sing
Every affection of the heart has a tendency to produce singing, and so it will produce anything relating to singing. The affection of the heart...
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...
Sons of Israel
'The camp of the sons of Israel' represents the church.
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...
song
'The sound of musical instruments' corresponds to affections of spiritual and celestial love.
jehovah
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...
horse
'A horse' signifies knowledges or understanding of the Word. In an opposite sense it signifies the understanding of the Word falsified by reasonings, and likewise...
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,...
strength
Strength' relates truth and falsity. Strength,' as in Luke 10:27, signifies the will and understanding extended to extremes. Strength,' as in Revelation 1:6, signifies divine...
Jah
'Jah' in Psalm 112:4, signifies the Lord as to divine truth. 'The tribes of Jah' signify truths from good. The song of Jah' signifies the...
salvation
'Salvation, to the Lord our God,' as in Revelation 19:1, signifies an acknowledgment and confession that salvation is from the Lord.
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...
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...
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...
battle
War in the Word represents the combat of temptation when what is good is assaulted by what is evil or false. The evil that attacks...
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...
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...
force
Forces denote the power of truth.
Red sea
'The Red sea' signifies hell and damnation, or temptation.
depths
'Waters,' 'rivers,' and 'depths,' as in Psalm 78:15-16, signify truths from the Lord.
cover
The "high mountains being covered " (Gen. 7:19) signifies that all the good things of charity were extinguished.
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,"...
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...
Right hand
'The man of the right hand,' as in Psalm 80:17, signifies the Lord with respect to the Word. He is called 'the man of the...
enemy
An enemy in the Bible refers to people who are in the love of evil and the false thinking that springs from evil. On a...
stubble
'To be consumed as stubble' denotes total vastation.
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...
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...
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...
pursue
'To pursue,' as in Genesis 14:16, signifies a state of purification, because 'to pursue enemies' is the expulsion of evils and falsities which were with...
Overtake
'To overtake' denotes communication and influx.
spoil
'To spoil,' as in Genesis 34:27, signifies destruction. 'Spoil,' as in Deuteronomy 13:16, signifies the falsification of truth.
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...
soul
The nature of the soul is a deep and complicated topic, but it can be summarized as "spiritual life," who we are in terms of...
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...
hand
In Genesis 27:22, 'voice' relates to truth, and 'hand,' to good.
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...
covered
The "high mountains being covered " (Gen. 7:19) signifies that all the good things of charity were extinguished.
sank
The spiritual meaning of "sink" is relatively easy to see: It means to descend into lower spiritual states, especially into states where false reasoning and...
mighty
'Might' denotes the forces or power of truth.
holiness
The Bible describes many things as being holy, or sacred. The Ark of the Covenant is one very holy object. The inmost chamber of the...
fearful
The fearful signify people who have no faith.
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,...
stretched 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,...
earth
'Lands' of different nations are used in the Word to signify the different kinds of love prevalent in the inhabitants.
led
'To be led by the Lord' is to be in a state of essential liberty, blessedness, and happiness.
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...
redeemed
Jehovah is called 'the redeemer,' because He took on a human nature.
holy
The Bible describes many things as being holy, or sacred. The Ark of the Covenant is one very holy object. The inmost chamber of the...
habitation
'The sanctuary and habitation' together signify heaven and the church, 'sanctuary' regarding the good of love, and 'tabernacle' regarding truths of that good, because the...
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...
Pain
'Pain' signifies repugnant things arising from interior falsities, because what is repugnant is painful.
inhabitants
Inhabitants,' in Isaiah 26:9, signify the men of the church who are in good of doctrine, and thence in the good of life.
philistia
'Palestina,' as in Exodus 15:14, signifies the same thing as Philisthea.
edom
'Edom' or 'Idumea,' as in Isaiah 34:5, signifies those who are in evil and in falsities thence derived.
moab
Ammonite and Moabite ('Deuteronomy 23:3'), signify the profanation of the celestial and spiritual things of faith.
Trembling
'The dregs of the cup of trembling' signifies mere falsities which evils are derived from.
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...
fall
Like other common verbs, the meaning of "fall" is highly dependent on context in regular language, and is highly dependent on context in a spiritual...
arm
Arms and feet (Daniel 10:6) signify the exterior things of the Word, which are its literal sense.
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...
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...
plant
'To plant' denotes regeneration.
mountain
'Hills' signify the good of charity.
inheritance
In Biblical times, possessions passed from fathers to sons, a patriarchal system that would not be accepted in today's society – but one that is...
dwelling
Many people were nomadic in Biblical times, especially the times of the Old Testament, and lived in tents that could be struck, moved and re-raised...
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...
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...
reigneth
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...
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...
horsemen
'A horseman' signifies intelligence, or one who is intelligent. 'A horseman,' as mentioned in Revelation 9:16, signifies reasonings concerning faith alone. 'A horseman' can also...
back
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...
midst
'Middle' denotes what is primary, principal, or inmost.
Miriam
'Miriam,' as in Exodus 15:20, signifies the good of faith.
sister
The Lord calls people who are in truth from the good of charity from Him 'sisters,' as in Matthew 12:50. 'Sister' denotes intellectual truth, when...
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...
timbrel
A drum (Gen. 31) signifies spiritual good.
women
The word "woman" is used a number of different ways in the Bible – as a simple description, as someone connected to a man ("his...
Go out
To go out to meet, as in Genesis 14:17, signifies to submit themselves. To go out, as in Genesis 28:10, signifies to live more remotely....
after
Behind, or after, (Gen. 16:13), signifies within or above, or an interior or superior principle.
timbrels
'Trumpets and timbrels' correspond to celestial goods and truths. 'Psalteries and harps' correspond to spiritual goods and truths. The correspondence is from their sounds.
answereth
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...
journey
Journeying' or 'going on' denotes progressing or advancing in life, in the opposite sense, it means going back.
wilderness
'Wilderness' signifies something with little life in it, as described in the internal sense in Luke 1:80 'Wilderness' signifies somewhere there is no good because...
Shur
'Shur,' or 'Assyria,' signifies the Lord's state when He first received instruction in matters of doctrine regarding charity and faith.
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...
found
To not to be found any more, signifies not to rise again.
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...
come
Coming (Gen. 41:14) denotes communication by influx.
Marah
'Marah' denotes the quality and quantity of temptation, and also what is bitter.
drink
Food in the Bible represents the desire for good, and water and other drinks represent the understanding and true ideas we need to recognize what...
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...
murmur
'To murmur' denotes complaint and pain from the bitterness of temptation.
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...
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...
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
In Genesis 27:22, 'voice' relates to truth, and 'hand,' to good.
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...
kept
"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...
statutes
All laws, even civil and judicial laws, which are in the Word, correspond to the laws of good and truth, which are in heaven.
sickness
'The sick,' as in Matthew 25:35, signify people in evil, and those who acknowledge that in themselves there is nothing but evil.
egyptians
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...
elim
Elim (Exod. 15:27) signifies a state of illustration and of affection, thus of consolation after temptation.
Palm trees
'Palm trees,' as in Exodus 15:27, signify the spiritual goods of the church, which are the goods of truth and the affection of good, and...
