According to Swedenborg, the Lord is called “Jehovah” in the Bible when the text is referring to his essence, which is love itself. “God” is used when the text is referring to the expression of that love – which Swedenborg calls “divine truth.” References to other gods, both positive and negative, reflect that meaning. In positive […]
God (as a Bible Term)
According to Swedenborg, the Lord is love itself expressed through wisdom itself. Love, then, is the inmost: the Lord’s essence. Wisdom is the form of love, love’s expression. As such it is slightly more external, letting love reach out to all the things that are loved. When the Bible speaks of “Jehovah,” it is, according to Swedenborg, representing […]
Garden
According to Swedenborg, plants in general represent knowledge, ideas and concepts – things of the mind, things we think. Plant the best and most beautiful of those in one place, give them plenty of water (truth from the Lord about day-to-day things), plenty of sunlight (the Lord’s wisdom) and warmth (the Lord’s love), tend them to […]
Go Up
When we talk about “going up” in the modern world, we usually mean either that we’re going north – which is toward the top of a map – or else that we are literally going up a hill or mountain. To “go up” in the Bible, however, represents a movement to a higher, more internal, […]
Go Before
To “go before” in the Bible means either to lead or to prepare, depending on context. When it is said of the Lord or things representing the Lord – the Ark of the Covenant, an angel, the pillars of cloud and fire – it means to lead. When it is said of other people – […]
Green
The color green is almost exclusively used in connection with plants in the Bible (the exceptions include two stomach-turning references to moldy plagues in Leviticus), and the spiritual meaning offered in Swedenborg is closely connected to the meaning of plants as well. Plants, in general, represent facts, knowledge that we can gather from the world. Green […]
Good (as a Bible Term)
It seems rather circular to say that “good” in the Bible represents good, but in a general sense it’s true! The case, according to Swedenborg, is this: The Lord is love itself given form and expression through wisdom itself, and that Divine Love and Divine Wisdom flow down into us, into the world and into the […]
Ground
Is there any difference in meaning between “earth” and “ground”? At first it doesn’t seem so; both refer to the soil making up the land mass of the planet we inhabit. But if you think about it, the meanings are shaded in different directions. We tend to use “earth” in a more general sense – […]
Gift
Gifts are given for many different reasons in the Bible, so it follows that the precise meanings are dependent on context. In general, though, gifts are associated with love, both because we give them to express or seek love and because they are desirable objects themselves. Often, of course, gifts in the Bible are offered […]
Go
In the physical world, the places we inhabit and the distances between them are physical realities, and we have to get our physical bodies through the physical space between to get from one physical place to another physical place. In the spiritual world described in Swedenborg, however, the “places” we inhabit and the “distances” between […]