In most cases, Swedenborg says a “master” in the Bible refers to truth: knowledge, an understanding of the situation at hand, an understanding of the Lord’s wishes, an understanding of what is good for the people involved. That can vary according to the person being called master – Egyptian masters represented factual, scientific knowledge; when the Lord is referred to as master it means Divine Truth itself, ideas directly from the Lord.
The term does vary according to context, however: If the things directed by the “master” represent knowledge and ideas, the “master” will represent love, caring, and desires for good, since desires for good are the things that inspire true thinking.
Passages from Swedenborg
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 8979
- ‘If he is master of a woman’ means truth together with delight linked to it. This is clear from the meaning of ‘master’ as truth, dealt with below; and from the meaning of ‘a woman omen’ as good, but at this point as delight, also dealt with below. The reason why ‘master’ is truth is that ‘master’ in this instance is used to refer to the slave as the man (or husband) of a woman, and in the internal sense both ‘slave’ and ‘man (or husband) of a woman’ mean truth – regarding ‘slave’, see above in 8974, and regarding ‘man’, 3134, 3309, 3459, 7716.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 8981
- ‘If his master has given him a woman’ means good attached by the spiritual to truth during conflict. This is clear from the meaning of ‘master’ here as the spiritual, for ‘master’ in this instance is used to refer to one who is a member of the children of Israel, and by ‘the children of Israel’ those who are true members of the spiritual Church are meant, that is, who do good from love and affection, or what amounts to the same thing, from charity (regarding ‘the children of Israel’, that they are members of the spiritual Church, see 6426, 6862, 6868, 7035, 7062, 7198, 7201, 7215, 7223, 7957, 8234, 8805, which being so, they mean in the abstract sense spiritual truths and forms of good, 5414, 5801, 5803, 5806, 5812, 5817, 5819, 5826, 5833, 5879), so that ‘master’ here means the spiritual; and from the meaning of ‘giving him a woman’ as attaching good to truth, for ‘giving’, when said in regard to a woman, means attaching.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 8986
- ‘I love my master, my woman, and my children’ means the delight in remembering forms of spiritual good. This is clear from the meaning of ‘loving’ here as the delight in remembering, dealt with below; from the meaning of ‘master’ as spiritual good from which [other forms of it spring], dealt with above in 8981; from the meaning of ‘woman’ as good attached by the spiritual, also dealt with above in 8981; and from the meaning of ‘children’ as forms of good and truths which are derived from that good, dealt with in 8982. Consequently ‘master, wife, and children’ in brief means spiritual forms of good.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 8995
- ‘If she is bad in the eyes of her master’ means if the affection for truth springing from natural delight is not in agreement with spiritual truth. This is clear from the meaning of ‘female slave’, to whom the word ‘bad’ refers, as an affection springing from natural delight, dealt with in 8993, 8994, and from the meaning of ‘bad’, when it refers to that affection and its relationship with spiritual truth, as being not in agreement with, dealt with below; from the meaning of ‘in the eyes of’ as in the perception of, dealt with in 2789, 2829, 4083, 4339; and from the meaning of ‘master’ as spiritual truth, dealt with in 8981.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 9046
- ‘As the master of the woman imposes on him’ means till it agrees with the truth that goes with the good. This is clear from the meaning of ‘as he imposes on him’, when it refers to a fine, as amendment to the point of satisfaction, thus to the point at which there is agreement, dealt with below; from the meaning of ‘the master’ – ‘the master of the woman’, that is, her man or husband – as truth; and from the meaning of ‘the woman’ as good. For ‘the master of a woman’, or her man, in the spiritual sense of the Word means truth, and ‘the woman’ good, because the marriage of a man to a woman represents the marriage of truth and good, 915, 2517, 4510, 4823.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 9154
- ‘The master of the house shall be brought to God’ means enquiring of good. This is clear from the meaning of ‘being brought to God’ as being brought forward for enquiry to be made, dealt with below in 9160; and from the meaning of ‘the master of the house’ as good which is enquired of. The reason why ‘the master of the house’ means good is that the subject is truths and factual knowledge that have been taken away from the memory, meant by ‘the silver and the vessels which were delivered to someone for safe keeping but were taken away by theft’, 9149, 9150. Since those truths and factual knowledge belong to good and exist in good ‘the master of the house’, to whom the objects belong and with whom they reside, means good. Good is called ‘the master’ because truths and factual knowledge belong to good as their master, and good is also called ‘the house’ because truths and factual knowledge exist within good as their house.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 9167
[2] This explains why ‘lord’ in the Word is used to mean the Lord in respect of Divine Good, and ‘god’, ‘king’, and ‘master’ to mean the Lord in respect of Divine Truth, as in Moses,
Jehovah your God, He is God of gods, and Lord of lords. Deut. 10:17.
In John,
The Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings. Rev. 17:14.
In the same book,
He has on His robe and on His thigh the name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. Rev. 19:16.
The fact that the Lord is called ‘God’ in respect of Divine Truth, see 2586, 2769, 2807, 2822, 4402, 7268, 8988, and also that He is called ‘King’ in respect of Divine Truth, 2015 (end), 3009, 3670, 4581, 4966, 5068, 6148. And from this it is evident that the Lord is called ‘Lord’ in respect of Divine Good; for when truth is referred to in the Word, good as well is referred to, 683, 793, 801, 2516, 2618, 2712, 2803, 3004, 4138 (end), 5138, 5502, 6343, 8339 (end). In John,
You call Me Master and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. I your Lord and Master have washed your feet. John 13:13, 14.
Here again the Lord is called ‘Lord’ by virtue of Divine Good, and ‘Master’ by virtue of Divine Truth. In Malachi,
Suddenly there will come to His temple the Lord whom you are seeking, and the angel of the covenant in whom you delight. Mal. 3:1.
In these words which refer to the Lord’s Coming He is called ‘the Lord’ by virtue of Divine Good, and ‘the angel’ by virtue of Divine Truth, 1925, 2821, 3039, 4085, 4295, 6280.