To walk in the Bible represents living, and usually means living according to the true things taught to us by the Lord — to “walk in his ways.” Swedenborg also says that when the Lord is pictured walking, it means life itself.
This meaning makes sense as sort of poetic language on its face, and makes more sense considering that the ancient Hebrews were primarily nomadic, and to some extent lived by walking.
Passages from Swedenborg
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 519
519. At that time there were people who formulated doctrine out of what had been matters of perception in the Most Ancient Church and in the Churches that came after it, and this doctrine was to serve as a yardstick by which people could recognize what good and truth were. Such people were called ‘Enoch’, and this is meant by these words, ‘and Enoch walked with God’. They also applied this name to that doctrine of theirs, for this indeed was meant by the name Enoch, which is ‘instructing’. The matter is also clear from the meaning of the expression walking’ and from the fact that he is said to have walked, not with Jehovah, but ‘with God’. ‘Walking with God’ is teaching and living according to the doctrine of faith, whereas ‘walking with Jehovah’ is leading a life of love. ‘Walking’ is a customary expression to mean living, as in the phrases walking in the law,walking in statutes, walking in the truth. Strictly speaking,walking has regard to the path of truth, and therefore of faith or the doctrine of faith. From the places that are quoted below it becomes to some extent clear what ‘walking’ means in the Word.
[2] In Micah,
He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does Jehovah require of you but to carry out judgement and the love of mercy, and to humble yourself by walking with your God? Micah 6:8.
Here too ‘walking with God’ means living according to the requirements set out here. But although the expression ‘with God’ is used here the preposition employed is different from the one used in reference to Enoch, which really means ‘from with God’, and so is a phrase which is ambiguous.* In David,
You have delivered my feet from stumbling, that I may walkbefore God in the light of the living. Ps. 56:13.
Here ‘walking before God’ is walking in the truth of faith, which is ‘the light of the living’. Similarly in Isaiah,
The people walking in darkness see a great light. Isa. 9:2.
In Moses the Lord says,
I will walk in your midst and be your God, and you will be My people. Lev. 26:11.
This stood for the requirement that they should live according to the teaching of the law.
In Jeremiah,
They will spread them** before the sun and the moon and all the hosts of heaven, which they have loved and which they have served, and which they have walked after, and which they have sought. Jer. 8:2
A clear distinction is made here between the things that belong to love and those that belong to faith. Those that belong to love are referred to by ‘loving and serving’, those that belong to faith by ‘walking and seeking after’. For in the Prophets careful attention is paid to the use of words; one word is nowhere used in place of another In the Word ‘walking with Jehovah’ or ‘before Jehovah’ means leading a life of love.
AApocalypse Revealed (Rogers) n. 167
167.”‘And they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.'” This symbolically means that they will live with the Lord in His spiritual kingdom, because they are governed by truths from Him.
This is the meaning of these words because to walk in the Word symbolically means to live, and to walk with God symbolically means to live from Him, and because to be in white means, symbolically, to be guided by truths. For the color white in the Word is predicated of truths, because it takes its origin from the light of the sun, while red is predicated of goods, because it takes its origin from the sun’s fire, and blackness is predicated of falsities, because it takes its origin from the darkness of hell.
People who are governed by truths from the Lord, being conjoined with Him, are called worthy, for all worth in the spiritual world comes from conjunction with the Lord.
It is apparent from this that “they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy,” means, symbolically, that they will live with the Lord, because they are governed by truths from Him.
We say that they will live with the Lord in His spiritual kingdom because the whole of heaven has been distinguished into two kingdoms-the celestial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom-and in the celestial kingdom live people who are governed by the goodness of love from the Lord, while in the spiritual kingdom live those who are governed by the truths of wisdom from the Lord. The latter are also said to walk with the Lord in white. Moreover, they are dressed in white garments.
[2] That to walk means, symbolically, to live, and to walk with God means to live with Him because it is to live from Him, is clear from the following passages:
He walked with Me in peace and rectitude…. (Malachi 2:6)
You have delivered my feet from stumbling, that I may walkbefore God in the light of the living. (Psalm 56:13)
…David…kept My commandments and…walked after Me with all his heart…. (1 Kings 14:8)
Remember…, O Jehovah…, how I have walked before You in truth…. (Isaiah 38:3)
If you…walk contrary to Me…, and…do not obey (My voice)…, I also will walk contrary to you…. (Leviticus 26:23, 24, 27, 28)
They would not walk in the ways (of Jehovah). (Isaiah 42:24; cf. Deuteronomy 11:22, 19:9, 26:17)
…all people walk…in the name of (their) god, but we will walkin the name of Jehovah…. (Micah 4:5)
A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light…. …believe in the light…. (John 12:35, 36; cf. 8:12)
…the scribes asked…, “Why do Your disciples not walkaccording to the tradition of the elders…?” (Mark 7:5)
Walking is also said of Jehovah, that He walks among people, which is to say that He lives in them and together with them:
I will make My dwelling among you, and…I will walk among you and be your God…. (Leviticus 26:11, 12)
It is apparent from this what is meant by the statement,
These things says He…who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. (Revelation 2:1)
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 8420
8420. ‘Whether they walk in My law or not’ means, whether they can lead a life of truth and good. This is clear from the meaning of ‘walking’ as living, dealt with in 519, 1794; and from the meaning of ‘law’ as the Word, dealt with in 2606, 3382, 6752. And since the Word is meant, so is Divine Truth, 7463, and thus also teachings about what is good and true, so that ‘walking in the law of Jehovah’ means leading a life of truth and good as teachings about them demand. Everyone knows that ‘walking in the law’ means living as the law demands, for the expression is part of everyday language. From this it may be seen that [the activity] ‘walking’ means living, and also that the actual word ‘walking’, like so many other words, carries the very meaning it possesses in the spiritual sense. This is attributable solely to the influx of the spiritual world into ideas composing thought, and then into words; for without that influx would anyone ever talk of walking instead of living – of walking in the law, in the statutes, in the commandments, or in the fear of God? The same applies to ‘going’, that it means living, referred to just above in 8417, and also to travelling, advancing, and sojourning. The reason why these words mean living is that the spiritual world is not one of spatial dimensions but of states of life instead, 2625, 2684, 2837, 3356, 3387, 4321, 4882, 5605, 7381.
AE 97
That to walk signifies to live, and, when said of the Lord, life itself, is from appearances in the spiritual world, where all walk according to their life, the evil in those ways that lead to hell, but the good in those ways only that lead to heaven; therefore all spirits are known there from the ways wherein they walk. Ways are really seen, but by the evil only the ways that lead to hell, and by the good only the ways that lead to heaven; by this means every one is brought to his own society; it is from this circumstance that to walk signifies to live. (Concerning these ways, and concerning walking therein in the spiritual world, see what is said in the work, Heaven and Hell, n. 195, 479, 534, 590; and in the small work, The Last Judgment, n. 48.)
[2] That in the Word ways signify truths or falsities, and that towalk signifies to live, is evident from several passages therein: a few only shall here be adduced by way of confirmation. Thus in Isaiah:
We have sinned against Jehovah “nor would they walk in his ways, neither have they heard his law” (xlii. 24).
And in Moses:
“If ye shall keep all these commandments, by loving Jehovah your God, by walking in all his ways” (Deut. xi. 22).
And again:
“Thou shalt keep all these commandments to do them, by loving Jehovah thy God, and walking in his ways all the days” (Deut. xix. 9; xxvi. 17).
Again:
“I will set my dwelling place in the midst of you, and I willwalk in the midst of you, and I will be to you for a God” (Lev. xxvi. 11, 12).
Again:
“Jehovah thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, and therefore shall thy camp be holy” (Deut. xxiii. 14).
And in Isaiah:
“Remember now, Jehovah, that I have walked before thee in truth” (xxxviii. 3).
Again:
“Entering into peace, walking in uprightness” (lvii. 2).
And in Malachi:
“In peace and in uprightness hath he walked with me (ii. 6).
And in David:
“Thou hast delivered my feet from stumbling, that I may walkbefore God in the light of the living” (Psalm lvi. 13).
And in John:
Jesus said, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (viii. 12).
In the same:
“Yet a little while the light is with you; walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you; for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have the light, believe in the light” (xii. 35, 36).
And in Mark:
“The Pharisees and Scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders?” (vii. 5.)
And in Moses:
“If ye walk contrary to me, and will not hearken unto me, I will also walk contrary to you” (Lev. xxvi. 21, 23, 24, 27).
And in Isaiah:
“The people that walk in darkness have seen a great light; they that dwell in the land of the shadow [of death], upon them hath the light shined” (ix. 2).
And in Micah:
“All people walk in the name of their god, and we will walk in the name of Jehovah our God” (iv. 5).
And in Isaiah:
“Who among you feareth Jehovah? who walketh in darkness, and hath no light?” (l. 10);
besides many other passages, as in Jer. xxvi. 4; Ezek. v. 6; xx. 13, 16; Mic. iv 5; Zech. x. 12; Luke i. 6. From these passages it is evident that by walking, in the spiritual sense, is signified to live; and because it signifies to live, therefore, when said of the Lord, as in this passage, life itself is signified; for the Lord is life itself, and all others are recipients of life from Him (as may be seen above, n. 82, 84).
Apocalypse Revealed (Rogers) n. 706
706. “Lest he walk naked and they see his shame.” This symbolically means, so as not to be associated with people who are without any truths, and have their hellish loves appear.
To walk naked means, symbolically, to live without truths. The shame of nakedness or private parts symbolizes filthy loves, which are hellish loves. And because the text says, “Lest…they see his shame,” it symbolically means, so as not to have those loves appear.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 9028
9028. ‘If he rises up and walks outside on his staff’ means strength of life in that truth. This is clear from the meaning of ‘rising up’ as implying some kind of raising up, at this point of spiritual truth to agreement with factual truth; from the meaning of ‘walking’ as living, dealt with in 519, 1794, 8417, 8420; and from the meaning of ‘staff’ as strength. For ‘rod’ means the power that truth possesses, and so means strength, 4876, 4936, 6947, 7011, 7026; and ‘staff’ has a similar meaning, though it is used in reference to those who are not strong and well.