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...
remembereth
'To remember,' as in Genesis 41:9, signifies conjunction. 'Remembering' denotes conjunction because the remembrance of anyone in the other life joins them together, because as...
noah
'Noah,' as in Genesis 5:29, signifies the ancient church, or the parent of the three churches after the flood.
living
'Lives' is used in the plural, because of the will and understanding, and because these two lives make one.
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...
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...
earth
'Lands' of different nations are used in the Word to signify the different kinds of love prevalent in the inhabitants.
fountains
A fountain signifies the Lord and the Word. A fountain signifies superior truth, and well, inferior truth. A fountain, as in Psalm 104:10, denotes knowledges....
heavens
Heavens are celestial and spiritual things. Consequently, they are inmost things, both of the Lord's kingdom in heaven the and in the earth. This also...
back
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...
going on
Journeying' or 'going on' denotes progressing or advancing in life, in the opposite sense, it means going back.
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...
fifty
God rested on the seventh day of creation. That represents a state of holiness and tranquility that was preserved in the form of the sabbath....
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...
seventh
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,...
month
'A month' has respect to the state of truth in a person. 'A month' signifies a full state. Month,' as in Genesis 29, signifies the...
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...
day of
'Day of vengeance' signifies a state of damnation.
mountains of Ararat
Mount Ararat, where Noah’s Ark came to rest after the flood, (Genesis 8:4), denotes the light of a regenerate person. This light is the first...
mountains
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...
Ararat
Mount Ararat, where Noah’s Ark came to rest after the flood, (Genesis 8:4), denotes the light of a regenerate person. This light is the first...
heads
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....
forty
'Forty' means completeness because 'four' means what is complete, as does 'ten.' Forty is the product of four and ten. Compound numbers have a meaning...
openeth
To open,' as in Revelation 9, signifies communication and conjunction.
window
'Window' signifies truth in the light.
raven
'A raven,' as in Genesis 8:7, signifies falsities. The spiritual self only knows general truths from the Word, and forms its conscience from these, and...
dove
'A turtle dove' and 'young pigeon,' as in Genesis 15:9, represents exterior and interior spiritual things.
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...
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...
Face of the ground
The face of the ground being DRIED (Gen. 8:13) signifies regeneration, when falsities no longer appeared.
found
To not to be found any more, signifies not to rise again.
foot
Our feet are the lowest and most utilitarian parts of our bodies, and in the Bible they represent the lowest and most utilitarian part of...
hand
In Genesis 27:22, 'voice' relates to truth, and 'hand,' to good.
bringeth
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...
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,...
send
'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...
cometh
As with common verbs in general, the meaning of “come” in the Bible is highly dependent on context – its meaning is determined largely by...
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...
olive leaf
'The olive leaf plucked off in the dove's mouth,' in Genesis 8:11, signifies some little part of the truth of faith. 'A leaf' is faith...
olive
'An olive,' as in Isaiah 17:6, signifies celestial remains. 'An olive' signifies love and charity, because 'the olive tree' signifies the celestial church, and so...
leaf
'Leaves' symbolize rational truths because a tree symbolizes a person, and every part of the tree symbolizes accordant elements in the person.
torn
'Torn,' as in Genesis 31:38, signifies death caused by another, so evil without blame. 'Torn' relates to good, which falsity is injected into, which means...
mouth
In most cases, "mouth" in the Bible represents thought and logic, especially the kind of active, concrete thought that is connected with speech. The reason...
six
Like most numbers in the Bible, "six" can have various meanings depending on context, but has a couple that are primary. When used in relation...
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...
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...
covering
A covering of precious stones (Ezek. 28:4, 13) signifies the truths of intelligence.
ground
In Zechariah 8:12, 'the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground her increase,' signifies that the spiritual affection of truth produces the good of...
Second month
'Second month,' as in Genesis 8:14, signifies every state before regeneration, which is because of the significance of 'two' in the Word. 'Two' signifies the...
twentieth
'Twenty,' when referring to a quantity, signifies everything, or fullness, because it is ten twice. In Genesis 18:31, 'twenty', like all numbers occurring in the...
dry
'Withering and drying up,' as in Ezekiel 17:10, referring to the east wind, signifies when there is no good or truth.
speaketh
Like "say," the word "speak" refers to thoughts and feelings moving from our more internal spiritual levels to our more external ones – and ultimately...
fruitful
To be fruitful is predicated of goodnesses, and to be multiplied, of truths.
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...
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...
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...
fowl
Fowl signify spiritual truth; a bird, natural truth; and a winged thing, sensual truth. Fowl signify intellectual things. Fowl signify thoughts, and all that creeps...
families
Families (Gen 8:19) signify goodnesses and truths arranged in man by the Lord, according to order. Families have respect to truths. (Nahum 3:4)
buildeth
To build something generally means to put together a variety of simpler pieces to make a useful and more complex structure, as to build a...
altar
The first altar mentioned in the Word was built by Noah after he came out of the ark. On that altar, he sacrificed clean animals...
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...
clean
To be "pure" in the Bible means - unsurprisingly - to be devoid of evil. Thus all the washing for purification prescribed in the Laws...
Offerings
'Offerings' signify worship.
sweet
Sweet' signifies delightful things from the good of truth and the truth of good. Everything sweet in the natural world corresponds to delightful and pleasant...
fragrance
Fragrance means the affection of truth derived from good.
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...
To
‘To grieve at heart’ is in reference to love, and ‘to repent,’ to wisdom, as in Genesis 6:6.
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...
evil
'Wickedness' signifies evil, and 'iniquity' signifies falsities.
youth
'Tender of age' denotes the state of truths newly received not yet genuine.
smite
To strike or smite, when used in the Bible, means to attack, harm or destroy, and is usually in reference to an attack on someone’s...
Seed-time and harvest
'Seed time and harvest,' as in Genesis 8:2, means the person who is to be regenerated, and so also, the Church. No one ever fails...
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...
harvest
'A harvest' symbolizes the state of the church with respect to Divine truth. The reason is that a harvest yields the grain used to make...
summer
Summer' signifies the full state of the church, the same as 'noon.'
winter
'Winter' signifies the same thing as 'night,' that is, the end of the church.
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...
