The Symbolism of the Psalms, Vol. 1: A Spiritual Commentary

The Symbolism of the Psalms is a comprehensive commentary revealing the hidden spiritual meaning of the Psalms that makes each Psalm directly applicable to one’s life. The interpretation is based on symbolism and allegory that is universal to all of scripture, which was shown in waking visions to the 18th-century scientist Emanuel Swedenborg. This work demonstrates that the Psalms are centered on the Lord and His spiritual kingdom and the celebration and victory over evil. The wars of David in the Psalms describe the spiritual temptations experienced by Jesus in resisting the power of hell to redeem humanity, and these spiritual concepts can be applied personally to one’s own spiritual development by resisting temptations within one’s own self.

The Hebrew poetry in the Psalms is restored in this work, where parallel lines for each verse is shown. Parallel lines in Hebrew poetry are revealed to cover the same concepts as related to love and truth, the two primary aspects of Divine influx which flows into our will and thoughts. Each Psalm is presented in such a way so that the general reader can see the different stanzas in each Psalm, which have been lost in all translations and can only be found in scattered scholarly articles on the Psalms. With the stanzas clearly demarcated it is easy for the reader to see shifts in theme and subject in each Psalm.

This work has a new translation of the Psalms in modern easy to read English that is closer to the literal sense of the original Hebrew. As much as possible, each Hebrew word has been consistently translated into the same word in English which in many cases allows the reader to see a more precise interpretation of each Psalm.

This work can be used as a devotional, or as a useful tool for Bible students. Each spiritual interpretation is backed up my multiple references to scripture as well as cross references to other Psalms. The methods revealed in this work can also be used for exegesis of other works of scripture. Quotes for the commentary were gathered from scattered references through over 39 volumes of the published and unpublished works of Emanuel Swedenborg. Volume I covers Psalms 1-41.