third
'Three' denotes fullness, and 'a third,' not full.
month
'A month' has respect to the state of truth in a person. 'A month' signifies a full state. Month,' as in Genesis 29, signifies the...
the Word
In general, we tend to be very aware of how knowing what's true leads to doing what is good. That starts as children, with parents...
word
'Word,' as in Psalms 119:6-17, stands for doctrine in general. 'The Word,' as in Psalms 147:18, signifies divine good united with divine truth. 'Word,' as...
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...
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....
son of man
The Lord, in some places, calls Himself 'the son of God,' at other times, 'the son of man (ἄνθρωπος).' This is always according to the...
pharaoh
'Pharaoh' signifies scientific ideas, or the natural principle in general. 'Pharaoh' signifies false ideas infesting the truth of the church. Pharaoh,' in Genesis 40, represents...
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...
lebanon
'Lebanon' signifies spiritual good. 'Lebanon' signifies the church regarding the perception of truth from the rational self.
branches
A branch (Matt. 24:32) signifies affection, for affection springs and flourishes from good as a branch Springs from its trunk. A branch (Mal. 4:1) denotes...
high
'Height' signifies what is inward, and also heaven.
stature
'Height' signifies the good and truth of the church in every degree.
rivers
'Waters,' 'rivers,' and 'depths,' as in Psalm 78:15-16, signify truths from the Lord.
Round about
'Round about' denotes the things most distant from the middle, or from good and truth.
sent
'To send' signifies revealing.
Trees of the field
'The trees of the field,' as in Ezekiel 31:15, signify the knowledges of truth in the church.
trees
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
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...
height
'Height' signifies the good and truth of the church in every degree.
long
'Long' and thence to prolong, refer to good.
multitude
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...
fowls
Fowl signify spiritual truth; a bird, natural truth; and a winged thing, sensual truth. Fowl signify intellectual things. Fowl signify thoughts, and all that creeps...
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...
under
In the Bible, things that are lower down, or under, physically, generally represent things that are lower or more external spiritually. In some cases, the...
shadow
Since the sun’s light represents the Lord’s Divine Truth, “shade” represents a spiritual state in which that light is blocked. The Writings often use the...
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...
nations
'Nations' signify people who are in the good of love and charity from the Lord. Two nations in the womb,' as in Genesis 25:23, signify...
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...
root
'A root,' as in Malachi 4:1, signifies charity. The dried up root,' as in Hosea 9:16, 17, signifies charity which could not bear fruit.
cedars
'Libanus' signifies the spiritual church. The glory of Libanus,' as in Isaiah 9:13, signifies the celestial spiritual things of the Lord's kingdom and church.
garden
A garden and paradise signify intellect and wisdom.
Garden of God
The Garden of God, as in Ezekiel 28:13, signifies the rational principle of the spiritual church.
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...
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...
beauty
Beauty of his ornament (Ezek. 7:20) signifies the church and its doctrine.
eden
According to the Writings, “Eden” by itself means love, in most cases the love that comes from the Lord and our love for the Lord,...
saith
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...
hand
In Genesis 27:22, 'voice' relates to truth, and 'hand,' to good.
mighty
'Might' denotes the forces or power of truth.
heathen
'The time of the heathen,' as mentioned in Ezekiel 30:3, signifies the heathen, or wickedness.
Terrible of the nations
In Ezekiel 28:7, 'strangers' signify falsities which destroy truths, and 'the terrible of the nations,' evils which destroy good.
mountains
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...
fallen
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...
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...
land
Is there any difference in meaning between “earth” and “ground”? At first it doesn’t seem so; both refer to the soil making up the land...
people
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...
earth
'Lands' of different nations are used in the Word to signify the different kinds of love prevalent in the inhabitants.
down
"Down" is used many different ways in natural language, and its spiritual meaning in the Bible is highly dependent on context. Phrases like "bowing down,"...
To
‘To grow’ signifies to be perfected.
water
'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...
stand
'To stand,' and 'come forth' as in Daniel 7:10, refers to truth. In Genesis 24:13, it signifies a state of conjunction of divine truth with...
drink
Food in the Bible represents the desire for good, and water and other drinks represent the understanding and true ideas we need to recognize what...
midst
The "midst" of something in the Bible represents the thing that is most central and most important to the spiritual state being described, the motivation...
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....
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...
go down
To go up and to go down: in the Word, mention is made of going up and going down when speaking of going from one...
pit
Broken cisterns (Jer. 2:13) signify false doctrines.
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...
mourn
In a general sense, mourning in the Bible represents a state of grief over the lack of desires for good and true ideas about life....
mourning
In a general sense, mourning in the Bible represents a state of grief over the lack of desires for good and true ideas about life....
covered
The "high mountains being covered " (Gen. 7:19) signifies that all the good things of charity were extinguished.
shake
'To tremble,' as in Jeremiah 10:10, relates to the church when falsities are believed and called truths.
hell
'Hell,' as mentioned in Jonah 2:3, signifies the earth below.
descend
"Down" is used many different ways in natural language, and its spiritual meaning in the Bible is highly dependent on context. Phrases like "bowing down,"...
comforted
When the Bible talks about someone being comforted or consoled, it generally means that they are being offered ideas that will help bring them to...
slain
'A multitude of slain' relates to people who perish from falsities, and 'a great number of carcasses,' of people who perish from evils, as in...
sword
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...
arm
Arms and feet (Daniel 10:6) signify the exterior things of the Word, which are its literal sense.
uncircumcised
'The uncircumcised,' as in Ezekiel 31:18, signifies people lacking the good of charity.