ephraim
Ephraim was the second son born to Joseph in Egypt and was, along with his older brother Manasseh, elevated by Jacob to the same status...
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...
lifted
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...
israel
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...
baal
Baalim and her lovers (Hosea 2:13) signify those things which belong to the natural man, and are loved; such as the lusts and falsities thence...
dieth
Dead (Gen. 23:8) signifies night, in respect to the goodnesses and truths of faith.
Molten image
'A molten image' signifies the evil which belongs to one's sense of ownership (proprium).
image
'Images' denote things fashioned from man’s own intelligence.
silver
'Money' relates to truth.
own
In many cases, the spiritual meaning of "own," both as a verb and as an adjective, is relatively literal. When people are described as the...
work
'Works,' as in Genesis 46:33, denote goods, because they are from the will, and anything from the will is either good or evil, but anything...
artizans
'Carpenters' signify truths in extremes, the same as 'iron.'
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...
calves
'Oxen' or 'calves' signify the affections of the natural mind.
kiss
To kiss' signifies uniting or conjunction from affection. To kiss,' as in c, signifies initiation. 'To kiss' signifies conjunction and acknowledgment.
cloud
In Isaiah 19:1, "Jehovah rides upon a light cloud, and comes into Egypt", signifies the visitation of the natural man from spiritual-natural Divine Truth, for...
morning
Morning comes with the rising of the sun, and the sun – which gives life to the earth with its warmth and light – represents...
dew
Dew, in Deut. 32:2 signifies the multiplication of truth from good, and the fructification of good by truth.
rising
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...
chaff
Chaff is mentioned in Matthew 3:12 signifies falsity of every kind, derived from an infernal origin.
floor
The floor, as in Matthew 3:12, signifies the world of spirits which is between heaven and hell, and where the separation of evils and falsities...
smoke
'Smoke' signifies divine truth in extremes, because 'fire' which gives off smoke, signifies love. 'Smoke' also signifies the same thing as 'cloud' in many places....
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...
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...
land
'Lands' of different nations are used in the Word to signify the different kinds of love prevalent in the inhabitants.
egypt
'Mizraim' signifies the same thing as Egypt.
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...
saviour
The Lord from the essential divine, through the divine human, is the savior. The Lord became the savior by His spiritual temptations, or combats.
save
The Lord from the essential divine, through the divine human, is the savior. The Lord became the savior by His spiritual temptations, or combats.
known
Like so many common verbs, the meaning of "know" in the Bible is varied and dependent on context. And in some cases – when it...
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...
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...
forgotten
To forget, in the internal sense, signifies nothing else but removal and apparent privation.
leopard
'A leopard,' being a crafty and insidious animal, particularly represents people who confirm faith separate from good works. 'A leopard' signifies the affection or lust...
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....
bear
Bears represent the power of the literal external stories and ideas of Bible, separate from their deeper meanings. Since they are wild carnivores, this is...
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...
judges
It’s easy to see the connection between judging and truth. In a court of law, the judge’s whole purpose is to find the truth. In...
give
Like other common verbs, the meaning of "give" in the Bible is affected by context: who is giving what to whom? In general, though, giving...
heads
Captains and Rulers (Jer. 51:23) signifies principal evils and falsities. Captains and Rulers (Ezek 33:6) signifies principal truths. See Chief Captains.
anger
'Wrath,' as in Genesis 49:7, signifies aversion from truth. 'Great wrath,' as in Revelation 12:12, signifies hatred against the new church.
wrath
'Wrath,' as in Genesis 49:7, signifies aversion from truth. 'Great wrath,' as in Revelation 12:12, signifies hatred against the new church.
iniquity
In Isaiah 59:6, 'webs' and 'garments' signify aspects of the understanding, or thought, 'Iniquity' and 'violence,' aspects of the will, or works.
sin
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...
come
As with common verbs in general, the meaning of “come” in the Bible is highly dependent on context – its meaning is determined largely by...
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....
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...
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...
sheol
'Hell,' as mentioned in Jonah 2:3, signifies the earth below.
ransom
In Exodus 30:12, 'they shall give every a person a ransom for his soul,' signifies being purified or liberated from evil by the truth of...
redeem
'To redeem' signifies vindication and liberation, because there are two words in the original language, which mean 'redemption.' One means vindication from evil, and the...
plague
'Plagues' signify evils of love, and falsities of faith. 'The plagues of Egypt' signify the falsities and lust which cause the church to perish. In...
hid
'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...
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...
brethren
There are two ways "brother" is used in the Bible, ways that are still reflected in modern language. One denotes an actual blood relationship; the...
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...
coming
Coming (Gen. 41:14) denotes communication by influx.
fountain
The Word is sometimes called 'a well,' and sometimes 'a fountain.' It is called 'a well' regarding the literal sense, and 'a fountain' regarding the...
spring
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....
spoileth
In Jeremiah 12:12, 'spoilers' signify evils and falsities, which cause good and truth to perish, or evils from a lack of truth.
treasure
'Treasure,' as in Matthew 13:44, signifies divine truth in the Word.
samaria
'The woman of Samaria' signifies the church which would be founded among the Gentiles.
rebelled
'Rebel,' as in Genesis 14:4, relates to evils pertaining to a person, or to evil spirits, when they begin to arise and infest, after they...
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...
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...
sucklings
The infants in the street,' in Jeremiah 9:21, signify truth beginning to grow.
pregnant
To be with child, (Gen. 38:24), signifies to produce something.
)