Reed like unto a rod
'A reed being given him like unto a rod,' as in Revelation 11:1, signifies power from the Lord, which is the ability and power to...
angel
"Angels" in the Bible represent qualities of the Lord himself, or a variety of things that come directly from the Lord. On a lower level...
rise
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...
measure
The Bible uses a somewhat dizzying array of unfamiliar measurement, leaving translators a choice between being accurate and confusing or inaccurate and clear. Since they...
Temple of God
In Revelation 11:19, 'the temple of God,' signifies the Lord in His divine humanity in the heaven of angels, because that is what it is...
temple
'The Tabernacle of God,' as in Revelation 21:3, signifies the celestial church. In a universal sense, it signifies the celestial kingdom of the Lord, and...
worship
'Worship,' as in Revelation 13:12, signifies acknowledging something to be sacred in the church.
city
Cities of the mountain and cities of the plain (Jeremiah 33:13) signify doctrines of charity and faith.
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...
two witnesses
'The two witnesses,' as in Revelation 11:3-11, are good and truth, that is, good which truth is in, and truth which is from good, each...
olive
'Olives' signify good.
hurt
'To hurt,' as mentioned in Revelation 6:6, signifies violation and profanation. 'To hurt' as mentioned in Revelation 9:4, signifies perverting the truths and goods of...
killed
The Lord is love itself, and that love is the ultimate source of all energy and thus of all life. It follows, then, that the...
power
Power,' as in Revelation 4, signifies salvation, because all divine power regards this as its final purpose. A person is reformed by divine power, and...
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...
over
'Over' or 'upon' in the Word, signifies being within, because the highest part in successive order becomes inmost in simultaneous order. This is why the...
turn
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...
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...
plagues
'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...
make
'Make mention' denotes communication.
overcome
'To overcome' signifies receiving in heart. 'To overcome' signifies conquering temptations, and remaining in a state of faith derived from charity.
kill
The Lord is love itself, and that love is the ultimate source of all energy and thus of all life. It follows, then, that the...
Street of the great city
The 'street of the great city,' as in Revelation 11:8, signifies the falsity of the doctrine concerning justification by faith alone.
Sodom and Egypt
'Sodom and Egypt,' as in Revelation 11, signify two infernal loves, which are the love of dominion grounded in self-love, and the love of control...
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...
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...
Put
'To put' has reference to order, arrangement, application, and influx.
upon
'Upon' or 'over' signifies being within.
rejoice
Feelings of joy and rejoicing flow from our affections, not from our thoughts. Some people might argue that that's not true, that you can rejoice...
gifts
The gift which Abraham gave to the sons of the concubines which he had, as in Genesis 25:6, signifies lots in the Lord's spiritual kingdom....
tormented
'Torment,' as in Revelation 9:5, signifies induce stupor, or to stupefy the understanding.
spirit
'The seven spirits' in Matthew 12:45 signify all falsities of evil, and as a result, a total extinction of goodness and truth. 'The seven spirits'...
life
According to Swedenborg, the Lord is life itself, and we are recipients of life. This is true even of the most evil spirits, who loved...
entered
All changes of place in the Bible represent changes in spiritual state. “Entering” – usually used as entering someone’s house or “going in unto” someone...
saw
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...
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...
great voice
In Revelation 5:2, 'a loud' or 'great voice' signifies divine truth from the Lord, in its power or virtue.
hour
The Writings tell us that time and space are aspects of the physical world, but do not exist as we know them in the spiritual...
remnant
In Revelation 11:13, 'the remnant who were afraid' signifies people who joined some goods of charity to faith.
glory
Glory, wisdom, and thanksgiving signify the Lord's divine spiritual principle. Honor, virtue and might signify his divine celestial principle, as in Revelation 7:12.
woe
'Woe' signifies lamentation over evils and falsities which devastate the church.
third
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...
quickly
'Quickly' signifies certain and full, because 'time' signifies state and so 'quickly' and 'speedily' mean a current state of affection and thought, or what is...
great voices
'Great voices,' as in Revelation 11:15, signifies the angels celebrating the Lord.
Voices
'Great voices,' as in Revelation 11:15, signifies the angels celebrating the Lord.
kingdoms
In the most general sense, a kingdom in the Bible represents a church. In a more specific sense, a kingdom represents a church in regards...
world
The term "world" has both general and more specific meanings in the Bible, including the relatively literal sense of the natural, physical world. In more...
christ
Christ is one of the names of the Lord. It derives from Greek, and means "the anointed one," a King or Messiah. Christ as King...
ever
“Age” is used in slightly different ways in natural language, and those differences are reflected in the word’s spiritual meanings. All the variations, though, reflect...
sat
If you think about sitting, it seems fair to say that where you're sitting is more important than that you're sitting. Sitting in a movie...
worshipped
'Worship,' as in Revelation 13:12, signifies acknowledging something to be sacred in the church.
almighty
The Lord is called 'omnipotent,' as in Revelation 19, from His power of separating the good from the evil by means of the last judgment,...
come
Coming (Gen. 41:14) denotes communication by influx.
great power
In Revelation 11:17, 'thou hast taken to thee thy great power' signifies divine omnipotence, which is and was His from eternity.
reward
A "reward" in the Bible represents something that brings people together, or brings spiritual states together, and binds them. It's easy to see this in...
saints
'Saints' mean people governed by truths from the Lord through the Word.
small and great
Used several times in the Bible, the phrase “both small and great” (or “both the small and the great”) represents various levels or degrees of...
opened
To open,' as in Revelation 9, signifies communication and conjunction.
seen
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...
lightnings
'Voices,' 'lightnings,' and 'thunders,' as in Revelation 16:18, signify rationalizations, falsifications of truth, and arguments grounded in falsities of evil in the church among people...
thunderings
When the Lord speaks through the heaven, it descends into the lower spheres and is heard as thunder. As He speaks through the whole of...