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...
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...
came to pass
The phrase “it came to pass,” often also translated as “it happened,” generally indicates the end of one spiritual state and the beginning of a...
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...
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...
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...
Land
Land' in the Word, denotes the church, for the things which signify the church also signify the things relating to the church, for these constitute...
Shinar
'The land of Shinar,' as in Genesis 10:10, signifies external worship, which has profane internal. 'The land of Shinar,' as in Genesis 10:10, signifies external...
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...
Us
Because people are governed by angels and spirits, in Genesis 1:26 it says 'let us make man into our image.' But because the Lord alone...
Make
'To make,' as in Hosea 8:11, refers to good. In the opposite sense it refers to evil. To make heaven, and earth, and the sea,...
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...
slime
'Tar and pitch,' as in Exodus 2:3, signifies good mixed with evils and falsities, because 'tar' signifies good mixed with evils, and 'pitch' signifies good...
Mortar
Untempered mortar,' as in Ezekiel 13:11, signifies the confirmation of falsity by fallacies, which makes falsity appear true. 'Stones of hail' are falsities.
build
There are really two meanings for "build" in the Bible. When something is being built for the first time, or built in the most typical...
City
In the ancient world cities were very nearly nations unto themselves – they existed within walls, with their own laws and customs, generally centered on...
Tower
'A tower,' as in Genesis 11:4, signifies the worship of self, which consists of a person exalting himself above others, even to the point of...
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...
scattered
The meaning of "scatter" in the Bible is relatively literal, but it is used in regard to spiritual things, not natural ones. So to "scatter"...
upon
Over' or 'upon' in the Word, signifies being within, because the highest part in successive order becomes inmost in simultaneous order. This is why the...
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...
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...
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,"...
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...
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....
men
The relationship between men and women is deep and nuanced, and one entire book of the Writings – Conjugial Love or Love in Marriage –...
people
The Bible generally uses two different terms for large groups: “people” and “nation.” When it uses the term “nation,” it is talking about a group...
begin
In the Word, "beginning" in doesn't just mean the beginning of something in time. In the inner sense, it means the initial phase of a...
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...
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...
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...
babel
Babylon was an ancient city built on the Euphrates river in what is now southern Iraq. It once was the capital of a great empire...
generations
To “generate” something is to create it, and that idea underpins the meaning of a “generation” of people – it is a group that was...
Shem
'Shem,' as in Genesis 10:21, signifies the ancient church in general.
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...
old
'Old waste places' signify the celestial aspects of faith.
begat
To beget or to be begotten is very similar in meaning to birth: It represents one spiritual state leading to the next spiritual state. "Beget,"...
Arphaxad
Arphaxad (Gen 10:24) signifies science.
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...
after
According to Swedenborg, time and space don’t exist in spiritual reality; they are purely natural things that exist only on the physical plane. This means...
Flood
A flood signifies truths in abundance. The flood, as in Genesis 7, not only signifies the temptations which the man of the church called Noah...
Five
Five also signifies all things of one part.
sons
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...
Daughters
"Behold I have two daughters,” etc. (Gen. 19:8), signifies the affections of good and truth, and the blessedness perceivable from the enjoyment thereof, by those...
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,...
Salah
'Salah' denotes the products of knowledge.
Four hundred
Four hundred signifies vastation, temptations, and the duration thereof.
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...
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...
Peleg
'Peleg,' as in Genesis 10:25, signifies the internal worship of the ancient church called Eber. Peleg,' as in Genesis 11:16, being mentioned as the son...
Reu
'Reu,' as in Genesis 11:18, signifies a more external worship than signified by 'Peleg,' his father.
Nine
'Nine' signifies conjunction.
Serug
In Genesis 11:20, 'Serug' signifies external worship.
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,...
Nahor
'Nahor,' as in Genesis 22:20, signifies the Lord’s church among the Gentiles.
Twenty
'Twenty,' when referring to a quantity, signifies everything or fullness, because it is ten twice. 'Twenty,' as in Genesis 18:31, like all numbers occurring in...
abram
Abram and Nahor taking to themselves wives, Sarah and Milcah (Gen 11:29), signifies marriages of evil with falsity in idolatrous worship. Abram, Nahor, and Haran,...
Haran
'Haran,' as mentioned in Genesis 11:28, signifies inward idolatrous worship. 'Haran,' as mentioned in Genesis 12:5, signifies an obscure state. 'Haran,' as mentioned in Genesis...
lot
On the most internal level, the stories of Abraham tell us about the Lord's development in his own childhood, with Abraham representing the Lord's spiritual...
died
'The soul going forth' and 'dying,' as in Genesis 35:18, signifies the extreme of temptation, which is when the old self dies and the new...
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...
father
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...
Nativity
'Nativity,' as in Genesis 10:32, signifies reformation. Out of thy nativity and out of thy father's house,' as in Genesis 12:1, signifies corporeal and worldly...
Ur of the Chaldees
'Ur of the Chaldeans,' as in Genesis 11:28, signifies external worship in falsities.
Ur
Er, mentioned in Gen. 38:3, signifies the quality of falsity derived from the evil of self-love, which prevailed in the Jewish church, or the false...
chaldees
Chaldea was a land lying along the Euphrates river near its mouth, south of Babylon, part of what is now southern Iraq. It was a...
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...
wife
It is because of a celestial and angelic proprium, or selfhood, that the church is called 'a woman,' 'a wife,' 'a bride,' 'a virgin,' and...
daughter
Marriages among people – both in the Bible and in life – represent spiritual marriage. Women represent the desire to be good and to do...
Barren
"Sarai was barren, she had no child" (Gen 11:30), signifies that evil and falsity were not productive.
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...
daughter-in-law
'Sons' wives,' as in Genesis 6:18, signify truths joined to goods.
Land of Canaan
The land of Canaan' in the Word, means love, and consequently, the will of the celestial self.
of Canaan
'Sons of Canaan,' as in Genesis 10, are people who kept external worship separate from internal.
Canaan
Canaan signifies a worship in things external without internals, which arose out of the internal church corrupted, called Ham. Thus it is that Ham is...
days
"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...
