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...
visited
There is a long history of using travel to round out an education, from the 19th-century “world tours” taken by Oxford and Cambridge graduates to...
sarah
'Sarah' denotes truth joined to good. Sarai was called 'Sarah' so she would represent the divine intellectual principle by adding the 'H' from the name...
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...
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...
bore
In a general sense, being "born" in the Bible represents one spiritual state producing another, usually some form of love or affection producing or "giving...
Abraham
Abraham (or Abram, as he is named in the beginning of his story) is one of the major characters in the story of the sacred...
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....
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...
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...
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...
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...
born
In a general sense, being "born" in the Bible represents one spiritual state producing another, usually some form of love or affection producing or "giving...
isaac
'Isaac' represents spiritual love. 'Isaac,' in Genesis 17:19, signifies the rational divine. 'Isaac' signifies the Lord's divine rational in reference to divine good. Isaac' signifies...
circumcised
The Writings teach that all parts of the human body correspond to spiritual things. That includes the sex organs of both men and women, which...
eight
According to Swedenborg, the number eight represents something that is complete within itself, in every respect. Two reasons are offered for this. First, eight is...
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...
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,...
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...
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...
nurse
To 'suck,' as in Isaiah 66:11, signifies influx from the Lord. To' suck the abundance of the sea' signifies imbibing truths of doctrine from the...
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....
weaned
'To wean,' as in Genesis 21:8, signifies separation, as infants are from their mother’s breasts.
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;...
feast
There are two kinds of feasts mentioned in the Bible. Some were held to commemorate specific, one-time events, such as the feast Abraham held to...
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...
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...
hagar
Hagar, as mentioned in Genesis 16, signifies the affection of sciences of the outward self and also the life of the outer or natural self.
heir
'An heir,' as mentioned in Jeremiah 49:1, signifies the good that comes from truth. 'To become an heir, or to inherit,' signifies eternal life in...
sight
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...
lad
"Youths" or "Young men" generally represent intelligence or the understanding of truth. This is fitting, since adolescent boys tend to be more advanced intellectually than...
hearken
'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...
voice
'Voice' signifies what is announced from the Word. 'Voice' often refers and is applied to things that cannot have a voice, as in Exodus 4,...
seed
'A seed' signifies love, and everyone who has love, as in Genesis 12:7. 8:15, 16. 'A seed' signifies faith grounded in charity. 'A seed' signifies...
nation
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...
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...
morning
Morning comes with the rising of the sun, and the sun – which gives life to the earth with its warmth and light – represents...
bread
The word “bread” is used two ways in the Bible. In some cases it means actual bread; in others it stands for food in general....
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...
sent
'Being sent' everywhere signifies, in an internal sense, going forth, as in John 17:8. In similar manner, it is said of the holy of the...
wilderness
'The wilderness of Sin,' as in Exodus 16, signifies the good from truth in a state of temptation.
spent
'Spent,' as in Genesis 21:15, signifies being desolated.
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...
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...
sat
If you think about sitting, it seems fair to say that where you're sitting is more important than that you're sitting. Sitting in a movie...
way
These days we tend to think of "roads" as smooth swaths of pavement, and judge them by how fast we can drive cars on them....
bow
A bow signifies falsity of doctrine destroying truth, and spear, the falsity of evil destroying good. (Jer. 6:23.)
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...
wept
'Weeping with a loud voice' signifies the ultimate of grief.
heard
'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...
angel
'A messenger' signifies communication.
heaven
"Air" in the Bible represents thought, but in a very general way – more like our capacity to perceive ideas and the way we tend...
Fear not
Fear not, as in Revelation 1:17; Daniel 10:5, 12; Matthew 17:5, 7; 28:10, etc., signifies resuscitation to life, and at the same time adoration from...
fear
The fearful signify people who have no faith.
arise
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...
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...
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...
opened
To open,' as in Revelation 9, signifies communication and conjunction.
eyes
'Pairs of hands, eyes, etc.' relate to the will and understanding, or to good and truth. The right side to the will or good, and...
well
In Genesis 21, 'wells' signify doctrines, both those disputed and not disputed. Without this significance digging wells and disputing about them would have been too...
filled
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...
dwelt
Inhabitants,' in Isaiah 26:9, signify the men of the church who are in good of doctrine, and thence in the good of life.
archer
'A shooter of the bow' or 'archer' signifies a member of the spiritual church, which can be understood from 'the shooter of a dart' or...
Paran
'Paran' or 'Elparan' signifies a state of illumination from the Lord’s divine human.
mother
In general, mothers in the Bible represent the Lord's church on earth, or the church among those who know and follow the Lord. In some...
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...
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...
egypt
In the Bible, Egypt means knowledge and the love of knowledge. In a good sense that means knowledge of truth from the Lord through the...
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...
Abimelech
Abimelech, his companion Ahusath, and Phicol, the chief captain of his army (Genesis 26:26), represent the doctrinals of faith as grounded in the literal sense...
chief
In the Bible, “captains,” “commanders” and “chiefs”, and the armies they lead, represent large collections of spiritual desires and large collections of spiritual ideas. The...
captain
In the Bible, “captains,” “commanders” and “chiefs”, and the armies they lead, represent large collections of spiritual desires and large collections of spiritual ideas. The...
host
A host and an army come from the same Hebrew word and mean the same thing in Bible; when the Children of Israel were numbered...
spoke
Like "say," the word "speak" refers to thoughts and feelings moving from our more internal spiritual levels to our more external ones – and ultimately...
swear
'To sware' is a binding.
kindness
In regular language, "mercy" means being caring and compassionate toward those who are in poor states. That's a position we are all in relative to...
sojourned
There is a long history of using travel to round out an education, from the 19th-century “world tours” taken by Oxford and Cambridge graduates to...
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...
know
Like so many common verbs, the meaning of "know" in the Bible is varied and dependent on context. And in some cases – when it...
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...
sheep
It’s pretty easy for most people to read the Bible and get a sense for what “sheep” means without any help. They are simple, peaceful,...
both
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...
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,...
flock
It’s pretty easy for most people to read the Bible and get a sense for what “sheep” means without any help. They are simple, peaceful,...
digged
In general, digging in the Bible means applying your own mind, your own faculties to find or create spiritual things. This is reflected in common...
place
'A room' or 'place' denotes state.
Beer
Beer, or Beersheba, mentioned in Gen. 21:33, signifies the doctrine of faith, also divine doctrine. (Gen. 28:10.) Beer, or Beersheba, (Gen. 21:31) signifies the state...
Beer-sheba
Beer, or Beersheba, mentioned in Gen. 21:33, signifies the doctrine of faith, also divine doctrine. (Gen. 28:10.) Beer, or Beersheba, (Gen. 21:31) signifies the state...
swore
The Lord swearing by himself signifies that divine truth testifies, for He is divine truth itself, and this testifies from itself and means itself. It...
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...
philistines
The Philistines play a large role in the Bible as one of the longest-standing and most bitter rivals of the people of Israel, clashing with...
planted
'To plant' denotes regeneration.
name of the lord
Names in the Bible are not simply names; they represent the qualities of the people who bear them. So the various names of the Lord...
everlasting
In many cases, the use of “eternity” in the Bible is pretty literal, simple meaning forever. This is especially true when the text is referring...
many
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...
