the Word
In general, we tend to be very aware of how knowing what's true leads to doing what is good. That starts as children, with parents...
word
'Word,' as in Psalms 119:6-17, stands for doctrine in general. 'The Word,' as in Psalms 147:18, signifies divine good united with divine truth. 'Word,' as...
Yahweh
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...
jeremiah
Jeremiah, in the Book of Jeremiah 1:1 and what follows, represents the Lord. (Arcana Coelestia 2838 [2]). In Jeremiah 13:7, he signifies the state of...
court
The court of the tabernacle (Exodus 27:9), etc., signifies the external of heaven, or the first, which is also called the ultimate heaven.
says
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...
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...
call
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...
answer
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...
show
'Shew' signifies instruction to the life.
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;...
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...
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...
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...
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...
city
Cities of the mountain and cities of the plain (Jeremiah 33:13) signify doctrines of charity and faith.
kings
The human mind is composed of two parts, a will and an understanding, a seat of loves and affections, and a seat of wisdom and...
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.
mounds
'Mound' signifies truths not appearing because they are falsified.
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...
come
Coming (Gen. 41:14) denotes communication by influx.
chaldeans
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...
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...
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...
wrath
Fury is a receding from good, and anger is a receding from truth.
wickedness
'Wickedness' signifies evil, and 'iniquity' signifies falsities.
hidden
'To hide themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains,' as mentioned in Revelation 6:15, signifies being in evils and in falsities...
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...
health
'Healing' signifies reformation by truth derived by good. 'Healing in his wings,' as mentioned in Malachi 3:20, signifies reformation by divine truth from good.
cure
'Healing' signifies reformation by truth derived by good. 'Healing in his wings,' as mentioned in Malachi 3:20, signifies reformation by divine truth from good.
peace
In ordinary life, we tend to think of "peace" as essentially "a lack of conflict." As a nation, if we're not at war, it's a...
truth
There's a great deal of talk in Swedenborg about "truth" as a concept – it's how we learn the Lord's will, what we must seek...
captivity
Captivity and spoil (Daniel 11:33) signifies the deprivation of every truth and good.
return
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...
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...
the first
'Resurrection' signifies salvation and eternal life. 'The first,' mentioned in Revelation 20:5, 6, does not mean a first resurrection, but the essence and primary part...
first
Why would it be insulting for a man to refer to his married partner as his “first wife”? Because it implies there will be a...
iniquity
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...
iniquities
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...
nations
'A nation,' as in Genesis 21:18, signifies the spiritual church which should receive the good of faith. Nation from afar,' as in Jeremiah 5:17, signifies...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
place
'A room' or 'place' denotes state.
animal
"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...
cities
In the ancient world cities were very nearly nations unto themselves – they existed within walls, with their own laws and customs, generally centered on...
streets
The phrase 'in the streets and synagogues' in Matthew 6:2, 5, and Luke 8:26-27, refers to a representative rite amongst the Jews to teach in...
jerusalem
Jerusalem, on Mount Zion, signifies the doctrine of love to the Lord, and how it governs your life. Jerusalem first comes to our attention in...
voice
In Genesis 27:22, 'voice' relates to truth, and 'hand,' to good.
Voice of the bridegroom
'The voice of the bridegroom and of the bride,' as in Revelation 18:23 and elsewhere, signifies spiritual and celestial joy.
bridegroom
On a human level, a bride represents the affection for what is true, and the bridegroom represents the affection for what is good. Most references...
bride
'A bride' means the church in respect to Divine truth from the Lord.
armies
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...
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...
forever
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...
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...
house
A "house" is essentially a container - for a person, for a family, for several families or even for a large group with shared interests...
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...
shepherds
The Writings tell us that shepherds represent those who lead and teach others, using knowledge and true ideas to help people reach the goodness of...
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...
hill
The Writings tell us that the Lord's love is the sun of heaven, and it is natural for us to look above ourselves to the...
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...
south
In the Word, 'the south' or 'midday' means a state of light, which is a state of intelligence produced by truths, thus also an interior...
Benjamin
Also, Benjamin signifies the Word in its ultimate sense (Deut. 33:12)
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...
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...
hands
Scientists believe that one of the most crucial developments in the evolution of humans was bipedalism – walking on two legs. That left our hands...
Numbers
All numbers in the Word signify things or states, according to the relationship they have to other numbers. When two multiples of a number, which...
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...
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...
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...
righteousness
'Justice' signifies both good and truth.
To
‘To grow’ signifies to be perfected.
Grow
‘To grow’ signifies to be perfected.
david
David is one of the most significant figures in the Bible. He was a musician, one of history’s greatest poets, the boy warrior who killed...
justice
He is said to be 'just' in a spiritual sense, who lives according to divine laws. They on the right hand being called 'just,' as...
saved
To be saved or rescued means getting true ideas that we can hold to even in the face of a storm of false thinking. Sometimes...
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...
want
'Want of spiritual nourishment,' denotes a lack of knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom.
man
"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...
sit
'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...
throne
'The Lord's throne' signifies, in general, the whole heaven, and specifically, the spiritual heaven, and by extension, divine truth proceeding, and so, everything of heaven...
priests
Priests' represent the Lord regarding His divine good. When they do not acknowledge the Lord, they lose their signification of the Lord.
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...
Offerings
'Offerings' signify worship.
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...
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...
servant
“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...
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....
reign
To reign,' as in Revelation 5, signifies being in truths and goods, and so in power, from the Lord, to resist evils and falsities which...
ministers
People in the Word who operate the details of charity are called 'ministers.'
army
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...
sky
"Heaven" and "heavens" are used many times in the Bible, with a couple of variations of meaning. Sometimes it is relatively literal, including times when...
sand
'Sand,' as in Matthew 7:27, signifies faith separate from charity.
sea
Water generally represents what Swedenborg calls “natural truth,” or true concepts about day-to-day matters and physical things. Since all water ultimately flows into the seas,...
measured
'To measure' signifies knowing and exploring the quality of something.
multiply
'Spreading themselves on the earth,' as in Genesis 8:17, signifies the internal self operating on the external.
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...
minister
'To minister,' as in Genesis 40:2, relates to scientific ideas.
people
The Bible generally uses two different terms for large groups: “people” and “nations.” When it uses “nation,” it is talking about a group with the...
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...
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...
despise
We tend to think of "despising" something or someone as just a strong way of expressing dislike, but there is a further shade of meaning...
nation
The Bible generally uses two different terms for large groups: “people” and “nations.” When it uses “nation,” it is talking about a group with the...
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...
Heaven and earth
'Heaven and earth' signify, in general, the internal and external church. In particular, they signify the internal and external, or the spiritual and the natural...
Jacob
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...
Abraham
Abraham (or Abram, as he is named in the beginning of his story) was the ancestor of all the Children of Israel, through his son...
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...
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