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...
To
‘To grieve at heart’ is in reference to love, and ‘to repent,’ to wisdom, as in Genesis 6:6.
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...
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...
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...
heart
The heart means love. A good heart means love to the Lord and to the neighbor while a hard or stony heart means the love...
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...
might
'Might' denotes the forces or power of truth.
show
'Shew' signifies instruction to the life.
signs
'A token,' as in Genesis 9:12, 13, 17, signifies causing it to be.
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...
son
Marriages in the Bible represent the union we all can have between the desire for good and the understanding of truth (or an understanding of...
son's
'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...
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...
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...
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...
came
As with common verbs in general, the meaning of “come” in the Bible is highly dependent on context – its meaning is determined largely by...
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...
hebrews
The term 'Hebrew' is used in the Word to signify anything relating to service, whatever its nature may be. Hence Abraham, in one passage only...
long
'Long' and thence to prolong, refer to good.
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...
serve
Generally speaking, those who are at lower levels of an organization serve those at higher levels. Bosses boss and their employees serve; coaches devise strategy...
morrow
'Tomorrow' signifies eternity.
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...
locusts
'Locusts' signify falsities in the extremes, which consume the truths and goods of the church in a person. 'The locusts' which John the Baptist ate...
border
A 'hem,' 'skirt,' or 'border' signifies the extremes, or the natural principle.
cover
The "high mountains being covered " (Gen. 7:19) signifies that all the good things of charity were extinguished.
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...
see
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...
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...
hail
Hail signifies false ideas that destroy good and truth. Hail signifies the false ideas that come from evil in our exterior natural selves. 'Hail of...
tree
'Trees,' in general, signify the perceptions when discussing the celestial self, but when related to the spiritual church, they signify knowledges. A person in the...
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...
fill
There are two ways something can be filled: It can be filled with something bad against the wishes of its owner, or it can be...
houses
A "house" is essentially a container - for a person, for a family, for several families or even for a large group with shared interests...
egyptians
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...
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...
seen
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...
day
"Day" describes a state in which we are turned toward the Lord, and are receiving light (which is truth) and heat (which is a desire...
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...
pharaoh's
'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...
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,...
young
'The son of a cow' signifies the celestial natural level and natural exterior good.
old
Swedenborg tells us that space and time in the physical world correspond to states of life in the spiritual world. So when the Bible talks...
daughters
Marriages among people – both in the Bible and in life – represent spiritual marriage. Women represent the desire to be good and to do...
flocks
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...
herds
'A herd,' as mentioned in Genesis 32:7, denotes exterior or natural good, and also not good things.
look
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...
evil
'Wickedness' signifies evil, and 'iniquity' signifies falsities.
stretch out
The hand in the Bible represents power, which is easy to understand, so to reach out or stretch out the hand means to exercise power,...
stretch
The hand in the Bible represents power, which is easy to understand, so to reach out or stretch out the hand means to exercise power,...
hand
In Genesis 27:22, 'voice' relates to truth, and 'hand,' to good.
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...
herb
Every herb in the Word signifies some species of scientifics. 'Herb bearing seed,' as mentioned in Genesis 1:29, signifies every truth which regards use. 'Green...
stretched
The hand in the Bible represents power, which is easy to understand, so to reach out or stretch out the hand means to exercise power,...
Wind
Because a nearer and stronger divine influx through the heavens disperses truths among the wicked, 'wind' signifies this dispersion of truth and the resulting conjunction...
night
The sun in the Bible represents the Lord, with its heat representing His love and its light representing His wisdom. “Daytime,” then, represents a state...
morning
Morning comes with the rising of the sun, and the sun – which gives life to the earth with its warmth and light – represents...
borders
A border as in Isaiah 54:12 signifies the scientific and sensual principle. "And thou shalt make unto it a border of an hand-breath round about."...
after
Behind, or after, (Gen. 16:13), signifies within or above, or an interior or superior principle.
covered
The "high mountains being covered " (Gen. 7:19) signifies that all the good things of charity were extinguished.
ate
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...
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,...
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...
remained
In Leviticus 6:16, 'Aaron and his sons eating the remainder' signifies a person’s reciprocation and making something one's own. This represents conjunction by means of...
herbs
Every herb in the Word signifies some species of scientifics. 'Herb bearing seed,' as mentioned in Genesis 1:29, signifies every truth which regards use. 'Green...
called
'To proclaim' signifies exploration from influx of the Lord.
haste
'To hasten' or 'hastiness' in the internal sense, does not denote what is quick, but what is certain, and also what is full, thus every...
sin
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...
entreat
To 'intreat' denotes humiliation.
entreated
To 'intreat' denotes humiliation.
mighty
'Might' denotes the forces or power of truth.
locust
Grasshoppers signify the same as locusts: the false which vastates the extremes of the natural part of the mind.
Red sea
'The Red sea' signifies hell and damnation, or temptation.
sea
'The sea and the waves roaring' means heresy and controversies in the church and individual.
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...
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
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...
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...
darkness
"Darkness" is a state without light. "Light" is truth from the Lord, so "darkness" represents a state where truth is lacking. Here's a cogent passage...
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...
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...
saw
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...
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...
light
In the Word, “light” in the highest sense represents Divine Truth: knowledge, ideas, understanding that come to us from the Lord. In lesser degrees...
dwellings
Habitation, as mentioned in Genesis 27:39, signifies life. The habitation of holiness signifies the celestial kingdom. The habitation of honorableness signifies the spiritual kingdom, as...
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...
Offerings
'Offerings' signify worship.
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,...
hoof
'A hoof' signifies truth in the ultimate degree, or sensory truth. 'The hooves of horses' signify the lowest intellectual principles. 'The hooves of the horses,'...
come
As with common verbs in general, the meaning of “come” in the Bible is highly dependent on context – its meaning is determined largely by...
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...
die
Dead (Gen. 23:8) signifies night, in respect to the goodnesses and truths of faith.
spoken
Like "say," the word "speak" refers to thoughts and feelings moving from our more internal spiritual levels to our more external ones – and ultimately...
well
A pit,' or 'well which has no water,' as in Jeremiah 2:13, signifies doctrines which have no truths.
