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....
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...
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...
zerah
'Zarah' in Hebrew, means 'to rise.' It's related the sun and the first appearance of its light. In Genesis 38:30, 'Zarah' or 'Zerah' signifies that...
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...
judah
City of Judah,' as in Isaiah 40:9, signifies the doctrine of love towards the Lord and love towards our neighbor in its whole extent.
anger
Anger is an emotion so common to people that it requires no definition. However a couple of points of interest can be raised. 1) The...
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...
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...
sent
'To send' signifies revealing.
jericho
Jericho' signifies instruction and also the good of life because no one can be instructed in the truths of doctrine but he who is in...
ai
Hai, or Ai, signifies light derived from worldly things.
side
'Side' signifies good or spiritual love.
bethel
When Jacob had his famous dream, of a staircase leading to heaven, he named the place "Bethel," which is Hebrew for "the house of God."...
spake
Like "say," the word "speak" refers to thoughts and feelings moving from our more internal spiritual levels to our more external ones – and ultimately...
go up
When we talk about "going up" in the modern world, we usually mean either that we're going north – which is toward the top of...
view
'To view' denotes thinking.
country
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...
returned
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...
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...
people
"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...
three
The Writings talk about many aspects of life using the philosophical terms "end," "cause" and "effect." The "end" is someone’s goal or purpose, the ultimate...
thousand
As children, most of us at some point frustrated our mothers into using the phrase “if I've told you once, I've told you a thousand...
men
The relationship between men and women is deep and nuanced, and one entire book of the Writings – Conjugial Love or Love in Marriage –...
smite
'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...
fled
Flight, as in Matthew 14:20, signifies removal from a state of the good of love and innocence. Flight, as in Mark 8:18, signifies the last...
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...
smote
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...
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,...
gate
"Gates" in ancient times had a significance that does not hold in the modern world. Cities then were enclosed by walls for protection; gates in...
melted
'To melt' denotes vanishing before the heat of lust.
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...
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...
earth
'Lands' of different nations are used in the Word to signify the different kinds of love prevalent in the inhabitants.
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...
ark
There are three arks mentioned in the Word, the ark of Noah, the ark of bulrushes for the baby Moses, and the ark of the...
Elders of Israel
The elders of Israel (Deut. 1:13, 15) represent celestial men.
elders
Elders are mentioned in the Bible mainly in two ways: First the elders of Israel: and second the 24 elders seated about the throne of...
Put
'To put' has reference to order, arrangement, application, and influx.
dust
'Powder' or 'dust' refers to love of self and the world.
heads
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....
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...
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,...
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...
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...
say
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...
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...
the inhabitants
'The inhabitants of Teman,' as in Jeremiah 49:20, signifies the evils and falsities opposed to the Lord’s celestial kingdom.
inhabitants
Inhabitants,' in Isaiah 26:9, signify the men of the church who are in good of doctrine, and thence in the good of life.
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...
hear
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...
Cut off
To be cut off, as in Genesis 41:36, signifies to perish.
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...
great
The word "great" is used in the Bible to represent a state with a strong degree of love and affection, of the desire for good;...
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,...
stolen
In a natural sense, the commandment 'Thou shalt not steal,' in Exodus 20:15, means, according to the letter, not stealing, robbing, or committing piracy in...
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...
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...
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...
sanctify
'To sanctify' denotes being led by the Lord. 'To sanctify' denotes being incapable of being violated.
morrow
'Tomorrow' signifies eternity.
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...
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...
morning
Morning comes with the rising of the sun, and the sun – which gives life to the earth with its warmth and light – represents...
tribes
In general, 'the twelve tribes' signify every aspect of the doctrine of truth and good, or of faith and love. Truth and good, or faith...
families
Families (as in Genesis 8:19) signify goodnesses and truths arranged in man by the Lord, according to order. See Secrets of Heaven 917. In Nahum...
family
Families (as in Genesis 8:19) signify goodnesses and truths arranged in man by the Lord, according to order. See Secrets of Heaven 917. In Nahum...
household
A "house" is essentially a container - for a person, for a family, for several families or even for a large group with shared interests...
fire
Fire, in the spiritual sense, can mean both love and hatred depending on the context, just as natural fire can be both comforting in keeping...
Folly
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...
rose up
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...
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...
early
Since the sun represents the Lord, the early morning and sunrise represent a state of enlightenment, with a new and clear understanding coming after a...
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...
tell
'To tell' signifies perceiving, because in the spiritual world, or in heaven, they do not need to tell what they think because they communicate every...
answered
To "answer" generally indicates a state of spiritual receptivity. Ultimately this means being receptive to the Lord, who is constantly trying to pour true ideas...
saw
To look,' as in Genesis 18:22, signifies thinking, because seeing denotes understanding. Look not back behind thee,' as in Genesis 19:17, means that Lot, who...
spoils
'To spoil,' as in Genesis 34:27, signifies destruction. 'Spoil,' as in Deuteronomy 13:16, signifies the falsification of truth.
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...
shekels
'A shekel' signifies the price or estimation of good and truth, and 'half a shekel' signifies the determination of the quantity thereof.
silver
'Silver,' in the internal sense of the Word, signifies truth, but also falsity. 'Silver' means the truth of faith, or the truth acquired from selfhood,...
gold
Gold means good, and just as gold was the most precious metal known to ancient mankind so it represents the good of the highest and...
fifty
God rested on the seventh day of creation. That represents a state of holiness and tranquility that was preserved in the form of the sabbath....
midst
'Middle' denotes what is primary, principal, or inmost.
tent
'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...
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...
messengers
'A messenger' signifies communication.
daughters
Marriages among people – both in the Bible and in life – represent spiritual marriage. Women represent the desire to be good and to do...
asses
Donkeys signify the things relating to the self-intelligence of the sensual man; and camels, the things of self-intelligence in the natural man (Isa 30:6, 7.)
sheep
A flock, as in Genesis 26, denotes interior or rational good. A flock signifies those who are in spiritual good. A flock signifies natural interior...
valley of
'The valley of Siddim' signifies the uncleanness of lust, and the falsities derived from them.
valley
Mountains in the Bible represent people's highest points, where we are closest to the Lord - our love of the Lord and the state of...
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...
stoned
The act of 'stoning' means condemnation and a curse, because of the destruction of truth in the church.
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...
heap
'A heap,' as mentioned in Genesis 31:40, signifies good, because in the past, before they built altars, the ancients made heaps and ate together upon...
place
'A room' or 'place' denotes state.
called
'To proclaim' signifies exploration from influx of the Lord.