far places” and other ways, this term is used in the Bible for the farthest reaches of an...
plain
'A plain' signifies good and truth in the natural self, because 'the people who dwell in plains,' or 'beneath mountains and hills' are in the...
sea
'The sea and the waves roaring' means heresy and controversies in the church and individual.
salt
'Salt' is the desire of conjunction of truth with good, which is why only salt will conjoin water, which corresponds to truth, and oil, which...
under
Generally speaking things that are seen as lower physically in the Bible represent things that are lower or more external spiritually. In some cases this...
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,...
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...
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...
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...
brethren
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...
israel
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...
wives
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...
cattle
Animals in the Bible generally refer to spiritual activity, the things we actually do on a spiritual level. "Cattle," as typically used in the Bible,...
know
In a general sense, men represent things of the intellect – facts, ideas, knowledge, everything from the deepest truths to the most pernicious falsities about...
much
Intellectual things – ideas, knowledge, facts, even insight and understanding – are more separate and free-standing than emotional things, and it’s easier to imagine numbering...
return
Everyone knows the phrase "the natural order of things." It means that everything is in its proper place, occupying the niche it is meant to...
joshua
Joshua is first mentioned in Exodus 17, where he is told to select men to fight for the children of Israel against the Amalekites in...
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...
seen
The symbolic meaning of "seeing" is "understanding," which is obvious enough that it has become part of common language (think about it; you might see...
shew
'Shew' signifies instruction to the life.
servant
“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...
might
'Might' denotes the forces or power of truth.
mighty
'Might' denotes the forces or power of truth.
heaven
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...
earth
"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...
works
'Works,' as in Genesis 46:33, denote goods, because they are from the will, and anything from the will is either good or evil, but anything...
go
In the physical world, the places we inhabit and the distances between them are physical realities, and we have to get our physical bodies through...
see
The symbolic meaning of "seeing" is "understanding," which is obvious enough that it has become part of common language (think about it; you might see...
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...
mountain
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...
lebanon
'Lebanon' signifies spiritual good. 'Lebanon' signifies the church regarding the perception of truth from the rational self.
hear
'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...
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...
lift
The idea of "lifting" is used in a number of different ways in the Bible. In general, it means connecting with a higher spiritual state...
northward
'North' signifies people who are in obscurity regarding truth. North,' in Isaiah 14:31, signifies hell. The North,' as in Jeremiah 3:12, signifies people who are...
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