serpent
Serpents in the Bible represent reasoning that is based on what we know through our senses. This is the lowest and most outward mode of...
field
A "field" in the Bible usually represents the Lord's church, and more specifically the desire for good within the church. It's where good things start,...
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...
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...
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...
Woman
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...
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...
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...
garden
A garden and paradise signify intellect and wisdom.
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...
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...
touch
Imagine having your mother touch your cheek. Then imagine having your spouse or someone you love romantically touch your cheek. Then imagine having a baby...
die
Dead (Gen. 23:8) signifies night, in respect to the goodnesses and truths of faith.
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...
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...
eyes
It’s common to say “I see” when we understand something. And indeed, “seeing” in the Bible represents grasping and understanding spiritual things. So it makes...
opened
To open,' as in Revelation 9, signifies communication and conjunction.
gods
The Lord is called "Jehovah" in the Bible when the text is referring to his essence, which is love itself. He is called "God" when...
knowing
Like so many common verbs, the meaning of "know" in the Bible is varied and dependent on context. And in some cases – when it...
good
It seems rather circular to say that “good” in the Bible represents good, but in a general sense it’s true! The case is this: The...
evil
'Wickedness' signifies evil, and 'iniquity' signifies falsities.
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...
food
To give food, as in Genesis 41:48, signifies to store up.
wise
At its heart, wisdom is love's imperative desire to take form. That's a tricky statement, but think of it this way: If you love someone,...
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...
husband
In general, men are driven by intellect and women by affections, and because of this men in the Bible generally represent knowledge and truth and...
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...
knew
In a general sense, men represent things of the intellect – facts, ideas, knowledge, everything from the deepest truths to the most pernicious falsities about...
fig
In the Bible, a fig tree represents the "natural", outward life of a person in the world, and the thoughts and feelings directly connected it....
leaves
'Leaves' symbolize rational truths because a tree symbolizes a person, and every part of the tree symbolizes accordant elements in the person.
aprons
In a sense, the whole point of trying to accept the Lord and align ourselves with His love and His leading is so that we...
heard
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...
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,...
Walking
To walk in the Bible represents living, and usually means living according to the true things taught to us by the Lord -- to "walk...
cool of the day
Air, or spirit of the day, as in Genesis 3:8, signifies the time when the church had as yet somewhat of perception remaining.
wife
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...
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...
afraid
The fearful signify people who have no faith.
eaten
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...
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,...
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...
beast
"Beasts" represent the affection for doing good things, a true desire to do them from the heart. In the negative sense, "beasts" stand for the...
dust
'Powder' or 'dust' refers to love of self and the world.
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...
life
'Lives' is used in the plural, because of the will and understanding, and because these two lives make one.
Put
'To put' has reference to order, arrangement, application, and influx.
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...
bruise
'To tread down' or 'bruise,' as in Genesis 3:15, signifies depression. It has the same significance in Isaiah 26:5-6, and 28:2-3.
head
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....
heel
'The heel' signifies natural things of the lowest order. 'The heel which the serpent should bruise,' as mentioned in Genesis 3:15, signifies the lowest natural...
multiply
'Spreading themselves on the earth,' as in Genesis 8:17, signifies the internal self operating on the external.
sorrow
'The woman condemned to 'bring forth sons in sorrow' denotes the anxieties and combats in the production of truths.
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....
Adam
Adam is one of the most crucial and most controversial figures in the Bible, dividing even the faithful into camps: those who believe he literally...
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...
bread
Just as natural food feeds the natural body, so spiritual food feeds the spiritual body. And since our spiritual body is the expression of what...
return
There are many instances in the Bible which describe people turning back, looking back or going back. In most cases it is a negative, sometimes...
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...
Eve
The name 'Eve' comes from the Hebrew word חַוָּה or 'Chava,' a form of the word for life, which is why she is called 'the...
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...
living
'Lives' is used in the plural, because of the will and understanding, and because these two lives make one.
coats
A coat, as in Matthew 10:10, signifies interior natural truth, or truth of the natural principle. The Lord's coat without seam, woven from above throughout...
skins
'Skin' corresponds to truth or to falsity in the extremes. See Arcana Coelestia 1835, 10036, and Apocalypse Explained 386. 'Skin,' as in Job 19:26, means...
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...
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...
Tree of life
'The tree of life,' as in Revelation 2:7, signifies the essential celestial, and in the highest sense, the Lord Himself, because everything celestial is from...
ever
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...
sent
In every instance, however, 'being sent' means coming forth, (or going forth), in the internal sense, as in John 17:8. In similar manner, it is...
garden of 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,...
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,...
Till the ground
'To till the ground,' as in Genesis 4:12, signifies cultivating division or heresy. 'A tiller of the ground' is someone without charity, but may be...
cherubim
A Cherub has as its first definition in the dictionary, “A winged heavenly creature.” Cherubim is the plural of cherub. In the Word, the words...
sword
The three words, sword, famine and pestilence, appear in a group in 26 different Bible verses. That's not an accident. Sword, famine and pestilence describe...
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...
way
'To set a way,' as in Genesis 30:36, signifies being separated.
keep
"Keeping" in the Bible generally has to do with controlling the actual actions of life, though in some cases it can mean holding something away...
Way of the tree of life
'The way of the tree of life,' as in Genesis 3:21, signifies admission to the Lord, which people have from the Word.
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