Bethany was a village on the Mount of Olives about two miles from Jerusalem, near its sister village Bethphage. It plays a small but significant role in the life of Jesus, first as the home of Lazarus, Martha and Mary and the scene of his greatest miracle, and later as his home base during his final days in Jerusalem. Finally, at the end of the Book of Luke, Jesus appears to the disciples on the third day after being crucified, talks with them, then leads them to Bethany, where he is taken up into heaven.
Bethany is only mentioned once in Swedenborg, and its spiritual meaning is not explained. So we can’t be sure how it fits; the best we can do is look at context and clues and make some educated guesses.
First, Bethany is generally thought to mean “place of dates,” with Bethphage meaning “place of figs.” Swedenborg says figs represent the desire for good on a natural, exterior level. Dates represent the desire for good on a deeper level, springing from an understanding of spiritual ideas and the love of serving others. Both villages are, of course, on the the Mount of Olives, and olives (in Swedenborg) represent the highest desire for good of all, that springing from love to the Lord. So we could guess from that that Bethany represents a state of internal goodness arising from the love of the Lord.
Second, it seems pretty clear that Jesus felt relaxed and at home there. The Book of John says that he loved Lazarus, Martha and Mary, and the scene in which he raises Lazarus from the dead is one of his most open displays of emotion. Martha and Mary both appeared to know him well, and in the Book of John he ate dinner with them the night before his triumphal entry to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Matthew and Mark describe a dinner that final week at the Bethany home of Simon the Leper. The overall impression is that it was something of a safe haven.
Finally, there is one entry in Swedenborg that says the raising of Lazarus represents the establishment of a new iteration of the true church — the successor to the churches of Adam, Noah and Moses — among the Gentiles in the form of the Primitive Christian Church.
So it seems perhaps that Bethany represents a state of spiritual goodness – goodness centered on loving the neighbor – which is open to and accepting of the Lord. And because it accepts the Lord more from love than from doctrine, it is able to give root to new forms of doctrine and worship that arise from love.
Or maybe not. This is conjecture, and it could be looking at the wrong ideas. Readers who want to dig into meanings for themselves are certainly welcome; one of the beauties of Swedenborg’s system is that it invites us to engage with the meanings ourselves.
Passages from Swedenborg
Arcana Coelestia 2916 [4]
The Lord’s raising of Lazarus from the dead, John 11:1 and following verses, likewise embodies the re-establishment of the Church from among gentiles; for all the miracles that the Lord performed, because they were Divine, embodied the states of His Church.