tihtary of t:he ^theological ^tminaxy PRINCETON . NEW JERSEY PRESENTED BY James Lenox, Esq. ¥77 "p clauk's list of new publications, edinulrgh. BIBIiICAIi CRITICISM AND fiXPOSXTION. Interpretation of "New Testf-ment, Vol. I. Si. IV. — Ernesti's Principles of Biblical Inter- pretation, translated from the original by.the Rev. Char- les 11. Terrot, A. M., late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. 2 volS. 12s. bound in cloth. " If the reader should be desirous of seeing the style of the New Testament ful'y and satisfactorUy handled, I refer tira to Ernesti. — Archbishop Magee. Philological Tracts- Vols. II. & IX Philological Tracts, illustrative of the Old and New Testanaents ; containing, 1. Dr. Pfann- kouche on the Language of Palestine in the age of Christ and the Apostles; 2. Prof. Planck on the Greek Diction of the New Testament ; 3. Dr. Tholuck on the Impor- tance of the Study of the Old Testament ; 4. Dr. Beck- haus on the Interpretation of the Tropical Language of the New Testament ; 5. Prof. Storr's Di8sertati.>ij on the meaning of the '• Kingdom of Heaven" — 6. On the Parablesof Christ— 7.C)n the word HAHPXIMA; C. Prof. Heiigsten'ierg on the Interpretation of Isaiah, chap. iii. 12, liii., 2 vols. 12s. bd. in cloth. " There is in the tracts which compose these volumes, a mass of sacred erudition, a depth of judgment, a comprehen. »ive and reach of understanding, which, we regret to be ob- liged to say, are contributed by a society of men, aniongs; whom, in vain, we look for an Enghshmau — Monthly Review. Greek Sjoionynxs of New Testament- Vols. III. &X VIII Tittmaun's Synonyms of the New Testament, translated from the original by the Ray. Edward Craig, M. A. of St. Edmund's Hall, Oxford. 2 vols. I2s. bound in cloth. " A truly valuable work, and well worthy of a place in the • Cabinet,"ajidin the library of every Biblical Student; we beg very gtrongly torecommend it." — Christian Instructor. Epistle to the Romans- Vols. V. & XII — Tholuck's Exposition of St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, with extracts from the exegeti- cal works of the Fathers and Reformers, translated from the original by the Rev. Robert BJenzies. 2 vols. )2s. " Of the kind it is the best Commentary that we know." Christian Instructor " Confessedly the ablest exposition of the Scriptures in any Ua» juigc;."— £» nj«:'cai iiagiiint. 2 CLARK'S LIST OF NEW PCBL IC.VTION S, EDINBUaCH. Sermon on the Monnt- Vols. VI. & XX. — Tholuck's Exposition, Doctrinal and Philological, of Christ's Sermon on the Mount, accord- ing to the Gospel of St. iMatthew ; intended likewise us n help towards the formation of a pure system of Faith and Morals : translated from the original by the Rev. Robert Menzies. 2 vols. 12s. bound in cloth. 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" The author is a worthy associate of Tholnck, Steiger, and others who have laboured to stem the current of infidel theo- logy, and forming a new school of biblical exegesis on the continent." — Congregational Mag- Cornelius the Centurion, and St- John the Evangelist- Vol. XXII Krummacher's Lives and Characters of Cornelius the Centurion, and St. John the Evangelist, with Notes, &c., by the Rev. J. W. Ferguson, A. M., Minister of St. Peter's Episcopal Chapel, Edinburgh. 6s. bound in cloth. " A fine specimen of Scriptural Exposition of a very interesting portion of revealed truth; it is, indeed, a heart stirring composi- tion."— Evangelical Magazine. " Eminently adapted to the cultivation of the heart, — we com- mend this excellent work to the.attention of all who would worship Hod in spirit and in truth."— C/ir.'s( an .AdvoceUe. "," These Lives may be had separately. "Witsius on Prayer. 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J II. — Uiogr.Hphy, Niehuhr, Kant, De Stael, Lady Rll^sell, OS. IV Geology, fi.s. (By Stuart and liitchcnck.) y S-'ciencp. (Heynolds and Kverett), 5s. VI Jonffroy's Philosophical Essays, fts. y 1 1. — C'hauninj^'s M'orks, 5s. \'Iil. — Cousin's Philosophical Kssiys, 5?. A KEY TO TUE SYMBOLICAL LANGUAGE OF SCEIPTURE, BY WHICH NUMEROUS P.VS3.V<;ES AllE EXPLAINED AND ILLUSTRATED. FOUNDED ON •HE SYMBOLICAL DICTIONARY OF DAUBUZ, ■WITH ADDITIONS FROM VITRINGA, EWALDUS, AND OTHERS. THOMAS WEMYSS, AUTHOR OF " CIBLICAL GLEAMNOS, ' &;C. EDINBURGH: THOMAS CLARK, 38. GEORGE STREET. MDCCCXL. PREFACE. Whatever may conduce to the illustration of the Sacred Scriptures, must be acceptable to every well-constituted mind. How far the pre- sent attempt is of that description, must be left to the judgment of the reader to decide. It has been the employment of the Author, at his lei- sure hours, for a considerable time past ; and the principal want he experienced, lay in the paucity of ^vriters who have preceded him in this course of study. That consideration, on the other hand, prompted him to make the present effort, hoping it might be the means of drawing attention to the Sacred Writings, as the only record of the Di- vine will, and as being still comparatively ne- glected, even in this age of general religious pro- fession. So much of the language of Scripture is confessedly figurative, and so little has been VI PREFACE. done to illustrate the terms employed, that pri- vate readers of the Bible are often discourag-ed from the perusal of the prophetical parts, on account of their seeming obscurity. Commen- tators on the whole of the Sacred Volume have generally too much in hand, to be able to enlarge on the interpretation of such passages ; an obser- vation that may be confirmed by referring, among others, to the elaborate Commentary of the late learned and excellent Dr Adam Clarke, who has devoted only a very few pages to the expla- nation of the symbols of Scripture, prefixed to his notes on the Book of the Prophet Isaiah. Dr Macknight, in his otherwise luminous work oa the apostolic Epistles, has contented himself with some quotations from Warburton, in relation to this subject. Though the substance of the following pages may be found in Daubuz, yet the Author has drawn largely from Vitringa and Ewaldus, wherever their materials seemed valuable ; and he has added much from various Biblical Critics and Commentators, where the prophetic language required further illustration. The remarks on Symbols, prefixed to Mr Faber"'s " Calendar of Prophecy,'' unhappily did not come under the writer's observation, till his work was too far ad- vanced to benefit bv them, otherwise the classifi- PREFACE. vn cation of Symbols there made does much credit to the respected Author. The origin of symbolical terms is connected in part with the history of hieroglyphics, and would lead into a very wide field of inquiry. Those who are more deeply versed in the study of an- tiquity than the Author professes to be, could no doubt throw great light on this subject. What Warburton has already accomplished in his Divine Legation of Moses, Dr Stukely in his History of A bury in Wiltshire, and other writers of the same class, is doubtless of considerable va- lue ; but modern discoveries, and the researches of the learned, may still contribute much to the elucidation of these peculiarities of composition. The subject is intimately connected, not merely with the study of language in general, especially in its primeval structure and use, but with the manners and usages of ancient nations, whether Jewish or Heathen. Egypt appears to have been the great source from which many of the symbo- lical terms are derived, as the people, or at least the priests of that country, employed symbols in their sacred mysteries, and perhaps also in their national and political allusions. That the writer has succeeded in his explana- tion of these terms, he is very far from being confident ; and he views the present attempt ra- viii PREFACE. ther as a groundwork on which others may build, than as a finished structure in itself. Such as it is, he submits it to the Christian public, conscious only of the purity of his motives, and satisfied with the advantage he has himself derived from the engagement. He will be unfeignedly thank- ful to any who may point out its defects, and suggest to him how they may best be supplied, should the work be, by public favour, brought to a second edition. INTRODUCTION. Symbols are representative marks, by which out- ward objects are made to convey certain ideas to the mind. They had their origin in the poverty of lan- guage, which in ancient times did not contain a suffi- cient variety of terms to express the various concep- tions of thought. The word Symbol is derived from a Greek term, which denotes casting or placing things together, with a view to comparison or to attentive consideration. It differs from the Emblem in this, that the resemblance conveyed by the latter, where some corporeal object is made to stand as the figure or picture of some moral property, is more arbitrary, and in some degree fanciful ; while that which is in- tended by the symbol is converted into a fixed or constituted sign among men. Thus, if the dove and the bee are the emblems of meekness and industry, the olive and laurel are the symbols of peace after warfare, and have been recognised as such among barbarous as well as enlightened nations. The symbol adso differs from the type in this re- 2 INTRODUCTION. spect, that the former represents something past or present, while a type represents something future. Thus, the images of the cherubim and the bread and wine in the Eucharist were symbols, while the com- manded sacrifice of Isaac was given for a type, and the sacrifices under the law were types also. So far, as Warburton remarks, symbols and tj-pes agree in their genus, that they are equally representations, but in their species they differ widely. It is noway requisite that the symbol should par- take of the nature of the thing represented, it is enough if there be a general resemblance in some of its pro- perties. Much light may be thrown on the symbolical lan- guage of Scripture by a careful collation of the writ- ings of the prophets with each other, for the symboli- cal language of the prophets is almost a science in it- self. None can fully comprehend the depth, sublimity, and force of their writings, who are not thoroughly acquainted with the peculiar and appropriate imagery they were accustomed to use. This is the main key to many of the prophecies, and wdthout knowing how to apply it, the interpreter will often in vain essay to discover their hidden treasures. (See Vanmildert's Lectures, p. 240.) The Author of the present work has been content to consider symbols in the same light as emblems, though their meaning be somewhat distinct ; his whole object being to throw light on some of the more ob- INTRODUCTION. 3 scure passages of Scripture, in which the symbolical language occurs, especially as symbols do not uni- formly preserve the same signification, but axe repre- sentatives of different subjects, according to the di- versity of their properties and aspects. Thus, iron viewed merely as a metal difficult of fusion, denotes strength or power — when applied to the disposition, betokens stubbornness — and to the soil or ground, re- fers to its infertility, and so in numerous other cases. Wherefore the subject to which the symbolical term is affixed must be viewed in its connexion and imme- diate reference before its signification can be tho- roughly ascertained. Nor is it less to be observed, that the same symbol is employed to point out very different and even op- posite persons or characters. Thus, the Serpent is ge- nerally the symbol of Satan, but it is also represented as the pattern of wisdom or caution ; and the Brazen Serpent is a well-known type of Christ, being so al- luded to by the Saviour himself. This mode of ap- plication is to be accounted for, by considering the va- rious properties which any creature or thing is com- monly supposed to possess, and by selecting the evil properties to picture out evil persons, and the good properties the reverse. For though among christians the serpent and the tempter are generally identified, yet among heathen nations that reptile has often been viewed as the symbol of deity, and in the Egyptian hieroglyphics as emblematic of eternity. 4 INTRODUCTION. Though the subject of sacred symbols has been al- ready treated of by some, yet the number of writers in this department of theology is hitherto compara- tively small. The reason of this may be, that in or- der to illustrate the symboUc language properly, a very extensive acquaintance with ancient Uterature is requisite. The subject involves in it mythology, hieroglyphics, oriental customs, in short, all the learn- ing of Egypt and the East. To such endowments the present writer makes no pretension. It presented it- self to him as a branch of study that might be profit- ably occupied, as an exercise of the faculties, and as leading to various interesting and instructive inquiries. Had he possessed better resources, the work might have been proportionably improved. But his prede- cessors in this line of investigation were few ; and had he not made a liberal, indeed an unreserved use of Daubuz's Dictionary, his own gleanings in this field of research must have been very scanty. The prin- ciped writers on the subject of symbols are as follows : Pierius in Hieroglyphica. Pierre L'Anglois, Discours des Hieroglyphes. Vitringa de Theologia Symbolica. Walchii Antiquitates Symbolicae. Honerti Institutiones Theologiae Typicae Emble- maticae. Ewaldi Emblemata Sacra. Daubuz* Symbolical Dictionary. Other works no doubt exist, especially in the lite- INTRODUCTION. 5 rature of Germany, and some of them possibly supe- rior to those just named, but they are unknown in this country, at least the author has in vain ransacked numerous catalogues to find them. It is an observation of Maimonides, " That he who would understand all that the Prophets have said, must particularly apply himself to the study of the paxabolic, metaphorical, and enigmatical parts of Scripture." It has evidently seemed good to the Great Author of Revelation to clothe the mysteries of divine doctrine and prediction under the veil of emblems and figures, a mode which suited the genius of the Hebrew people and the nations of the east in general. On which account we find the books of the Old Testament especially, filled with allegories of various kinds. The Egyptians appear to have been the earliest cultivators of this species of compo- sition, and in this the Jews were rather imitators than originals. That this was a part of the wisdom of Egypt, in which Moses excelled, is suggested by Philo, in his Life of Moses, by Clemens of Alexandria, in his Stromata, and by many others. That the Chaldeans also were addicted to the use of emblems and allego- ries appears from some ancient writers, for whom, see Stanley's History of Philosophy. The Syrians and Phoenicians are affirmed to have prosecuted the same study, according to Jerome, Josephus, Eusebius, &c. The whole of the Levitical service was, as is al- lowed by all, an adumbration of the events, the doc- 6 INTRODUCTION. trines, or the spiritual worship of the new dispensa- tion, consisting of various figures, so as to deserve the name which Paul gives it, 1 Cor. ii. 7, " the wis- dom of God in a mystery," or as described in Heb. X. 1, " a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things." Wherefore Abarbanel, Abenezra, Maimonides, and other judicious Jewish interpreters, have sought in the sacrifices and rites of the Old Testament, the images of future and spiritual things. Our Saviour and his apostles use the same forms of speaking which the writers of the Old Tes- tament employed ; and Buxtorf and Saubert have shewed that some of the parables which Jesus uttered, in his addresses to the people, are to be found in the Talmud. Paul, on the other hand, has borrowed many of his allusions from the Pagan mysteries, the Grecian games, the Roman customs, and the like. The wisdom of God wonderfully appears in making choice of this manner of revealing his will. For sym- bols, allegories, and metaphors, greatly sharpen the human intellect, afford food for serious meditations, and allure the mind to spiritual exercises. Images thus borrowed from nature and art, from antiquity and from periods less remote, from national customs and religious rites, present a vast field of analogy, leading the faculties into a habit of comparing and examining, till every object becomes more or less fruitful of instruction. The student being at length convinced that all this imagery is only a vehicle for INTRODUCTION. 7 conveying sublime and abstract truths, feels himself divested of many prejudices, and delivered from those false and absurd conceptions which he had previously formed respecting the nature, perfections, and opera- tions of the Deity. Those anthropomorphite notions which he had before entertained, in consequence of reading familiarly of the divine hand, and arm, and eye — of the anger and repentance of God — of the cup of his ^v^ath — of his locomotion — and all those other ideas which seem to limit ubiquity and circumscribe infinity, as well as to impute to the All-Perfect mere human weaknesses — are laid aside as unworthy and unsuited to the Supreme Spirit. Neither can such a reader be deceived when he is informed of celestial nuptials, of sitting at table with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, so as to figure to himself carnal delights, where only spiritual joys are intended. An answer, too, is thus afforded to the sneers and cavils of infidels and scioUsts, who ridicule the language of Scripture, because it employs images drawn from common life : whereas this employment of the symbolical and figurative style, when rightly understood, constitutes much of the sublimity, gra- vity, and richness of the sacred volume. Had every thing in Scripture been drily literal and plainly didac- tic, the Bible would have wanted half its charms. It must, however, be owned, that here a luxuriant and unreined imagination must have no license. The symbols are not to be interpreted wantonly or 8 INTRODUCTION. applied rashly ; all must be under the guidance of a sober, chaste, and pious judgment ; afraid of giving forth that as divine truth, which has its origin only in human fancy. As the priest approached the altar of old, not with a light step or giddy thoughts, but with the awe and solemnity which his office inspired, so we must investigate the meaning of the sacred emblems under deep impressions of the importance of divine truth. Nor is the subject easily exhausted. The study of theology resolves itself into many parts, and the subdivision of labour is as needful here as in common sciences. What has been done for the elucidation of the symbolic language before now, as well as what is here attempted to be done, will still, leave a vast plain to be traversed by others, where a harvest, ra- ther than mere gleanings, may be gathered. A stu- dent taking the books of Moses only ; another, the di- dactic parts of Scripture ; a third, the prophets ; a fourth, the New Testament, would each find full and varied employment. The union of all their labours would barely suffice to illustrate the mystical parts of Revelation. It may be mentioned here, that the term symbol- was anciently employed for several purposes. It was customary to call the apostles' creed a symbol, from rvf^xxxtii, to throw or cast together, as if the apostles had each thrown in his article of belief to compose it, a notion completely disproved by Lord King. The INTRODUCTION. » term was also applied to military watchwords or signs, by which the soldiers of an array could distinguish each other, so that the term in that sense corresponded to the Latin Indicium. But the most frequent appli- cation of it was to the rites of the heathen religion, where those who were initiated in their mysteries, and admitted to the knowledge of their peculiar ser- vices, which were concealed from the greatest part of the idolatrous multitude, had certain signs or marks called symbola delivered to them, and on declaration of these were admitted without scruple, in any temple, to the secret worship and rites of that god whose symbols they had received. These symbols were of two sorts, mute or vocal, concerning which, those who would inquire farther, may have recourse to Cle- mens Alexandrinus, to Arnobius, to Julius Firmicus Maternus, and other ancient writers. The last named author acquaints us with the following symbol of some idolators : " That on a certain night they placed an image upright in a bed, and then wept round about it ; which when they had sufficiently done, a light was brought in, and then thp priest anointed the cheeks of all those who had lamented, pronouncing, with a soft murmur, these words : ' Be confident, ye initiated ones of the Saved God, for there shall be salvation to us from our labours.' " Some singular remarks respecting symbols appear to be contained in a work known to the learned, but which the present writer has never seen, beyond a 10 INTRODUCTION. mere notice of its contents, namely, Dr Stukely's ac- count of Abury, a temple of the Druids, in North Wiltshire. But by far the most ingenious account of the ori- gin and use of Hieroglyphical Symbols is that given by the learned and acute Bishop Warburton, in his celebrated work, entitled, " The Divine Legation of Moses," in which he has considered the subject at large, and has dissipated much of the darkness that previously rested upon it. An abstract of his rea- soning may be seen in the Works of the Learned, for September 1741, Article 14, and at the close of the third volume of Dr Macknight's Commentary on the Apostolic Epistles. Dr Warburton observes, that the tropical symbol sometimes assumed the form of a riddle, which in Scripture is called a dark saying, and he produces an example of it from Ezekiel xvii. 2, &c. which the reader will find illustrated in the following work, under the article Eagle. Considerable use, in the illustration of symbols, has been made by former authors, of the works of the Oneirocritics, or interpreters of dreams, an art of very high antiquity, and of which Scripture carries the practice up to the time of Joseph, who interpreted the dream of Pharaoh. Dreams were considered as speculative or allegorical ; the first is that which re- presents a plain and direct picture of the event pre- dicted ; the second an oblique one, or a tropical and symbolical image of it. This latter is that kind only INTRODUCTION. ^ 1 which needs an interpreter. If a man dreamed of a dragon, the oneirocritics assured him it signified ma- jesty ; when of a serpent, a disease ; of a viper, mo- ney ; of cats, adultery ; of partridges, impious persons, &c. What foundation these interpreters had for their system it is not easy to say, but it must have been something more than the working of each man's private imagination, for their customers wovild require a settled analogy for the basis of their decyphering, and they would as naturally fly to some confessed authority to support their science. This authority is conceived to have been the symbolic hieroglyphics ; and as the gods were believed to have been the in- ventors of hieroglyphic learning, so it was natural to suppose, that these gods, who in their opinion sent dreams likewise, had employed the same manner of expression in both revelations. Amidst the vast number of Scripture passages no- ticed or referred to in this work, the Author was at a loss how to proceed. Had he simply referred to them by chapter and verse, it is much to be feared, through the haste or indolence of readers, that many would have been overlooked. Had he, on the other hand, quoted them all, it would have greatly swelled the book. He has therefore tried to steer a middle course, and most of those he has quoted are expressed differently from the common version. The references to Scripture and to profane authors are also generally contrived so as to avoid the too 12 INTRODUCTION. frequent introduction of Hebrew or Greek characters, which would have rendered the work repulsive to the English reader, as well as have increased the expense of publication. SYMBOLICAL LANGUAGE SCRIPTURE. ABYSS. Abyss literally signifies any great depth, and generally a mass of very deep waters. Symboli- cally, it may be understood of a hidden and confused multitude of persons. According to the Jews, the abyss was a place under the earth, in the most internal parts of it, and was thought to be a great receptacle of waters, as a reservatory to fiirnish all the springs or rivers. And this opinion was held by Plato, Ho- mer, Seneca, and others, as well as by the Egyptians. In Gen. vii. 11, it is called the great deep, by way of eminence ; or that vast body of waters which is conceived to exist in the hollow sphere or womb of earth, whence it was brought forth at the universal deluge. Isaiah li. 10, " Art thou not it that dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep?" — i. e. of that sea whose waters communicated with the great deep. This circumstance, as Parkhurst observes, greatly heightens the miracle. Isaiah xliv. 27. What in the Seventy is abyss, is 14 ABYSS. in the Hebrew deep. This refers to the method by which Cyrus took Babylon, viz. by laying the bed of the Euphrates dry, as mentioned by Xenophon and others. The same event is noticed in similar terms by Jerem. 1. 38, and li. 36. A parallel passage, in re- lation to Egypt, occurs in Isaiah xix. 5, where the exhaustion of the country and its resources by foreign conquerors seems to be pointed out. These con- querors were Nebuchadnezzai- and the Persian kings, whose yoke was very grievous. Luke viii. 31, the term deep should be rendered the abyss, as Campbell justly observes. The sea or deep is expressed by a different word, to /SxSo^. That the sea is not meant here is evident ; for to the sea the demons went of themselves, when permitted, at their own request, to enter into the swine. Rom. X. 7, " Who shall descend into the abyss, to bring up Christ again from the dead ? " i. e. as Camp- bell explains it, faith does not require, for our satis- faction, things impracticable, either to scale the hea- vens, or to explore the profound recesses of departed spirits. For the word abyss signifies a pit or gulf, if not bottomless, at least of an indeterminable depth ; and must mean here more than the grave, since no- thing is more practicable for the living than a descent thither. Besides, to call the grave the abyss, is en- tirely unexampled. Let it be also observed, that it is not said, " to bring Christ up from the grave," but from the dead, for which end, to bring back the soul is, in the first place, necessary. In this instance, the term abyss corresponds to Hades, which generally de- notes the intermediate state, place, or receptacle of souls between death and the general resurrection. ABYSS. 15 The Greek term aSfc-o-aj occurs in Rev. ix. 1, 2, 1 1, and xi. 7, in xvii. 8, and xx. 1. 3, in all which places it should be rendered, " the pit of the abyss — the angel of the abyss — the key of the abyss," and so on. Grotius on Luke viii. 31, observes, that the abyss or bottomless pit is the same that St Peter calls Hell or Tartarus, 2 Peter ii. 4. This prison of Satan and his angels, is represented in Rev. ix. 1, &c., as being permitted to be opened, by a righteous judgment of God, for the just punishment of apostate churches, who would not repent of their evil works. And as errors, delusions, and impostures, blind the understanding, they are in the 2d verse compared to a great smoke, which hinders the sight, proceeding from the abyss. And truly, if interpreters are correct in applying this prophecy to Mahomet, the rise, pro- gress, extent, and long continuance of his imposture, may well be compared to a darkening smoke, issuing from the great abyss. The confining Satan in the abyss for a thousand years, seems to be a figurative description of the re- straint imposed upon all powers, that might either seduce men into error and wickedness, or persecute men of conscience, constancy, and faithfulness. Dur- ing such a period, religion may be expected to flourish in purity and in peace. And this, perhaps, is the whole amount of what so many have dreamed, in re- lation to what is termed the Millennium. The abyss sometimes signifies metaphorically griev- ous afflictions or calamities, in which, as in a sea, men seem ready to be overwhelmed. Ps. xlii. 7, and Ixxi. 20. The pit in Ezek. xxxii. 21 and 23, means the spa- 1-6 - ABYSS ABADDON. cious sepulchre, full of receptacles hewn round about its sides, in which the dead were deposited. To this region of the dead, the land of the living is opposed. ABADDON OR APOLLYON. Rev. ix. 11, " And they (the mystical locusts) had a king over them, who is the Angel of the Abyss, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name ApoUyon." Here the hordes of the Saracens are described as armed locusts, under a leader called " The Extermin- ator or Destroyer," for such is the meaning of the term above used. And this well agrees with the pro- phetical emblem, the distinguishing property of lo- custs being that of desolation ; and still more with the military character of Mahomet and his successors the Caliphs, who, in their wars for the propagation of the imposture, committed the most destructive in- roads, and reduced many nations to misery and de- spair. The duration of these inroads and conquests is computed from the death of Mahomet in 632, un- til 782, in the reign of the Empress Irene, and just before the accession of Haroun Alraschid to the cali- phate, a term of five months or 150 days, reckoning each day for a year. But see under Locusts. Mede supposes, that there is an allusion in the word " Abaddon" to the name of Obodas, the common name of the kings of that part of Arabia, from whence Ma- homet came, as Pharaoh was the common name of the kings of Egypt, and Caesar of the emperors of Rome — but the conjecture appears fanciful. Pococke derives it from the root bad " to perish," The Arabians call the desert Albaidas, i. e. the place of destruction, whence Abaddon, as it were, the Angel ABADDON ADULTERY. 17 of the Desert. And Mahomet brought the Saracens out of this quarter, being, as Nicephorus says, " an unknown nation, coming from an inaccessible wilder- ness. ADULTERY is used symbolically to denote Idola- try, or any departure from the law, worship, or service of God, which might be construed into unfaithfulness to that covenant which God condescends to describe as equivalent to the marriage-contract, a figure fre- quently used to signify the relation in which he was pleased to stand to his people, speaking of them as a spouse, and of himself as their husband. Thus in Jerem. iii. 8, 9 ; v. 7 ; xiii. 27, and other passages. Also in Ezek. xvi. 32 ; xxiii. 27, 43, &c. And in Rev. ii. 22. In Jerem. ii. 2, God reminds Israel, not of their affection to him, for they never shewed much, as their history testifies, but of his to them, which was on his part perfectly gratuitous, and which led him to espouse them ; that is, to engage in a special contract with them to be their God, and to take them for his pecu- liar people. In Jerem. iii. 14, where God says, " For I am mar- ried to you," or rather, " For I have been a husband among you," he reminds them, that he had fulfilled the covenant on his part, by protecting and blessing them as he had promised. And therefore, as they never had any reason to complain of him, he urges them to return to their duty, and promises in that case to be still kinder to them than before. See also Jerem. xxxi. 32, and Heb. viii. 9. Jerem. xiii. 27- Here Jerusalem is reproached with having practised her idolatry in such a deliberate 18 ADULTERY AIR. manner, as shewed it to proceed from a steady attach- ment, which, at the same time, she was at no pains to disguise, having chosen the most public places for the scene of her wickedness. AIR. The air may be considered as the mansion of evil spirits, of whom Satan is the chief. In this view, it may denote the jurisdiction of those invisible powers, which powers symbolically represent their visible agents and instruments on earth. It was the opinion of Pythagoras, as Diogenes Laertius mentions, that " all the air was full of souls or spirits, and that these were they who were thought to be demons or heroes — that by them dreams were sent to men, &c. The Jevrs also believed, that from the earth to the firmament, all things were full of these companies or rulers, and that there was a prince over them, who was called the Governor of the World, that is, of the darkness of it. Eph. vi. 12, '• The prince of the power of the air." The power of the air, says Chandler, signifies that government and dominion which is exercised by evil spirits, who are supposed to have their habitation assigned them in the air above us ; and who are re- presented in Scripture as subject to one, who is the head or prince over them, the author of their aposta- cy from God, and their leader in their rebellion against him ; called here " the prince of the power of the air," or of that government which is exercised in the re- gions of the air, and amongst wicked and apostate spirits, who now work in or amongst the children of disobedience, influencing them to continue in their AIR ALTAR. 19 idolatry and vices, and to refuse submission to the Gospel of the Son of God. Rev. ix. 2, " The sun and the air were darkened." A dark smoke is said to issue from the pit or abyss, so thick that it intercepted the light of the sun, and obscured the whole air ; a just representation of great errors, such as those of Mahomet, who is here thought to be pointed at, darkening the understanding, ob- scuring the truth, and attended with violence and destruction. Rev. xvi. 17, " The angel poured out his vial into the air." The pouring out the vial into the air, is a proper ex- pression to point out the very seat and foundation of Satan's power and authority as god of this world, and to denote the restraining of that power, so that he shall no longer be able to prevail, either to corrupt the truth of Christianity, or to persecute its faithful professors. The air, as the midst of heaven, or the middle sta- tion between heaven and earth, may symbolically re- present the place where the Divine judgments are denounced. Thus, in 1 Chron. xxi. 16, it is said, " David saw the Angel of the Lord stand between the earth and the heaven," when about to destroy Je- rusalem by the pestilence. The hovering of the an- gel shewed, that there was still time by prayer to avert the judgment. It had not yet fallen upon the earth, nor as yet done any execution. ALTAR. An altar, both among the Jews and the Heathen, was an asylum — a sanctuary — for such persons as fled to it for refuge. This appears fron' Exod. xxi. 14, 1 Kings i. 50, 1 Kings ii. 28, and other passages. 20 ALTAR. And as to the practice of the heathen in this re- spect, all the Greek writers are more or less copious. See under Horns. Heb. xiii. 13, " We have an altar," &c. The Christian altar, i. e. the table of the Lord, considered as furnished with the memorials of the sa- crifice of his death, of which memorials Christians are to partake, but of which they have no right to eat, who serve the tabernacle. So Parkhurst. But Macknight explains it thus : " Here, by an usual metonymy, the altar is put for the sacrifice, as is plain from the Apostle's adding, of which they have no right to eat. This is the sacrifice which Christ offered for the sins of the world ; and the eat- ing of it does not mean corporal eating, but the par- taking of the pardon which Christ, by that sacrifice, had procured for sinners." Rev. viii. 3, " Offer it with prayers on the golden altar." Rev. ix. 13, " From the horns of the golden altar." In these two passages, the scenery is taken from the holy place, where the priest used to officiate in the worship of the Jews ; there being, in this repre- sentation of the heavenly presence, no veil, and so no distinction between the holy and most holy place. Altars were built of stones, which, in the case of those erected to the true God, were forbid to be hewn, Exod. XX. 25, Josh, viii, 31,1 Kings xviii. 31, 1 Sam. vi. 14.. The Gentiles imitated the same, as appears from Pausanias, 1. vi. p. 382, where he mentions " an altar of white stone ;" and Apollonius Rhodius, in speaking of the temple of Mars, Argon, 1. ii — ALTAR. 21 " And all devoutly round the altar stood; This of small stones composed, was placed before The lofty temple's double-folding door : Within the fane a stone of sable hue Stood, where the Amazons their victims slew." Fawkes. The tombs, says Bryant, in his Mythology, of which frequent mention is made by the ancient writ- ers, were in reality high altars or pillars, and not, as has been supposed, monuments erected in honour of the dead. Such an one the Argonauts are said to have found in the temple of Mars, when they landed upon the coast of Pontus. This was the express ob- ject to which the Amazonians paid their adoration, as they lived in an age when statues were not known. Altars were generally erected at the gates of the city. See 2 Kings xxiii. 8. And we may refer to this Acts xiv. 13, where the priest of Jupiter is said to have brought filletted oxen to the gates, to per- form sacrifice. It is observable, that /3«^« in the Greek, and Ara in the Latin, is used only of an altar erected in ho- nour of idols ; whilst that for the service of the true God, is constantly called ^utrias^^ion in Greek, and Al- tare in Latin. One wooden table was wont to be placed in the midst of every meeting-place of the primitive Chris- tians, upon which each of them laid what he bestowed for the use of the poor, as we are informed by Theo- doret, lib. v. c. 18. (see Heb. xii. 16); and because alms are noted with the name of sacrifice, that table upon which they were laid was called by the ancient Christians an altar. 22 ANGEL. ANGEL. A name, not of nature, but of office, as Austin observes. Both the Hebrew and Greek terms signify messenger. In the prophetic style, every thing is called an an- gel, that notifies a message from God, or executes the will of God. A prophetic dream is an angel. The pillar of fire, that went before the Israelites, is called God's angel. The winds and flames of fire are an- gels to us, when used by God as voices to teach us, or as rods to punish us. So that God is properly said to reveal by his angel, what he makes known, either by voice, by dream, by vision, or any other manner of true prophetic revelation. Secular princes may, in some such sense, be termed angels. See 2 Sam. xiv. 17, 20. The Angel of a Nation, denotes its king or ruler. Ecclesiastical officers are named angels in the epistles to the Seven Churches, the chief pastor of each church being addressed by that title. Angel, simply taken, sometimes signifies any visi- ble agent made use of by God in bringing about the designs of his providence. Angel from the Altar, signifies an ecclesiastical minister. Angel of the Waters, Rev. xvi. 5. Rivers and fountains of waters may not unfitly signify the origi- nal countries or seats of empires, in distinction from the provinces ; and the angel here denotes the minis- ter or instrument employed in executing this judg- ment of God upon the kingdom of the Beast. Angel who had power over Fire, Rev. xiv. 18, sig- nifies the minister of God's vengeance having power oyer fire, which is the emblem of his wrath. So the ANGEL ARM. 23 priest in the ancient temple service, who had charge of the fire on the altar, was called the priest over Jire. See Fire. Rulers have the same name given them, Rom. xiii. 6, as is given to angels in Heb. i. 14, with the neces- sary exception of the term spirits. The Angel of the Bottomless Pit, Rev. xi. 9- These figurative locusts are represented as having a king, though the natural locusts, as Agur observes (Prov. XXX. 27), have none ; and this king is that evil spirit, who, from the constant mischief he is do- ing in the world, is called the Destroyer. Four angels bound on the Euphrates, Rev. ix. 4. See Four. Michael and his angels. Rev. xii. 7. This state of the church is described under the form of a severe contest between faithful Christians and the abettors of idolatry, wickedness and error, which should ter- minate in a complete victory over the enemies of true religion. But see this text further illustrated under Seven. . ARM. The symbol of strength or power. Ps. X. 15, " Break thou the arm of the wicked;" diminish or destroy his power. Ezek. XXX. 21, "I have broken the arm of Pha- roah, king of Egypt." See the same image in Jer. xlviii. 25. Put to denote the infinite power of God: Ps. Ixxxix. 13, " Thou hast a mighty arm". Ps. xcviii, 1, " His holy arm hath gotten him the victory." Isa. liii. 1, " To whom is the arm of the Lord revealed," i. e. his power in making the Gospel effectual. See John xii. 38. Exod. vi. 6, " I will redeem you with a stretched- 24 ARM ARROW. out arm," i. e. with a power fully exerted ; and so in other passages. The metaphor is taken from the at- titude of warriors baring and stretching out the arm to fight, after removing every impediment to its ac- tion. Thus in Isa. lii. 10, "Jehovah hath made bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations." And it is under the same figure, though not the same term, that Paul, speaking of the Gospel, Rom. i. 16, says, " It is the power of God unto salvation, to every one that believeth." Isa. ix. 20, " They shall eat every one the flesh of his own arm." Bishop Lowth has here corrected the reading, from the Seventy and other versions, and shewn that it should be " the flesh of his neighbour," similau* to Jer. xix. 9 ; that is, they shall harass and destroy one another. See his note on the place. ARROW. The symbol of calamities or diseases inflicted by God. Thus, Job xxxiv. 6, which our translators have rendered, " my wound is incurable without transgression," should be translated, " I am desperately pierced through by arrows." See also Job vi. 4 ; Psa. xxxviii. 2 ; Deut. xxxii. 23: and compare Ezek. v. 16; Zech. ix. 14. Ovid has this passage : " Non mea sunt summa leviter districta sagitta Pectora descendit Tulnus ad ossa meum." It is also applied figuratively to lightnings, which are God's arrows. See Ps. xviii. 1 5 ; Ps. cxliv. 6 ; Hab. iii. 11 : and compare Wisd. v. 21 ; 2 Sam. xxii. 15. On Hab. iii. 1 1, Calvin says, that the arrows and spears of the Israelites are called those of God, under whose auspices his people fought ; or the instruments ARROW. 25 of destruction which God employed (Josh. x. 11), may be metaphorically called his arrows and spears. Sometimes arrow denotes some sudden and inevi- table danger, as in Psa. xci. 5, " The arrow that flieth by day." Also any thing injurious, as a deceitful tongue, Psa. cxxix. 4, Jer. ix. 7 ; a bitter word, Psa. Ixiv. 4 ; a false testimony, Prov. xxv. 18. On the other hand, it is used to signify well edu- cated children, Psa. exxvii. 4, 5. The gate was the place of resort for public business and justice, under the portico that belonged to it. Children would sup- port a man there, in his contests and pretensions ; ac- cording to the rendering of the Chaldee, " They shall not be put to shame, when they contend with their adversaries in the gate of the judgment-hall." The term " arrow" is specially applied to the word of God in the hands of the Messiah, Psa. xlv. 6, Isa. xlix. 2 ; on which last passage see Bishop Lowth's excellent note. Ezek. xxi. 21, "To use divination, he mingled his arrows." Divination by arrows, was an ancient method of presaging future events. Jerome says, the manndi* was thus : They wrote on several arrows the names of the cities against which they intended to make war, and then putting them all into a quiver promis- cuously, they caused them to be drawn out in the manner of lots, and that city whose name was on the arrow first drawn out, was the first they assaulted. Nebuchadnezzar is here represented as acting thus ; — he comes to the head of two roads, mingles his ar- rows in a quiver, that he might thence divine in what 26 ARROW ASHES. direction to pursue his march, — he consults teraphim, and inspects the livers of beasts, in order to deter- mine his resolution. See Potter's Arch. Grasca, v. 1 . 1. 2. V. 16. Seven divining arrows were kept at the temple of Mecca ; but generally in divination, the idolatrous Arabs made use of three only, on one of which was written, " My Lord hath commanded me," on another, " My Lord hath forbidden me," and the third was left blank. If the first was drawn, they looked on it as an approbation of the enterprise in question ; if the second, they made a contrary conclusion ; but if the third happened to be drawn, they mixed them, and drew over again, till a decisive answer was given by one of the others. Sale's Koran, Prelim. Disc. p. 125. Pococke's Spec. Hist. Arab. p. 329, is referred to by Mr Lowth, as treating fully of this mode of divina- tion. See Hosea iv. 12. Ezek. xxi. 22, " Towards his right hand fell the divination against Jerusalem." Supposing the face towards the east, the southern branch of the two roads, which was towards the right hand, led to Jerusalem, for this city lay to the south of Rabba. You must represent Nebuchadnezzar as coming from Dan, and marching along the Jordan. Here Rabba was situated at the left hand, and Jeru- salem at the right. (Michaelis.) ASHES. The symbol of human frailty. Gen. xviii. 27; of deep humiliation, Esther iv. 1, Jonah iii. 6, Matt. xi. 21, Luke x. 1.3, Job xlii. 6, Dan. ix. 3 ; a ceremonial mode of purification, Heb. ix. 13; they are likened to hoar-frost, Psa. clxvii. 14. In Ezek. xxvii. 30, we find the mourning Tvrians ASHES. 27 described as wallowing in ashes ; and we may remark, that the Greeks had the like custom of strewing them- selves with ashes in mourning. Thus Homer, Iliad, 18, line 22, &c. speaking of Achilles bewailing the death of Patroclus : " Cast on the ground, with furious hands he spread The scorching ashes o'er his graceful head : His purple garments, and his golden hairs, Those he deforms with dust, and these he tears." Laertes shews his grief in the same manner, Odyss. 24.1.315: " Deep from his soul he sigh'd, and sorrowing spread . A cloud of ashes on his hoary head." Compare Virgil, Mn. 10. 1. 844, and Ovid's Metam. b. 8. 1. 528. Isa. xliv. 20, " He feedeth on ashes." He feedeth on that which aifordeth no nourishment ; a proverbial expression for using ineffectual means, and bestowing labour to no purpose. In the same sense Hosea says, ch. xii. 1, " Ephraim feedeth on wind." See Lowth, in loc. Isa. Ixi. 3, " A beautiful crown instead of ashes." See Lowth's note. A chaplet, crown, or other orna- ment of the head, instead of dust and ashes, which before covered it ; and the costly ointments, used on occasions of festivity, instead of the ensigns of sor- row. See 2 Sam. xiv. 2, Judith x. 3. Maximus Tyrius, referring to this custom among the heathen. Diss. 30. p. 366, observes, " Let men la- ment and implore ever so much, or pour ever so much dust upon their heads, God will not grant what ought not to be granted." 28 ASHES AX. Job ii. 8. " And he sat clown among the ashes." So Ulysses in Odyssey, b. 7- 1. 1 53 : " Then to the genial earth he bow'd his face. And humbled in the ashes took his place." See also H. 18. v. 26. Psa. cii. 9, " I have eaten bread like ashes, and mingled my drink with weeping ;" i. c. I have eaten the bread of humiliation, and drank the water of af- fliction ; ashes being the emblem of the one, and tears the consequence of the other. See Home on the text. AX. The symbol of the Divine judgments. Some- times applied to a human instrument, as in Isa. x. 15, " Shall the ax boast itself against him that heweth therewith ?" /. e, shall the proud king of Assyria boast himself against God, whose instrument he is to execute his purposes ? Jerem. li. 20, " O battle ax, thou shalt be my weapon of war, And with thee will I break in pieces nations." The army of the Medes and Persians is most pro- bably here intended ; as elsewhere the instrument of God's vengeance is called a sword, a rod, a scourge. (Blayney), see also Jerem. xlvi. 22. And by axes, which were a part of the insignia of the Roman Magistracy, was denoted the power of life and death, and of supreme judgment. Whence Cicero in his Orat. in Verr. says, " O Dii immortales, praeclaram defensionem, mercatorem cum imperio ac securibus, in provinciam misimus." The most common use of the ax, as is well known, is to cut down trees, hence the expression in Matt. iii. AX. 29 10, and Luke iii. 9, " the ax is laid at the root of the trees." Silius Italicus, lib. 10, has, " Agmine prosternunt lucos, sonat icta bipenni Populus alba." See also Virgil, ^n. 6, v. 1 80, " Procumbunt piceae, sonat icta securibus ilex Fraxine aeque trabes : cuneis et fissile robur Scinditur: advolvunt ingentes montibus ornos. Hence we find such expressions as these in Isa. x. 33, " Behold Jehovah the Lord of hosts, Shall lop the flourishing branch with a dreadful crash, And the high of stature shall be cut down, And the lofty shall be brought low ; And he shall hew the thickets of the forest with iron. And Lebanon shall fall by a mighty hand." The ax was also used as the instrument of decolla- tion, to which there is allusion in Rev. xx. 4, " The souls of them that were beheaded for the testimony of Jesus," literally, " cut with an ax." Axes were also used in war, hence Sidonius, Carm. El. 5, V. 247, " Excussisse citas vastum per inane secures." And Horace, 1. 4, Ode 4, " Amazonia securi dextras obarmet." Also in Carm. Seoul, v. 54, " Jam mari terraque manu potentem Medus, Albanasque timet secures." And Virgil, Mn. 2. v. 480, " Ipse inter primes correpta dura bipenni Limina perrumpit, postesque a cardine vellit." Axes were used in sacrificial rites ; hence Virgil, " Quales mugitus fugit cum saucius aras Taurus et incertam excussit cervice securim." 30 AX And Ovid. lib. 12, Metam. " Candida tauri Rumpere sacrifica molitur colla securi." This sacrificial ax was called the ax of the Hiero- phant. There are various coins in which these axes appear. " The ax is laid at the root of the trees." That trees are a general symbol of men, is well known. See under Forest and Tree, See also Ezek. xxxi. 3 ; Dan. iv. 7, 8 ; Matt. vii. 19, and xii. 33 ; Ps. i. 3 ; Zech. xi. 1, 2. What John Baptist, therefore, refers to, is probably the excision of the Jewish nation. The tree of the Jewish commonwealth was to be root- ed up by the ax of the Divine Judgment, and they were to remain, for many days, without a king, without a priest, without an ephod, and without sacrifices. How thoroughly this was done, Josephus tells uS, b. 7, de Bello Jud. c. 1, " It was miserable to behold that country, formerly covered with trees and fertile plants, now lying plain like a desert ; neither was there any stranger, who before had seen Judea, and the beauti- ful suburbs of Jerusalem, who, now beholding it, could abstain from tears, and not lament so woful a change. For this war extinguished utterly all signs of beauty ; neither could one coming suddenly, know the place which he well knew before." Others, however, are disposed to interpret the passage in Matt. iii. 10, as simply meaning the approaching Gospel season, by the preaching of which, such methods should be taken in the course of Divine Providence, for the subduing and mortifying the power of sin among mankind, which, if not properly improved, would dreeidfuUy AX ASS. 31 aggravate the guilt of those still remaining in their sins, notwithstanding their possession of it. When Paul says, Phil. i. 17, that he was set for the defence of the Gospel, the original word is the same with that in this passage answering to laid, viz. KUfAM. ASS, an animal of a patient, laborious, and stupid nature, the emblem of persons of a similar disposition. Issachar is called a strong ass. Gen. xlix. 14, in re- ference to his descendants, as being a settled agricul- tural tribe, who cultivated their own territory with patient labour, emblematized by the a.ss. We rarely read of Issachar being engaged in any war, which is ever hostile to agriculture. Of Jehoiakim it is said, in Jer. xxii. 19, " With the burial of an ass shall he be buried, dragged along, And cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem." An event mentioned by Josephus, who says, " that the king of Babylon advanced with an army, that Je- hoiakim admitted him readily into Jerusalem, and that Nebuchadnezzar, having entered the city, in- stantly put him to death, and cast his dead body un- buried without the walls. It is recorded of our blessed Lord, in Zech. ix. 9, and quoted thence in Matt. xxi. 5, that he should be " Humble, and sitting on an ass, Even on a colt the foal of an eiss." As horses were used in war, Christ may be supposed, by this action, to have shewn the humble and peace- able nature of his kingdom. The Wild Ass, which is more than once mention- ed in Scripture, is a very different creature from the 32 ASS BABYLON. common ass in most of its qualities. Ephraim is compared to them, in Hosea viii. 9, meaning, that he was untamed to the yoke, and traversed the desert as earnestly in the pursuit of idols as the onager in quest of his mates. Though wild asses, says Pococke, be often found in the desert in whole herds, yet it is usual for some one of them to break away, aind separate himself fi'om his company, and run alone and at random by himself. They are described by Jcrem. xiv. 6, as snuffing up the wind like dragons, i. e. they suck in the air for want of water to cool their internal heat. vElian de- scribes serpents as doing the same, and Varro thus speaks of the ox, " Et bos suspiciens coelum (mirabile visu), Naribus aerium patulis decerpsit odorem." See more in Blayney. Job says, ch. xxxix. 5, " who hath sent out the wild ass free ?" It seems to have no affinity with the common ass, but in the name, for it is beautiful, ex- cessively swift, and wild. BABYLON. Rev. xvi. 19 ; xvii. 5 ; xviii. 10, 21. That Babylon in these passages is symbolically meant of Rome, is not difficult to prove. Daubuz has very accurately given the reasons why the latter is so called, namely, not only on account of Rome's being guilty of usurpation, tyranny, and idolatry, and of persecuting the Church of God, as the literal Ba- bylon did ; but also as being the possessor of the pre- tended rights of Babylon, by a successive devolution of power. BABYLON, 3o The literal Babylon was the beginner and supporter of tyranny and idolatry ; first by Nimrod or Ninus, and afterwards by Nebuchadnezzar ; and therefore, in Isa. xlvii. 12, she is accused of magical enchant- ments from her youth or infancy, i. e. from her very ■ first origin as a city or nation. This city and its whole empire were taken by the Persians under Cyrus. The Persians were subdued by the Macedonians, and the Macedonians by the Romans ; so that Rome succeeded to t^e power of Old Babylon. And it was her method to adopt the worship of the false deities she had conquered ; so that by her own acts she became the heiress and successor of all the Babylonian idolatry, and of all that was introduced into it, by the intermediate successors of Babylon, and consequently of all the idolatry of the earth. Rome Papal, corrupted by dressing up the idola- try of Rome Pagan in another form, and forcing it upon the world, became the successor of the old lite- ral Babylon in tyranny and idolatry, and may there- fore be properly represented and called by the name of Babylon ; it being the usual style of the prophets to give the name of the head or first institutor to the successors, however different they may be in some circumstances, as in Ezek. ch. xxxvii. the Messiah is called David, as being successor to David ; and as the Christian Church, though chiefly composed of Gentiles, is called, Gal. vi, 16, by the name of Israel, as successively inheriting, in a spiritual sense, the promises made to the literal Israel. So Rachel, in Jerem. xxxi. 15, Matt. ii. 18, is put for the town, or women inhabiting the town of Beth- c 34 BABYLON. lehem, in which was the sepulchre of the literal Rachel, of which consequently those inhabitants were still in possession. And so the Persians and Moguls call the Ottoman Turks by the name of Roumi, Romans, because they are in possession of the country and capital (Constan- tinople), enjoyed by the ancient Romans. (See Her- belot, tit. JRoum.) Farther, that Babylon is Rome, is evident from the explanation given by the angel in Rev. xvii. 18, where it is expressly said to be " that great city which ruleth over the kings of the earth ;" no other city but Rome being in the exercise of such power at the time when the vision was seen. That Constantinople is not meant by Babylon is plain also from what Mede has stated, Works, p. 922. " The seven heads of the beast (says he) are by the angel made a double type, both of the seven hills where the woman sitteth, and of the seven sovereign- ties with which in a successive order the Beast should reign. This is a pair of fetters to tie both Beast and whore to Western Rome. The seven sovereignties must not be separated from the seven hills, nor the seven hills from as many sovereignties. Constanti- nople may have as many hills, but those hills never had so many sovereignties. In other cities, where the Sovereign Roman name (or but the name) hath reigned, are neither so many hills, nor ever were those seven succeeding sovereignties." Rome or Mystic Babylon (says the same author, p. 484), is called the " Great City," not from any re- ference to its extent, but because it was the queen of other cities. BABYLON BALANCE. 35 Babylon, as mentioned by Peter i., Eph. v. 13, is thought by some to be Rome, but by others, to be a place of the same name in Egypt. Baronius contra- dicts this last assertion, by saying, there is no men- tion of a Bishop of Babylon till 500 years after Pe- ter's time, under Justin the younger ; which may be true, and yet such a church might exist in the apostles' days. The paraphrase of Bossuet, Bishop of Meaux, a Catholic writer, on Rev. xvii. 5, is remarkable, as ad- mitting Rome to be the city intended by St John. " Babylon (says he) is meant by the name of the Whore, and Rome by Babylon. This is the most natural sense. We see then why St John represents Rome under the name of Babylon, as she had all the characters of Babylon, an empire full of idols and di- vinations, and a persecutor of the saints, as she was." But then the Bishop probably applied this to Rome Pagan. Had Rome Pagan persecuted the saints as she did, it could have excited no astonishment in the apostle's mind ; but he might well greatly wonder, as Lowman observes, that Rome Christian, once so fa- mous for purity of faith, and patient suffering for the profession of the truth, should become another Baby- lon for idolatry and persecution. From hence Pro- testant interpreters may with reason infer, that this vision does not represent the persecution of Rome Heathen, but of Rome Anti-christian. BALANCE, the known symbol of a strict obser- vation of justice and fair dealing. It is thus used in several places of Scripture, as Job xxxi. 6 ; Ps. Ixii. 9 ; Prov. xi. 1, and xvi. 11. And is so explained by the 36 BALANCE. Indian interpreter, ch. xv., and by all the interpreters in ch. ccxlii. But balance joined with symbols denoting the sale of corn and fruits by weight, becomes the symbol of scarcity. Bread hy weight being a curse, in Lev. xxvi. 26, and in Ezek. iv. 16, 17. " Moreover he said unto me : Son of Man, Lo, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem ; And they shall eat bread by weight and with care, And they shall drink water by measure and with astonishment : That they may want bread and water, And be astonished one with another, And pine away in their iniquity." A case which Lucretius describes, b. 4, 948. " Et quoniam non est quasi quod suffulciat artus, Debile fit corpus, languescent omnia membra, Brachia palpebraeque cadimt, poplitesque procumbunt." The same curse is expressed hy famine, in Ezek. V. 16, and xiv. 13. And therefore the Holy Spirit, which in the gospel dispensation is said to be shed richly or abundantly, Titus iii. 6 ; is said in John iii. .34, not to be given by measure. So whereas grace is said to be given according to the measure of the gift of Christ, Eph. iv. 7, that measure is understood to be, " out of \n?, fulness, and grace upon grace," John i. 16. Rev. vi. 5, " He that sat upon him had a pair of balances in his hand." Here the balance, which in general is a representation of exact justice and right- eous judgment, is used to weigh corn and the neces- saries of life, in order to signify great want and scar- pity, and to threaten the world with famine. U'he rider sits on a black horse, and black in an- BALANCE. 3"7 cient prophecy is an emblem of affliction, and in par- ticular of affliction caused by famine. Thus Jerem. in Lament, v. 10, says, •' Our skin was black like an oven, because of the terrible famine," referring to the effects of hunger in emaciating the body, and drying the skin. The scarcity is farther denoted by the price of a choenix or measure of wheat, being a penny or de- narius, i. e. the whole wages of a man's labour for a day (Matt. xx. 2), would only purchase so much corn as would suffice for an usual daily allowance ; so that all he could get must be laid out on the very neces- saries of life. The fulfilment of this prophecy is referred by most commentators to the times of Septimius Severus. See Newton, Daubuz, Lowman, and others. To this period it is thought TertuUian refers in his address to Scapula, when he mentions unfavour- able harvests and heavy rains. But Mede is of a different opinion, and refers it not to a season of scarcity, but to the regard paid to jus- tice and equity by Severus in the administration of his government, that he preserved an even balance among all, and to the supplies of corn he procured for his subjects in seasons of famine. And the character given of this Emperor by Aurelius Victor, Spartian, and others, seems to warrant this opinion. The passage referred to in the Indian Interpreter, ch. XV, is as follows : " Si quis in somnis stateram vel campanam quod vocant (genus est staterae) loco quodam librari viderit, ea de persona Judicis intelli- gat. Quod si litem habet, ac inter librandum ea vide- rit exsequari ; jus suum obtinebit. 38 BALANCE BEAR. " Si stateram aequam puramque viclere videatur, Ju- dicem loci justum esse cognoscat ; sin perversas frac- tasque lances viderit, ejus loci Judicem, quo loco som- nium vidit, injustum cogitet." BEAR. Dan, vii. 5, " Another beast, a second like to a bear." Rev. xiii. 2, " His feet were as the feet of a bear." The bear, according to the Persian interpreter, in eh. cclxxiv, signifies a rich, powerful, and foolhardy enemy. See Prov. xvii. 1 2 ; 2 Sam. xvii. 8 ; Hosea xiii. 8. According to Aristotle, the bear is a greedy animal as well as silly and foolhardy. His name in Hebrew, doub, the grumbler, seems to be taken from his grum- bling or growling, especially when hungry or enraged. So Buffon remarks, t. 8, " La voix de Tours est un grondement, un gros murmure, souvent mele d'un fremissement de dents qu'il fait surtout lorsque, on Tirrite." Compare Isa. lix. 1 1 . " We groan all of us like the bears ; And like the dores, we msike a continued moan." This growl the Latin writers express by gemitus, because it is a disagreeable mourriful sound. So Ho- race, Epod. 16, line 51, ' " Nee Vespertinus circumgemit Ursus ovile." " Nor growls around the fold the evening bear." And Ovid, Metam. b. 2, 1. 483, " Vox iracunda, minaxque, Plenaque tenoris rauco de gutture fertur. Aflsiduoque suos gemitu testata dolores." " From her hoarse throat proceeds a horrid voice, And with perpetual growl attests her griefe." BEAR, 39 Isa. xi. 7, " And the cow and the bear shall feed," i. e. men of ferocious dispositions shall become mild and placable, and shall associate with those who were gentle and harmless. Hosea xiii. 8, " As a bear bereaved of her whelps." A circumstance, as Newcome observes, which adds a particular degree of fierceness. They never venture, says Cook in his Voyages, vol. iii. p. 307, to fire upon a young bear when the mother is near, for if the cub drop, she becomes enraged to a degree little short of madness ; and if she get sight of the enemy, will only quit her revenge with her life. Rev. xiii. 2, " The feet of a bear." The bear's feet are his best arms, with which he fights, either striking or embracing his antagonist, to squeeze him to death, or to trample him under foot. Daubuz refers this prophecy to the invasion of the Roman Empire by the Barbarians, of whom the Scy- thians and Germans in particular were very sottish, ignorant, and cruel. Dan. vii. 5, " A second beast, like to a bear." The bear is well known to be a rapacious animal, and the command here given to it indicates its nature. The three projections are called in our version ribs, but the original word oloin seems to denote some- thing ^(wnmew^ OT penetrating, and hence the term tusks is more natural and agreeable, especially as they are placed in the mouth or jaws, for so Houbigant renders it. The three tusks may refer to the three difierent points to which the Persians, denoted by the bear, pushed their conquests. Coming from the east, they invaded the western, southern, and northern ter- ritories. And thus we read in ch. viii. 4, that the 40 BEAR BEAST. ram pushed westward, and northward, and southward. And that great havoc among the human race was made by the Persians, may be learned from Jerem. li. 56, and also from the revolt of the Hyrcanians, and of Gobryas in the 4th book, and from other parts of the Cyropsedia, as well as from most of the histo- rians. BEAST. Wild Beast, the symbol of a tyranni- cal usurping power or monarchy, that destroys its neighbours or subjects, and preys upon all about it, and persecutes the Church of God. The four beasts in Dan. vii. 3, are explained in verse 17, of four kings or kingdoms, as the word king is interpreted, verse 23. In several other places of Scripture, wild beasts are the symbol of tyrannical powers, as in Ezek.xxxiv. 28, and Jerem. xii. 9? where the beasts of the field are explained, by the Targum, of the kings of the heathen and their armies. Amongst profane authors, the comparison of cruel governors to savage beasts is obvious ; and Horace calls the Roman people a many-headed beast. Lib. i. ep. 1, V. 76. And as for the Oneirocritics, wild beasts are gene- rally the symbols of enemies, whose malice and power is to be judged of in proportion to the nature and magnitude of the wild beasts they are represented by. The seven heads of the beast in Rev. xvii. 9> 10, have a twofold signification, 1*^, They are seven mountains or hills, on which the metropolis of the beast is situated. 2d, They are seven successive or- ders or kinds of government, viz. Kings — Consuls — Tribunes— Decemvirs — Dictators — Emperors — The BEAST. 41 kingdom of the Goths in Italy. Tacitus, Annals, 1. 1, c. 1, expressly says, " Rome was first governed by kings, then by consuls, by dictators, by decemvirs, by military tribunes with consular authority." After these seven forms became extinct, the Pope- dom appeared in all its rigour, and has continued ever since as the eighth head of the beast ; but it is said, verse 11, " He goeth into perdition," i.e. he shall be utterly destroyed, nor can his fate be far dis- tant. The rising of a beast signifies the rise of some new dominion or government ; the rising of a wild beast, the rise of a tyrannical government ; and ris- ing out of the sea, that it should owe its origin to the commotions of the people. So waters are inter- preted by the angel, Rev. xvii. 15. In the visions of Daniel, the four great beasts, the symbols of the four great monarchies, are represented rising out of the sea in a storm. " I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great seas, and four great beasts came up from the sea." Dan. vii. 2, 3. Campanella de Monarch. Hispau. App. p. 509j suggests, that the founders of the four monarchies are called beasts, on account of the savage and cruel measures they pursued. " Et quia omnes quatuor monarchiarum fundatores Nimrod hunc secuti, contra naturalem instinctum, caeteras nationes nulla justa de causa, sed mera ambitione et regnandi cupiditate ex- stimulati oppugnarunt, idcirco, quemadmodum qui- dam tradunt, quatuor ilia monarchiae a Daniele pro- pheta sub nomine ferarum bestiarum descripti fuere, ad saevitiam et immanitatem illorum denotandum." 42 BEAST BEE. May we not add, tliat all earthly governments do and will partake of the bestial character, until they assimilate more to the nature and laws of Christianity, in their abstinence from sanguinary wars, from na- tional pride, from the worship of Mammon, from un- just and partial legislation, and from every crooked scheme of maintaining their power and influence- In Dan. viii. 4, it is said of the Medo-Persian ram, that no beasts might stand before him, meaning, that no state or kingdom was able to resist his power. BED. When a person is cast into it by way of punishment, is a bed of languishing, and therefore, a symbol of great tribulation, and anguish of body and mind. For, to be tormented in bed, where men seek rest, is the highest of griefs. See Ps. xli. 3 — vi. 6 ; Job. xxxiii. 19 ; Isa. xxviii. 20. BEE. The king of Ethiopia is termed a fly, and the king of Assyria a bee, probably because in pic- ture writing they were represented by these symbols : Thus Isaiah vii. 18, " Jehovah shall hiss for the fly. That is in the utmost part of the rivers of Egypt, And for the bee that is in the land of Assyria." That is, the Lord shall call the Ethiopian and Assy- rian kings to avenge his quarrel. The metaphor is taken from the practice of those that keep bees, who draw them out of their hives into the fields, and lead them back again by a hiss or whistle. The same figure is used in Ch. v. 26. " He will hiss every one of them from the ends of the earth, And behold, with speed swiftly shall they come." See also Deut. i. 44 ; Ps. cxviii. 12, and God calls BEE. 43 the locusts his great army, Joel. ii. 25. Exod. xxiii. 28. The Hebrew term for bee, deber, signifies a leader, from the admirable order with which they conduct their operations. And as the bees form a sort of body politic, having a monarch and the like, this in- sect may be used with propriety as the symbol of the Assyrian king. See Virgil's Georgics, 1. 4, at the beginning. And compare Homer's simile, descrip- tive of the multitude of the Grecian forces pouring from the ships and tents, D. ii. 1. 87. " As from some rocky cleft the shepherd sees. Clustering in heaps on heaps the driving bees. Rolling and blackening, swarms succeeding swarms. With deeper murmurs and more hoarse alarms ; Dusky they spread, a close embodied crowd. And o'er the vale descends the living cloud. So, from the tents and ships," &c. Pope's Version. Those who have studied the Septuagint know, that after Prov. vi. 6, where the ant is pointed out as a pattern of foresight, that version refers also to the bee in these words i " Or go to the bee, and learn what a worker she is, And how neatly she makes her comb ; Of whose labours both kings and subjects partake for their health. She is loved and praised by all. And though of a weak body, she is valued as regarding wis- dom." Whether this passage, which is neither in the Hebrew nor Vulgate, was interpolated by some transcriber, who had a mind to add an ingenious similitude, it is difficult to say. It is in all the editions of the Sep- tuagint except the Complutensian. There are many 44 BEE BEHIND BELLY. other proverbs in the Septuagint and Vulgate, as is known to scholars, which are not in the Hebrew, and vice versa, there are some in the Hebrew that are not in the Septuagint. BEHIND. According to the Greek and Roman authors, as the back parts, accounted behind, follow the face as leader ; so whatsoever is said to be be- hind, is accounted as future coming after, and not as past. Thus in Artemidorus, 1. i. c. 51, the back signifies the old age or future time of the part}'. And the red colour on the back of the dragon in Homer, II. ii. V. 308, denoted the event there signified to be fu- ture. So in Homer's Hiad, 1. iii. v. 109, " to see things at once before and behind," is explained by the Scholiast of seeing things present and future. And so in Virgil, ^n. 1. viii. v. 657, a tergo, behind — signifies an event to come, as Servius has observed upon the place. The reason of this symbolical signification of the word behind, may be perhaps more clearly given thus : — What is past is known, and therefore as pre- sent or before. But an event to come is unknown, unseen, and, therefore, behind — and to follow after, in order to be brought into actual existence. See Levit XXV. 51. Behind, when not taken symbolically, signifies what is past ; as in Phil. iii. 14. BELLY. Is considered as the seat of the carnal affections, according to the notions of the ancients, as being that which partakes first of sensual pleasures. Therefore the Egyptians, in the embalming of a BELLY BIRDS. 45 man, threw that part of the body into the river, as the cause of all his sins, that it might, as it were, take them away with it. See Porphyry de Abstin. I. iv. § 10. The Oneirocritics understand the symbol of belly, concerning the family and riches of a man. Ch. 79> 149, 113, 137. But Artemidorus, speaking of that part of the hu- man frame, observes, that if it suffers any thing, it por- tends diseases and want. L. i. c. 45. The embittering of the belly, signifies all the train of afflictions which may come upon a man, as in Jer. iv. 19 — ix. 15. And the same is fully evident from the bitter waters of jealousy. Num. xviii. 27. BIND. To bind is to forbid, or to restrain from acting — to loose is to permit. See Lightfoot's Hor. Heb. on Matt. xvi. and the Scholiast upon Homer's Hiad, E. v. 385, 386, 387, where the binding of Mars with a strong chain is explained of putting an end to war. See Matt. xvi. 19; xviii. 18. Compare John XX. 23. BIRDS. Birds of prey signify armies who come to prey upon a country. See Jer. xii. 9. " As the ravenous bird Tseboa hath my heritage been to me ; O ye ravenous birds, come ye against her round about ; Assemble all ye beasts of the field, Come ye to devour." And see Blayne)r's note on the passage. Ezek. xxxii.4, xxxix. 17, which last Ezekiel seems to have imi- tated from Isa. xxxiv. 6, and see Rev. xix. 17, 18, where we find Ezekiel's animated address to the birds of prey, and even some of his expressions. . The reason of the metaphor is plain. As birds of 46 BIRDS BITTER. prey feed upon carcasses, so those that take the goods of other men, eat as it were their flesh ; which, in the symbolical language, always signifies riches or substance, as may be seen under the word flesh. BITTER. Bitterness in Exodus i. 14, Ruth i. 20, Jar. ix. 15, is the symbol of affliction, misery, and servitude. And, therefore, the servitude of the Israelites in Egypt, was typically represented in the celebration of the passover, by bitter herbs. Amos viii. 10, " And I will make it as a mourning for an only son. And the end thereof aa a day of bitterness." So TibuUus, b. ii. 4, 11. " Nunc et amara dies, et noctia amarior umbra est." Habak. i. 6, " For behold, I will raise up the Chaldeans, That bitter and swift nation." Scbultens observes, that the root merer in Arabic is usually applied to strength and courage. Rev. viii. 11. The " bitterness of the waters," is referred to the invasion of Genseric, king of the Van- dals, who bitterly afflicted the Romans in the year 455, who also espoused the doctrines of Arius, and during his whole reign cruelly persecuted the ortho- dox Christians. Acts viii. 23, " The gall of bitterness ;" i. e. ex- treme wickedness, a state highly offensive to God, and hurtful to others. Heb. xiii. 15," A root of bitterness," — a wicked or scandalous person, or any dangerous sin leading to apostasy. Aristotle applies the term bitter to disposition in BITTER BLACK. 47 his Ethics, iv. cap. 5. " Men of a bitter disposition are hardly placable, and retain their anger a long time." BLACK. Black, in ancient prophecy, is the symbol of affliction, disaster, and anguish. It is the colour of approaching death, or of the terror which the foresight of it causes. See Virgil, Mn. 1. 9, V. 619, " atrumque timorem." It is used, in particular, of affliction occasioned by famine. Thus Lament, v. 10, " Our skin was black like an oven, because of the terrible famine." See Job xxx. 30, " My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burnt with heat." And Jerem. xiv. 2, " Because of the draught Judah mourneth, And the gates thereof languish ; They are in deep mourning (lit. black) for the land. And the cry of Jerusalem is gone up." See Blayney's note. Mai. iii. 14, " and that we have walked mournfully (lit. in black)," meaning that they had fasted in sackcloth and ashes. Black occurs as the symbol of fear, in Joel ii. 6, " All faces shall gather blackness." Jerome thus explains the passage : " Through the greatness of their fear, their faces shall be turned like a pot ; which being burnt with fire, makes a foul ap- pearance by its blackness and sootiness." Joel seems to point to that dark despair, or deep distress, which the approach of the locusts should make the counte- nance of every person contract. Virgil gives the epithet of black to fear, not only in the passage quoted above, but also in Georgia iv. 1. 468, " Caligantem nigra formidine lucum." 48 BLACK. The same poet applies it also to dying persons, to whom every thing appears dark. Thus Camilla to her sister Acca, when dying, JEn. xii. line 823, " Tenebris nigrescunt omnia circum." The same expression which Joel uses, is found in Nahum ii. 10, to denote the extremity of sorrow and pain. Thus : — " The knees smite together, And there is great pain in all loins, And the faces of them all gather blackness." Zech. vi. 2, 6. Here four chariots drawn by hor- ses of different colours, represent the four great em- pires of the world in succession, the Assyrian or Babylonian, the Persian, Grecian, and Roman, dis- tinguishable both by their order and attributes. The black horses seem to denote the Persian empire, which, by subduing the Chaldeans, and being about to inflict a second heavy chastisement on Babylon, quieted God's spirit with respect to Chaldea, a coun- try always spoken of as lying to the north of the Jews, see Blayney and Newcome. Rev. vi. 5, " I beheld, and lo a black horse ; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand." This figure of a person and the balances, to weigh corn and the other necessaries of life, signified great want and scarcity, and threatened the world with fa- mine, the next judgment of God to the sword. Thus famine is expressed by the prophet Ezekiel, eh. iv. )6, 16. (See Balance). Rev. vi, 12, " The sun became black as sackcloth of hair." One of the figures employed to describe, as some think, the state of the church during the last and BLACK BLOOD. 49 most severe of the persecutions under the heathen Roman empire. Great public calamities are often thus figuratively described by earthquakes, eclipses, and the like, as if the order of Nature were inverted. Ezek. xxxii. 7, " And I will cover the heavens when I quench thee. And I will clothe the stars thereof with black, I will cover the sun with a cloud, And the moon shall not give her light. <3. AU the shining lights of the heavens I will clothe with black over thee. And will set darkness upon thy land, Saith the Lord Jehovah." It is well known that the destruction of kingdoms is denoted by the strong figurative language used in this and the foregoing verse. See Bp. Lowth on Isaiah xiii. 10. BLOOD. The symbol of slaughter and mortality. Thus : Isa. xxxiv. 3, " And their slain shall be cast out. And from their carcasses their stink shcill ascend. And the mountains shall melt down with their blood." Ezek. xiv. 19, " If I send a pestilence upon that land. And pour out my fiiry upon it in blood, . * To cut oflf from it man and beast." Blood, says Grotius, denotes every kind of imma- ture death. Ezek. xxxii. 6, " And I will water the earth with thy gore, Thy blood shall be on the mountains. And the streams shall be filled with thee." Ezek. xxxix. 17? " Ye shall eat flesh and drink blood, '• The flesh of the mighty shall ye eat, 50 Ul.OOD. And the blood of the princes of the earth shall ye drink, Of rams, and bulls, and of he-goats, Of bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan. And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, And ye shall drink blood till ye be drunken, Of my sacrifice which I make for you." This bold imagery (says Newcome) is founded on the custom of invitations to feasts after sacrifices. Ezekiel seems to have imitated and amplified Isaiah xxxiv. above quoted. Kings, princes, and tyrants, are naturally expressed by rams, bulls, and he-goats. Rev. xiv. 20, " And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the wine- press, even to the horses' bridles, by the space of 1600 furlongs. The great quantity of blood mentioned in the vi- sion is a strong image representing some great slaugh- ter of the enemies of God and of true religion ; but Avhat particular judgment this prophecy describes is not well agreed by interpreters. See also Rev. xix. 17, 18, where the sublime au- thor has taken his images from Ezekiel rather than from Isaiah. Blood is sometimes put for sanguinary purposes, as in Isa. xxxiii. 15, "that stoppeth his ears /Vom hearing of blood ; more properly, who stoppeth his ears to the proposal of bloodshed. Compare Prov, i. 11. Gen. xlix. 11," He washed his clothes In the blood of grapes." Here thfe figure is easily "understood. Any thing of a red colour may be compared to blood, as in Deut. xxxii. 14, and Sirach 50, 17 ; and agrees well vnih. what Androcydes WTOte to Alexander the Great BLOOD. 51 (Pliny 14, cap. 5), " O king, when about to drink wine, remember that you are imbibing the blood of the earth." 1 Chron. xi. 19> " Shall I drink the blood of these men ?" i. e. Shall I drink the water which these men have fetched for me at the hazard of their lives ? And he poured it out in honour of Jehovah : thereby, as Parkhurst observes, acknowledging himself unworthy for whom men should lay down their lives, but that these were to be given up for Jehovah only. Is this the idea (adds he) of our warlike Christian Kings ? Blood is also the symbol of atonement, Matt. xxvi. 28 ; Heb. xiii. 20. The object of the effusion of blood in sacrifices was the expiation of sin. This we are taught by Moses in Levit. xvii. 11. " For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar, to make an atonement for your souls : for it is the blood that maketh atonement for the soul." And the apostle says expressly, Heb. ix. 22, " And almost all things are by the law purged with blood, and vnthout shedding of blood is no re- mission (of sins)." Compare Exod. xxix. 36 ; Lev. vi- 26 ; 2 Chron. xxix. 24. Hence also the Jews had this proverb, Gemar. Jom. fol. 5, " There is no expiation except by blood." Ain cepere a la bedem. That the Gentiles themselves believed this appears from Virgil's words, ^En. 1. 2. " Sanguine placastis ventos, et virgine caesa. Cum primum Iliacas Danai veuistis ad oras. Sanguine quaerendi reditus, animaque liiandum.'' " With blood, O Greeks, and with a virgin slain. When bound for Troy, you sooth'd the winds and main, With blood must you procure a calm return, And a Greek victim in oblation burn." • Theobald's Version'. 52 BLOOD BOOK. By the blood of the Lamb of God, the faithful are not only consecrated to his service as a peculiar peo- ple, but are also cleansed from their sins. See Rev. i. 5, 6, " who loved us and washed us from our sins by his blood, and hath constituted us kings and priests to God, even his Father." This mystery is also set forth in Heb. ix. 13, 14, " If the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the un- clean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh ; how much more shall the blood of Christ, who, through the eternal Spirit, offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works, to serve the living God T* BOOK. A book seen in a dream, according to Artemidorus, signifies the life, i. e. the acts of him that sees it. According to the Indian interpreters, a book is the symbol of power and dignity. The Jewish kings, at the time they were crowned, had the book of the law of God put into their hands. See 2 Kings xi. 2 ; 2 Chron. xxiii. 11. And thus, in allusion to this custom, to receive a book may be the symbol of the inauguration of a prince. A book or roll folded up, in order to be laid aside, is the symbol of a law abrogated, or of a thing of no farther use. A book or roll, written within and without, or on the backside, Rev. v. 1, may be a book containing a long series of events ; it being not the custom of the ancients to write on the backside of the roll, except when the inside would not contain all their writing. See Juvenal, Sat. i. verse 6, '■ Scriptus et in tergo, necduin fioitus, Orestes." BOOK. 53 The ancient books were rolled on cylinders of wood or ivory, and usually the \VTiting was only on the inside. A book sealed is a book whose contents are secret, and have for a very long time been so, and are not to be published till the seal be removed. Horace has used this symbol, Lib. i. Ep. 20, v. 3. To eat a book signifies to consider it carefully and digest it well in the mind. See Rev. x. 9. " Thy words were found (says the prophet Jeremiah, xv. 16), and I did eat them, and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart." Our blessed Sa- viour uses the same metaphorical expression, when he speaks of himself as " the Bread of Life," in many passages of the sixth chapter of John's Gospel. The substance presented to the prophets, says Seeker, which had the appearance of a roll, was ca- pable of being eaten. Perhaps it was sweet from the pleasure of being so honourably employed. " Book of Life," Rev. iii. 5. On this passage Doddridge remarks, that the book of life does not signify the catalogue of those whom God has absolutely purposed to save, but rather the catalogue of those who were to be considered as heirs of the kingdom of heaven, in consequence of their christian profession, till by apostasy from it, they throw themselves out of that society to which they before belonged. Vitringa remarks, that the expression " book of life," alludes to the genealogical tables of the Jewish priests (see Ezra ii. 62 ; Neh. vii. 64), as the rvhite raiment mentioned in the same verse, i. e. in Rev. iiu 54 BOOK. 5, does to the priestly dress. See Macknight's va- luable note on Phil. iv. 3 ; and Lowman on Rev. iii. 5. Home, in his excellent Introduction to the Scrip- tures, vol. iii. p. 224, 2d Ed., refers this to the mili- tary customs of the Romans. " The names of those who died (says he) or were cashiered for misconduct, were expunged from the muster-roll.'' To this pro- bably Rev. iii. 5, alludes. " I will not blot his name out of the book of life ;" and in this view the simili- tude is very striking. But in a note in the same page, he allows that the allusion may be drawn from civil life. See the note itself, which is too long for transcription. The expression, *' I will not blot his name. out," shews that this was dt. probationary record, wherein men's deeds were registered, and their names kept in or blotted out, according to their deserts in the sight of God. See also Rev. xxii. 19, where God threatens to take away a man's part out of the book of life, if that man should take away from the words of the prophecy. Another thing to be remarked is that, in Rev. xiii. 8, and xvii. 8, it is called the book of life /roOT the foundation of the world, not the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, as is generally asserted. From this it would appear, as if God had recorded in a book at the time of the creation of all things, the names of all the men who should ever live in the world : and when the time of their actual existence came, there were set down over against their names the deeds by which they either glorified or dishonour- ed God ; and their names are spoken of as being retained in the book or blotted out of it according to BOOK. 55 this procedure. Hence it is said of the general as- sembly and church of the first born, that they are written in heaven, Heb. xii. 23 ; and our Lord says to his apostles (Luke x. 20), " Rejoice rather, because your names are written in heaven." All these things are figurative, but, like all figures, they have their meaning. Let no one conceive, because we call them figurative, that we do away with their signification, we only mean that they are not to be understood li- terally. What they actually import is a matter for the solemn consideration of every private christian. When Paul speaks of his fellow-labourers, whose names are in the book of life (Phil. iv. 3), it may be said, how did he know that ? The words can express no more than his charitable belief, that being faithful labourers, they would be rewarded with eternal life. When Moses says (Exod. xxxii. 32), " Blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written." To understand the expression, we must advert to the context. God had said, that if Moses would let him alone, he would destroy Israel for their idolatry, and make of him a great nation. But Moses, like a true patriot and intercessor, desires that God would spare the people and destroy him. The written book is merely a metaphorical expression, referring to the records kept in the courts of justice, where the deeds of criminals are registered, and signifies no more than the purpose of God in reference to future events ; so that to be cut off" by an untimeli/ death, is to be blot- ted out of this book. Had Moses offered to forfeit eternal life for his brethren, he would only ha"e of- fended God ; nor would any man be justified in mak- ing such a proposal. 56 BOOK BOW. The similarity of Paul's case (Rom. ix. 3) leads us to introduce it in connexion with this subject, though it has strictly no relation to the symbol under consi- deration. It would imply a contradiction, that any saint could wish himself to be accursed from Christ, which in other words would be to say, that a man who loved Christ was \villing to become his enemy ; nor can any man be separated from Christ, unless he be in a state of sin and unbelief, which Paul was not. The words have suffered from mistranslation. They should be read thus : " That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart (though I myself was once willing to have been separated from Christ), for my brethren, my kinsmen," &c. meaning while he was a persecutor. The " book of remembrance," mentioned Mai. iii. 16, seems to be an allusion to the records kept by eastern kings, of the good deeds done by their sub- jects. See Esther vi. 1. " The books were opened," Rev. xx. 12, an allu- sion to the methods of human courts of justice. See Lowman's note on the passage. BOW is the symbol of joy for the conquest of enemies. Oneirc. c. 249. In Ps. vii. 12, it implies victory ; signifying judgments laid up in store against opposers- To the Moguls the bow was the symbol of a king ; and the golden bow the badge of royalty. (Herbelot. tit. Buzuk.) An army in battle array was represented by the Egyptians by the hands of a man ; the ol* hand holding a shield, and the other a bow. (Hor. Apoll. Hierogl. 1. ii. 5.) BOW. 57 It is probable, as Bishop Lowth has observed, that the term keshet the bow, in 2 Sam. i. 1 8, is used as the title of the following elegy, so named either in me- mory of the destructive effect of the enemies' bows, (see 1 Sam. xxxi. 3,) or from the bow of Jonathan peculiarly mentioned in the elegy itself, verse 22. Bow is sometimes used to denote lying and false- hood. See Ps. Ixiv. 4, Ps. cxx. 4, Jer. ix. 3. It also signifies any kind of armour. The bow and the spear are most frequently mentioned, because the ancients used these most ; Ps. xliv. 7, Ps. xlvi. 10, Zech. X. 4, Josh. xxiv. xii. " The nations that draw the bow." (Isaiah Ixvi. 19). Bishop Lowth justly suspects a corruption of the text here. The Hebrew term for bow, keshet, is omit- ted in one MS. and the Septuagint takes no notice of it. The reading would then be " To Tarshish, Pul, Lud, onA. Meshek, Tubal and Javan, the far distant coasts," by Meshek, meaning the Moschi, or Muscovites, si- tuated between the Euxine and Caspian Seas. Jerem. xlix. 35, " I will break the bow of Elam, The principal part of their strength." Isaiah ch. xxii. 6, says, " And Elam bare the quiver." Strabo also says, that the mountainous part of Ely- mais bred chiefly archers. Hosea vii. 16, " a deceitfiil bow." See the same expression in Ps. Ixxvii. 57. Virgil has, " Perfidus ensis frangitur." Hab. iii. 9, " Thy bow was made bare," i. e. drawn out of its case. The oriental bows were wont to be carried in a case hung to the girdle. 58 BOW BRANCH. Rev. vi. 2, " And behold a white horse, and he that sat on him had a bow," &c. a figurative repre- sentation of the success and triumph of the Christian religion. The blessing of Jacob on his son Joseph, contains a passage, which may be properly adverted to, under this article. Gen. xlix. 23, " Though skilful archers grieved him, Contended with him, and harassed him, Yet his bow retained its force, and his arms their strength. Through the power of the mighty God of Jacob, Through the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel, Through the God of his father, who assisted him, Through the Omnipotent, who blessed him." Skilful archers, lit. masters of arrows. He alludes no doubt to the insidious and persevering hatred of Joseph's brethren. See Geddes's version and note. BRANCH. As trees denote great men and prin- ces, so boughs, branches, sprouts, or plants, denote their offspring. In conformity to which way of speaking, Christ in Isa. xi. 1, in respect of his human nature, is styled a rod from the stem of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots, that is, a prince arising from the family of David. — See farther on. In the dream of Clytemnestra in Sophocles' Elec- tra, V. i(r. 18, &c. from the sceptre of Agamemnon, fixed by himself in the ground, a sprout arising, spreading and overshadowing all his kingdom, de- noted that a young prince of his blood should arise, and, dispossessing the tyrant ^gisthus of his govern- ment, should be settled in the kingdom, to govern and protect it. To the same purpose is the dream of Nassereddin BRANCH. 59 Sebekteghin, cited by Herbelot, that a tree grew and increased insensibly out of his hearth in the middle of his chamber, which stretched out its branches all over- the room, and, going out at the windows, did cover the whole house ; all which is explained of his son's conquering the greatest part of Asia. So in Cassiodorus Var. 1. viii. Ep. 5, JBaltkeumGer- men is a young prince of the Balthean race. In Homer, o^«« 'Ajuo?, a bough of Mars for a son of Mars, often occurs, as in his catalogue of ships, II. ii. V. 47, 170, 21 1, 252, 349. And the like kind of expression is used in Pindar, Olymp. 2 and 6, and other Greek authors. And so even in our English tongue, the word Imp, which is originally Saxon, and denotes a plant, is used to the same purposes, particularly by Fox, the martyrologist, who calls King Edward the 6th an imp of great hope ; and by Thomas Cromwell Earl of Essex, in his dying speech, who has the same ex- pression concerning the same prince. That branch is the symbol of kings descended from royal ancestors, as branches from the root, see Ezek. xvii. 3, explained by verse 12 ; Dan. xi. 7- As the symbol of posterity simply, see Job. viii. 16. A symbol of the Messiah. Isaiah xi. 1. ' But there shall spring forth a rod from the trunk of Jesse, And a branch shall grow out of his roots." The prophet, as Lowth observes, having described the destruction of the Assyrian army, under the image of a mighty forest, represents, by way of con- trast, the great person who makes the subject of thi^ chapterj as a slender twig, shooting out from the trunk of an old tree — cut down — lopped to the very 60 BRANCH. root, and decayed, which tender plant, so weak in ap- pearance, should nevertheless become fruitful and prosper. The aged trunk, denoting the royal house of David, at that time in a forlorn and contemptible condition, like a tree, of which nothing was left but a stump under ground. Jerem. xxiii. 5, " Behold the days are coming, saith Jehovah, That I will raise up unto David a righteous branch. And a king shall reign and act wisely, And shall execute judgment and justice in the land. From the Babylonish captivity to the coming of Christ, David was without a successor of his family, sitting upon the throne of Judah or Israel, in any sense whatever. And from the destruction of Jeru- salem to the present time, the Jews have had neither a king nor a regular priesthood belonging to their nation. So that hitherto there has been a failure and interruption, both in the royal line of David, and in the sacerdotal one of Levi ; both having merged in the kingdom of Christ, the son of David, which has been established over the true Israel of God, t. e. over all believers, whether Jews or Gentiles. Viewed in any other light, the prophecy must be considered to have failed of its accomplishment, or else an unusually long period has intervened, previous to its being ful- filled. Even admitting the possibility of the restora- tion of the families of David and Levi to their for- mer privileges at some remote period still future, a long chasm would remain, during which no king or priest could be said to have presided, unless the su- preme authority of the Messiah be allowed to have superseded all other. BRANCH. 61 The concluding clause of this verse is well paral- leled by Isaiah xxxii. i. See also Isa. iv. 1, and com- pare ch. xlv. 8, where the same great event is set forth in similar images. See also Ps. Ixxxv. 10-14, and Ps. cxxxii. 17, Luke i. 69, Rom. xv. 12-2, Thess. ii. 8, as compared with Isa. xi. 10. Zech. iii. 8, " For behold, I will bring forth my servant the Branch."'' This cannot mean Zerubbabel, though he was a de- scendant from David, for the terms here and elsewhere used are too magnificent to be applied to a person of his limited authority and influence. Besides, he was already " brought forth," whereas this passage points to some future personage, and that can be no other than the great Messiah, under whom the reign of peace and righteousness was to commence and to continue. The Hebrew term employed here is tzemeh, whereas in Isaiah it is netzer, the latter mean- ing a plant springing from the old root, and reserved when the tree is cut down — the former, a sprout, branch, or shoot. Zech. vi. 12, " Behold the man. The Branch is his name. And he shall branch out from his place. And he shall build the temple of Jehovah, And he shall receive glory, And shall sit and rule upon his throne, And shall also be a priest upon his throne, And the counsel of peace shall be between these two." Here again, the terms are too high for either Zerub- babel or Joshua, though something of a primary ap- plication to them may be admitted, yet the plenary fulfilment must be looked for in a greater than these. It is well observed by Blayney, that this passage, 62 BRANCH. strictly and literally translated, will not answer" to any other but the Messiah, who was at once both king and priest, and, by uniting both characters in himself, was completely qualified to bring about the counsel of peace or reconciliation between God and man. Branch is the symbol of idolatrous worship. Ezek. viii. 17, " And lo, they put the branch to their nose." (Heb. Zemer.) The carrying of branches in the superstition of the Gentiles, and the custom of the Jews, was a sign of honour. And this it is that God complains of; they carried branches as if they did him honour, but they held them to their noses like mockers ; that is, they mocked him secretly, when they worshipped him publicly ; they came with fair pretences and foul hearts ; their ceremony was religious all over, but their lives were not answerable. Taylor's Worthy Communicant, ch. 5, sect- 3. See 70. Theodotion and Symmachus, as there cited. Newcome rendeis it, " And lo, they send forth a scornful noise through their nostrils." This, he says, is the rendering of Aquila, Symmachus, and of some copies of the Septuagint. The Septuagint has it thus : — " And lo, they are as it were insulting me to my face." But, in favour of the common version, Dathe says, that a late writer on the religion of Persia, enumer- ates among the sacred furniture a bundle of twigs, called Barsqm in the old Persic language, which they liold in their hands while prajang. Michaelis says, that they held it before their face opposite to the holy fire ; and that it is represented in D'Anquetils' Voy- ages, tab. 3. Spencer observes, that the heathens, in the worship of their deities, held forth the branches BRANCH. 63 of those trees which were dedicated to them. See Soph. CEd. Tyr. line 2, 3, &c " Wherefore sit you here, And suppliant thus, with sacred boughs adom'd, Crowd to our altars ?" on which Professor Francklin has the following note : — " When praj'ers and supplications were to be made, either in the temples or other places, the petitioners carried boughs in their hands, bound round with fil- lets of white wool ; this was always looked on as a mark of distress, which entitled them to a peculiar re- gard, rendered their persons sacred, and protected them from all violence. It is not improbable, but that this custom among the Greeks was borrowed from the Jews, whom we find carrying boughs on solemn fes- tivals." See Maccab. ch. 13. But as there seems no distress in the case men- tioned in the text, but rather provocation and impiety, the rendering of Archb. Newcome appears preferable. The Vulgate version is, " They apply the branch to their nostrils," which the translator Jerome explains by " a branch of the palm tree with which they adorned the idols." " The text (says Parkhurst on Zemer,) seems plainly to allude to the Magian fire worshippers, who, Strabo tells us, lib. 1 5, when they were praying before the sacred fire, held a little branch of twigs in their hand." See more in the same place. And Home's Introd. v. 3, p. 385, edit. 2. In Isaiah xiv. 1 9, " An abominable branch" means a tree on which a malefactor has been hanged, for such were held in detestation. See Lowth in loc. In Ezek. xvii. 4, Jehoiachin is called the highest branch of a cedar, as being king. . 64 BRANCH BRASS. -Olive branches, Zeeh. iv. 12. See under olive. Branch of the vine, John xv. 2. " Like the withered branches which are gathered for fuel and burnt." Branches are symbols of prosperity or calamity. " Ramus creberrime (says Glassius, p. 809,) multis- que vocitus synonymis, usurpatur in allegoriis, quibas prosperitas imagine crescentis, virentis, vigentisque arboris proponitur ; et vice versa infelicitas ac cala- mitates imagine arboris marcescentis." Gen. xlix. 22. Job. XV. 32 — xxix. 19. Ps. Ixxx. 11, 12. Isa. xxv. 5. Ezek. xvii. 6. Mai. iv. 1, &c. &c. BRASS. The symbol of insensibility, baseness, and presumption or obstinacy in sin. See Isa. xlviii. 4, " Because I knew that thou wert obstinate, That thy neck was a sinew of iron, And that thy brow was brass." Jer. vi. 28, " They are brass and iron, all of them. Instruments of adulteration are they." Brass and iron are the baser metals, used to adulterate the pure silver. Ezek. xxii. 18, " They are all brass and tin, and iron and lead. In the midst of the furnace. They are even the dross of silver." Kingdom of brass. It is by this epithet that the Macedonian empire is described, in Dan. ii. 39> in al- lusion to its warlike nature — the arms in these times being generally made of brass. Mountains of brass, Zee. vi. 1. It is difficult to say what these mean, unless we interpret them, as Vitringa does, of those firm and immutable decrees by which God governs the world. The psalmist has an BRASS BREAST. 65 expression resembling it, in Ps. xxxvi. 6, " Thy right- eousness is like the great mountains." Brass is also the symbol of strength. See Ps. cvii. IG. Isa. Ixv. 4. Mich. iv. 13, " Thine horn will I make iron, And thine hoofs will I make brass ;" ?. e. to overcome all enemies, and tread them down, as an ox the corn in threshing, whose hoofs are shod with iron or brass, Deut. xxv. 4, Hosea x. 11. So in Jer. i. 1 8, and ch. xv. 20, brazen walls signify a strong and lasting adversary or opposer. Deut. xxviii. 23, '' The heaven over thy head shall be brass," &c. ; i. e. rain shall be withheld, and the earth shall be barren. Isa. xlv. 2, " I will break in pieces the gates of l)rass," &c. ; i. e. the brazen gates of the wall of Baby- lon, of which there were a hundred. See Herod, b. i. 179, 180. Fine brass or aurichalcum, Rev. i. 1 5 — ii. 1 8. See Parkhurst's Greek Lex. on y,xXK6Xiiiot.voy. BREAST. Breast is, by the Oneirocritics, ex- plained of prudence. So the Indian, c. 76, and the Persian and the Egyptian interpreters, make it the symbol of long life, riches, and victory, which are the effects and marks of wisdom. The Greeks seem to have had the notion, that the breast was the seat of wisdom ; for (p^in/^ai wise, with them came from (p^m?, which are the prcecordia, the parts of the breast about the heart ; whence Juvenal, speaking of a dull youth, says, S&t. 7, v. 1 60, " quod Ifeva in parte mamillge nil salit Arcadico Juveui." Nahum ii. 7, E 66 BREAST BREASTPLATE. " And her handmaids are carried away as with the voice of doves, Smiting (or tabering) upon their breasts." As the tabret is beaten with the fingers, and those fingers are applied to a skin stretched over an hollow hoop, the description gives great life to the words of the pro[)het Nahum, who compares women beating on their breasts, in deep anguish, to their playing on a tabret. (Harmer 1, 482.) Levit. vii. 30, " That the breast may be waved for a wave-offering before Jehovah." The offerer's waving of the breast of the sacrifice to God, was typically giving up to him the heart and affections ; and this being afterwards allotted to the priest, reminded the believer that He only whom the priest represented, did ever, in his own person, make an entire and continual surrender of his heart and will to God. See Parkhurst on here. BREASTPLATE. Breastplates are defensive arms, denoting and giving courage and undauntedness to those that use them ; and, by reflection, striking terror and amazement into those they are employed against. Accordingly, to dream of finding or putting on a breastplate, is, with the Oneirocritics, c. 156, the symbol of joy for the destruction of enemies, &c. ; 249, the symbol of riches to be obtained by valour. The military cuirass or breastplate was made with rows or scales of metal placed on each other, for the better defence of the warrior. Homer has described one of these breastplates, as used by the Greeks at the Trojan war. II. 11, 1. 24, 25. " Her rows of azure steel the work infolds Twice ten of tin, and twelre of ductile gold." Pops. BREASTPLATE. 67 In another place, H. 13, 1. 439, he calls a breastplate a vest of brass ; and Virgil thus describes the ar- mour of Turnus, ^En. 11, 1. 487- " Clad in a cuirass rough with brazen scales." The breastplate of the Jewish high-priest is parti- cularly described in Lev. xxviii. 15, xxxix. 8, &c. It contained the Urira and Thummim, Lights and Per- fections ; for an explanation of which, see Park. Heb. Lex. on ar. Isaiah beautifully characterises the Redeemer of Israel, by saying (ch. lix. 1 7.)> " And he put on righteousness as a breastplate, And the helmet of salvation was on his head, And he put on the garments of vengeance for his clothing. And he clad himself with zeal, as with a mantle." The language of Isaiah is in some measure copied by Paul in Eph. vi. 14 and 17, where the same terms are figuratively employed to point out the .spiritual armour of true believers. In Thess. v, 8, the language is altered, from the breastplate of righteousness, to the breastplate oi faith and lave. On both of which passages see Chandler. In Rev. ix. 9, the mystical locusts are said to have " breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron," which agrees very well with the condition of the natural lo- cust, which has about its body a pretty hard shell, of the colour of iron : " Armavit natura cutem," says Claudian. , And in verse 17- of the same chapter, the horse- men are described as having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, or hyacinth, and brimstone, i. e. of red, blue, and yellow colours, denoting the terror of their ap- 68 BREASTPLATE BRIMSTONE BUIDL. pearance, when marching to war ; probably referring to the Saracenic invasions and conquests in 713. BRIMSTONE. The symbol of a perpetual tor- ment and destruction. Thus in Job xviii. 1 5, " Brimstone shall be scat- tered upon his habitation ;" i. e. his house or family shall be destroyed for ever, by an inextinguishable fire. Brimstone, q. d. brenne stone, i. e, burning stone, was used by the heathen in their religious purifica- tions. See Juvenal and Lucian, as quoted by Park- hurst on hioi ; and God made it an instrument of his vengeance on the heathen and other delinquents. See Ps. xi. 6 ; Deut. xxix. 23 ; and Jude ver. 7- Isaiah, speaking of the enemies of the church, un- der the designation of Edom, and their destiny, eh. xxxiv. 9, says, " And her torrents shall be turned into pitch, And her dust into sulphur : And her whole land sh.iU become burning pitch." And respecting Tophet, ch. xxx. 33, his language is, •' For Tophet is ordained of old. Even the same for the king is prepared : He hath made it deep ; he hath made it large ; A fiery pyre, and abundance of fuel. And the breath of Jehovah, like a stream of brimstone, shall kindle it." Rev. ix. 17. See under Breastplate. See also Rev. xiv. 10, xx. 10, xxi. 8 ; in all which places there seems to be an allusion to the manner in which God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. BUILD. In the Oneirocritics (Achmet's Coll. c. 145.), any kind of building implies settlement of a family, or acquisition of some new honour, kingdom. BUILD. 69 or power, and its peaceful enjoyment according to the subject; and, by consequence, a formal change of state. And thus, in several places of Holy Scripture, the building of a city is in order to a quiet settlement. The first that is said to have built a city is Cain, Gen. iv. 17. This undoubtedly he did to comfort himself, and thus to take off the odium of being a va- gabond, which God had inflicted on him. So that the said city he designed to be a full settlement, and he therefore called it Enoch, which signifies Dedica- tion, or the beginning of a settlement ; a dedication requiring a quiet possession and enjoyment for some time, as in Deut. xx. 5. The manner of dedicating a house or city, was probably wont to be done with the solemnity of feasting, prayer, and singing of Psalms. See Neh. xii. 27 ; Ps. xxx. title. The same may be said of the building of Babel; which was designed for a settlement, contrary to the command of God, as Josephus hints, who willed that mankind should then spread themselves by colonies. But, however, the building of that was pretended to be a settlement, — " Let us build us a city and tower, whose top may reach to heaven ; and let us make us a name, lest tee be scattered over the face of the whole earth." Gen. xi. 4. But farther, that the building of a city is in order to a quiet settlement, is evident from the Psalmist, — " They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way, and found no city to dwell in," Ps. cvii. 4 ; and verse 7, " He led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation," or settlement ; www- 70 BUILD. sheb, from isheb, which signifies not only to sit, but to stay, remain, persevere, or abide, as in Micah v. 4. So also in 2 Chron. xiv. 6, 7, it is said, " And he built fenced cities in Judah ; for the land had rest, and he had no war in those years, because the Lord had given him rest. Therefore he said unto Judah, Let us build these cities. — And he hath given us rest on every side." All which imports that the building of a city is in order to settle in peace. The same notion appears also in these verses of Virgil, Mn. 1. v. 251, &c. " Hie tamen ille urbem," &c. " At length he founded Padua's happy seat, And gave his Trojans a secure retreat ; . Here fix'd their arms, and there renew'd their name. And there in quiet rules, and crown'd with fame. But we, descended from your sacred line. Entitled to your heav'n, and rites divine. Are banish'd earth, and for the wrath of one, Removed from Latium, and the promised throne." Dryden. So also in Mn. 1. 8, v. 46 : " Hie locus urbi erit," &c. " This is thy happy home, the clime where fate Ordains thee to restore the Trojan state." To build or make a house, is sometimes a Hebraism, meaning to prosper a family. Thus, Exod. i. 21, " And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he prospered their own families." Ruth iv. 11, " Who did build the house of Israel;" i. e. who increased his family by a numerous progeny. Ps. Ixxxix. 4, " I will build up thy throne to all ge- nerations ;" i. e. I will perpetuate thy kingdom to thy posterity. Isaiah Ixi. 4, BUILD BULL. 71 " And they that spring from thee shall build up the ruins of old times ; They shall restore the ancient desolations: They shall repair the cities laid waste. The desolations of continued ages." i. e. the Gentiles, so long a moral wilderness, shall be brought into the knowledge and service of the true God, like an ancient city rising from its ruins. BULL is sometimes used in Scripture metaphori- cally to represent violent and furious enemies. Thus, Ps. xxii. 12, " Many bulls have compassed me. Strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round." The Chaldee has it, " people like pushing bulls." The high-priests, scribes, Herod, Pilate, set against Christ. Ezekiel uses the same phrase to point out " the princes of the earth," ch. xxxix. 1 8, where see New- come. Ps. Ixviii. .30, " the multitude of the bulls," &c. Duiell has an ingenious conjecture on this verse. He renders it thus : " Rebuke the beast of the reed. The congregation of bulls with the calves; The people of the sea, who humble themselves before frag- ments of silver; Scatter the people who delight in war." " By the beast of the reed (says he) is clearly meant the hippopotamus, which denotes the Egyptians. The company of bulls and calves is a plain allusion to their Apis and Serapis, or Isis and Osiris, which they wor- shipped, and to which the third hemistich refers, call- ing these idols contemptuously ' fragments of silver,' because overlaid or plated with that metal. " They are called ' the people of the sea.' Isaiah r2 EULL BURIAL. describes their country (ch. xi. 15.) by the tongtte of the Egyptian sea, and by the seven streams. " They are called ' a people that delight in war,' where the Psalmist concludes, as he had begun, by requesting God to repress their fury," Jer. 1. 26, " Open her fattening stalls," &c.; ver. 27, Slay all her bullocks," &c. Fattening stalls mean the cities of Babylon, and her bullocks the inhabitants, who were pampered like beasts fattened for the slaughter. The ancient heathen used to sacrifice bulls to Ju- piter, thus Ovid, Metam. lib. 4, line 756, " Taurus tibi, summe Deorum." Compare Virgil, Mn. 9, !• 627. BURIAL, is an honour paid to the dead. The want of it was always looked upon as a cir- cumstance of the greatest misery, Ps. Ixxix. 1, 2, 3; Eccles. vi. .3 ; Potter's Arch. Grseca, 1. 2, 1. 4, c. 1 : and the denial of it, as an act of the greatest punish- ment. Arch. Graeca, v. 2, p. 165. But the Oneirocritics consider burial in another view, — as the consummation of all. And therefore, not to be buried, in visions that portend good, is bad ; and in such as portend bad, good. And, therefore, iu relation to such visions as por- tend bad, the Indian Interpreter, in ch. 130, says, " That if any one dream that he is buried, his burial denotes that his utter ruin is certain. But if he dreams that any of the things which belong to his burial are wanting, that deficiency portends good hopes of safety." Dead men in the grave are apt to be forgotten, Ps. BUEIAL. 73 xxxi. 1 2, Ps. Ixxxviii. 6. And therefore, in Ps. Ixxxviii. 11, 12, the grave is synonymous to the land of for- getfulness; and in Ps. xxxi v. 17, Ps. cxv. 17, 1 Sara, ii. 9, silence is put for the grave. And in Ovid, Metam, I. 5, v. 353, Silentes, or men in silence, are dead men. Hence, not to suffer a person to be put into the grave, denotes that he shall be remembered, and not be suffered to be put into eternal silence ; the grave, in profane authors, being called an everlasting house. Soph. Antiq. 1. 250; Cic. Tusc. Quest. 1, in, fin. On the contrary, the notion of the word (/.vlf.fAni, mo- nument, is opposed to the aforesaid notion of a grave as a place of silence, and land of forgetfulness. For men, considering the grave to be such a place, have endeavoured to alter its property, by erecting monu- ments, which should record their names and actions to posterity. And in this sense, not to suffer a person to be put into a monument, denotes that means will be used in order to obliterate his memory, to the end that his actions may never be imitated, nor his cause revived. So the word Sepulchrum (sepulchre), in Horace (Epod. 9, V. 26.), is to be taken. " Virtus sepulchrum condidit," his valour hath raised him a monument, i. e. hath eternized his memory — hath gotten him perpe- tual renown. And, therefore, to dream of having or building a tomb or sepulchre, is, according to Artemidorus, lib. 2, " a dream that portends good both to rich and poor ; to a slave, that he shall obtain his freedom, — to a childless person, that he shall have an heir, — to 74 BURIAL BURN. a poor man, that he shall get an estate, — and to an unmarried person, a sign of marriage." Jer. xxii. 19, " With the burial of an ass shall he be buried." Jehoiakim being surprised in an ambuscade, and not slain, but made prisoner, 2 Kings xxiv. 2, was carried to the king of Babylon, who detained him in close custody till he could conveniently send him to Babylon. But his design being frustrated by his pre- vious death, which happened soon after his confine- ment, Nebuchadnezzar, at once to testify his indigna- tion against him, and perhaps to intimidate his suc- cessor from exasperating him by a long resistance, ordered his dead body to be ignominiously cast forth without burial before the walls of Jerusalem, as is foretold both in this passage and in ch. xxxvi. 30. ■: BURN. The burning of heaps of armour, was used by the Romans as an emblem of peace. Isaiah has the same image, ch. ix. 4, " For the graves of the armed warrior in the conflict, And the garment rolled in much blood. Shall be for a burning, even fuel for the fire." The Psalmist employs this image to express com- plete victory, and a perfect establishment of peace, Ps. xlvi. 9, " He hath destroyed the artillery of wars to the end of the earth. He hath broken the bow, and snapped the spear short oflF, He hath burnt the carriages in the fire." Ezekiel, in his bold manner, has carried the image to a high degree of amplification. He describes the burning of the arms of the enemy, in consequence of the complete victory to be obtained by the Israelites over Gog and Magog, ch. xxxix. 8 — 10. The vie- BURN. 75 tory was to be so great, that they should suffice for fires on the mountains and in the open fields ybr seveii years. •' Behold, it cometh to pass and shall be done, saith the Lord Jehovah : This is the day whereof I have spoken. And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth. And shall set on fire and burn the armour, the shields and the bucklers. The bows and the arrows, and the handstaves and the spears ; And they shall burn them with fire seven years: So that they shall take no wood from the field. Neither cut down any from the forests ; For they shall burn the armour with fire ; And they shall spoil those that spoiled them. And shall plunder those that plundered them, Saith the Lord Jehovah." " The burning bush" (Exod. ii. 2.), was an emblem of the condition of Israel at that time ; they were then in the fire of affliction, yet, by the divine Providence, they were not consumed in it, of which this vision was a pledge. " The spirit of burning," Isa. iv. 4, according to Lowth, means the fire of God's wrath, by which he will prove and purify his people ; gathering them into his furnace, in order to separate the dross from the silver, the bad from the good. The severity of God's judgments, the fiery trial of his servants, Ezekiel (ch. xxii. 18 — 22.) has set forth at large, after his manner, with great boldness of imagery, and force of expres- sion. God threatens to gather them into the midst of Jerusalem as into the furnace ; to blow the fire upon them, and to melt them. Malachi treats the same subject, and represents the same events under the like images, ch. iii. ver. 2, 3 : 76 BURN BYSS. " But who may abide the day of his coming? And who shall stand, when he appeareth ? For he is like the fire of the refiner, And like the soap of the fullers, And he shall sit refining and purifying the silver ; And he shall purify the sons of Levi, And cleanse them like gold, and like silver ; That they may be Jehovah's ministers, Presenting unto him an ofiFering in righteousness." BYSS. The cotton plant, of which very fine white garments like linen were made. It grows in Palestine, in pods. It is the soft downy substance formed in the inside of the pods of the shrub called Gossipiuvi. When David went to bring up the ark from the house of Obed-edom, he was clothed with a robe of byss, 1 Chron. xv. 27. The same is described as the apparel of the rich man, Luke xvi. 19. The garments of the Jewish priests were made of it. Byss gar- ments were worn also by the Egyptian priests. See Plut. de Iside ; Porphyr. de Abstin. ; Harmer's Obs. v. 2, p. 358. Hence a white byss garment, as being the most va- luable, denotes, symbolically, the highest and most perfect holiness and prosperity. Thus the church of Christ is represented, under the character of the bride, as being arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, which fine linen (it is added) is the righteousness of saints, I. e. a divine nature and disposition, ornaments more valuable than the costly habits of eastern princes, or of ancient priests (Rev. xix. 8.) Theocritus mentions byss as a clothing worn by women on festive occasions. Idyll. 2. 1. 73, " Trailing a beauteous robe of byss." CALF. 77 CALF. The word calf in Scripture style, is for most part so general as to be taken for the whole species, the word heker which is often translated by ,3a?, an ox, in the Seventy, being also frequently ren- dered by fi.oiry/> CARCASE. " Her young ones suck up blood, And where the slain are, there is she ;" a passage on which our Lord is supposed to have had his eye, when he made use of the expression in Matt, xxiv. 28. Such were the eagles who devastated Je- rusalem, as affectingly described by Josephus, 1. 6, c. 14, and elsewhere. " The houses were full of dead women and infants ; and the streets were filled with the carcases of old men ; and the young men pale like ghosts, walked about the market place, and fell down dead where it happened. And now the multi- tude of dead bodies was so great, that they who were alive could not bury them, nor indeed cared they for burying them, being now uncertain what should be- tide themselves." The eagle was esteemed by the heathen as the minister of supreme Jove, and was sacred to hini. Hence Horace, lib. 4, ode 4, " Qualem ministrum, fulminis alitem, cui Rex Deorura regnum in aves vagas permisit." " As the winged minister of thundering Jove, To whom he gave his dreadful bolts to bear. Faithful assistant of his master's love, King of the wandering nations of the air," &c. West. We see in coins the eagle holding the thunderbolt in its feet, (as in Spanheim and others), a fiction founded, as Pliny tells us, on the fancy that this is the only bird never destroyed by lightning ; but more likely to have originated in its remarkable s^viftness. And the souls of the deified or consecrated Emperors were believed to be transported to heaven by this bird. So Titus was the minister of the true God, in his CARCASE CALDROX. 87 expedition against the Jews, acting as his executioner to inflict vengeance on that infidel and rebellious na- tion, because of their rejection of the Messiah, a fact which the Roman general himself acknowledged, as Josephus informs us : " Surely God," said he, " hath assisted us in this war, and he it was that drove the Jews from these fortresses. For what could men's hands and engines prevail against them ?" King, in his Morsels of Criticism, v. 1, p. 394, gives a more extended meaning to the passage in Matt. xxiv. and paraphrases it thus : — " Wherever, on the face of the whole earth, the corrupt mass of lawless violent people, disturbing the peace and prosperity of all human society, is, there will those dreadful and an- gelic powers, who are to be the ministers of God's vengeance, on the great advent of our Lord, be as- sembled and appear." And he considers it to be an allusion to the predic- tion of the prophet Ezekiel in his 39th chr. But I do not see the force of his reasonings. See under Eagle. CALDRON. Ezek. ii. 3, *' It is not near that we should build houses; This city is the caldron, and we are the flesh :" i. e. the time is not near that we should build houses in a foreign land (Jerem. xxix. 5). Here we shall die in mature age, as the choice pieces are not taken out of the caldron till they are perfectly prepared. The image is suggested by the process at the Jewish sacrifices. See 1 Sam. ii. 13, 14. In opposition to this, God says, ver. 7, that if Jerusalem is the caldron, it is the caldron of the slain ; and, ver. 1 1, that it should not be the caldron of many, who were destin- 88 CALDRON CEDAR. ed to flee and to perish in the extreme parts of their country. See 2 Kings, xxv. 6, 7, 21. See the same image more expanded in ch. xxiv. ver. 3, 4, 5, &c. where the good pieces and choice joints mean the great men of Jerusalem ; the bones signify the meaner people, and the scum denotes wick- edness. The burning of the bones and of the pot refers to God's judgments, not only on the inhabitants, but also on the city. CEDAR is the symbol of a great king. See Ezek. xvii. 3, where Jehoiachin is probably meant. And Ezek. xxxi. 3, where the top, or leader, is sup- posed to represent the king of Assyria, and the thick boughs his subordinate kings and rulers. His ruin is strikingly described in verses 12 £ind 13. Virgil has a similar comparison with respect to the fall of Troy — " Rent like a mountain ash, which dar'd the winds, And stood the sturdy strokes of labouring hinds. About the roots the cruel ax resounds. The stumps are pierc'd with oft repeated wounds. The roots no more their upper load sustain. But down she falls, and spreads a ruin through the plain." Ma. 1. 2, 626. Zech. xi. 2, " Howl, O fir tree, because the cedar is fallen." Under these images, the fall of mighty men, and the subversion of the Jewish polity, are re- presented. (Seeker.) Isaiah, ii. 13, "Even against all the cedars of Le- banon." See Lowth's excellent note on the passage. See also Amos, ii. 9 ; Homer, II. 13, 359 ; Horace, Od. 1. 4, 6 ; Virgil, iEn. 5, 447. Isaiah, xli. 19, " In the wilderness I will give the cedar," &c., expressing the relief to be afforded to them, while fainting with heat in their journey through that hot country, destitute of shelter, by causing shady CEDAR CHAIN. 89 trees, and those of the tallest and most beautiful kinds, to spring up for their defence. The apocry- phal Baruch, speaking of the return from Babylon, expresses God's protection of his people by the same .mage : " Even the woods, and every sweet smelling tree, shall overshadow Israel by the commandment of God ;" ch. v. 8. This tree was the symbol of eternity, because its substance never decays nor rots. Hence the Ark of the Covenant was made of cedar ; and those are said to utter things worthy of cedar, who write that which no time ought to obliterate. It is used to point out persons of eminence, or men of power, who are often called in scripture cedars of Lebanon, and of whom Isaiah says, ch. ii. 13, " The day of the Lord shall come upon them." CHAIN signifies hinderance from action. So Ar- temidorus, 1. 3, c. 35. See Bind. It is sometimes used figuratively in a bad sense, as in Ps. Ixxiii. 6, " Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain." So Naumach. in sentent. " Nei- ther do you wear on your neck the purple jacinth, and the green jasper, which make fools proud." And Euripides, Electra v. 176, " Nor am I carried away with pride on account of my golden chains." Sometimes it is used in a good sense, as in Col. iii. 1 4, where Paul calls " love the bond or chain of per- I'ectness," or the perfect bond. Ezek. vii. 23, " Make a chain, For the land is full of bloody judgment, And the city is full of violence." ■' Make a chain," to denote that the people will be led 90 CHAIN. awa_y captive in chains. It was a symbolical action. Ezek. xvi. 11, " I put bracelets upon thy hands. And a chain upon thy neck." Newcome says, rebed, in Arabic, denotes " a variegat- ed collar of wool hung for ornament about the neck of an animal." " It pectore summo Flexilis obtorti per collum circulus auri." ViRG. ^n. 5, 558. Paul mentions his chain as a prisoner repeatedly, viz. in Acts xxviii. 20 ; Eph. vi. 20 ; 2 Tim. i. 16 ; i. e. Paul's right hand was fastened to the soldier's left hand, after the manner of the Romans, with a long chain. The scholiast on Juvenal says, " that it is called a camp-prison when the captives are delivered chained, so that the same chain fastens both the pri- soner and soldier." Sometimes, for farther security, they were bound to two soldiers, with two chains, as was Peter's case. See Acts xii. 6. See also Pliny, 1. 10, ep. 30 ; Se- neca, ep. 5 ; and liber de Tranquill. c. 10. Prov. i. 9, parental instruction is beautifully com- pared to chains about the neck. One of the Rabbi- nical writers has a similarly elegant expression, Vaji- her Rabb. § 12," The words of the law are a coronet to the head, a chain to the neck, tranquillity to the heart, and a collyrium to the eyes." The Egyptian judges used to wear a golden chain about the neck, with a gem suspended, on which was engraved Truth, (Diod. Sic. lib. 1.) That eminent persons were thus adorned is plain from the honours paid to Joseph and Daniel, Gen. xli.42, and Dan. v. 7, 16, 29. CHAIN CHARIOT. 91 Brides also received these as parts of their attire, as appears from Cant. i. 10, and iv. 9. Selden, in his Uxor Hebraea, quotes from the Gemara Hierosol. this passage : " Velamina sponsis sunt sindones acu- pictEe, quibus appenduntur raonilia aurea." Penelope also receives a gold chain from her suitor Eurymachus, as Homer tells us. And Hesiod, describing the dress of a virgin, in his " Works and Days," v. 74, says, " They put golden chains upon her person." Orna- ments of gold, and particularly chains, belong to the costume of very high antiquity. " Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet, with other delights ; who put on ornaments of gold upon your apparel." 2 Sam. i. 24 ; Judith, x. 4. CHARIOT. Chariots are the symbol of govern- ment, protection, and guardianship, exercised by princes, and by those who resemble them, towards the people, their inferiors. In this sense, Elisha exclaimed, respecting Elijah, the eminent prophet and teacher of Israel, 2 Kings ii. 12, " O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof;" an exclamation repeated by Joash the King of Israel, on occasion of the death of Elisha, 2 Kings xiii. 14; — meaning, that these two excellent men availed more to their countrymen by their prayers and pious example than the kings of the nations do by their warlike chariots and horsemen. Compare Ezek. xxvii. 14 with Rev. xviii. 13, where chariots and horsemen are enumerated among the wares of Tyre and Babylon, as being part of their wealth and support. Chariots are the symbol of armies and their leaders. See Exod. xv. 4, " Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea." 2 Kings xviii. 24, " Wilt 92 CHARIOT. thou put thy trust in Egypt for chariots and for horse- men ?" is the language of Rabshakeh, and that of his master is thus represented, 2 Kings xix. 23, " With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon." Psalm XX. 8, " Some trust in chariots, and some in horses ; But we will remember the name of Jehovah our God. They are brought down and fallen ; But we are risen and stand upright." Compare Ps. Ixxvi. 7 ; Isa. ii. 7, chap. xxxi. 1 . So Jerem. 1. 37> " A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots." See also Joel ii. 5 ; Micah v. 10. Chariots are also the emblems of the heavenly host. This we learn from 2 Kings vi. 17, where the moun- tain round Elisha appeared to the opened eyes of his servant, ftiU of horses and chariots of fire. This ap- pears also from Ps. Ixviii. 1 8, " The chariots of God are two myriads, even thousands of angels : the Lord is among them as in Sinai, in the holy place." This seems to look back on Deut. xxxiii. 2, " Jehovah came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir to them ; He shined forth from Mount Paran, And he came with ten thousand of his holy ones; From his right hand went a fiery law for them." Something similar is the language of Isaiah, chap. Ixvi. 15, " For behold, Jehovah shall come as a fire. And his chariot as a whirlwind : To breathe forth his anger in a burning heat, And his rebuke in flames of fire." And so in Hab. iii. 8, " Was thine indignation against the seas. When thou didst ride on thine horses, and on thy chariots of deliverance ?" CHARIOT CHERUBIM. 93 A description of the royal chariot of Solomon is given in Cant. iii. 9> 10, which shows the luxury of those times ; but it probably means a litter or palanquin. In 1 Chron. xxviii. 18, " Gold is said to be given for the pattern of the chariot of the cherubims." See Cherubim. The chariot mentioned in Isa. xxi. 7, with two riders, is supposed to represent Darius and Cyrus, the Medes and the Persians. See Lowth in loc. The four chariots in Zech. vi. 1, drawn by horses of different colours, represent the four great empires of the world in succession, the Assyrian or Babylon- ian, the Persian, Grecian, and Roman, distinguishable both by their order and attributes. (Blayney.) Cant. i. 9, " I have compared thee, 0 my love, To a company of horses in Pharaoh's chariots." The comparison of a beautiful woman to a set of horses harnessed in a chariot, may perhaps appear uncouth to the refined manners of this age ; but the Greek and Latin poets abound in similar comparisons. Thus Lycophron calls Helen a heifer, and Euripides calls Polypena a calf, and Horace compares a young woman to a mare, lib. .3, ode 2. See Durell on the passage. Chariots on our side betoken courage in us, and safety and skiU, with success in feats of zirms. But if they belong to the other side, then, by the rule of contraries, they denote dread emd consternation, and ill success in war. CHERUBIM. Much has been written on this mysterious subject, particularly by the Hutchinsonian 94 CHERUBIM. Divines, whose opinions may be seen in Parkhurst's Hebrew Lexicon on the term. The Cherubim are mentioned or described in the following passages, viz. Gen. iii. 24 ; Exod. xxv. 18, 22, and xxxvii. 7, 9 ; Levit. xvi. 2 ; Num. vii. (. 9 ; 1 Kings vi. 23, 28, and viii. 7; 2 Chron. iii. 10, 13, and v. 8 ; Ezek. i. 5, 1 1, and x. 20, 22. They are also probably alluded to in Isa. eh. vi. ; Rev. ch. iv. ; Wisdom, ix. 8 ; Heb. ix. 5. It is agreed by most expositors that they were em- blems of something beyond themselves ; but the ques- tion is, of what were they emblematical ? Parkhurst says they represented the ever blessed Trinity, and the human nature of Jesus Christ. Lowraan thinks they represent angels. In Genesis iii. 24, they are spoken of as posted at the entrance of Paradise, after Adam and Eve were expelled from it. Taylor, in his Hebrew Concordance, says the che- rubim must be considered as hieroglyphical, denoting the perfection or combination of all spiritual and mo- ral excellencies, which constitute the character of God's faithful servants or subjects. Newcome is of Taylor's opinion. Mede supposes them to be angels, but considers the cherubim, or four living creatures in the Apocalypse, to represent the Christian churches in the four regions of the world, corresponding to the four standards of Israel, and their ensigns, which he says were those of a lion, an ox, a man, and an eagle. Doddridge considers them to be hieroglyphical re- presentations of the angelic nature, and condemns the CHERUBIM. 95 Hutchinsonian scheme, which makes them emblems of the Deity, as a very great absurdity. Reynolds (of Angels) thinks the four animals de- scribed in Rev. iv. 7, represents spirits of an order superior to angels, taken up wholly in contemplation. Pierce, Whitby, and Macknight all consider them as representations of angels. Glassius, Philol. Sacra, p. 777, after quoting a sin- gular opinion of Musculus, who supposes them to have been a species of large and terrible fowls, because they are described as winged, says, " But most other interpreters by the cherubim understand the angels .jf God." Milton refers to this symbolic representation, when lie says of the cherubic shapes, — " Nor less on either side tempestuous fell His arrows, from the four-fold visag'd four, Instinct with eyes ; and from the living wheels, Instinct alike with multitude of eyes." Par. Lost, b. 6. But, with due deference to the forenamed authors, may we not suggest the probability, that these che- rubim neither represented angels nor divine subsist- ences, but were simply the accompaniments of the chariot-throne of the Deity. God is described as a King, and, in accommodation to our ideas, he is spo- ken of as exhibiting regal state, and as occupying a throne or rojal seat, which at times is stationary, but which, when put in motion, in accordance with the infinite activity attributed to the Supreme Being, is -et before us as surrounded by wonderful forms, sup- ported by various emblematic figures, and attended with the greatest pomp and splendour of divinity. 96 CHERUBIM. We are confounded by the noise of the restless wheels, awed by the vision of innumerable eyes, and dazzled by the brightness of the celestial fire which shines around it. Milton has very well copied the Prophet's description, Par. Lost, b. 6, 1. 750, " Forth rushed with whirlwind sound The chariot of paternal Deity, Flashing thick flames, wheel within wheel undrawn; Itself instinct with spirit -, but convoy "d By four cherubic shapes ; four faces each Had wond'rous ; as with stars their bodies all, And wings were set with eyes, with eyes the wheels Of Beryl, and careering fires between." In 1 Chron. xxviii. 18, the form of this throne is referred to, where it is said, " He gave gold for the pattern of the chariot of the cherubims, that spread out their wings," &c. In Ps. Ixviii. 17, these chariots are described as numerous, as if the angels also occupied such, when they attend in procession on the Deity. In 2 Sam. xxi. 11, and Ps. xviii. 10, which are corresponding Scriptures, God is said " to ride upon a cherub, and to fly," i. e. perhaps in a cherubic chariot. As the description here given is that of a violent storm, all the elements being in commotion, and all things carried along with great rapidity, so the lan- guage employed is intended to express the vehe- mence, celerity, and magnificent effect of the divine movements and appearance. The Chaldee renders it thus : " He was revealed in his majesty over the swiftest cherubim. And he rode valiantly on the wings of the wind." In allusion to the cherubic figures which cover the mercy-seat, where the " glory" or Schechinah appear- CHERUBIM CITY. 97 ed, God is repeatedly described as " the Lord which dwelleth between the cherubim," for whether sta- tionary or in motion, these seem to be his attendants. There is a singular passage in Ezek. xxviii, 14, 15, where he compares the king of Tyre to " the anoint- ed cheriib that covered the ark of the covenant." Newcome thus translates it: ■'.I made thee as the anointed covering cherub ; Thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; Thou didst remain amidst the stones of fire; Thou wast perfect in thy ways, from the day when thou wast born. Until iniquity was found in thee." In this lamentation, wisdom, beauty, magnificence, splendour, and perfection are attributed to the king of Tyre. He likewise bore an exalted and sacred office. On these accounts he is compared to one of the angelic orders. Mr Lowth thus paraphrases the passage : " Such was thy eminent distinction, that thou wast, as it were, placed in the temple of God, on his holy mountain. Thou wast, as it were, conversant among the twelve precious stones on the breastplate of the High Priest, which shone like fire." Whenever God, who dwelt between the cherubim, was approached, the High Priest wore his breastplate, Exod xxviii. 30 ; 1 Sam. xxviii. 6. CITY. A city and its inhabitants are frequently described in the sacred writings under the similitude of a mother and her children. Hence the phrase, •' Children of Zion," in Joel ii. 23. As the temple was situated on Mount Zion, hence the city of Jeru- salem came to be denoted by it, because a principal G 98 CITY. part of it. See the same expression, Ps. cxlix. 2. Thus, also, Horace : " Romse principis urbium Dignatur soboles inter amabiles Vatum ponere me choros. Carm. 1. 4, qde 3. Cities are characterised as virgins, wives, widows, and harlots, according to their different conditions. Thus : Jerusalem is called a virgin, in Isa. xxxvii. 22 ; Jer. xviii. ; Lam. i. 15, and other places; and Egypt is so named in Jer. xlvi. 11. Babylon is called a widow, in Isa. xlvii. 8, 9? and Jerusalem, in Lam. i. 1. And the term harlot is used of Jerusalem, Isa. i. 21 ; of Tyre, Isa. xxiii. 16 ; of Nineveh, Nah. iii. 4 ; and of Samaria, Ezek. xxiii. 5. When a body politic comes under the symbol of an animal, and is so considered as one body, the head thereof by the rule of analogy is its capital city. Thus in Isa. vii. 8, 9, a capital city is a head, and taken for all the territories belonging to it. And the Roman authors affected to call Rome the head of the world. See Ovid, Met. 1. 15, v. 435 ; Liv. Hist, 1. 21, c. 30 ; Pliny, Nat. Hist. 1. 3, c. 5 ; Val. Max. 1. 8, c. 14. By the same rule cities, inferior to the general head, are themselves capital cities, and therefore lieads to their respective provinces. See under Mother. Great City. See under Babylon. Num. xxii. 39- And Balaam went with Balak, and they came to a city of streets : Kiriath-huzoth CITY CLOTHED. 99 in our version. The vulgate has " a city which was in the remotest bounds of his kingdom." CLOTHED. To be clothed is a metaphor fre- quently used to signify, to be accompanied with, adorned, covered, or protected ; as Job vii. 5, " My flesh is clothed with worms ;" Job xxxix. 19, " Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder ? Or, as Durell renders it, with pride, Ps. xxxv. 26, " Let them be clothed with shame and dishonour." Ps. xciii. 1, " Jehovah is clothed with majesty, Jehovah is clothed with strength." Paul also uses it in 2 Cor. v. 2, " Desiring to be clothed with our house which is from heaven." And in Rom. xiii. 14, " Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ." In Judges vi. 34, " The Spirit of the Lord came upon (lit. clothed) Gideon." 1 Sam. xvii. 5, " Goliah was clothed with a coat of mail." Ps. Ixv. 13, " The pastures are clothed with flocks." In reference to the term clothed as applied to di- vine influence, we find in Luke xxiv. 29, " Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued or in- vested, iy^va-rid-ii, with power from on high." And by a like phrase, the Spirit is said to rest upon Christ and his disciples, Isa. xi. 2 ; 1 Peter iv. 14. CLOUD. A cloud, without any token, shewing it to be like a storm, always denotes what is good, and implies success. It is in general the symbol of protection, because it preserves from the scorching heat of the sun, i. e. anguish and persecution ; and as it likewise distils a rain or cool and benign influence. It is thus used 100 CLOUD. by Horace, L. 1, ode 2, v. 31 ; and by Homer, II. 5, V. 186. And therefore in Sophocles' Electra, p. 134, 'xti(pccXoi Kxicay, a cloudless evil, is an unavoidable mis- chief, from which nothing can protect, as the author himself explains it. Clouds by the Indian interpreter, c. 163, are ex- plained of wisdom. In the next chapter, a king's riding upon the clouds, is interpreted by the Persian and Egyptian, of foreign nations serving him — of his ruling over them — and of his being exceedingly prosperous and successful. In the Holy Writers, the clouds are frequently the s\'mbols of God's power. Thus, Ps. Lxviii. 34, " His strength is in the clouds," though strictly speaking, the term here rendered clouds means the ether or air. See also 2 Sam. xxii. 12 ; Ps. civ. 3 ; Nahum i. 3. Ps. Ixxxix. 6, " Who is he in the clouds that can be compared to Jehovah ?" Clouds are more especially the symbol of multi- tudes and armies, as in Jerem. iv. 13, " Behold, like clouds he shall come up. And as a whirlwind his chaxiot." Meaning the person designed by the Lion and the destroyer of nations, namely, the king of Babylon. Isa. Ix. 8, " Who are these that fly like a cloud. And like doves upon the wing ?" The following is Erasmus's note upon this passage : •' The clouds tly aloft, that they may moisten and render fruitful the earth below. Even so the ministers of the gospel, raised far above terrene desires, and CLOUD. 101 bordering upon heaven, replenish the groveling and sterile minds of men with the rain of the heavenly word, that, the thorns and briars being cleared away, they may bring forth fruit worthy of God. They fly like clouds, every where diffusing the grace of the gospel, but they fly, too, like doves to their windows : for they make not their nest in the ground, but in the hollow of some lofty rock, that, by their continual sighs and prayers, they may excite the groveling miml to a love of the heavenly life." Heb. xii. 1, " Seeing we also ai-e compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses," &c. ; a very just comparison, seeing that clouds are composed of innu- merable drops of rain or watery vapour. So in the poets, multitudes are compared to clouds. As in Homer, II. 4, v. 273, a cloud of foot is a great com- pany of foot-soldiers. And Livy has, a cloud of in- fantry and horsemen ; and Epiphanius, a cloud of flies ; and Jerome, a cloud of locusts. Ajax, in Ho- mer, calls Hector the cloud of war. Virgil makes ^neas sustain the cloud of war — " Sic obrutus undique telis ^neas, nubem belli, dum detonet, omnem Sustinet. jEn. 10,808. To these may be added, a passage from Justin, where the growing power of the Romans is compared to a rising cloud : Lib. xxix. c. 3, " Videre se ait consur- gentem in Italia nubem illam trucis et cruenti belli, videre tonantem ac fulminantem ab occasu procellam, quam in quascunque terrarum partes victoriae tem- pestas detulerit, magno cruoris imbre omnia foedatu- ram." 102 CLOUD. A white cloud is a symbol of good success to him who is assisted by it, and is therefore explained of prosperity by Arteraidorus in book 2. Peter compares seducers to clouds carried about with a tempest, 2 Peter ii. 17, setting forth by this similitude the inconstancy of their doctrine, and fickleness of their dispositions, as well as their deceit- fulness, like clouds that promise rain, and yet are scattered without yielding any. See Jude 12. Solomon compares the infirmities of old age, which arise successively one after another, to " clouds re- turning after rain," Eccles. xii. 2. Isa. iv. 5. There is a manifest allusion to the pillar of cloud and of fire which attended the Israelites in their passage out of Egypt, and to the glory that rested on the tabernacle. The prophet Zechariah applies the same image to the same purpose, ch. ii. 5, " And I will be unto her a wall of fire round about. And a glory will I be in the midst of her ;" i. e. the visible presence of God shall protect her. In Prov. xvi. 1 5, the favour of a king is compared to " a cloud of the latter rain," refreshing and ferti- lizing the earth. The sudden disappearance of threatening clouds from the sky is beautifully employed in Isa. xliv. 22, as a figure for the blotting out of transgressions. De- mosthenes has a passage like it, which was admired by Longinus, as quoted by Lowth, " This decree made the danger then hanging over the city to pass away like a cloud." Rev. i. 7. The majesty of Christ's appearance is described by saying, " Behold he cometh with clouds," by which some understand, not literal clouds, but CLOUD. 103 the angels of the host of heaven. See Dan. vii. 13 ; Matt. xxiv. 30. Rev. X. 1, " And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud." To come in the clouds or with the clouds of heaven, is among the Jews a known symbol of divine power and majes- ty. Grotius observes a lilce notion among the hea- then, that they represented their deities appearing covered with a cloud — " Tandem venias, precamur, Nube candentes humeros araictus. Augur Apollo." In Ps. xcvii. 2, " Clouds and darkness" appear to be put as representing the mysterious nature of the divine operations in his government of the world. A day of clouds is taken for a season of calamity, as in Ezek. xxx. 3 ; xxxiv. 12 ; Joel ii. 2 ; Zeph. i. 15, a metaphor which the poet uses, " Tempera si fuerint nubila, solus eris." Is. xix. 1, " Behold, Jehovah rideth On a swift cloud and cometh to Egypt;" intimating the speediness of the divine infliction on that country. Clouds in Egypt are generally regard^ ed as inauspicious, since they are rare in that climate, the overflowing of the Nile suflScing for humidity. Rev. xiv. 14, " And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat, like unto the Son of Man." Christ himself seems here represented, sitting upon a bright cloud, which was spread under him, as a seat of judgment. 104 CLOUD COLOUR. Zech. X. 1, " The Lord shall make bright clouds;" or rather, " Jehovah will make ready the lightnings." See Newcome. Lament, iii. 44, " Tliou hast covered thyself with a cloud, That our prayer should not pass through." God is said at all times to dwell in light inacces- sible, and when he is described, as here, covering himself with a cloud, it means his unwillingness to admit sinners to communion with him — to them he cannot be propitious, nor can he have any commerce with them, because they despise his forbearance. COLOUR. Colour, which is outwardly seen on the habit of the body, is symbolically used to denote the true state of the person or subject, to which it is applied, according to its nature. Black, — see under Black. Pale signifies diseases, mortality, and afflictions arising from them. It is an usual epithet of death. " Pallida mors," say the poets. Hence the pale horse in Rev. vi. 8, has death for his rider, and the grave for his attendant, and a commission is given to him to slay the fourth part of the earth, i. e. of the heathen Roman empire, by the sword, famine, pestilence, and wild beasts, — a commission which is supposed to have been executed during the reigns of Maximus, Decius, Gallus, Volucian, and Valerian. St Cyprian notices this period in his apology to Demetrius the procon- sul, and expressly declares his judgment, that these great calamities were according to former predictions, COLOUK. 105 and brought upon the world not because the Chris- tians rejected the idolatrous Roman worship, but be- cause the Romans rejected the worship of the true God. Red denotes joy, with or after a great battle or slaughter. In Ps. Ixviii. 23, red and hlood are ex- planatory of each other. Isa. i. 18, " Though your sins be red like crimson." " Neque amissos colores Lana refert medicata fuco," says the poet, applying the same image to a different purpose. To discharge these strong colours is im- possible to human art or power, but to the grace and power of God all things, even much more difficult,, are possible and easy. See Lowth in loc. Isaiah Ixiii. 2, " Wherefore is thine apparel red, and thy garments as one that treadeth the wine-vat ?" See Lowth on the passage, and comp. Rev. xix. 13, Sic. Zech. i. 8, " I saw in the night a man riding on a red horse ;" i. e. an angel in the shape of a man. See V. 11, and Luke xxiv. 4, " Three horses follow him, red, dun, and white, whose riders were angels." They have horses, to show their power and celerity ; and horses of different colours, to intimate the difference of their ministries. See Rev. vi. 4. In Zech. vi. 2, the red horses are understood to denote the bloody Assyrian empire ; but see New- come. Rev. xii. 3, satan or antichrist is represented by a great red or blood-coloured dragon, to describe both his power and cruelty in opposing true religion. White, the symbol of beauty, comeliness, joy, and 106 CLOUD COLUMN. riches. Esther viii. 15, " Mordecai went out in white apparel." Eccl. ix. 8, " Let thy garments be always white." White clothes are not only the pleasantest in a warm country, as was Palestine, but also the most expensive, as they cannot be worn so long as those of other colours ; luxury is therefore here combined with cost. This colour, as being of great lustre, and as denot- ing purity, is attributed to tlie ancient of days in Dan. vii. 9? to Jesus Christ in Rev. i. 14, to the garb of angels in several places, and to the throne of God in Rev. xx. 11. White or shining garments are marks of favour and honour ; under the law, they were the garments of the priests, and worn in the courts of princes. Thus Pharaoh honoured Joseph, by arraying him in vestures of fine linen, as well as putting a gold chain about his neck, Gen. xli. 42. A white garment, as the emblem of purity, is promised to the Church at Sardis (Rev. iii. 4), and is interpreted of the right- eousness of saints (Rev. xix. 8), as well as a mark of honour. Whence we see the propriety of this em- blem, to express the peculiar honour and favour God would shew to them who remained constant and faith- ful in the purity of the Christian doctrine, worship, and life. COLUMN or PILLAR. These, it is well known, were erected anciently to commemorate great exploits or extraordinary events. When connected with a building, they might be called emblems of stability ; but when standing alone, they were memorial monu- ments, to record matters that were useful, whether legislative or historical: "James, Cephas, and John, COLUMN CROCODILE. 107 who seem to be pillars" that is, supporters of the edifice of the Church, considered as a building, — " the pillar and basis of truth," — this last seems to refer to a monument on which something is inscribed. The 16th psalm, in the Greek version, has for its title TnXvy^itipuc, an inscription on a pillar, as if that psalm related to a conqueror, whose triumphs were recorded. We know who the victor was who is there commemorated. The custom of consecrating stones among the hea- then seems to have taken its rise from Jacob's setting up the stone which he had put for his pillow, and pouring oil upon the top of it, and afterwards calling the place Bethel or Bit-al, the house of God, Gen. xxviii. 18. From this the learned Bochart insists, that the name and veneration of the sacred stones, called Bcetyli, so celebrated in all pagan antiquity, were derived. These Bcetyli were stones of a round form, and were consulted, on particular occasions, as a kind of divine oracles ; affording a proof, among many others, how closdy the pagaa world imitated, and how basely they perverted, the religious rites of the ancient patriarchs. Thus the setting up of a stone by Jacob, in. grateful memory of a celestial vision, and as a monument of the -divine: goodness, which had so conspicuously guarded him in his jour- ney, probably became the occasion of all the idolatry paid, in succeeding ages, to those shapeless masses of unhewn stones, of which so many astonishing remains are scattered up and down, the Asiatic, and even the European, world. See Maurice, v. 2, p. 356. CROCODILE. The term does, not occur in our English version, nor yet in the Septaagint, except in 108 CROCODILE. one instance, viz. in Levit. xi. 29, where, instead of the tortoise, the Seventy has the crocodile. The He- brew here has tzeb. That the Hebrew tenin and louiten signify the cro- codile, has been maintained by several writers of au- thority. See Harmer's Observ. v. 4 ; Bochart's Hieroz. ; Sheuchzer's Physica Sacra ; Scott on Job ; Durell, Parkhurst, and others. The principal passages in which the term occurs in this sense, are the following : Job vii. 12, " Am I a sea, or a crocodile (teniu), that thou settest a watch over me? Harmer so explains it, Observ. v. 4, p. 286, and remarks that the Egyptians watch the crocodile with great at- tention, to prevent its doing mischief. Job iii, 8, " Let them execrate it, who curse the (natal) day Of those who are about to rouse up the crocodile (louiten)." Which was almost sure to be attended with immediate and horrid destruction. See Job xli. 8, 9, 10. Isa. xxvii. 1, " In that day shall .Jehovah punish with his sword. His well- tempered, great, and strong sword. Leviathan the rigid serpent. Leviathan the winding serpent. And shall slay the crocodile (tenin) that is in the sea." Isa. li. 9, " Awake, awake, clothe thjrself with strength, O arm of Je- hovah, Awake, as in the days of old, the ancient generations ; Art thou not the same that smote Rahab, that wounded the crocodile (tenin)? CROCODILE. 109 In allusion to God's victory over Pharaoh, as appears from the lOtU verse. Ezek. xxLx. 3, " Thus saith the Lord Jehovah. Lo, I am against thee, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, The great crocodile (tenin), that lieth in the midst of his rivere, That saith. My rivers are mine own, and I have made them for myself," Pharaoh, elsewhere called Hophra, and by Hero- dotus, Apries, is supposed to be meant here, of whom that historian affirms, 1. 2, § 169) " This is said to have been the persuasion of Apries, that no god was able to deprive him of his kingdom;" — language which well agrees with the vain boasting used above. When he says rivers in the plural, he probably re- fers to the seven mouths of the Nile, to the streams which emptied themselves Into it, and the channels or canals that were cut from it. Ezek. xxxii. 2, " Say unto Pharaoh, king of Egypt, Thou art like a lion among the nations, Thou art as a crocodile (tenin) in the seas. And breakest forth in thy rivers. And troublest the waters with thy feet, and foulest thy rivers." From these and other passages, it appears that the term which our English translators render " dragon," is applied, not merely to the serpent tribe, but to any large or ferocious creature, which in its form or qua- lities resembles the serpent, such as the crocodile of the Nile. In Psalm Ixxiv. 13, where Asaph says, " Thou didst ^hide the sea by thy strength, „ ; Thou didst ^^jre&k the heads of the crocodU^' (tenim) in, the waters," ' '" ' "■ ' ■'••'-•- 110 CROCODILE. there is a plain allusion to the destruction of the power and host of Pharaoh at the Red Sea. To which we may also refer Ps. Ixviii. 30, where, instead of " Rebuke the company of spearmen," read, " Rebuke the wild beast of the reed," i. e. the crocodile, which lurks among the reeds of the Nile, and is a common figiu-e of the kings of Egypt. The crocodile, then, is the symbol of Egypt, and appears as such on Roman coins. In Scheuchzer's Physica Sacra may be seen a medal, with Julius Cae- sar's head on one side, and on the reverse a crocodile, with this inscription : " iEcYPTO CAPTA," t. e. Egypt taken. There is also a coin of Augustus, representing a cro- codile chained to a palm tree, with the inscription " Col. Nem.," in memory of Egypt being taken by Augustus after Antony. A crocodile fastened with a chain to a palm-tree, is to be seen on ancient coins, with the incription Col. JE.G. i. e. Colonia ^gyptus. On the other side are two human heads, of which one looks to the east, or- namented with a naval crown, — the letters above are Imp., where by the crocodile is signified Egypt, and Imp. is Imperator, or Augustus. The two heads are those of Augustus and Agrippa, of whom Virgil says, " Tempora navali fulgent roatrata corona." When the painter Nealces, whom Pliny mentions, wished to paint the naval engagement of the Eg\'p- tians and Persians, which took place in the Nile, he described that by a hieroglyphic, which he could not accomplish by art. He drew a young ass drinking on the shore, and a crocodile lying in wait for it. CROCODILE. Ill But since Egypt, in prophetic language, is a type of the antichristian power, which is spiritually called Egypt, in Rev. xi. 8, we may, without impropriety, extend several of these Old Testament references, and apply them to the character, language, and future des- tinies of that power. In Rev. xiii. 1, Antichrist is compared to a "beast rising up out of the sea," in allusion to the crocodile, which is amphibious. For a more particular description of the crocodile, see Job, chap, xli., and Bochart's commentary ; also Xorden's Travels, Hasselquist's Voyages, Harraer's Observations, 4th vol., and Sir George Staunton's Embassy to China, vol. 1. That the crocodile was anciently, among the Eg}-p- tians, a symbol of the sun, appears from its figure on the throne of Isis, as has been shewn by several au- thors, and agrees with what Jamblichus Avrites on the Egyptian mysteries, and Eusebius, in his Pneparatio Evang. lib. .3, cap. 3. Among the Indians on the Malabar coast, croco- diles were accounted the ministers or avengers of the divine justice. And the boats of the Siamese, in which they carrj^ out their dead, exhibit the figure of a crocodile. Lucian, Philo, and HorapoUo represent the croco- dile to have been the emblem of craft, malice, and impudence ; and Clemens Alexandrinus attributes to it the latter quality, especially in his Stromata, lib. 5. Bochart and others maintain, that Peroe, or Pha- raoh, in the ancient language of Egypt, signifies " Crocodile ;" while Josephus and Pfeilfer say, that it properly means •• King," or " my King," which. 112 CROCODILE. however, appears doubtful, since we often find in Scripture the title of king annexed to Pharaoh, which in that case would be a vain tautology. It may be remarked, that pero, in Hebrew, among its other meanings, has that of " starting aside or apostatizing from the true religion and worship ;" in which case, Pharaoh may be considered as equivalent to apostate. That crocodiles were formerly objects of worship, on account of the fear entertained of them by the common people, is well known. See .Elian de Ani- mal, lib. 10, cap. 21 ; Diodorus Siculus, lib. 1, p. 52 ; Strabo, Herodotus, and other authors. Juvenal also has this passage : " Quis nescit Volusi Bithynice, qualia demens jEg}-ptu3 portenta colat ? crocodilon adorat." Lib. 4. Sat. 15. Daubuz says, the crocodile was called by the Ara- bians Pharaoh, and was held by the Egyptians as the symbol' of all mischief. And therefore Typho being, in their belief, the author of all evils, was supposed to have transformed himself into a crocodile or dragon. So that the principle of evil, or Typho, was, in the symbolical character, represented by a crocodile or dragon, and under this symbol was worshipped. Agreeably whereto, in the Chaldean theology, the principle of evil was called Arimanius, i. e. the crafty serpent. It is the passage in Ezek. xxix. 3, as well as the history itself, in the book of Exodus, which Milton lias probably in view, Par. Lost, b. 12, 1. 190: " Thus with ten wounds, The river dragon tamed, at length submits,'" &c. CROCODILE CROWN. 113 D'Herbelot cites an eastern poet, who, celebrating the prowess of a most valiant Persian prince, said, " He was dreadful as a lion in the field, And not less terrible in the water as a crocodile." A comparison which agrees remarkably with that used by Ezekiel, ch. xxxii. 2, already quoted. The phrase used there of " breaking forth," may refer to the act of the crocodile when he bursts above the wa- ter to seize his prey ; or, as Gussetius supposes, rais- ing the head above the water, for the purpose of breathing more freely — " ut respiratione se reficiant." In Isaiah xxvii. 1, Leviathan is called '^^ i\ie straight or rigid serpent," the crocodile having a remarkably straight, rigid, and inflexible body, so that he cannot easily turn himself in pursuing his prey. CROWN. In Hebrew, ceter, whence the Greek, Ka<, translated crowns, are symbols of an infe- rior, feudatory, or delegated power ; so that there is the same difference between them and diadems as there is between a royal or imperial crown and a co- ronet ; and therefore the crown or coronet is by the Indian interpreter, c. 247, explained of the second person to the king, or the prime minister of state. So that the crown or coronet is the symbol of judicial power and dominion inferior to the supreme. And it is also the symbol of victory and reward, it being customary for conquerors to be crowned. The mitre of the high priest was called by the an- cient Greeks tiara, cidaris, and sometimes diadema ; II 114 CROWN CUP. they wore a sort of linen turban, commonly white ; and such were the diadems of kings, which Ammianus calls Fa^ciolani candidam, Regies Majestatis insigne. This linen covering of the head, with the plate of gold, on which " Holiness to the Lord" was inscribed, is called the Holy Crown. So that a turban, with a gold ornament, in the language of the scripture, is a crown of gold ; Lev. viii. 9- Rev. xix. 12, " On his head were many crowns," to shew his numerous conquests and large empire. Among the ancients, the crown was a symbol of dignity and authority — of comeliness and ornament — and sometimes of love. See Lucian, Euripides, and Anacreon, who use it in these various senses. The Magi used to wear a tiara, as we learn from Pausanias, Eliac, lib. 5, " But a Magus entering into the temple, and having placed some dry wood upon the fire, covered his head with a tiara, and invoked some deity, I know not whom." Strabo mentions the like, lib. 15. That ambassadors wore something of the kind ap- pears from Claudian : " Missiqiie rogatum Foedera Persarum proccres, cum patre sedentem H;ic f|uondam videre domo, positaque tiara Submisere genus." The Church is finely compared to a crown by the l)rophet Isaiah, Ixii. 3, " And thou shall be a beautiful crown in the hand of Jehovah; And a royal diadem in t!ie grasp of thy God." CUP, is used as a symbol in Scripture in various senses. Jt is employed to describe the practices of the false CUP. 115 church, in Rev. xvii. 4, " Having a golden cup in her hand," denoting the enticing means and specious pre- tences by which the antichristian church allures peo- ple to idolatry, particularly by sensuality, luxury, and affluence. There is an allusion to the philtres, or love potions, which lewd women used to prepare for the purposes of debauchery, and of inflaming the pas- sions of their paramours. The cup is said to be " full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication." With this agrees the prophecy of Jeremiah, ch. li. 7, where Babylon is called " a golden cup in the hand of Jehovah ;" i. e. she was a splendid instrument of vengeance ordained by God against the neighbouring nations ; and as all these had suifered by her, all are represented as ready to glory over her, or to rejoice when her turn of suiFering came. That a cup is the symbol of idolatry and its rites, appears also from Paul's expression in 1 Cor. x. 21, "Ye cannot drink of the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons." In the heathen sacrifices, as Macknight observes, the priests, before they poured the wine upon the victim, tasted it themselves ; then carried it to the offerers, and to those who came with them, that they also might taste it, as joining in the sacrifice, and receiv- ing benefit from it. Thus Virgil, JEn. 8, 273, " Quare agite, O juvenes," &c. " For these deserts, and this high virtue shewn, Ye warlike youths, your heads with garlands crown. Fill high the goblets with a sparkling flood, And with deep draughts invoke our common god." Drvdex. Wine, mixed with bitter ingredients, was usually given to malefactors when they were going to be put 116 CUP. to death. And therefore, by a metonymy of the ad- junct, the mixed bitter cup of wine is the symbol of torment or death, as in Psalm Ixxv. 8, " In the hand of Jehovah there is a cup, and the wine is turbid ; It is full of a mixed liquor, and he poureth out of it. Verily the dregs thereof all the ungodly of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them." But nowhere is this image of the cup of God's wrath presented with more force and sublimity than in Isaiah li. 17, &c., where Jerusalem is represented as staggering under the effects of it, destitute of that as- sistance which she might expect from her own chil- dren, not one of them being able to support or lead her. Plato has an idea something like this, which Lowth refers to in his note* As the evil which happens to men is the effect of God's justice and severity, and the good which hap- pens to them is the effect of his bounty and goodness, therefore, in the sacred writings, the one is represent- ed by a cup of wrath, and the other under the symbol of a cup of salvation (Ps. cxvi. 13), and of drinking of the river of pleasures (Ps. xxxvi. 8), at the right hand of God (Ps. xvi. 11). So Homer places two vessels at the threshold of Jupiter, one of good, the other of evil ; he gives to some a potion mixed of both, to others from the evil vessel only. D. 24, line 527, &c. " Two urns by Jove's high throne have ever stood. The source of evil one, and one of good ; From thence the cup of mortal man he fills. Blessings to these, to those distributes ills : To most he mingles both : The wretch decreed To taste the bad unmix'd, is curs'd indeed : cup. 117 Pursued by wrongs, by meagre famine driven. He wanders, outcast both of earth and heaven. The happiest taste not happiness sincere, But find the cordial draught is dash'd with care." When our Saviour asks James and John, whether they were able to drink of the cup which he was to drink of, Matt, xx. 22, he means, whether they had resolution and patience to undergo the like sufferings and afflictions as his Father had allotted for him. And in the like sense he prays, Matt. xxvi. 39? " O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me." The image of a cup as a portion, seems to have been borrowed from the ancient custom of the master of the feast appointing to each of the guests his cup, i. e. his kind and measure of liquor ; as in the follow- ing passage from the Iliad, 1. 4, 261. " For this, in banquets, when the generous bowls Restore our blood, and raise the warriors' souls, Though all the rest with stated rules are bound. Unmixed, unmeasur''d, are thj' goblets crown'd." God says to Jeremiah, ch. xxv. 15, " Take the cup of the wine of this wrath from my hand, and tender it to all the nations to drink, unto whom I shall send thee," &c., meaning thereby those heavy judgments which he was about to inflict on the objects of his displeasure. And the prophet, who announced them, is considered as acting the part of a cup-bearer, car- rying the cup round to those who were appointed to drink of it, the effects of which were to appear in the intoxication, that is, in the terror and desolation that should prevail among them. It is not to be imagined that the prophet went round in person to all the nations and kings here enu- merated, but either that he did so in a vision, or else 118 CUP. that he actually did what is figuratively designed, that is, he publicly announced the judgments of God severally against them, as we find in chapters xlvi. to li. inclusive, and which the Seventy have introduced in this place. Rev. xiv. 10, " The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture, into the cup of his indignation." It has been already remarked, that it was usual to give malefactors a cup of wine before going to exe- cution ; but sometimes a cup was given them, in which some strong poison had been infused, on pur- pose to cause their death. Such was the well-known mode of dispatching Socrates. Grotius thinks the words without mixture, intimate that the poisonous ingredients were infused in pure unmLxed wine, to take a stronger tincture, and become a more deadly poison. So in Zech. xii. 2, '• Behold I will make Jerusalem A cup of trembling to all the people round about." i. e. An inebriating and stupifying potion of the strongest liquors and drugs. Jerusalem shall strike the nations with dread and astonishment. On Habak. ii. 16, Grotius observes, that verses 15. and 16. contain an allegory. The Chaldeans gave to the neighbouring nations the cup of idolatry and de- ceitful alliance, and in return they received from Je- hovah the cup of his fury. Rev. xviii. 6, " In the cup which she hath filled, fill to her double." This is agreeable to the Jewish law of Retaliation CUP. 119 and Restitution, which in some cases enjoined double punishment or damages. See Exod. xxii. 4. The seven vials filled with the seven last plagues, are properly bowls or cups. That this emblem was not unknown to profane authors, appears from the writings of Plautus and Aristophanes, as has been shewn by several. We read in Jeremiah xvi. 7> of the " cup of con- solations," in allusion to the funeral customs of the Jews, which, Sir John Chardin tells us, is still ob- served by the oriental Christians, of sending provi- sions to the house of the deceased, where healths were also drunk to the survivors of the family, wishing that the dead may have been the victims for the sins of the family. The same is practised among the Moors. Of the Jewish method, we read thus in Be- rach, Hieros. fol. 6 : " Ten cups were drunk at the house of the. deceased ; two before the funeral banquet, — five amidst the banquet, — and three after it was finished. Of these three last, one was intended for thanksgiving, another as an office of kindness, and the third for the consolation of the mourners. That the same custom prevailed among the Romans, is shewn by Spencer, De Leg. Hebr. 1. 4, c. 9. Something similar seems to be hinted at in the closing lines of the Iliad : — " All Troy then moves to Priam's court again, A solemn, silent, melancholy train : Assembled there, from pious toil they rest, And sadly shared the last sepulchral feasi." The cup was an emblem of capital punishment, be- cause, among the ancients, it was usual to inflict death, by presenting to the condemned a cup of 120 CUP DAllKNESS. hemlock or other poison, as was the case of Socra- tes. And hence we hear our Lord saying, " The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it ?" And hence that expression in the Psalms, " There is a cup in the hands of the Lord — all the wicked of the earth shall drink of it." DARKNESS. As light is the symbol of joy and safety, so, on the contrary, darkness is the symbol of misery and adversity. It is thus used in Jer. xiii. 16, " Give ye glory to Jehovah your God, Before it grows darlt, (that is, before the time of darkness or distress comes on,) And before your feet stumble upon the mountains of gloominess." Meaning those solitary and gloomy mansions at which when " the dead" arrive, they may, by a poetical image, be supposed to stumble, because of the dark- ness, and to fall so as never to rise more. Compare Ps. xliv. 20, cxliii. 3, Job xviii. 6. The prophet Isaiah makes use of much the same images, ch. lix. 9, 10, where he represents the people as complaining of the wretchedness of their situation : *' We look for light, but behold darkness ; For brightness, but we walk in obscurity. We grope for the wall like the blind. Even as those that are eyeless do we grope ; We stumble at midday as in the dusk. In desolate places, like the dead." See also Ezek. xxx. 18, xxxiv. 12 ; Isa. viii. 22, ix. 1. Artemidorus, examining the various significations of the air, as to its qualities, says, " A gloomy, dark, overclouded air, signifies ill success, or want of power, and sorrow arising thereupon." Horace has the following simile, Ode 4. 4, 40 : DARKNESS. 121 " Pulcher fugatis lUe dies Latio tenebris." In Amos iv. 1 3, " That maketh the morning dark- ness," there is supposed to be an allusion to the black clouds and smoke attending earthquakes. " Des nuages noirs et epais (says a French writer) sent or- dinairement les avant coureurs de ces funestes catas- trophes." By " a day of darkness," in Joel ii. 2, the prophet intends to set forth the greatness of the people's dis- tress by the sudden calamity of the locusts. We find Cicero employing the same figurative lan- guage : " Quid tandem, tum illis reipublicae tenebris, coecisque nubibus et procellis, cum senatum e guber- naculis dejecisses," &c. (Pro domo sua.) The following allegory, under which the fall of Pharaoh is threatened, is an instance of the manner of applying the figure, by which darkness is made to represent calamity, a topic on which the Hebrew MTiters give the full reins to poetical boldness : Ezek. xxxii. 7, 8. " I will cover the heavens when I quench thee, And I will clothe the stars thereof with black; I will cover the sun with a cloud, And the moon shall not give her light. All the shining lights of the heavens will I clothe with black over thee. And I will set darkness upon thy laud, Saith the Lord Jehovah." Darkness is represented as the accompaniment of idolatrous rites. Ezek. viii. 12, " Hast thou seen, O son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery ?" 122 DARKNESS. Milton refers to this in his Paradise Lost, b. 1, 455, " By the vision led. His eye survey'd the dark idolatries Of alienated Judah." Darkness of the sun, moon, and stars, is an induc- tion to denote a general darkness or deficiency in the Government, as in Isa. xiii. 10; Ezek. xxxii. 7, above quoted; Joel ii. 10, 31. And the Oneirocritics, in ch. 167, explain the eclipses of the sun and moon of obscurity, affliction, oppression, and the like, according to the subject. Eph. V. 11, " The works of darkness." The apostle calls the heathen mysteries trorks of darkness, because the impure actions which the ini- tiated performed in them, under the sanction of reli- gious rites, were done in the night time ; and by the secrecy in which they were acted, were acknowledged by the perpetrators to be evil. (Macknight.) The term " outer darkness," which occurs in Matt. viii. 12, and in other passages, is well explained by the learned Du Veil : " Utitur Christus hac loquendi for- mula, quia agit hie de regno coelorum sub similitudi- ne ccenae convivialis, quae quia de nocte fir, solet co- pioso taedarum lumine celebrari. Itaque qui in coena- culo sunt, in magno sunt lumine ; qui extra, in mag- nis versantur tenebris." The state of the dead is often represented in Scrip- ture under the image of darkness. Thus Job x. 21, " Before I go whence I shall not return, Even to the land of darkness, and the shadow of death, A land of darkness, as darkness itself, And of the shadow of death, without anv order, And where the light is as darkness." DARKNESS. 120 And Job xvii. 13, " If I wait, the grave is mine house, I have made my bed in the darkness." Heathen writers employ the same image: Thus Lucan, 1. 6, v. 712, " Non in tartareo latitantem poscimus antro Adsuetamque diu tenebris, modo luce fugata, Descendentem animam." Whence Callimachus inquires of the kingdom of Plu- to, Epigr. 14, T« ri np6i ; TTOXV (TKOTOi. " What is there below? much darkness." Darkness is occasionally the emblem of ignorance; and the fitness of the one to represent the other is sufficiently obvious. Isa. ix. 2, " The people that walked in darkness Have seen a great light." Isa. Ix. 2, " Behold darkness shall cover the earth, And a thick vapour the nations," Matt. vi. 23, " If the light which is in thee be darkness, How great is that darkness !" See Campbell's note oh this passage. 2 Cor. iv. 6, " God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined into our hearts," &c. John iii. 19, " Light hath come into the world, But men have loved darkness rather than light. Because their deeds were evil." Juvenal has something like this, 1. 2, v. 239 : " Quicunque malis vitam maculaverit actis. Ad tenebras pavidas refugit, ne lumine claro Sordida poUutae pateant contagio mentis." 124 DARKNESS DARNEL DAY. Darkness is sometimes the emblem of captivity: thus, Isa. xlvii. 5, " Sit thou in silence, go into darkness, 0 daughter of the Chaldeans ; For thou shalt no longer be called the lady of the kingdoms." Lam. iii. 6, " In the midst of darkness hath he caused me to dwell, As those that have been dead of long time." Cicera uses similar expressions, Orat. 10, in Verr., " Cum esset in carcere, in tenebris, in squalore, in sordibus tyrannicis interdictis tuis, pari exacta setate." It is possible, that there may be a reference to the phrase "outer darkness" in that passage, Rev. xxii. 1 5, where it is said, " Without," i. e. beyond the new or mystical Jerusalem, "there are dogs, poisoners, whoremongers, murderers, and idolaters." But it is more likely that allusion is there made to the Outer Court of the Gentiles. See under Dog. DARNEL. The darnel or lolium, improperly call- ed tares in our version, was anciently the symbol of corrupt manners, as Pierus mentions in his Treatise de Hieroglyphicis, p. 405, " Morum enim corrupto- rum id omnino indicium est," &c. " Envious men," says Plutarch, " are as useless to a state, as darnel is to wheat." And the epithet given to this plant by Virgil is well known : " Grandia saepe quibus mandaviraus hordea sulcis, Infelix lolium, et steriles dominantur avense." DAY, as the time of light, and as opposed to darkness or night, is the symbol of a time of pros- perity. A day is often used both in sacred and profane writings, for an indeterminate portion of time. The 126 DEATH. the day of judgment, as before mentioned. See Matt. vii. 22 ; Luke x. 12 ; 2 Thess. i. 10 : 2 Tim. i. 18 ; iv. 8. But in Heb. x. 25, the phrase seems to import the day of the destruction of the Jewish state. I DEATH is the destruction of the subject spoken of, according to its nature, even though it have no natural life ; that is, in such a manner that it cannot any more act as such. So in Rom. vii. 8, " Without the law sin is dead ;" i. e. without the law sin does not exert its power. And on the other hand, as it is said there, v. 9, " Sin revived and I died ;" i. e. sin got strength to act, and I lost my power to resist : I was not the same man as before ; sin destroyed my power. So of a nation, Amos ii. 2, " Moab shall die with tumult," — the meaning being, that the king and government thereof shall lose their power, and the nation be brought into subjection and slavery. So Cicero, when banished, called himself dead, an image, and the like, (lib. 1 , ep. 3. ad. 2, Fr.) And so the ancient philosophers called vicious per- sons unable, through ill habits, to exert any virtuous act, dead men. (Simpl. in Epict. p. 2.) On the contrary, to live, is to be in a power to act, — acting and living being, says Artemidorus, (1. 4. c. 42,) analogical to each other. And so in Heb. iv. 21, ^mi, quick or alive, signifies active ov powerful — the word m^ym, powerful, being joined to it, to shew the meaning. Death is finely personified in Jer. ix. 21, *' For death hath climbed up through our windows. It hath entered into our palaces ; DAY. 125 day of temptation in the wilderness wzs, forty years. The day of the Lord is the time of judgment. And Paul, speaking of men's judgment, 1 Cor. iv. 3. calls it cc^i^u-xnin 'ri/x,i^x, or the day of man, in opposition, as it should seem, to the day of the Lord. So " Opini- onum comraenta delet dies," as in Cicero. And it has been observed, that a good rule to judge what portion of time may be designed by such indeter- minate expressions, is to consider what is necessary or proportional to the season spoken of. " The day of the Lord.'' This expression is used in the Scriptures to signify a time of calamity and distress, when God pours out his judgments upon any nation or people as a punishment for their sins. See Joel ii. 11 ; Isaiah ii. 12, &c. In the New Testament it generally signifies the day of judgment, because God will then execute his final judgment upon all impenitent and ungodly sin- ners. See Jude v. 6 ; Rev. vi. 17. In Joel i. 15, it signifies the time during which God suffered the locusts to infect the country of Judea ; which produced the most dreadful scarcity, and turned the land into a barren wilderness. These locusts were accounted the most dreadful plague ; in- somuch, that those who were instrumental to deliver any nation from them, were repaid with divine ho- nours. Thus the Oetians named Hercules CoT^no- pion, from cornops, a locust, and worshipped him un- der that character, because he drove away the locusts from them. (Chandler on Joel.) See more on Day under Time. " That day," means that great day of the Lord, DEATH. 127 It hath at once cut off the children from the street, And destroyed the young men from the broad places." And in Lam. i. 20, " Abroad a sword destroyeth, at home as it were death ;" meaning the pestilence — death as it were acting in propria persona ; and not by the instrumentality of another, as when a person is slain by the sword. So our great poet in his description of a lazar-house : — " Despair Tended the sick, busiest from couch to couch ; And over them triumphant. Death his dart Shook, but delay'd to strike." Par. Lost, b. 11 , 489. As the word death, when applied to the animal na- ture, properly signifies a dissolution or failure of all its powers and functions ; so, when applied to the spiritual nature, or souls of men, as Parkhurst ob- serves, it denotes a correspondent disorder therein, a being cut off from a communication with the divine light and spirit, a being spiritually dead, dead in trespasses and sins. Compare Eph. ii. 1,3; Col. ii. 13; Rom. viii. 6; Eph. v. 14; John v. 24, 25 ; Jude, verse 12. The " Second Death," Rev. ii. 11, is so called in respect to the natural or temporal, as coming after it, and implies everlasting punishment ; Rev. xxi. 8- By a Hebraism, the plague or pestilence is some- times called death. See Grotius on Matt. xxiv. 7, also Jer. ix. 21, before quoted, and xviii. 21, and xv. 2. It occurs also in Rev. vi. 8, with which compare Ezek. xiv. 21 ; Rev. ii. 23 ; xviii. 8. " Shadow of Death." This image (says Blayney on Jer. ii. 6,) was undoubtedly borrowed from those dusky caverns and holes among the rocks, which the 128 DEATH DESAllT. Jews ordinarily chose for their burying places, where death seemed to hover continually, casting over them his broad shadows. Sometimes, indeed, I believe nothing more is intended by it than to denote a dreariness and gloom like that which reigus in those dismal mansions. But in other places it respects the perils and dangers of the situation. Thus. Ps. xxiii. 4. " Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil." And again Ps. Ixiv. 19. But in Jer. ii. 6, over and above the foregoing allusions, " the land of the shadow of death," seems to intend the grave itself, which the wilderness actually proved to all the individuals of the Children of Israel that entered into it, Caleb and Joshua only excepted, whose lives were preserved by a special providence. See also Jerem. xiii. 16, and Isa. lix. 9, 10, where the same images are employed. DESART or WILDERNESS. A place remote from the society and commerce of men ; the symbol of temptation, solitude, persecution, desolation, and the like. Thus in Isa. xxvii. 10, " The strongly fortified city shall be desolate, An habitation forsaken, and deserted as a wilderness." And in ch. xxxiii. 9, " The land mourneth, it languisheth, Lebanon ia put to shame, it withereth, Sharon is become like a desart, Bashan and Carmel are stripped of their beauty." And thus iEneas in Virgil, to shew the misery of his condition, mentions his wandering unknown and needy in a wilderness, ^n. b. 1, v. 388. " Ipse ignotus, egens, Libya- dcscrta peragro." DESART. 129 But a wilderness may also be a symbol of good, when it denotes a hiding place from enemies, as David often found it ; and «is the IsraeliteK did in the persecution of Antiochus, when the Gentiles had profaned the sanctuary. Desarts are sometimes emblematic of spiritual things, as in Isa. xli. 19, " In the wilderness I will give the cedar, The acacia, the myrtle, and the tree producing oil, I will plant the fir-tree in the desart, The pine and the box together." So in ch. xxxii. 15, " Till the spirit from on high be poured out upon us, And the wilderness become a fruitful field, And the fruitful field be esteemed a forest, And judgment shall dwell in the wilderness. And in the fruitful field shall reside righteousness ;" meaning nations in which there was no knowledge of God, or of divine truth, shall be enlightened and made to produce fruit unto holiness. Desarts are generally pathless. In reference to this Isaiah says, ch. xxxv. 8, " And a highway shall be there, And it shall be called the way of holiness: No unclean person shall pass through it. But he himself shall be with them, walking in the way." He himself, i. e. God, who shall dwell among them, and set them an example that they should follow his steps. The desart is the symbol of the Jewish church and people ; Isaiah xl. 3, " A voice crieth in the wilderness." The Jewish church, to which John was sent to an- nounce the coming of Messiah, was at that time in a I 130 DESART. barren and desart condition, unfit without reforma- tion for the reception of her king. See the whole of Lowth's note in loco. See also Ezek. xlvii^ 8. The desart seems also to be the symbol of the anti- christian empire ; Rev. xvii. 3. It was in the wilderness that John saw the vision of the woman clothed in purple, and since this woman denotes mystic Babylon, the wilderness may be un- derstood to be the figure of her power. It is of the conversion of the Gentiles the prophet speaks, when he says, Isa. xxxv. 1, •• The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them, The desart shall rejoice and blossom as the rose." The solitude of the desart is a subject often refer- red to : thus Job xxxviii. 26, " To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is, On the wilderness, wherein there is no man." Jer. ix. 2, " Oh that I had in the wilderness a traveller's lodge, That I might leave my people, and go from them !" By a traveller's lodge, meaning some cave or hut, which some one before him may have erected for a temporary shelter. Horace describes the desart, as " terram domibus negatam," and elsewhere, " Sive facturus (iter) per inhospitalem Caucasum ;" imd Properlius, 1. 1, el. 10, .; " Hiec certe deserta loca et taciturna querenti, Et vacuum zephyri possidet aura nemus. Hie licet occultos proferre impune dolores ;" that is, without any one's presence or knowledge. The desart is the abode of evil spirits, or at least DESART. 131 their occasional resort. See Matt. xii. 43 ; Luke xi. 24. The heathen also held this opinion, witness Avian, fab. 29, " Hunc nemorum custos fertur miseratus in antro Exceptum Satyrus continuisse suoy;" and Virgil, ^En. 6, v. 27, \ " Turn vero in numerum faunos ferasque videres Ludere," &c. The Shedim or daemons of Scripture appear to have been the satyrs and fauns of the Gentiles, whom the Israelites idolatrously served. Deut. xxxii. 17 ; Ps. cvi. 37. Shedim being derived from shed to lay waste or desolate. See Isa. xxxiv. 14, and Jer. 1. 38, 39. And Maimonides, speaking of the Zabians, says, " They relate in their books, that on account of the wrath of Mars, desart and desolate places are without water and trees, and that horrid demons inhabit those places." Matt. xiii. 43, is thus paraphrased by a foreign writer : " The devil being expelled from the Jews, passed over to the Grentiles, but when by the light of the Gospel he was driven from thence, and found no resting place, he returned to the blinded Jews, and took possession of them more than before." The desart is described as a place of great perils through robbers and assassins. See Lam. iv. 19, " They laid wait for us in the wilderness." Acts xxi. 38, •' Art not thou that Egyptian, who leddest out into the wil- derness Four thousand men that were murderers." See Josephus, Antiq. 1. xx. 6. And Paul, 2 Cor. \i. 26, mentions "perils in the wilderness." 132 DESART DEW. To the primitive Christians, the world was every where a wilderness of this kind ; hence they are called pilgrims and strangers, who had no abiding city. And by the heathen they were often classed with and treated as robbers, according to the inscription which Scaliger cites. Neroni Claudio Caesari Aug. Pontif. Max. ob provinciam latronibus et his qni novam generi humano superstitionem inculcarant purgatam ; i. e. to Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus, high priest, on account of his having cleared the province of robbers, and of those who taught mankind a new superstition. DEW. The moisture which, arising from the earth, refreshes, invigorates, and promotes the growth of vegetables, and beautifies them with its drops, as with so many shining pearls. But when the sun grows hot, it is quickly exhaled, and vanishes away. During the months of May, June, July, and August in Palestine, not a single cloud is to be seen ; but, during the night, the earth is moistened by a copious dew, which, in the sacred volume, is frequently made a symbol of the Divine goodness. Thus : — Gen. xxvii. 28, " Therefore may God give thee of the dew of heaveu, And the fatness of the earth. And plenty of corn and wine?" And Gen. xlix. 25, where the " blessing from above" is equivalent with dew. See also Deut. xxxiii. 13; Job xxix. 19; Micah V. 7. In Arabia Petraea the dews are so heavy as to wet to the skin those who are exposed to them ; but as soon as the sun arises, and the atmosphere becomes a little warmed, the mists are quickly dispersed, and DEW. 133 the abundant moisture which the dews had commu- nicated to the sands, is entirely evaporated. What a forcible description is this of the transiently good impressions felt by many, to wnich the prophet al- ludes in Hosea vi. 4, " What shall I do unto thee, O Ephraim ? What shall I do unto thee, O Judah ? For your goodness is as a morning cloud, And as early dew which passeth away." Allusion is also made to the refreshing nature of the dews of Palestine. Hosea xiv. 5, " I will be as the dew to Israel, He shall blossom as the lily, And he shall strike his roots as Lebanon." Dew is the symbol of the blessed effects of Divine teaching, which is equally silent, gentle, and refresh- ing. Thus Deut. xxxii. 2, " My doctrine shall drop as the rain. My speech shall distil as the dew. Like showers upon the tender herb. Like a copious dew on the grass ;" /. e. my doctrine shall have the same effect upon your hearts, as the dew has upon the earth, it shall make them soft, pliable, and fruitful. In 2 Peter ii. 17, false teachers are called wells without water. And God, speaking by Isaiah of his vineyard, says, Isa. xxvii. 3, " It is I Jehovah that keep it, I will water it every moment, I will take care of it by night. And by day I will keep guard over it." In Amos vii. 16, to " drop the word" is to pro- phesy ; the metaphor being taken from the symbol of 134 DEW. dew ; because prophecy is the gracious effect of God's favour. Homer, who appears to have been a careful ob- server of nature, thus descrioes the early morn, as in Pope's version. " Aurora now, fair daughter of the dawn, Sprinkled with rosy steps the dewy lawn." And in Hiad b. 23, 1. 597, he compares the exulta- tion of joy in a man's mind to the morning dew re- viving the corn. ■ " Joy swells his soul ; as when the vernal grain Lifts the green ear above the springing plain. The fields their vegetable life renew, And laugh and glitter with the morning dew." The Oneirocritics explain the symbol of rain or dew, of all manner of good things. As the bestowing of dew was a blessing, so the withholding of it was a curse. Hence David thus speaks of the scene of Saul and Jonathan's death : — 2Sam. i. 21, " Ye mountains of Gilboa, On you be neither dew nor rain. Nor fields affording oblations." i. e. let your fields henceforth produce nothing worthy to be offered to the Lord. Dew, as consisting of innumerable drops, is some- times the symbol of multitude : Thus Psalm ex. 3, " More than the dew from the womb of the morning Shall be the dew of thy progeny." Meaning, that converts to the gospel of Christ should at some future period be very numerous. But it is right to notice, that Durell gives this passage a differ- ent sense. Thus : — DEW. 135 " I have brought thee forth out of the womb. Before the morning brought on the dew." i. e. God addressing the Messiah, adverts to the ex- istence of the latter long before the creation of any being. ' Having examined the different versions minutely, with a view to ascertain the genuine meaning of this difficult passage, the following is the result, firom which it appears that renderings similar to that of Dr Durell preponderate, but they can scarcely be said to be warranted by the original. Literal version of the Hebrew : " More than the womb of the dawn, The dew of thy progeny." The Septuagint : " In the splendors of thy holiness from the womb, Before the morning star I begot thee." Vulgate : The same as the Septuagint. Aquila : " Thou hast the dew of thy youth From the womb, from the morning." Symmachus : " Thy youth is as the morning dew." Bootius : " Thou hast shone like the morning ; from thy very birth, Thy youth has been covered with dew," Mudge : " Thy youth (meaning young men) shall be ready at thy hand, As dew from the womb of the morning." Parkhurst : " More than (the dew from) the womb of the dawn, (Shall be) the dew of thy progeny." So also Cocceius and Bishop Lowth. 136 DEW. Pye Smith : " From the womb of the morning, Thine shall be the dew of thy youth. Kennicott : (on the authority of the S\Tiac and Arabic) : '• In majesty and holiness from the womb ; Before the morning star, I have begotten thee." Le Cene : '• You have shone like the dawn from your birth. Your infancy has been covered with dew." When I said above, that renderings similar to Durell's preponderate, I meant not in point of number, but in point of value, since the Septuagint, the Vulgate, Syriac, Arabic, are of more importance than modern versions. But there seems to be something wanting in the Hebrew original ; which it is now very diffi- cult to supply. At present it conveys no meaning whatever. In another place, dew is made the symbol of bro- therly love and harmony ; for though the drops are many, they sometimes run together and coalesce, as quicksilver is seen to do upon a smooth surface. Thus, Psalm cxxxiii. 3, " As the dew of Hermon, That descended upon the mountains of Zion ;" (Sirion.) a passage which has greatly embarrassed critics, to account how the dew of Hermon could fall upon the mountains of Zion, in Jerusalem, at the distance of upwards of sixty miles. And hence our translators try to overcome the difficulty by inserting the words " and as the dew," — and Durell renders it, upon the dry hills, for so he affirms the word Zion is used in Isa. XXV. 5, and xxxii. 2. Mudge imagines that Da- vid, seeing the two summits at a distance, had joined DEW. 137 them together in his description, without reference to the interval between them. But the best interpreta- tion seems to be that of Dr Stukeley, in his History of Abury, chap, 14, who corrects Zion into Sirion, as being a mistake of some transcriber ; and this is jus- tified b}' reference to Deut. iii. 9, where Moses says, " which Hermon the Sidonians call Sirion." And this mode of parallel is very common in the poetical parts of Scripture. The silent manner in which a man tries to overtake his enemy by stealth, is beautifully likened to the railing of the dew by Hushai, in 2 Sam. xvii. 12, " So shall we come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light upon him as the dew fall- eth on the ground." The comparison of God's visitation of his people to dew is remarkable in several passages ; thus, Isa. xxvi. 19,_ •' Thy dead shall live ; vav deceased, they shall rise : Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust ! For thy dew is as the dew of the dawn, But the earth shall cast forth, as an abortion, the deceased tyrants." Lowth's version. The Prophet here speaks of the captivity of Babylon as of a state of death, and the deliverance of God's people from their depression is explained by images plainly taken from the resurrection of the dead, simi- lar to what we find in Ezekiel, chap, xxxvii. The residue of Jacob is beautifully compared to lew in Micah v. 7? — " As the dew from Jehovah, As the showers upon the grass. Which tarrieth not for man, Neither waiteth for the sons of men." 138 DEW DOG. The Jews, observes Newcorae, contributed to spread the knowledge of the one true God during their cap- tivity. See Dan. ii. 47, iii. 29, iv. 34, vi. 26. The gospel was preached by thera when the Messiah ap- peared, and it shall again be propagated by their fu- ture glorious restoration; Rom. xi. 12, 15. See a similar passage in Zecl^ viii. 12, — " For the seed shall he prosperous ; The vine shall yield its fruit. And the ground shall yield its increase, And the heavens shall yield their dew, And I will cause the residue of this people To possess all these things." DOG, the symbol of uncleanness, immodest ac- tion!', apostasy ; also of the Gentile tribes generally, whom the Jews despised, as being destitute of the true knowledge, worship, and obedience of God ; as living in impurity, and being without the pale of the covenant. The dog was declared to be unclean by the law of Moses, and the term " dead dog" among the Jews was expressive of the utmost contempt. See 1 Sam. xxiv. 14, 2 Sam. ix. 8. In Deut. xxiii. 18, dog seems to be used for a per- son guilty of unnatural crimes. Such persons are called "the abominable" in Rev. xxi. 8, and their doom is there pronounced. Such as resemble them are excluded from the kingdom of heaven, Rev. xxii. 15, where there is an allusion to the outer Court of the Gentiles, whO' were not admitted into the holy place ; — " toithout are dogs." It has been objected to this view of Deat. xxiii. 1 8, that legislators are not wont to use metaphorical ex- pressions in the wording of their precepts — which is DOG. 139 true ; but the price of a dog being classed along with the hire oi ^ prostitute, as being an odious offering at the altar of God, leads to prefer the figurative to the literal sense. There are great names on both sides, if names can determine any question. For the figur- ative, Le Clare, Ilosenmuller, Houbigant, Michael is ; for the literal, Bochart, Spenser, IKenius, Geddes, Dathe. Herbelot quotes a passage from a Persian poet, in which Sodomites are compared to dogs. The Turks reckon a dog an unclean and filthy creature, and therefore drive him from their houses. Dogs there belong to no particular owners, but live on the offals which are thrown abroad in the streets. Solomon and Peter compare apostates to dogs re- turning to their vomit; see Prov. xxvi. 11, 2 Peter ii. 22. David, personating Christ, compares his enemies to dogs, as slandering and persecuting him ; Ps, xxii. 16. And Paul calls the false apostles dogs, on account of their impudence and love of gain : Phil. iii. 2, " beware of dogs.'^ " Cave canejiiy^ meaning rabio- sum, was a proverb among the ancients. Virgil uses the term "obsccenique canes," in Geor. 1. 1, V. 470: But, in Isaiah Ivi. 10, the dog is used as the sym- bol of diligence and watchfulness ; for, vile as many creatures may be in their habits as animals, there are none that may not be considered as possessing some good qualities, as being of God's formation, and in- tended severally for wise purposes. As the barking of dogs is useful to give notice to man of the approach of strangers, so those watchmen mentioned by the 140 DOG. Prophet, meaning the ministers of religion of that day, when they ceased to warn the people, are com- pared to dogs who are dumb, and who cannot or do not bark, consequently who have lost their most use- ful property. When our Lord says, in Matt. xv. 26, " It is not proper to take the children's bread and. throw it to the dogs," by the children he means the Jews, by the dogs the Gentiles. In the Rabbinical writings, the question is put, " What does a dog mean ?' and the answer given is, " One who is uncircumcised." The dog and the sow are mentioned together by Isaiah, chap. Ixvi. 3 ; by Christ in Matt. vii. 6 ; and by Peter, 2 Ep. ii. 22, as being alike impure and un- acceptable. Horace also classes them together, — " Vixisset canis immundus, vel arnica luto sus." DOOR, is that which closes the light. The opening of any thing is said, when it may act suitably to its quality. The shutting of any thing is the stopping of its use. Therefore Paul, in 1 Cor. xvi. 9, 2 Cor. ii. 12, Col. iv, 3, uses the symbol of a door opened, to signi- fy the free exercise and propagation of the Gospel. Thus in Pindar (Olymp. Od. 6.) " to open the gates of songs," is to begin to sing freely. And in Euripides (Hippol. v. 56.), the gates of hell opened, signify death ready to seize upon a man, and to exert its power. And thus in the Ottoman Empire, according to Sir Paul Rycaut, when a call or new levy of Janisaries is made, it is said to be " the opening of a door for Ja- nisaries ;" an expression very much like that in DOOR DOVE. 141 Acts xiv. 27, of God's having " opened a door of faith for the Gentiles." John X. 9, our Lord applies the term to himself, — " I am the door ;" on which see Campbell's note on John X. 8. In Hosea ii. 15, the valley of Achor is called " a door of hope," because there, immediately after the execution of Achan, God said to Joshua, " Fear not, neither be dismayed," (ch. viii. 1.) and promised to support him against Ai, her king, and people. And from that time Joshua drove on his conquests with uninterrupted success. See Horsley on the passage. DOVE. The symbol of purity and innocence. Jesus recommends to his disciples the caution of the serpent and the harmlessness of the dove, Matt. X. 16. It has been justly observed, that he does not recommend these qualities separately, but conjunctly, that the one may supply what is lacking in the other, or correct what is lacking of the other ; for prudence or caution separately may degenerate into mischie- vous cunning, and simplicity into silliness. Our poet Cowper has well expressed it : •' That thou may'st injure no one, dove-like be : And serpent-like, that none may injure thee." And Paul has given the same advice in another form, Rom. xvi. 19, " I wish you indeed to be wise in that which is good, and pure in respect to evil." So Martial, lib. 10, Epigr. 47, " Prudens simplicitas, pares amici, Sicut columbae." The kings of Assyria are said to have used the dove as an emblem. See Ramirez de Prado, who ^ays they had it painted on their standards, banners, 142 DOVE. and public edifices, as the ensign of their empire. Hence we find in Hosea xi. 11, in allusion to the re- turn of the ten tribes, " They shall hasten as a bird frim Egypt, And as a duve from the land o{ Assyria." And in ch. vii. 11, " Ephrain) is as a simple dove vvithout knowledge ; Upon Eg}'pt they call; to Assyria they resort." Semirainis is said by Diodorus Siculus, 1. 3, c. 4, to have had her name in the Syriac language utto t*» Ti^i^iguv, from the dove. From the title of Ps, Ivi., which is addressed " to the dove of the distant groves," and seems to have been composed by David when flying from Saul, or some similar enemy, as from a hawk, we may conjec- ture that the dove was an emblem also of the Israel- itish kings, especially as we learn from some of the Jewish writers, quoted by Lightfoot, tom. 2d, " That when Solomon sat on his throne, there was appended to it a sceptre, on whose top was a dove, and a golden crown in the mouth of the dove." Probably the em- blem was borrowed from the history of Noah and his dove with the olive of peace, and might be intended to denote a pacific reign. That the dove is a very timid bird, is well known, and is in part alluded to in Hosea xi. 11, and Ezek. vii. 16, where the Vulgate renders the Hebrew by '' omnes trepidi," all of them trembling. The pro- fane writers notice this quality. Thus Ovid, as quot- ed by Parkhurst : " So did I flee, so did he pursue, As flies the fearful dove with trembling wing. And as the falcon rapidly pursues." DOVE. 143 And Homer, II. 22, line 139, &c. " Thus at the panting dnve a falcon flies, (The swiftest racer of the liquid skies,) Just when he holds or thinks he holds his prey. Obliquely wheeling through th' aerial way; With open beak and shrilling cries he springs, And aims hia claws, and shoots upon his wings." Pope. So Virgil, JEn. 11, line 721, &c. " Not with more ease the falcon from above, Shoots, seizes, gripes, and rends the trembling dove. All stain'd with blood the beauteous feathers fly. And the loose plumes come fluttering down the sky." Pitt. The dove is also the symbol of rest. It was a bird of this kind that brought the tidings to Noah of the retiring of the waters, Gen. viii. 11. Propertius has a similar notice, lib. 2, " Dux erat ignoto missa columba mari, Ilia meis tantum non unquam desit ocellis." i. e. a dove was sent forth as a guide in the unknown seas, and she was never absent from my eyes. ApoUodorus also says, " In the Argonautic expe- dition, a dove was sent out from the ship among the rock^ called Symplegades, in order to determine, by her fate, whether they might be safely passed." — Lib. 1, .'lol. 32. The Psai'.TJJst says, Ps. Iv. 6, " 0 that I haJ wings like a dove." Seneca, in his Agamemnon, has a similar expres- sion : " Quae lacrymis nostris questus Reddet Aedon ? cujus pennas Utinam miserae mihi fata darent!" The cooing of the dove, when solitary, is often al- 144 DOVE. luded to in Scripture, as in Is. xxxviii. 14, lix. 11, Nah. ii. 7. That the dove is a proper emblem of the Holy Spi- rit, is generally admitted, it being in that form, oKru. that the , Spirit descended on Christ at his baptism. Matt. iii. 16. Some have thought that there is an allusion to this emblem in Gen. i. 2, " And the Spirit of God brooded (like a bird or dove) over the waters." The olive of peace brought back by the dove of Noah, has also led to a supposed prefiguration of the same kind. It is to Noah's dove, no doubt that Plutarch refers, in his treatise on the instinct or craft of ani- mals : " The mythologists tell us, that the dove which Deucalion sent out of his ark, when she returned to him again, was a sure sign that the storm had not ceased, — ^but of serene weather, when she flew quite away." " The Holy Ghost," says Archbishop Leighton, " descended upon the Apostles in the shape of tire. There was something to be purged in them ; they are to be quickened and enabled by it for their calling. But in him, as a dove, there was no need of cleansing or purging out any thing. That was a symbol of the spotless purity of his nature, and of the fulness of the Spirit dwelling in him. Is. Ix. 8, " Who are these that fly as a cloud, And as doyes to their windows?" ,.-- ^ where the Chaldee renders, '• as doves who return to their dovecots." PHny» in his Natural History, remarks, " Solent columbye imprimis ad notos nidos et columbaria, quamlibet in lemota loca transvectae, pcrnici volatu remeare." Wlierefore a dove was of- ten sent forth as a sign and omen of future return, when the emperors went to war, as the Scholiast on DOVE. 145 Apollon., lib. 2, Argon., informs us. And Ovid has this expression : " Aspice ut redeant ad Candida tecta columbse. ' But Bp. Lowth translates the text in Isaiah thus : " And as doves upon the wing ;" for which he assigns his reasons. See his note on the place. The dove was ordained as an offering under the Old Testament, Lev. xii. 6, 8. It was worshipped among the Assyrians and Samaritans. See Lucian de Dea Syr., p. 795, " Of birds, the dove appears to them the most sacred, and they account it unlawful even to touch it." And Ilyginus says, " On this ac- count the Syrians do not eat fishes and doves, which they reckoned among the number of their gods." That doves were much used among the Jewish sa- crificers, appears from Matt. xxi. 12, " the seats of them that sold doves." See also Mark xi. 15; John ii. 14, 16. That they were offered among the Gen- tile sacrifices, is plain from ancient authors. Thus Ovid, Fasti, 1. 1, " Ergo saepe sue conjiix abducta marito Uritur in calidis alba columba focis." And Propertius, 1. 4, Eleg. 5, in fine. The dove was worshipped among the Assyrians, as some think, in honour of Semiramis ; but others sup- pose, as an emblem of the air ; and hence Hesychius considers it to be the hieroglyphic of a person of ex- alted mind, and who addicts himself to divine con- templations. Virgil says, " Eadit iter liquidum, celeres neque commovet alas." And TibuUus, " Quid referam ut volitet crebras intacta per urbes Alba Palcestino sancta Columba Syro ?" K 146 DOVE DRUNK. The dove was viewed as the emblem of meekness and simplicity ; hence, when David was affected with a desire to fly, he wished for the wings, not of the eagle or the hawk, though stronger and more impe- tuous, but of the dove, for then he should flee away, and be at rest. It was also considered to be the hai'binger of hap- pier times ; and in that respect the symbol of future felicity, when the season of Divine Avrath shall have passed away, and men shall enjoy rest in the favour of God, as Noah's dove was the messenger of the ces- sation of the deluge, and the return of serene skies and subsiding waters. DRUNK. Drunkenness is sometimes the symbol of folly, and of the madness of sinners, who, making no use of their reason, involve themselves in all sorts of crimes. So Philo explains it. And so it is taken in Isa, xxviii. 1, 3, and by Ar- temidorus, in lib. 3. c. 42. And then, as punishment is the consequence of sin, so drunkenness, in the Prophets, is taken for that stupidity which arises from God's judgments ; when the sinner is under the consternation of his misery, as one astonished, staggering, and not knowing what to do — and is therefore the symbol of a very miserable state. Thus in Job xii. 25, " They grope in the dark without light, And he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man." In Isaiah xxix. 9j " They are drunken, but not with wine ; They stagger, but not with strong drink," DEUNK. 147 See also Isa. li. 21, 22, and Lowth's note on Isa. i. 22. Jer. xiii. 13, 14, " I will fill all the inhabitants of this land. And the kings that sit in David's stead on his thrones. And the priests and the prophets. And all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness ; And I will dash them one against another, And the fathers and the children together, saith Jehovah." Here the prophet is directed to deal plainly with them, and to tell them that the wine he meant was not such as would exhilarate, but such as would in- toxicate ; being no other than what would be poured out of the wine cup of God's fury to the subversion of all ranks and orders of men amongst them. Com- pare ch. XXV. 15-29, and Lara. iii. 15. Aristotle says, the drunken are doubly punished. Eth. 1. 3, c. 5. Sometimes idolatry is set forth under the symbol of drunkenness, as being attended there- with. See Jer. li. 7. And sometimes drunkenness is used in a good sense — for being replenished or satisfied with good things, as in Jer. xxxi. 14, according to the original. And so the Oneirocritics sometimes, as in ch. cxi, cxii, explain it of the acquisition of riches. See under Cup and Wine. Hosea vii. 5, •• On the feast day of our king, wTien the princes began to be hot with wine, He stretched out his hand with the scorner." The following is the comment of Tarnovius on this passage : — " Turn morbo afficiunt seipsos Principes calore ex vino, vaporibus calidis caput occupantibus, unde Cephalalgia, qui morbus ebrietatem comitatur, 148 DRUNK DUST. quin etiam febrim ardentem saepe contrahunt po- tores ex nimio vino, quo incalescunt." " Wo to them (says Isaiah v. 11.) who rise early in the morn- ing, to follow strong drink ; Who sit late in the evening, that wine may inflame them." Comp. Amos vi. 3-6. DUST, the symbol of rejection. Matt. X. 14, " Shake off the dust from your feet," i. e. says Origen, " Shew them that the very dust which you have collected in a journey undertaken on their account, shall be a witness against them in the day of judgment, because they were unwilling to re- ceive you, or to hear your discourses." That the Apostles literally observed this injunction of their Master, appears from Acts xiii. 51, in the case of Antioch in Pisidia. " Men would not," says Baxter, " triumph in their own calamity, when they have expelled their faithful teachers (the dust of whose feet, the sweat of their brows, the tears of their eyes, and the fervent prayers and groans of their hearts, must witness against them), if they know themselves." It was maintained by the Scribes, that the very dust of a heathen country polluted their land, and there- fore ought not to be brought into it. Our Lord here, adopting their language, requires his Disciples by this action, to signify that those Jewish cities which re- jected their doctrine, deserved a regard noway supe- rior to that which they themselves showed to the cities of Pagans. See Campbell's note in loc. When the Jews, Acts sxii. 23, in the^ height of their rage, threw dust into the air, it showed that these outrageous people would have reduced the DUST. 149 Apostle to powder, if they durst. Comp. 2 Sam. xvi. 13, and see Harmer, b. 4, p. 202. Dust is the symbol of a low condition. 1 Sam. ii. 8, " God raiseth up the poor out of the dust, To set them among princes." Nahum iii. 18, " Thy nobles shall dwell in the dust." But the proper rendering here seems to be, dwell in sloth. " Quiescunt, decumbunt, dormiunt," See Newcome's note. 1 Kings XV.. 2, " I raised thee out of the dust," &c. Isaiah iv. 1, " Descend and sit in the dust, O vir- gin daughter of Babylon." Sitting on the ground was a posture that denoted mourning and deep distress, Jeremiah has the same image in Lam. ii. 8, " The elders of the daughter of Sion sit on the ground, they are silent •, They have cast up dust on their heads, They have girded themselves with sackcloth. The virgins of Jerusalem have bowed down their heads to the ground." Judea is represented in this posture on ancient coins. See Addison on Medals. The Persians have a proverb, when they would express the lowest humility, " I am the dust of your feet." Dust is the symbol of human frailty and mortality. Gen. iii. 1 9? " Dust thou art, and to dust thou shalt return." Job vii. 21, " For now shall I sleep in the dust." 150 DUST. Ps. xxii. 15, " Thou hast brought me to the dust of death." Rightly, therefore, does the Psalmist observe, Ps. ciii. 14, " He knoweth our frame. He remembereth that we are dust." Comp. Eccl. iii. 20 ; Job x. 9 ; Sirach xvii. 31. Hence also we find profane writers using such ex- pressions : thus Horace, 1. 4, Od. 7, " Pulvis et umbra sumus. Quis scit an adjiciant hodiernae crastina summse Tempora Di superi ?" And Phocylides, " For we have a body formed from the earth, and are all resolved into it again. We are dust, X0»«? iTfAit. Dust is the symbol of sorrow and mourning. The messenger who announced Saul's death had dust upon his head. 2 Sara. i. 2. The friends of Job had the same tokens, eh. ii. 12 ; and the Elders of Israel, Josh. vii. 6. See many other passages. The same custom obtained among the Heathen, as in Homer's Odyssey, 24, v. 315, " Deep from his soul he sigh'd, and sorrowing spread, A cloud of ashes on his hoary head." And Catullus, " Primum multas expromam mente querelas, Canitiem terra atque infuso pulvere turpans." And Statius, Theb. 1. 3, " Canitiem impexam dira tellure volutans." Dust is used to denote multitude : thus. Gen. xiii. 16, " I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth." DUST DWELL EAGLE- 151 Num. xxiii. 10, " Who can count the dust of Jacob ?" Ps. Ixxviii. 27, " He rained flesh also upon them as dust." DWELL. To dwell over — to give rest and pro- tection. See Num. ix. 18, 22 — Isa. iv. 6; xviii. 4 ; XXV. 4 ; XXX. 2 — Dan. iv. 12. And the Indian interpreter, ch. 202. To dwell among, Rev. vii. 1.5 ; xxi. 3, signifies also protection — but in a more remarkable manner — the foregoing expression signifying protection, by any instrument that effects it — but this, protection by the familiar converse and perpetual presence of the worker. Eph. iii. 17, " That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith." Paul here compares the minds of the Ephesian Christians to a temple, in allusion to the celebrated temple of Diana at Ephesus, which had an image of her, fabulously reported to have fallen from heaven, constantly dwelling in it. He prays that they might possess a more substantial blessing, viz. " That Christ might dwell in them, not personally, but bi/ faith," i. e. by the principles of his religion, heartily and firmly believed by them. See Chandler's excel- lent note on the passage. The word of Christ is said to dwell in a person richly in all wisdom. Col. iii. J 6, when, as Cruden well observes, it is diligently studied, firmly believed, and carefully practised. EAGLE, the well-known ensign of the Roman empire, is usually the symbol of a king or kingdom. In ^schylus, Xerxes is represented under the sym- bol of an eagle, and, in like manner, Agamemnon. The same poet calls the eagle the king of birds. And so did the Egyptians, who also represented a king, 152 EAGLE. that seldom appeared in public, by an eagle. And in the Auspicia, the eagle was always the symbol of the Supreme Power. Livy, Hist. 1. 1 ; Appian, de Bell Civ. 1. 1 ; Plutarch in vita Marii, p. 141. The wings of an eagle are the symbols of protec- tion and care. Thus, in Exod. xix. 4, God says to the Israelites, after he had delivered them from Pha- raoh, and caused them to pass safely into the wilder- ness, " Ye have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagle's wings, and brought you to myself;" which is further enlarged upon in Deut. xxxii. 11, 12. " As an eagle stirreth up her nest, Fluttereth over lier young. Spreading abroad her wings, Takcth them, beareth them on her wings; So Jehovah alone did lead him. And there was no strange God with him." Sometimes they are put as the symbols of exalta- tion. And thus, in Isa- xl. 31, " To mount up with wings as eagles," is to be highly exalted. The interpretation of the Oriental Oneirocritics is exactly agreeable to what has been said. Persons invested with riches, power, and authority, are the best enabled to give defence and protection. And therefore, in Ch. 286, the wing is made the sym- bol of power and dignity. And as to the wings of an eagle in particular, " If a king dreams of finding an eagle's wings, it denotes that he shall obtain greater glory and riches than the kings his predecessors. And if a private person have such a dream, it shews that he will be greatly enriched, and highly honoured and promoted by his sovereign." And again, " If a king dream that an eagle takes EAGLE. 153 him up upon his back, and flies up on high with him, it portends great exaltation to him in his kingdom, and long life. And the same dream to a private per- son denotes that he shall come to reign." And Artemidorus, 1. 2, c. 20, says, " If poor men dream of being mounted upon an eagle, they will be supported and well relieved by some rich persons." This symbol, as representing royal dignity, is well exemplified in Ezek. xvii. 1, &c., " The word of Je- hovah also came to me, saying : Son of man, put forth a dark speech, and speak a parable to the house of Israel, and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, a great eagle, with great wings, with long feathers, full of plumage, and that had divers colours, came to Le- banon, and took the highest branch of a cedar : he cropped off the top of its young twigs, and carried it into a land of traffic," &c. Here, by the great eagle, Nebuchadnezzar is meant, as appears by verse 1 2th. He is fitly represented by the eagle, " Cui rex deorum regnum in aves vagas Permisit." Horace. The " divers colours," Michaelis thinks, " are an allusion to the various nations which composed the Babylonian empire." The highest branch is Jehoia- chin, v. 12 ; 2 Kings xxiv. 12. In verse 7th of the same chapter it is said : " There was also another great eagle with great wings, and of much plumage," &c., meaning the king of Egypt. See verse 15. Deut. xxviii. 49, " A nation swift as the eagle flieth." Meaning either the Chaldeans or the Romans. 154 EAGLE. Jerem. xlviii. 40, " He shall fly as an eagle over Moab," The Babylouian general or nation is here design- ed. Comp. ch. xlix. 22. Hosea viii. 1, "As an eagle the Assyrian cometh against the house of the Lord." Shalraanezer is probably meant. See 2 Kings xvii. 3,6. Rev. iv. 7, " The fourth living creature was like a flying eagle." These four living creatures seem to be the appen- dages of the chariot throne of God. The allusion is to the visions of Isaiah and Ezekiel, where the cheru- bim are described- Rev, xii. 14. " To the woman were given two wings of a great eagle." On this text Lowman observes : " To bear on eagles' wings is an allusion to the strength and swift- ness of an eagle's flight, and well expresses the readi- ness and power with which God often delivers his church out of its dangers. But whether the two wings of an eagle are here put to signify the eastern and western parts of the Roman empire, of which an eagle is the armorial ensign, is left to the reader's judgment." See more under Carcase. Isa. xlvi. 11," Calling from the East the eagle." A very proper emblem for Cyrus, as in other re- spects, so particularly because the ensign of Cyrus was a golden eagle, otsraj %{«« " Shall not the land be shaken for this? And shall not nil inourn that dwell therein ? And shall not all of it rise up ;u the river, And be driven out of its place, and sink down, as the river of Egypt ? And it shall come to pass in that day, Saith the Lord Jehovah, That I will cause the sun to go down at noon. And will darken the land in the bright day." EARTHQUAKE. 16 1 The rising and falling of the ground with a wave-like motion, and its leaving its proper place and bounds on occasion of an earthquake, are justly and beauti- fully compared to the swelling, the overflowing, and the subsiding of the Nile : " Le mouvement qu'elles impriment a la terre est tantot une espece d'undula- tion semblable a celle de vagues." See Newcome. Joel ii. 10, "■ Before them (i. e. the locusts) the earth quaketh, the heavens tremble, The sun and the moon are darkened, And the stars withdraw their shining." Kimchi says, that all these expressions are only by way of similitude, to denote the greatness of the af- fliction experienced, according to the usual custom of Scripture. And Jerome tells us we are not to ima- gine that the heavens actually moved, or the earth shook, but that these things seemed to be so, through the greatness of affliction and terror. When the prophet, however, adds, " The sun and the moon are darkened," it might literally be so, as Bochart has brought many instances to prove, and Chandler has quoted one in particular, that happened in Germany in the year 873, of which it is reported, that during the space of two whole months, the lo- custs by their flight often obscured the rays of the sun for the space of one whole mile. Pliny, also, in his Natural History, 1. 11, c. 29, observes, "That they darken the sun so that the people look towards them, greatly afraid lest they should cover over their lands." Rev. vi. 12, " And lo, there was a great earth- quake."— A political earthquake, no doubt, although about the time supposed to be alluded to, namely, L 162 EARTHQUAKE. about A. D. 365, the prediction was fulfilled literally, in that stupendous earthquake described by Ammia- nus Marcellinus, 1. 26, c. 14, " Horrendi tremores per omnem orbis anibitum grassati sunt subito, quales nee fabulse nee veridicse nobis antiquitates exponunt. Paulo post lucis exortum densitate praevia fulgurum acrius vibratorum tremefacta concutitur oranis ter- reni stabilitas ponderis," &c. For an earthquake, as Mede observes, implies not a destruction, but an extraordinary alteration of the face of things. — as an earthquake changes the posi- tion of the earth's surface, by exalting vallies and de- pressing hills, turning the channels and courses of rivers, and such like. And was there not here the whole political government as well as religion altered, the imperial seat removed, the distribution of pro- vinces, offices, &c. new moulded ? And if the Roman deities are meant by the stars and mountains, men- tioned ver. 13 and 14, we need go no farther for an exposition of this earthquake, and the shock it caused in the world. See Rev. xi. 13, and Lowman's para- phrase and notes on the passage ; see also ver. 1 9 of the same chapter. That earthquakes were sometimes considered as symbolical among the heathen appears from Justin, 1. 30, c. 4 : " In the same year there was an earth- quake between the islands of Thera and Therasia, where, to the amazement of navigators, there suddenly arose from the deep an island with hot waters. And in Asia, on the same day, the same earthquake shat- tered Rhodes and many other cities with a terrible ruin, and swallowed up some entirely. At which prodigy all being alarmed, the soothsayers gave out, EARTHQUAKE EAT. 163 ' that the rising empire of the Romans toould swallow up the ancient one of the Greeks and Macedonians.' " EAT. To eat, in the symbolical language, signi- fies to meditate and to digest divine truths. The metaphor is a very obvious one. As food nourishes the animal frame, so truth and knowledge are the nu- triment of the soul. " Thy words were found," says Jeremiah, ch. xv. 16, " and I did eat them — and thy message was to me the joy and delight of my heart I" " Son of man," says the divine voice to Ezekiel, ch. iii. 1, " eat that which thou findest, eat this roll, and go, speak unto the house of Israel." Our blessed Lord uses the same expression several times in the 6th chapter of John's Gospel, when he speaks of him- self as the bread of life. And in Rev. x. 9, the angel says to John, " Take the little book, and eat it up," i. e. consider it carefully, and digest it well, and thou shalt find, in the events it shall reveal to thee, matter of comfort and joy, of grief and sorrow. Hence, in Joshua i. 8, it is said, " This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night." And hence the frequent expressions of the Psalmist, about the medi- tation of God's law, Ps. cxix. 99} " Thy testimonies are my meditation ;" and verse 103, " How sweet are thy words to my taste ! Yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth." And Philo calls eating the symbol of spiritual nou- rishment ; the soul being nourished by the reception of truth, and the practice of virtue. Plautus says, " I eat your discourse with a vast deal of pleasure ;" and " that is meat to me which 164 EAT ECLIPSES. you tell me." And so to taste, signifies to make trial of any thing, as in the same -writer, " I had a mind to taste his discourse." And many other examples may be found in Greek authors. So we say some- times, I devoured j'our letter with avidity, meaning, I read it with the greatest satisfaction. In the Oneirocritics, to eat, signifies constantly to turn something to one's profit. Eating, when it comes under the notion of devour- ing, signifies destruction in any form, or taking from others, according as the decorum of the adjunct sym- bols requires, as in Deut. xxxii. 42 ; 2 Sam. ii. 26 ; Jer. li. 44. The same metaphor occurs in the Greek and Latin authors. " I have meat to eat which ye know not of," John iv. 32 ; i. e. I have engagements which I prefer be- fore bodily refreshment, viz. to bring these Samari- tans to the knowledge of the truth. Hosea iv. 8, " They eat the sin offerings of my people, And they set their heart on their iniquity." Meaning, they gladly partake of the daily sacrifices, without any attempts to reclaim the people from the sins which occasion them. Lev. vi. 26. ECLIPSES. The same may be affirmed of eclip- ses of the heavenly bodies, as w^as said of earthquakes, (see under Earthquake) that they are seldom to be understood literally, but rather as symbolically de- noting great political events. " Great public calami- ties are described in the prophets, (says Bossuet), as if the order of nature was overturned — the earth- quakes, the sun and moon are darkened, and the stars tall from heaven. There is no need to understand EClJPStS. . 1<35 such expressions of real earthquakes and eclipses ; the prophetic style plainly shews they are figurative expressions, describing great calamities and changes, which the judgments of God would bring upon the earth. Thus the prophet Isaiah, predicting a great destruction of God's enemies, for their opposition to his church, which he calls " the day of the Lord's vengeance,'' describes it in these terms, ch. xxxiv, 4, " And all the host of heaven shall waste away, And the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll ; And all their host shall wither, As the withered leaf falleth from the vine, And as the blighted fruit from the fig-tree." The general meaning of M'hich expressions is ex- plained in the following verse, v. 5, " For my sword is made bare in the heavens. Behold, on Edom it shall descend ; And on the people justly by me devoted to destruction." The same prophet thus writes in ch. xiii. 10, " Yea, the stars of heaven, and the constellations thereof. Shall not send forth their light. The sun is darkened at his going forth. And the moon shall not cause her light to shine." On which see Lowth's judicious note. See also Joel ii. 10 ; Amos viii. 9 ; Matt. xxiv. 29; and other places. Joel, iii. 4, " The sun shall be turned into darknesa. And the moon into blood." Aben Ezra expounds the words literally of the eclipses of the sun and moon, which he says are the signs of great wars. Maimonides, on the other hand, understands it hij way of similitttde, denoting the great calamities and distress of the times spoken of. lf5G ECLIPSES EGYPT EYES. Sir Isaac Newton says, that these signs denote the ceasing of a kingdom, or the desolation thereof. But that this is. not always the case, appears from Joel ii. 10. Sometimes the case is literally true in great wars, by reason of columns of smoke ascending from the burning cities, which darken the sun, and dis- colour the moon, or make it appear red and bloody, fire and smoke having that eiFect. EGYPT. Rev. xi. 8, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt. The great city here mentioned, is that which reigns over the kings of the earth, or Rome, the empress of the world, and is compared to Egypt, on account of its tyranny, persecution, cruelty, pride, impenitence, and idolatry. It is literally true, that our Lord was crucified there, since he was crucified by a Roman governor, who derived his power from Rome, and Judea was then within the bounds of the empire. He was afterwards crucified there in his servants, the Apos- tles and others, to whom whatever is done, he im- putes as done to himself. EYES, on account of their light and use, are the symbols of government a.nd Justice. Thus the sun is called the eye of the world, as governing or enlight- ening it under God. The sun is called the eye of the sky by Aristo- phanes. The moon, the eye of the evening, by Pindar, and the eye of the night, by iEschylus. According to the Egyptian Hieroglyphics, the eye is the observer of justice, and the keeper of the whole body. EYES. 167 Artemidorus calls the eyes the leaders and rulers of the body. And our Saviour says, " The lamp of the body is the eye," Matt. xi. 22. According to the Indian interpreter, the eyes are the symbols o^ fidelity, glory, and knowledge. On these accounts the angels of the Lord are called his eyes, Zech. iv. 10, as being the executioners of his judgments, and watching and attending for his glory. See Mede's remarkable discourse upon this text, — and compare under Seven. In imitation of this, the favourites and prime min- isters of state in the Persian monarchy, were called the king's eyes, according to the oriental customs and notions. So in Num. x. 31, "to be instead of eyes,'* i^ equal to being a prince, to guide and rule the people. In Pindar, Olymp. 2, the eye of Sicilia is given as a title to one of the chief men in Sicily, shewing his power. And thus also, in the same, " the eye of the army," stands for a good commander. In Deut. xi. 12, the eyes of the Lord, signify the Divine Providence. In Job. xxiv. 25, " the eye of the adulterer," is his lascivious desire. " Is thine eye evil, because I am good," Matt. xx. 15, i. e. art thou envious against thy brother, because I choose to shew kindness to him ? Prov. xxii. 9, " a bountiful eye," — one that is li- beral to the poor. Dan. vii. 8, " Eyes like the eyes of a man," may signify the desires, designs, and behaviour of a man ; i. e, of a common or mean man. 168 EYES FACE. Ezek. xxiv. 16, " the desire of the eyes ;" i. e. our great joy and delight. Euripides has " the eye of life," for the pleasure of life. Eyes as a flame of fire, — see under Fire. FACE. It is a singular privilege which is spoken of. Rev. xxii. 4, as being granted to the servants of God, " that they shall see his face." The term in Greek v^ia-uTirov agrees with the Hebrew penim, and is used not only of animate and inanimate beings, but in an allegorical sense of God himself, who is an in- finite spirit. When therefore it is ascribed to Him, it is to be explained i»7r^%7ro!ti, in a manner becoming the Deity. It is very often so ascribed in Scripture, see Gen. iv. 4, xxxii. 30 ; Exod. xxxiii. 20 ; Job ii. 7 ; Ps. xliv. 4, cxix. 38, cxl. 14, &c. &c-. But " to see the face of God," is a metaphor borrowed from the custom of eastern kings, who sat on lofty thrones glittering with gold and diamonds, and manifested their majesty only to those ministers of theirs who were placed around their throne and in their presence, like Solomon's of old, 1 Kings x. 8 ; and since men for most part represent to themselves the Supreme Being in a human form, hence to be admitted into his immediate presence is called '* seeing his face." The Gentiles always assigned to their deities the human ligure. Hence the people of Lystra, Acts xiv. 11, exclaimed^ " The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men." And Diodorus, 1. 1, cap. 12, says of Jupiter, Vulcan, Ceres, and Ocean, " that they tra- vel over the world, and appear to men sometimes in the shape of sacred animals, at other times in the hu- mjin form." And since the appearances of angels in Old Testament times were generally of this descrip- FACE. 169 tion, see Joshua v. 13, and other passages, it became natural to transfer in the imagination of the beholder, the form of the messenger to Him who sent him. The face of God in Scripture denotes every thing by whicli God is wont to manifest himself to men. Thus : Gen. iii. 8, " Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence (face) of Jehovah God among the trees of the garden." Ps. cxxxix. 7, 8, •' Whither shall I go from thy Spirit, Whither shall I flee from thy presence (face)? If I climb up into heaven, there thou art, If I should make the grave my bed, behold thou art there." Exod. xxxiii. 20, " Thou canst not see my face ; no man can see my face and live," i. e. see my glory perfectly, while in the present sinful state. But after this mortal hath put on immortality, it shall be other- wise, 1 John iii. 2; 1 Cor. xiii. 12. Gen. xxxii. .30, " And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel (the face of God) : for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved," i. e. I have seen him in a manifest manner, when compared with dreams and visions. Ps. xlii. 2, " ?'Iy soul thirsteth for God, for the living God, When shall 1 come and see the face of God ?" /. e. when shall he, on solemn days, pay his devotions at the sanctuary ? The presence of Jehovah, Exod. xxxiii. 14, 15; and the angel, Exod. xxiii. 20, 21, is Jehovah himself; but in Isa. Ixiii. 9, an angel of his presence is opposed to Jehovah himself, thus (in Lowth's version) : 170 FACE. " It was not an envoy, nor an angel of his presence, that saved them : Through his love and his indulgence, he himself redeemed them ; And he took them up, and he bare them, all the days of old." After their idolatrous worshipping of the golden calf, when God had said to Moses, " I will send an angel before thee, I will not go up in the midst of thee," the people mourned. God afterwards comforts Moses, by saying, " My presence (that is, I myself in person, and not by an angel), will go with thee." See Exodus, ch. xxxiii. As to any appearances of the Son of God under the Old Testament, by the name of angel or other- wise, however they have been contended for by some divines, whose intention was to do honour to the Messiah, they seem to be denied by the apostle's rea- soning in Hel). i. 2, where God is said to have spoken to men by his Sou, only in these last days. The light of God's face is a token of his favour, and is therefore put synonymously with favour in Ps. xliv. 3 ; Dan. ix. 17- Thus in men, if the countenance be serene, it is a mark of goodwill ; if fiery or frowning, of anger or displeasure. Face also signifies anger, justice, and severity, as in Gen. xvi. 6, 8 ; Exod. ii. 15 ; Ps. btviii. 1 ; Joel ii. 6 ; Ps. xxxiv. 16 ; Rev. vi. 16. 1 Cor. xiii. 12, " Now we see as in a mirror dark- ly, but then face to face," i. e. the difference between our knowledge here and our knowledge hereafter is such, invisible things being represented by visible — spiritual by natural — eternal by temporal. To bow down the face in the dust, Isa. xlix. 23, is a mark of the lowest humiliation and submission. FAT FEED. FAT is the emblem of fertility, abundance, wealth. Jer. xxxi. 14, "I will satiate the souls of the priests with fatness." Ps. Ixiii. 5, " My soul shall be satiated as with marrow and fatness." Gen. xxvii. 28, " God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine." In Jer. v. 28, the words " they are waxed fat," are thus explained by the Targum, they are become rich. And so in Ps. xxii. 29, the fat upon earth are the rich, the noble, and powerful. And so in Theocritus, Id. 7, v. 33, /«« signifies rich or plentiful. FEED. To feed others, signifies to give ease and plenty, to enrich and to provide with all worldly ne- cessaries. For, according to the notion of the ancients, and especially the Hebrew language, riches consist in meat and drink, in having plenty of the fruits of the earth and much cattle, with all things necessary to human life. So Job and Abraham arc said to be rich. And the rich man in the gospel is described by having plenty of corn and the fruits of the earth, more than his granaries could hold. And so in Matt. x. 9, 10, meat is made equivalent to gold, silver, brass, and clothes^ Prov. XXX. 8, " Feed me with food convenient for me ;" i. e. vouchsafe those blessings that are suited to my condition. John xxi. 1 5, " Feed my lambs ;" i. e. instruct new converts in the Christian doctrine. Hosea xii. 1, " Ephraim feedeth on the wind ;" i. e. he adopts empty and dangerous counsels. 172 FEET. FEET are taken metaphorically in various senses, thus : Job xxix. 1 5, " I was feet to the lame ;" i. e. I af- forded assistance to the miserable and helpless. Gen. XXX. 30, " The Lord hath blessed thee at my foot ;" i. e. through my solicitude in the care of thy cattle. On the other hand, the " foot of pride" in Ps. xxxvi. 1 1, means the violence of haughty enemies. The slipping of the foot implies dangers and cala- mities, as in Job xii. 5 ; Ps. xxxviii. 17 ; cxvi. 8 ; cxl. 5, 12. Jer. xiii. 16, " Before your feet stumble upon the mountains of gloominess ;" i. e. before you are brought into great calamities. 1 Peter ii. 8, Christ and his word are said to be a stone of stumbling to those who stumble at the word, being disobedient. On the contrary, to keep the feet from slipping is a symbol of the divine protection against malignant enemies. Thus : Ps.cxxi.3, " He will not suffer thy foot to be moved." Prov. iii. 23, 26, and other places. Jer. ii. 25, " Keep back thy foot from being un- shod ;" i. €. take care not to expose thyself by thy wicked ways to the wretched condition of going into captivity unshod, as the manner is represented, Isa. XX. 4. To be under any one's feet, denotes the subjection of a subject to his sovereign, or of a servant to his master. See Ps. viii. 6, " Thou hast put all things under his feet ;" and compare Heb. ii. 8, and 1 Cor. XV. 25, 27, &c. FEET. 173 Lameness in the feet generally denotes affliction or calamity, as in Ps. xxxv. 15, xxxviii. 18 ; Jer. xx. 10 ; Micah iv. 6, 7 ; Zech. iii. 19 ; in which two last places the term is feminine, as referring to the word sheep understood. As Flaccius observes : " Est locu- tio sumpta ab ovibus, nam ex illis solent multa aestate, praesertim in calidioribus illis regionibus, claudicare." Isa. Iii. 7 ; Rom. x. 15 ; Nahum i. 15, ■• How beautiful appear on the mountains The feet of the joyful messenger; of him that announceth peace. Of the joj'ful messenger of good tidings ; of him that an- nounceth salvation, Of him that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth !" See Lowth's note on the passage, which is well illus- trated by the following observations of Campbell, Prel. Diss. 5, 2, § 4 : " The feet of those who had travelled far, in a hot country, through rough and dusty roads, present a spectacle naturally offensive to the beholder ; nevertheless the consideration that the persons themselves are to us the messengers of peace and felicity ; and that it is in bringing these welcome tidings, they have contracted that sordid appearance, can in an instant convert deformity into beauty, and make us behold with delight this indication of their embassy — their dirty feet — as being the natural con- sequence of the long journey they had made." A thought somewhat similar occurs in Horace, 1. 2, Ode 1, who speaking of victors returning with glory from a well fought field, exhibits them as " Non indecoro pulvere sordidos." The poet perceives a charm, something decorous, in the very dust and sweat with which the warriors are 1 74 FEET. smeared, and which serve to recall to the mind of the spectator the glorious toils of the day ; thus things in themselves ugly and disgusting share, when associat- ed in the mind with things delightful, in the beauty and attractions of those things with which they are connected." An anonymous author thus remarks on the above text : — " Non superbi caballi, sellae cathedrales, non speciosa pallia, galeri cardinalitii, et alia preciosa in raundo, coramendantur, sed simpliciter pedes, quo quid aliud, quara humilitas ai)ostolic3e legationis de- notatur, et omnes eorum in docendi munere succes- sores, ad eandem virtutem instigantur." To this text may appropriately be referred that in Eph. vi. 15, " having your feet shod with the prepara- tion of the Gospel of peace," on which Lossius thus remarks, — " Pedes significant ministerium Evangelii, quos calceari oportet, hoc est, muniri ocreis, ut per spinas, sentes et tribulos, hoc est, omnia pericula tran- sire possint, docendo et confitendo Evangelium." Paul elegantly uses a phrase boiTOwed from the feet in Gal. ii. 14, " When I saw that they walked not uprightly (lit. with a straight foot), according to the truth of the Gospel." Compare Heb. xii. 13, and see Chandler on Eph. vi. 15. Eccles. V. 1, " Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God ;" i. e. watch over your affections when you engage in his worship. Nakedness of the feet was a sign of mourning ; Ezek. xxiv. 17. It was also a mark of adoration ; Exod. iii. 5. Prov. vi. 13, " A wicked man speaketh with his feet, He uses insidious gestures while he is talking." FEET FIRE. 175 The feet, by the Indian Oneirocritics, are explained of the servants, goods, and life of the party. In -Exod. xi. 8, " All the people at tliy feet," signify all the people whom thou commandest. The like phrase is found in Judg. viii. 5, 1 Kings xx. 10, 2 Kings iii. 9- To set one's foot in a place signifies to take pos- session of it, as in Deut. i. 36, xi. 24, and other places. In Daniel, the feet and legs of the image denote a monarchy succeeding all the rest, the legs and feet being the extreme parts of the body, or the last parts of the image. According to the Indian interpreter, ch. cxiv. legs and feet of iron, in respect of a king, denote that he shall be long-lived ; and, on the contrary, legs of glass signify short life and death. It was the office of servants to wash the feet of their master and his guests ; see Gen. xviii. 4 ; xix. 2 ; xliii. 24 ; Judges xix. 21. Hence Abigail's language, 1 Sam. XXV. 41 ; and see John, 13th chapter. Elisha is said to have poured water on the hands of Elijah, 2 Kings iii. 2. This practice is noticed by Virgil, JEn. 1. " Dant manibus /a/nw/i lymphas, cereremque canistris Expediunt, tonsisque ferunt mantilia villis." And Homer, Odyssey, b. 1. " They reclined in order on their couches and thrones, And the minist'ring heralds poured water on their hands." FIRE, is the symbol of the Deity. He appeared in this element at the burning bush, and on Mount Sinai. Exod. iii. 2; xix. 18. He showed himself to Isaiah, Ezekiel, and John, in the midst of fire. Isa. vi. 4 ; Ezek. i. 4 ; Rev. i. 14. It is said that he will so appear at his second com- ing. 2 Thes. i. 8. 176 FIRE. Daniel says, vii. 10, "A fiery stream issued, and came forth before him." And he led his people Israel through the desert, under the form of a pillar of fire. Exod. xiii. 21. The descent of the Holy Spirit was denoted by the appearance of lambent flames, or tongues of fire. Acts ii. 3. God may be compared to fire, chiefly on account of his anger against sin, which consumes those against whom it is kindled, as fire does stubble. Deut. xxiv. and ix. 3 ; xxxii. 22 ; Isa. x. 17 ; Ezek. xxi. 3 ; Heb. xii. 29. His word is compared to fire. Jer. xxiii. 29- In Hab. iii. 5, it is said, " Burning coals went forth at his feet," i. e. the preaching of his word was ac- companied with punishment against the disobedient — he trode upon them with destroying fire. And thus in the vision of the Seraphim or Burning Angels, Isa. vi., they are said to take a live coal from the altar, and put it to the prophet's mouth, telling him that his sins were purged, i. e. that he, being now declared righteous before God, and appointed to be his prophet, shall be enabled by his words, to bring down God's fire of destruction upon those against whom he prophesied. And thus in Jer. v. 14, " Behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them." Fire is sometimes the symbol of destruction, sick- ness, or war. It is thus used in Isa. xlii. 25 ; Ixvi. 15 ; Ezek. xxii. 20, 21, 22 ; Zech. xiii. 9; Ps. Ixvi. 12 ; Jer. Ixv. 43. FIRE. 177 It is also thus explained by the Indian interpreter inch. 159 and 209- It is also the symbol of persecution as, in 1 Peter i. 7 ; iv. 12 ; I Cor. iii. 13, 15 ; Luke xii. 49- Fire from heaven, in the symbolical language, de- notes the combination of persons in authority. Rev. xiii. 13. Coals of fire proceeding from God's mouth, denote his anger, as in Ps. xviii. 8, 12, 13. Fire is the symbol of purification, in allusion to the process of refining. Mai. iii. 2. It is the symbol of final torment, Mark ix. 44 ; Matt. XXV. 41. It is of no use disputing whether the penal fire in the future state be material or not. If not a material fire, it will possess qualities equally awful and painful, suited to the nature of those who are subjected to it. And its perpetuity or perma- nence is expressed by terms that denote, to say the least, a very long duration, if not an interminable one. It is a fire " prepared for the Devil and his angels," and therefore may be supposed to last as long as they last. One of Daniel's companions was called, Abed, or rather Obed-nego, i. e. the servant of Nego, by which name fire was called among the Babylonians ; and that deity was ascribed to it by the Chaldeans, is shewn by Herodotus in his Clio. It is well known that fire- worship has prevailed in Persia for many an age. See an account of its origin in Prideaux's Connect, v. i. p. 246, &c., and the alterations made in it by Zoroas- ter, p. 293, &c. of the same work. The Persian monarchs, the king3 of Lacedaemon, and the Roman emperors, had fire carried before M 178 FIRE. them in processions ; and so had generals at the head of their armies. See Xeuoph. Cyr. 1. 8. c. 23 ; Hero- dian, 1. 1. § 20 and .50; Eurip. Phoeniss. v. 1386. This custom of carrying fire before kings, as a mark of honour and grandeur, seems to be alluded to in Ps. cxix. 105 ; cxxxii. 17, and in 1 Kings xv. 4. Xenophon, in his Lacedyemonian Republic, describ- ing the march of a Spartan king when he goes out to war, mentions a servant or officer, under the name of Fire-carrier,v,'hiO went before him with fire taken from the altar, at which he had just been sacrificing, to the boundaries of the Spartan territory, where, sacrificing again, and then proceeding, a fire, kindled likewise from this latter sacrifice, goes before him, without ever being extinguished. Mark ix. 49, " Every one shall be salted for the fire, as every sacrifice is salted with salt," i. e. (says Macknight) " Every one shall be salted for the fire of God's altar," i. e. shall be prepared to be offered a sacrifice to God, holy and acceptable. (See his Har- mony on the place). Beza has the same view, " That, as under the law, every sacrifice was to be salted with salt, so it is required of every man, that being seasoned with the pure and incorrupt word, he con- secrate himself unto God." Rev. viii. 5. The Jire from the altar, represents new commotions in the world, and great calamities by the righteous judgment of God. Rev. xiv. 14. The angel who had power over fire. An allusion, a^ Daubuz thinks, to the office of that priest who had the charge by lot in the temple ser- vice, to take care of the fire on the altar. Grotius considers it as denoting the angel who had the office FIRE FIRST-BORN. 179 of God*s "^ engeance. According to the theolog>' of the Jewish doctors, every virtue or power which God had set over any thing, is called the angel presiding over that thing. Ezek. xxxviii. 22, " Fire and brimstone will I rain upon him," {i. e. upon Gog). Ezek. xxxix. 6, " And I will send a fire upon Magog." Compare Rev, xx. 8, 9, where, see Lowman, who is of opinion, that the event may be literally fulfilled by a combination of enemies to the Christian name. " It is plain," says Newcome, " that the extraor- dinary circumstances mentioned in v. 19-22, remain to be accomplished on the future enemies of the Jews, when his people are reinstated in God's favour." FIRST-BORN. Jesus- Christ is called " the first- born from the dead," in Col. i. 18, and Rev. i. 5. He appears to be so called, as being the first who rose bi/ his own power ; and, as being the first who rose never to die again. The first-born, under the Old Testament, may be considered as types of Christ. Sometimes the whole Jewish nation is so called, as in Exod. iv. 22. And the Messiah is pointed at in Ps. Ixxxix. 27, under this title. And he is owned as such in Rom. viii. 29 ; and Heb. i. 6. The phrase " from the dead," or from a state of death, has an allusion to the destruction of the first- born of Egypt, and the sparing of the first-born of Israel, who, in memorial of this mercy, were in future to be consecrated to God. See Exodus, ch. xii. and xiii. To the first-born were allotted power and supe- 180 FIRST-BORN. riority over the rest of his brethren, hence Jacob's ad- dress to Reuben, Gen. Ixix. 3; and Isaac's leply to Esau, Gen. xs. 37- Therefore Christ is the first-born, as being prince and lord -over his brethren. See Heb. ii. 10, 11. He is the head of the whole creation, and especially of the new creation, the Church. To the first-born was assigned the office of priest- hood, Exod. xxiv. 5, for whom the Levites were af- terwards accepted. Num. iii. 45. And of Jesus it is said, " He is a priest for ever according to the order of Melchizedek." Ps. ex. 3 ; Heb. iii. 1 ; Heb. v. 5, 6. And by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. Heb. x. 14. And he could not have been a true priest, if he had not, through the Eternal Spirit, offered himself without spot to Grod, and with his own blood entered into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemp- tion for us. The first-bom were holy and consecrated to God. Exod. xiii. 1. " Sanctify unto me all the first-born, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast, it is mine" It is af- terwards said, verse 13, " All the first-born of man among thy children thou shalt redeem." To this there is allusion in 1 Peter i. 18, where Christians are said to be redeemed, " not with silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ." Christ also was consecrated to the service of God, as the first-born, when he was inaugurated by baptism. Matt. iii. 17- The first-bom also sanctified their brethren, and as it were preserved them in life. Rightly, therefore. FIRST-BORN FISHES FLESH. 181 the Apostle affirms, Heb. ii. 11. Both he that sanc- tifieth, and they that are sanctified, are all of one, wherefore he is not ashamed to call them brethren. The first-born had a double share of the inheri- tance, as being the prop and ornament of the family. Deut. xxi. 17. And Christ is constituted heir of all things. See Heb. i. 2 ; Luke xxii. 29 ; Ps. ii. 8 ; Eph. i. 3 ; Ps. Ixviii. 19 ; Rom. viii. 17. See this doctrine beautifully stated by Paul in Col. i. 12-22. FISHES. A sea being considered as a kingdom or empire, the living creatures in it, must be the typical fishes, or men. But if a sea be considered in respect only of the waters, of which it is a collection, then the waters will signify the common people ; and the fishes, or the creatures in the sea, living, as having a power to act, will denote their rulers. And in this sense are the fishes mentioned in Ezek. xxix. 4, 5, explained by the Targum of the " Princes of Pharaoh." Newcome thinks there is here an allusion to the heavy loss which Apries and his Egyptian army sustained in the expedition against the Cyreneans, towards whom they must have marched over the desert. Herod, 2. § 161. Apries himself did not fall in the battle, but was taken prisoner by Amasis, and strangled by the Egyptians. Herod. 2 § 169; Jer. Ixiv. 30. See Matt. iv. 19 ; Jer. xvi. 16 ; Hab. i. 14 ; Matt. xiii. 47. FLESH, signifies the riches, goods, and possessions of any person or subject, conquered, oppressed, or slain, as the case is. Thus, in Ps. Ixxiv. 14, the meat or flesh there men- 182 FLESH FLY. tioned, is ttie riches and spoils of Pharaoh and the Egyptians. See also Isa. xvii. 4 ; Micah, iii. 2, 3 ; Zech. xi. 9- 16; in all which places ^e*A is explained by the Tar- gum, of riches and substance. And thus, in Dan, vii. 5, to " devour much flesh," is to conquer and spoil many enemies of their lands and possessions. All the Oneirocritics concur in the same exposition of this symbol. In ch. 283, they say, " That if any one dreams that he finds or eats the flesh of dragons, he shall obtain riches proportionable from a great king ;" which is like that of the Israelites eating the flesh of the leviathan or dragon — the king of Egypt in the wilderness. Ps. Ixxiv. 13, 14. And again, in ch. 285, " To dream of eating the flesh of a scorpion, denotes the being possessed of the estate of such an enemy, as answers to the significa- tion of the symbol." And the Indian, in ch. 87, says compendiously, " Flesh is universally interpreted of riches." To the same purpose speaks also Artemidorus, who, in lib. 3, c. 23, says, " That it is not good for a rich man to dream that he eats his own flesh, for it signi- fies the utter wasting of his riches or substance." So also in lib. 1, c. 72, to " dream of eating the flesh of any wild beast, denotes the being greatly enriched by the substance of enemies." FLY. The name Beelzebub given in the New Testament to the prince of demons, signifies " Lord of Flies ;" and the fly was his hieroglyphic, as Jerome remarks, because he never ceases to infest the human FLY FOREHEAD. 183 race, and to try all methods by which he may annoy and injure them. See under £ee. FOREHEAD, signifies the public profession or appearance before men. So the Indian Interpreter, ch. 56, says, " The fore- head and nose denote comeliness and riches before men." And Artemidorus says, that ^he forehead sig- nifies liberty of speech. Of old, servants were stigmatized in their forehead with their master's mark. Martial, lib. 2, ep. 29, lib. 3, ep. 21, lib. 8, ep. 75; Seneca de Ira, 1. .3, c. 3; Plutarch in Nicia. This was forbid the Jews, in Lev. xix. 28 ; only the high-priest on his forehead bore a plate or crown of gold, on which the name of God was written, to shew that the priest was his servant, and that all his service was consecrated to God only. Hence, to " receive a mark iu one's forehead," sig- nifies to make an open profession of belonging to that person or party, whose mark is said to be received. Rev. xiii. 16, to receive a mark in the right hand, or in their foreheads. Some think there is here an allusion to the manner in which Ptolemy Philopater persecuted the Jews. See Prideaux' Connect, part 2. 1. 2. Sometimes the stigmata or marks put on the fore- head, were the symbol of disgrace and punishment, as Diogenes Laertius says of the father of Bion, lib. 4, " That he received a brand on his forehead, as a mark of the anger of his master." That captives, and others whom the ancients re- duced to subjection, were thus marked ; Plutarch tells 184 rOREHExVD. us, in PericU " That the Athenians marked an owl on their captives." Idolaters, by that ceremony, used to consecrate themselves to their false deities. The marks used on these occasions were various. Sometimes they con- tained the name of the god, sometimes his particular ensign, as the thunderbolt of Jupiter, the trident of Neptune, the ivy of Bacchus, &c. ; or, lastly, they marked themselves with some mystical nw/n^r where- by the god's name was described. Thus the Sun, who was signified by the number 608, is said to have been represented by these two numeral letters XH. These three ways of stigmatizing are all expressed in Rev. xiii. 16, 17, " And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads ; and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name." See Potters Antiq. of Greece, v. 1, p. 75. Soldiers also wore the names of their leaders or generals impressed upon their bodies, as we learn from Vegetius de Re milit. lib. 2. c. 5. And in this sense some explain Paul's remark in GaL vi. 17, "I bear in my body the marks {fiyft,»rat) of the Lord Je- sus," meaning the scars he received from stripes, chains, &c. in the service of the Gospel. See also Isa. xliv. 5, thus rendered by the Septua- gint, " And another shall write upon his hand, I be- long to God." See Lowth's note on the passage, where he observes, " The Christians seem to have imitated this practice, by what Procopius says on this place of Isaiah : ' Because many marked their FOREHEAD. 185 wrists or their arms with the sign of the cross, or with the name of Christ.'" Whole people or nations were sometime so inscri- bed. That the Babylonians, Dacians, and others were, we learn from Pliny, Herodian, &c. That the Arabians were, Golius informs us. The Jews say, that king Jehoiakim wore the name of the idol Codo- nazar branded on his skin. From these customs we may now conclude what meaning to attach to the phrase in Rev. xxii. 4, " And his name shall be in their foreheads," viz. that such are the servants of the living God, the ministers of the King of kings, whom he hath redeemed by his own blood. Acts xx. 28, Titus ii. 14 ; so that they are his peculiar people, 1 Peter ii. 9, to celebrate the Di- vine virtues. They serve him day and night in his temple. Rev. vii. 15, as attendants on the celestial throne. Once they wore the mark of the beast and of Satan, but after they were redeemed, they bore the mark of the living God impressed upon them, by re- generation and sanctification. Eph. iv. 22-24. It implies also, that such are the soldiers of the Lord of Hosts, who form his encampment, under the banner of Him " who stands up for an ensign to the people," Isa. xi. 10; wearing the sword of the Spirit, the shield of faith^ and the breastplate of righteous- ness. It implies that they are the priests of God, Rev. i. 5; 1 Peter ii. 9, Under the Old Testament, the high-priest alone wore the plate of God ; but now, all Christians are constituted kings and priests unto God even the Father. And therefore those who stand with 186 FOREHEAD FOREST. the Lamb on Mount Sion, Rev. xiv. 1, have the Fa- ther's name written on their foreheads. The name here inscribed, is supposed to be the name Jehovah, which is his memorial, Hosea xii. 5 ; Zech. xiv. 20 ; Isa. Ixiv, 5. As to the manner of in- scribing, not to pursue sacred analogies too minutely, we may adopt Paul's expression 2 Cor. iii. 3, " writ- ten not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God." See also 2 Cor. i. 21, Eph. iv. .38. The name is written on the forehead, obviously because it is the most conspicuous part, — wliatever is on the forehead, cannot be concealed. As Cicero says, " Frons est tacitus mentis sermo ;" and Pliny calk it, " Omnium hominis afFectuum index," Hist. Nat. 1. 11, cap. 37. The name of God, therefore, being on their foreheads, is an open confession that they profess publicly before the world that they be- long to him, and not to Idolatry, Antichristianism, the Beast, or Satan. It is said of Paul, Acts ix. 1.5, " He is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel." For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake. FOREST, is used symbolically to denote a city, kingdom, polity, or the like. Ezek. xx. 46, " Forest of the south." Ezekiel was in the northern part of Chaldea ; and therefore Judea was to the south of him. Seeker supposes that a city is called a forest, rather from its inhabitants than its buildings. Devoted kingdoms are elsewhere represented under the image of a forest, which God threatened to burn or cut down. See Isaiah x. 17, 18, 19, 34, where the FOREST FORNICATION. 187 briers and thorns denote the common people ; the glory of the forest are the nobles and those of highest rank and importance. See also Isaiah xxxvii. 24, where Sennacherib is described as boasting thus of his invasion of Jerusa- lem : " Thou hast said, By the multitude of my chariots have I ascended The height of the mountains, the sides of Lebanon ; And I will cut down his tallest cedars, his choicest fir-trees, And I will penetrate into his extreme retreats, his richest fo- rests." Lo%\th's Version. See Jerem. xxi. 14, xxii. 7, xlvi, 23, and Zech. xi. 2, where Newcorae observes, that under these images the fall of mighty men, and the subversion of the Jewish polity, are represented. Isaiah xxxii. 19. " But the hail shall fall, and the forest be brought down, And the city shall be laid level with the plain." Lowth acknowledges this passage to be very obscure. He supposes the city to be Nineveh or Babylon; and quotes Ephrtem Syrus on the place, who interprets it ■' Saltus, i. e. Assyriorum regnum — civitas, i. e. mag- nifica Ass\Tiorum castra." Lyra expounds these words in a singular way. •• The hail," says he, " that is, the multitude of the Roman army, shall be at the falling down of the fo- rest, i. e. at the overthrow of the temple and palace." Something parallel to the passage in Isaiah may be found in Rev. xvi. 21, at the downfall of the mystic Babylon. " And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent." See under Hail. FORNICATION. See under Woman. 188 FOUNTAIN. FOUNTAIN, or stream of living, a. e. of con- tinually flowing water, in opposition to standing or stagnant pools, is the symbol of refreshment to the weary, and also denotes the perpetuitj' and inex- haustible nature of spiritual comforts and refresh- ments afforded to the saints by the Holy Spirit, and by the public worship of God. It was such as these the Psalmist thirsted after, as the hart panteth for the water-brook, when he was persecuted and driven from his throne, " God being the fountain of living waters." After the same manner. Wisdom, on account of its usefulness and delight, is compared, in I*rov. xviii. 4, to a flowing brook, which is generally clear., as well as shallow ; a fit emblem of the ingenuous mind, which knows no disguise or dissimulation, and whose de- signs are easily discovered, because, as good is always its object, it affects no concealment. Zech. xiii. 1, " In that day there sh.all be a fountain opened To the house of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, For sin, and for defilement." The blood of Christ, which cleanseth from all sin (1 John i. 7), is manifestly here intended, the Jews being, upon their repentance and conversion, to be admitted to all the privileges of the Christian cove- nant. The Hebrew words, rendered sin and defile- ment, are legal terms ; the former denotes sin gene- rally, or any transgression of the law which required atonement ; the latter is used for that uncleanness which secluded man from all intercourse with God and holy things. Whatever efficacy legal sacrifices had in purifying the people, the same is ascribed to the blood of Christ in the Gospel dispensation. In FOUNTAIN. 189 the term " defilement," there is an allusion to the water of separation or of purification for sin, Num. xix. 9« Means of purification from moral pollution shall be afforded to the Jews by the terms of the Christian covenant. See Blayney. Joel iii. 18, " A fountain shall come forth from the house of Jehovah." In this verse, either the times of the Messiah are described, or we have a description of Jerusalem ailer its final restoration, when a golden age shall commence among its inhabitants, and when the knowledge of God and of his Christ shall a second time be widely dif- fused from it. See Ezek. xlvii. 8 ; Zech. xiv. 8. Fountain or pool of Siloam. One of the most remarkable ceremonies performed at the Feast of Tabernacles, was the libation or pour- ing out of water, drawn from the fountain or pool of Siloam, upon the altar. As, according to the Jews themselves, this water was an emblem of the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ manifestly alluded to it, when he cried, saying, " If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink." Prov. v. 1 6, " Let thy fountains (or rather springs) be dispersed abroad," i. e. May your posterity be numerous. Deut. xxxiii. 28, " The fountain of Jacob," i. e. The people that proceed from Jacob. Prov. V. 18, " Let thy fountain be blessed," i. e. Let thy wife be blessed with children, barrenness being esteemed a curse. Prov. xiii. 14, " The law of the wise is a fountain of life." 190 FOUNTAIN FOUR. (Or rather, as Durell renders,) " The laws are to the wise a fountain of life ; To the rebellious, they are the snares of death." Eccl. xii. 6, " Ere the pitcher be broken at the fountain," i. e. Before the circulation of the blood be stopped at the heart. Ps. Ixviii. 26, " Bless the Lord from the fountain of Israel," i. e. Ye who are sprung from the stock of Israel. Rev. viii. 10, " Fountains of waters." Rev. xiv. 7 ; Rev. xvi. 4. See Lowman's excellent notes on the first and third of these passages. Hosea xiii. 15, " His fountains shall be dried up," i. e. His prosperous condition and its attendant bless- ings shall cease. As fountains of water may be considered as neces- saries to the support of life, so the drying up of these symbolically expresses a scarcity of things necessary. See the above passage in Hosea xiii. 15, and Isaiah xix. 5. Vitringa interprets Rev. viii. 10, of the heresy of Arius, and the third part of the rivers to mean the third part of Christendom, which was then divided into East, West, and South. Isaiah has a beautiful passage in allusion to the Exodus, expressive of God's mercy to them in pass- ing through the desart. See ch. xli. 18. FOUR is a symbolical number, denotir^ a univer- sality of the matters comprised. As in Jer. xlix. 36, The four winds, signify all the winds. FOUR. 191 Isa. xi. 12, The four corners of the earth, denote all parts of the earth. Ezek. vii. 2, The four corners of the land, i. e. all parts of Judea. " And therefore," as Philo says, " Four is a number of universality in nature." Restitution in some cases was to be made fourfold, Exod. xxii. 1 ; 2 Sam. xii. 6 ; Luke xix. 8. We read also of four bowls, four rings, four rows of stones, &c. In Prov. ch. xxx. the enumeration of several sub- jects is limited to four. See verses 15, 18, 21, 24, 29. Both Ezekiel and St John describe four living creatures, as seen in a vision, with four faces and four wings. Daniel speaks of the four great monarchies, as four great beasts that came up from the sea. We read also, ch. viii. 8, of four notable horns. Zechariah beholds also four horns, four carpenters, and four chariots, i. 18, 20 ; vi. 1. Exod. xxvii. 1, The altar of burnt offerings is com- manded to be made four-square. And in Rev. xxi. 16, It is said of the Kew Jerusa- lem, that the city lieth four-square. Four may justl}'^, therefore, be termed a mystic number. The four angels mentioned. Rev. xix. 15, have been conceived by some to represent the Turkish tetrarchies, or the four kingdoms of the Turks seated on the Euphrates. But as four is a perfect number, denoting universality, it may, as Lowman observes, denote here the whole power of these destroyers, gathered together from every quarter of the land they dwelt in. 192 FOX. FOX is the symbol of tyrannical kings and crafty persecutors. Luke xiii. 32, " Go and tell that fox," namely, Herod. All know the character of the animal, from the many fables and proverbs respecting it ; so that the fox is generally considered to be the representative of cunning, crafty, or deceitful persons. " What is an opprobrious and malicious man, but a fox ?" says Epictetus, in Arrian, lib. 1. cap. 3. And Suidas, " A fox is not to be won by gifts." And Plutarch, in his Life of Lysander, " If a lion's skin is not enough, let a fox's be added ;" i. e. if power and strength be not sufficient, cunning must be joined to them. Aga- memnon is said by Homer to be Kig^'^xXiotp^vy, to be endued with a fox's disposition ; and Pompey is de- scribed by Plutarch as having more of the fox than the lion in him. And Persius says. Sat. 5, " Astutum rapido servas sub pectore vulpem ;" And Aristophanes has compared soldiers to foxes, Hipp. Act. 2, sc. 2. Ezekiel xiii. 4, says, " Thy pro- phets, O Israel, are like the foxes in the deserts ;" t. e. as Newcome observes, " They seize their prey in a cunning and cowardly manner, and then fly into lurk- ing-places." Some have gone so far, as to suppose our Savioiu* spoke figuratively, rather than literally, when he said. Matt. viii. 20, " Foxes have holes or caverns, and the birds of the air have places to roost in ; but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head." They suppose he means by foxes the false teachers among the Jews ; but this seems to be strain- ing things too much. FROGS FURNACE. 193 FROGS are represented by Aristophanes and Ju- venal as the proper inhabitants of the Stygian Lake. See Arist. Ranae ; Juv. Sat. 2, v, 150. Horace gives them the epithet of nasty, Epod. .5, V. 19, and makes their blood an ingredient in sorti- legions charms. The same epithet is also given them in Ovid, Met. 56 ; and Martial, b. 10, Ep. 37- The Oriental Oneirocritics are not so clear on this point as they usually are ; for they content themselves with ranking the frogs among serpents and other creeping things, taking them to signify enemies in general. Philo says, " They are the symbol of vain opinions and glory, having only noise and sounds void of rea- son." Artemidorus says, " Frogs signify impostors and flatterers, and bode good to them that get their living out of the common people." And the frog by the Egj^tians was made the sym- bol of an impudent, quick-sighted fellow ; the frog, according to them, having blood nowhere else than in its eyes. See Horap. Hierogl. I. 2. Rev. xvi. 13, "I saw three unclean spirits like frogs ;" a plain allusion to the plagues of Egypt. Daubuz supposes the three unclean spirits to be the monks, the religious knights, and the secular clergy of the Roman church. Lowman says, " They seem to intimate some con- federacy of the principal Popish powers." FURNACE is used in Scripture to denote, meta- phorically, a place of great affliction. So Deut. iv. "20, " The Lord hath taken you and brought you 194 FURNACE GARDEN. fortli out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt." See also Jer. xi. 4. Fire of a furnace for purifying metals, is always used to signify such afflictions as God sends for the amendment of men. So in Jer. ix. 7, " I will melt them and try them ;" if he could by such means purify their manners, since all others had proved in- effectual for their amendment. See the process beautifully enlarged upon in Ezek. xxii. 17-23, where the term furnace might more fitly be rendered Crucible, the vessel in which metals are fused. And so, in Ps. xii. 7, " Silver refined in a crucible of earth." Refiners' crucibles are to this day made of earth. The place of torment seems to be called a furnace, Matt. xiii. 42, 50. GARDEN is the symbol of prosperity and fruit- fulness. Job viii. 16, *' He is green before the sun, And his branch shooteth forth in his garden." Isa. li. 3, " He shall make her wilderness like Eden, And her desert like the garden of Jehovah ; Joy and gladness shall be found in her. Thanksgiving, and the voice of melody." The world in general is sometimes spoken of as a garden, and kings and great men as tall trees in it. Thus, Ezek. xxxi. 8, 9, speaking of Pharoah, " The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him, . li. The fir-trees were not like his boughs, . . And the piano-trees were not as his branches : GARDEN. 195 Not any tree in the garden of God Was like unto him in his beauty. I made him beautiful in the multitude of his branches, So that all the trees of Eden envied him, Which were in the garden of God." In this sense, also, Tertullian explains the parable in Luke xiii. 19, of the grain of mustard seed cast into the garden, by which he understands Christ, who came into this icorld. And see Isa. Ixi. 11, " Surely, as the earth pusheth forth her tender shoots, And as a garden maketh her seed to germinate. So, shall the Lord Jehovah cause righteousness to spring forth. And praise, in the presence of all the nations." Nothing is more frequent among the Fathers, than under the symbol of a garden to describe the doctrine of grace. Thus Jerome, on Jer. xxix. says, " The sacred doctrine is called a garden, as being a paradise of delights, where also hope and good works flourish." See Bernard on Cant. 4, and Gregory on Ezekiel, homily 8. The Church is often compared to a garden by the Prophets. Thus, Isa. Iviii. 11, " Thou shalt be like a well watered garden;" and Jer. xxxi. 12, "And their souls shall be as a well watered garden." As to those passages in the Song of Songs, where a garden is mentioned, no note is to be taken of them, farther than as simple and literal comparisons, as it is more than doubtful whether that book has an)' spiritual meaning, or is any thing more than an epi- thalamium, or marriage ode, in relation to Solomons espousals, and in praise of the divine institution of holy wedlock. The mystical sense seems to have been first adopted by some of the Fathers, who, with more piety than judgment, as Durell observes, thought 196 GARDEN. that, as Paul compares the union of Christ with his church to a marriage, this poem ought also to be in- terpreted with reference to the same subject. But how is it consistent with this idea, that neither the name of God nor of Christ ever occurs in it ? — that there is not one religious or moral sentiment to be found in it ? — that it is not once either quoted or in the most distant manner alluded to in any part of the New Testament, or in any other part of the sacred writings ? — that it is not directed to be read in the churches ? — and that those who attempt to trace the allegory in every part, are soon lost in an inextricable labyrinth ? The mere similarity, real or supposed, of some expressions in the New Testament, proves no- thing ; neither is mere length of time during which the opinion of its mystical meaning has been held, a solid foundation for the basis of truth to rest upon. Garden is the symbol of the church triumphant. Luke xxiii. 43, " This day shalt thou be with me in paradise" i. e. in a garden of pleasure. See also •2 Cor. xii. 4, and Rev. ii. 7- The Turks or Maho- niedans, it is well known, describe their heaven under this image. See the Koran. The people of God are often spoken of as plants. Ps. Ixxx. 8, " Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt, Thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it." See Isa. v. 1, &c., Jer. ii. 21, and other places. And hence good works are so often adverted to under the image of fruit. And God is spoken of as a vine- dresser, John XV. 1 ; and Paul uses similar phrases in 1 Cor. iii. 6, " I have planted, Apollos watered, and (iod hath given the increase." GARDEN. 197 Grardens and vineyards, in ancient times, were sur- rounded with walls, and guarded by watchmen. To this there is allusion in Jer. xxvii. 5, " I Jehovah keep it, I will water it every moment, I will take care of it by night, I will keep guard over it by day." To those who admire descriptions of this kind, Homer's account of the gardens of Alcinous, in Odys- sey, 1. 7, will give gratification. The passage is too long to be transcribed here at large ; the following is part of Pope's version : " Tall thriving trees confessed the fruitful mould. The reddening apple ripens here to gold. Here the hlnefig with luscious juice o'erflows. With deeper red the full pomegranate glows. The branch here bends beneath the weighty pear. And verdant olives flourish round the year." The Apostle has a still finer enumeration, when he describes X\ve fruits of the Spirit, Gal. v. 22, love, joy, peace, concord, benignity, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Compare Titus ii. 14. Gardens were employed to produce aromatic herbs and flowers ; and hence we find the term odour, sa- vour, or fragrance, in use among eastern writers. Thus Paul says, " We are unto God a sweet odour in Christ ;" and similar passages. And in another place, Phil. iv. 17, "I desive fruit that may abound to your account. But I have all, and abound : I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a siceet smell." Gardens were sometimes used as places of sepul- ture. Thus Manasseh was buried in the garden of his own house, 2 Kings xxi. 18 ; and that wherein the 198. GARDEX GARMENTS. Saviour was interred, was in Joseph's garden, Mark XV. 46. Suetonius says of Galba, that he was buried in his own gardens in the Aurelian Way. And Onu- phrius Pancrinius says, " In the Flaminian, Appian, and other ways, there still appear many urns and ancient sepulchres, almost consumed with age." GARMENTS are naturally used to denote the outward appearance. Clean garments are an emblem of inward purity. White garments also denote holiness of life and purity of conscience; Ps. li. 7, Isa. i. 18, Eccl. ix. 7, 8. They were the tokens of joy and pleasure ; Eccl. ix. 8; Isa. lii. 1, Ixi. 10. Kings and nobles were arrayed in white garments ; so were the common people on festive days. God gave the Jewish priests white garments, as ensigns of honour, as well as of purity ; Exod. xxviii. 2, 40 ; Lev. xvi. 4. Hence, to be clothed in white signifies, in the pro- phetic style, to be prosi>erous and successful — to be honoured and rewarded. Not to defile one^s garments is a Hebrew phrase, and is also symbolical, denoting, not to pollute one's self with idolatry, and to abstain from all inferior kinds of pollution. See Rev. iii. 4, " Thou hast a few names," i. e. persons, " even in Sardis, who have not defiled their garments," i. e. who have preserved themselves from the general corruption, " and they shall walk with me in white, for they deserve it." White or shining garments are here promised, as marks of favour and distinction. Thus Pharaoh honoured Joseph, by arraying hira in vestures of fine GARMENTS. 199 linen, Gen. xli. 42. And in Rev. xix. %yfine linen is interpreted to mean the righteousness of saints, as well as a mark of honour. The bride is said to be " arrayed in it, clean and white," in allusion to the custom in the eastern nations ; a custom still existing, for the bridegroom to present the bride with garments. It was used in the times of the patriarchs, and was the custom among the Greeks and Romans. Eurip. Helen, v. 1448 ; Terence, Heaut. act 5, sc. 1 ; Odyss. 5, 127 ; Zozimus, L 5, p. 290. In the primitive church, persons, so soon as bap- tized, received new and white garments, in token of their being cleansed from all past sins, and as an em- blem of that innocence and purity to which they had then bound themselves. Hence they were called candidati, from candidus, white, and hence our Eng- lish term candidate. These garments they wore for seven days, and then they were laid up as an evidence against them if they ever revolted from their holy profession which they had embraced and publicly made ; and, in this sense, not to defile one's garments is, not to act contrary to our baptismal vow and en- gagements. The Apostle seems to have had an eye on this, when he wrote to the Galatians, iii. 27, " As many of you as have been baptised into Christ, have put on Christ." Lactantius well expresses this in his hymn on the resurrection of the Saviour, — " Cum puras animas sacra lavacra beant, Candidus egreditur nitidis exercitus undis, Atque vetus vitium purgat in amne novo, Fulgentis animas vestis quoque Candida signat," &c And Cyril says, on the same subject, Et/S-w? «> uinx- 200 GAUM EN TS. 6onii, &c. " As soon as, therefore, ye have gone in, ye put off your garment, which indeed is the image of the old man and his works ; having put it off, ye became naked, in imitation of Christ, who was strip- ped when he was crucified." See Eph. iv. 22-24, where the language is particularly appropriate, the pagan Ephesians being noted for the luxury of their dress, as may be seen in Atheneeus, lib. 12, who in- troduces Antiphanes, saying, " Quam regionera incolit haec turba, unde prorupit, an lones sunt, molles, deli- catis vestibus araicti, voluptate diffluentes ?" Philo makes the garment the symbol of our reason, hence, to observe one's garments is to make reason the rule of one's actions. To bestmo garments, as is sometimes done by eastern princes, is a great honour and mark of favour — if a stole or tunic, very great ; if with it he adds the great cloak or robe, it is a complete favour. The highest mark of esteem and love is when the prince gives the garments from his own body, as Jonathan did to David, 1 Sam. xviii. 4. Garments of scarlet were worn by the Roman em- perors, as their proper habit. Hence Pilate's soldiers, as being Romans, in derision clothed our Saviour as a king, by putting on him a scarlet robe; Matt, xxvii. 28.- ■ '■ r. ■•■•■-: •• Garments of sackcloth. Sackcloth signifies any matter of which sacks were anciently made, which was generally of skins without dressing. The ancient prophets were for most part clothed thus ; hence the false prophets affected this garb, for which God up- braids them in Zech. xiii. 4, " Neither shall they wear a garment of hau- to deceive." And so our Lord de- GARMENTS. 201 •scribes that sort of men, Matt. vii. 15, " Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep^s clothing." The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, xi. 37, in enumerating the great things which have been done and suffered, through faith, by prophets and other righteous persons, mentions this, "that they wandered about in sheep-skins and goat-skins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented ;" alluding to the per- secutions to which many of them were exposed from idolatrous princes. That Elijah was habited in this manner is well known, 2 Kings i. 8. Clement, in his First Epistle to the Corinthians, says, " Let us be imitators of those who went about in goat-skins and sheep-skins, preaching the coming of Christ ; we mean Elias, and Eliseus, and Ezekiel, the prophets." Elijah, as a sign that he considered Elisha his suc- cessor, left him his mantle, which the latter put on, having rent and cast away his own clothes, 2 Kings ii. 12, 13 ; and, therefore, when the sons of the pro- phets saw him with that garment, they said imme- diately " that the spirit of Elijah rested on Elisha." So Isaiah, ch. xx. 2, had a sackcloth upon his loins as a prophet, and John Baptist wore something similar, Matt. iii. 4, not only as a prophet, but also as a Nazarite. Sackcloth was also the habit of mourners and per- sons in affliction ; Gen. xxxvii. 34, 2 Kings vi. 30, Ps. XXX. 1 1 , Isa. 1. 3 : and perhaps the prophets wore it as a sign of their mourning for the sins of the people, and for the dishonour their God suffered thereby ; and hence all of them preached repentance. The filthy garments of Joshua the high priest, in Zech. iii. 3, are the squalid and polluted garments of a captive ; and the removal of them, and clothing him 202 GARMENTS GATES. with goodly apparel, probably imports that the priestly office was to be resumed and exercised with decency and splendour. The Phoenicians, in a time of misery, put on sack- cloth and sat on the dunghill, as appears from Me- nander, whose words are preserved by Porphyry in his Book de Abstinentia, 1. 4, § 1 5. The Romans had also the same custom, and hence black and dirty garments are, in the Oneirocritics, the symbols of great affliction. There is a sublime passage in Isaiah Ixiii. 1, &c. where the Messiah seems to be described in the habit of a conqueror after some great victory : Quest " Who is this that cometh from Edom ? With garments deeply died from Bozrah ; This that is magnificent in his apparel. Marching on in the greatness of his strength ? Ans. — I who publish righteousness, and am mighty to save. Quest. — Why is thine apparel red, And thy garments as one that treadeth the wine- vat? Ans. I have trodden the wine-vat alone, And of the people there was none with me." (See LowTH on the place.) See Rev. xix. 13. When the apparel of Supreme Deity is attempted to be described, it is in such terms as these, Ps. civ. 1,2, " Thou art clothed with honour and with majesty, Tbou coverest thyself about with light as with a garment," &c. GATES are sometimes put for cities, as in Isa. xiv. 31, " Howl, 0 gate ; cry out, O city." GATES. 203 Lam. ii. 9> " Her gates are sunk into the earth." Ps. cxlvii. 13, " He hath strengthened the bars of thy gates, He hath blessed thy children within thee." They are the symbol of power, government, secu- rity ; justice being originally administered without the gates of cities. The gate of the city was the forum or place of public concourse. Prov. i. 21 ; viii. 3. There also was the court of judicature held, for trying all causes, and deciding all affairs. There also was the market, where corn and provisions were sold. See Deut. xxv. 7 ; Ruth iv. 1, 9 ; 2 Sam. xv. 2; 2 Chron. xviii. 9; Lam. v. 14; Ps. cxxvii. 5 ; Prov. xxii. 22, xxiv, 7, xxxi. 23 ; Amos v. 15. The square town, which is the principal entrance to the Alhambra, or red palace of the Moorish kings in Grenada, from its being the place where justice was summarily administered, warS styled the Gate of Judg- ment. The Turkish government is also known at this day, by the name of the Ottoman Porte, because the royal palace of the Turks is wont to be called Porta. Thus Leunclavius, Hist. Turc. 1. 13, " Adeoque paucis rem omnem expediam, imperio suo totam subjecit Euro- paeam Rumeliam et Portam seu regiam suam ad Var- darim Genizem transtulit." Isa. Ix. 11, " Thy gates shall be open continually, By day or by night, they shall not be shut," denoting the security of God's people ; for, gates open, are a sign of peace ; gates shut, of fear, or of a state 204 GATES. of war, or of affliction, misery, and desolation. John xx. 19. Caesar de Bello Gall. 1. 3. c. 4, portas clauserunt. Jer. XX. 19, where the prophet says, " The cities of the south are shut up, and none openeth," meaning that they were uninhabited, and of course the gates were kept shut, and not opened for the admission of passengers to and fro. In Isa. xxix. 21, " Who bewildered the poor man in speaking. And laid snares for him that pleaded in the gate," there is allusion to what is before mentioned, namely, the distribution of justice. Shaw, in his Travels, says, •' They are heard by the treasurer, master of the horse, and other principal officers of the regency of Algiers, who sit constantly in the gate of the palace for that purpose," p. 315 fol. He adds, in a note, " The Ottoman Court likewise seems to have been called the Port, from the distribution of justice, and the dispatch of public business, that is carried on in the gates of it." The prophet Amos has a reference to the same cus- tom, V. 10, " Ye that hate him who reproveth in the gate. And abhor him who speaketh uprightly." Selden has this quotation from Maimonides, " In urbe qualibet Israelitica constituebant Synedrium minus, cujus sedes in porta urbis." There is a well-known sense of the term gate, which refers to it either as the cause of something done or intended, or else as the medium leading to some end. In this sense Jacob speaks of the visionary ladder ; he calls it " the gate of heaven ;" and our Lord speaks of the broad and narrow gate and way, the one lead- GATES. 205 ing to life, the other to perdition, Matt. ch. vii. ; Luke xiii. 24. The cause of joy or grief is called a gate by the poets. Thus, Ovid, lib. 2. de Porto, Eleg. 7, " laetitise janua clausa meae;" and lib. l.de Reraed. Amor. " ar- tis tristissima janua nostrae." And Lucretius, 1. 3. v. 830, " Hand igitur Lethi praeclusa est janua menti." And Ovid, lib. L naet., " Prseclusaque janua lethi, jEternum nostros luctus extendit in aevum." It would appear that altars were formerly erected before the gates. See 2 Kings, xxiii. 8, " He brake down the high places of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua, the governor of the city, which were on a man's left hand at the gate of the city." And Acts xiv. 1 3, " Then the priest of Ju- piter, who was before their city, brought filletted oxen to the gates, and would have offered sacrifice with the people." Jupiter was accounted the tutelar deity of the place, and his temple stood near the gates. In Matt. xvi. 18, there is a well-known passage to this effect : " Thou art Peter, and upon this rock will I build my church, and the gates of hades, e.e. death, shall not prevail against it." The gate of hades is a natural periphrasis for death itself and corresponds with Hezekiah's expression in Isa. xxxviii. 10, " I shall pass through the gates of the grave, I am deprived of the residue of my years." In the Wisdom of Solomon, we have a similar ex- pression, ch. xvi. 13, " Thou hast power of life and death, thou leadest to the gates of hades, and bringest up again." 206 GATES GEMS. And Homer makes Aciiillos say, " Who can think one thin!; and another tell, My soul detests him as the gates of hell." That is, I hate him as death, or I hate him mortally. To say, then, that the gates of hades shall not pre- vail against the church, is, in other words, to say, it shall never die, it shall never be extinct. All the er- rors, superstitions, controversies, all the persecutions, edicts, tortures, with which the church has been vi- sited, have not proved mortal, and never shall. See Campbell's Dissert. 6, part 2, § 17. It is well known that under or at the gates of east- ern cities conversations are held, hospitality to the passing traveller is dispensed, and the most important transactions in commerce are carried on. Hence we hear of Mordecai sitting in the king's gate ; and in Lament, v. 14, that the elders have ceased from the gate; and in Ruth iii. 11, "All the gate (that is, house) of my people know that thou art virtuous." We also find Jacob, at an earlier period, saying, " This is the gate of heaven ;" and Hezekiah, in Isa. xxxviii. 10, "I shall go to the gates of the grave f and our Lord, in Matt. xvi. 18, thus expressing him- self, " The gates of hell shall not prevail against it." He also uses this similitude when he says, " Enter ye in at the strait gate" &c. GEMS were originally used in divination, espe- cially among the Egyptians, (Diod. Sic. lib. 1. p. 48.) Something of this kind is supposed to be meant in the investiture of Joseph by Pharaoh with a ring and chain, (Gen. xli. 41, &c.) the gold chain, the badge of the chief judge, being for the image of truth, as they called it ; and the ring, being not given to real orders GEMS. 207 or decrees, but as a magical ring or talisman, to pre- vent fascinations and delusions, and to divine by. To keep the Israelites from the use of magic, to which the Egyptians were much addicted, God order- ed a breastplate of judgment to be made for Aaron, in which were to be set, in sockets of gold, twelve precious stones, bearing the names engraven on them of the twelve tribes of IsraeL This was to be used as an oracle on great emergencies, and the stones were called Urim, fires or lights, and Thumim, per- fections or trtUh : perfection and truth, in the Scrip- ture style, being synonyms in sense, because what is perfected is truly done, neither false, nor vain, nor yet unexecuted, but accomplished. The primary notion of »Xti6tuc, truth, seems to be that of revelation, or the discovery of a thing which being hidden before, is no longer so : t« ftii Xnttr, is «A»)dtf, that is, trtie, which is no more hidden. See much on the Egyptian divinations in Jambli- chus de Mysteriis. The oracles of God are frequently compared to light or fire, as in Ps. cxix. 1 30, and other places. Christ calls himself the light of the world ; he is the true Urim and Thumim, the disposer of the ora- cles of God. John viii. 12. It appears from the manner in which they were an- ciently used, that gems may be considered as the symbols of judgment and government, and as the symbols of the Divine oracles, especially of such as are prophetical ; both which they aptly represent, on account of their light, brightness, and sparkling. It was a saying of a Chinese king (Moral. Confuc. lib. 2, p. 45), " I have four ministers of state, who 208 GEMS. govern with great prudence the provinces I have committed to them : those are my precious stones ; they can enlighten a thousand furlongs." All the oriental Oneirocritics affirm, that precious stones and pearls are the symbols of government ; and the Indian Interpreter expressly asserts, " That they are, for the most part, to be interpreted of the Divine oracles, and of the wisdom and knowledge of God." As gems are substances of a permanent or durable nature, the symbols from them are only used about matters of a constant and long duration. Thus, Matt, xiii. 45, 46, " the pearl of great price." Sometimes the manner of God's appearance is de- scribed by images of this kind, as in Exod. xxiv. 1 0 : " He stood upon a paved work of sapphire stones, and as it were the body of heaven in its clearness ;" de- noting calomess, serenity, good will. The colours of gems, white, red, blue, green, are explained by the Indian Interpreter, ch. 247. There is a beautiful passage in Isa. liv. 11, &c., where the imagery is taken from gems : " O thou afficted, beaten with the storm, destitute of conso- lation, Behold I lav thy stones in cement of vermilion. And thy foundations with sapphires : And I will make of rubies thy battlements. And thy gates of carbuncles. And the whole circuit of thy walls shall be of precious stones." These, as Lowth observes, are general images to ex- press beauty, magnificence, purity, strength, and soli- dity, agreeably to the ideas of the eastern nations, and to have never been intended to be strictly scrutinized. GEMS GIRDLE. 209 or minutely and particularly explained, as if they had each of them some precise moral or spiritual meaning. Tohit, in his prophecy of the final restoration of Israel, describes the New Jerusalem in the same ori- ental manner : " For Jerusalem shall be built up with sapphires, and emeralds, and precious stones ; thy walls, and towers, and battlements, with pure gold. And the streets of Jerusalem shaU be paved with be- ryl, and carbuncle, and stones of Ophir." — Ch. xiii. 16, 17. Compare also Rev. xxi. 18-21. There are several enumerations of gems in Scrip- ture, viz. in Exod. xxviii. 17-20, Ezek. xxviii. 13, Rev. xxi. 19, &c. ; but it is extremely difficult to de- cide what their real names are. Rabbi Abraham Ben David thinks those mentioned in Exodus were, — the carnelian, the topaz, the ceraunia, the carbuncle, the sapphire, the diamond, the turquoise, the jacinth, the onyx, the chrysolite, the emerald, and the jasper. Those mentioned by Ezekiel are, the ruby, the to- paz, the diamond, the beryl, onyx, and jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle. Or, according to the Septuagint, the sardius, topaz, emerald, carbuncle, sapphire, and jasper, the ligure and agate, amethyst, chrysolite, beryl, and onyx. For those mentioned in the Revelations, see the passage. GIRDLE, the symbol of strength, activity, and power. Thus, Job xii. 18, " He looseth the bond of kings, And girdeth the girdle upon their loins." By loosing the bond, or band, may be meant " de- o 210 GIKDLE. prWing them of their strength ;" he taketh away their uaighty power, which was originally his gift. So in verse 21, " He poureth contempt upon princes. And weakeneth the strength of the mighty." Literally, looseth the girdle. Isa. xxiii. 10, what in our version is, " there is no more strength," is literally, there is no more girdle ; though Lowth thinks it refers to the mound that kept in the waters, acting as a girdle to restrain them. Isa. V. 27, " Nor shall the girdle of their loins be loosed ;" i. e. they shall be persons in full vigour and strength. On which passage Lowth remarks : " The eastern people, wearing long and loose garments, were unfit for action or business of any kind, without girding their clothes about them : when their business was finished, they took off their girdles. A girdle, there- fore, denotes strength and activity ; and to unloose the girdle, is to deprive of strength, to render unfit for action. God promises to unloose the loins of kings before Cyrus, eh. xlv. 1. The girdle is so essential a part of a soldier's accoutrement, being the last that he puts on to make himself ready for action, that to be girded, c^ayvvricci, with the Greeks, means to be completely armed, and ready for battle. It is used in the same manner by the Hebrews, " Let not him that girdeth himself boast as he that unlooseth his girdle," that is, triumph not before the war is finished/r 1 Kings XX. 11. Job XXX. 11, a very obscure passage : " Because he hath relaxed my cord," may mean, " because he hath loosened my girdle," i.e. he hath weakened my strength ; GIRDLE. 211 as it is added, " and afflicted me." But see Dureli on the passage, and Parkhurst on "in*? iter. Isa. xi. 5, " And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, And faithfulness the cincture of his veins." i. e. A zeal for justice and truth shall make him ac- tive and strong in executing the great work which he shall undertake, Isa. xxii. 21, " I will strengthen him with thy girdle. And thy government will I commit to his hands." Where the latter expression appears to be synony- mous to the former, as it often happens in the prophets. Isa. xlv. 5, " I will gird thee, though thou hast not known me ;" i. e. I will strengthen thee. And so, in other places, io gird, is the same as to strengthen, and to arm. The Oneirocritics explain a girdle, of the principal servant or keeper of the house, who is indeed the strength thereof. And, according to them, to be girded with a golden girdle, signifies that the person who so dreams, shall arrive, in the middle of his age, to the greatest power and renown, and have a son to succeed him. Girdles were anciently of very valuable materials ; and hence Solomon's virtuous woman is said to make rich girdles, and sell them to the merchant. Prov. xxxi, 24. But John the Baptist wore one of leather, as his type Elijah had done. Matt. iii. 4 ; 2 Kings i. 8. Paul's girdle is referred to by Agabus, in Acts xxi. 11. Our Lord prohibits to his disciples the carrying the money in their girdles. Matt. x. 9, Mark vi. 8, which were made into a kind of purse, as is still usual 212 GIRDLE. in eastern countries. The Roman soldiers used the same custom. Hence, in Horace, " qui zonam perdi- dit," means one who has lost his purse. And in Au- lus Gellius, 1. 15, c. 12, C. Gracchus is introduced saying, " Cum Roma profectus sum, Quirites, zonas quas argenti plenas extuli, eas ex provincia inanes re- tuli," i. e. those girdles which I carried out full of money when I went from Rome, I have at my return from the province, brought home empty. See Park- hurst and Wetstein. The images of the Chaldeans portrayed upon the wall with vermilion, Ezek. xxiii. 14, are represented as being girded with girdles upon their loins. Suidas interprets ^aiin by '«|«y^i«, an office, dignity, or authority. And Justinian, Imper. Nov. 12, writes, " The punishment for contracting an incestuous mar- riage, is confiscation of goods, also banishment, and the taking away of the girdle, if he possesses any, that is, of all his dignity — hoc est universae dignita- tis." Hence the old epitaph : " Arbitrio Regum Questurse Cingula Sumsit Stemmate Picecipuus, Plus Probitate Cluens." The girdle is sometimes used as a symbol of union : " Preserving the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace," — " charity or love, the bond of perfectness." In both these passages, there is an allusion to the girdle, which encircles the whole body. The loins being girt, is, according to Pier. Hierogl. p. 1, p. 428, the symbol of temperance. Hence the apostolic expres- sions, " Gird up the loins of your minds, be sober, and hope to the end," &c. In Jerem. ch. 13, one of the symbols is, a liutn girdle left to rot, which is explained at v. 11. to mean GIRDLE GLASS. 213 the people of Israel, \yhom God redeemed of old, and attached to himself by a special covenant, that as a girdle serveth as an ornament to the wearer, so they should be subservient to the honour of his name. But it is added, " they would not hearken," or conform to his intentions ; therefore, being polluted with the guilt of their disobedience, they were in that state, and on that very account, to be carried into captivity ; con- formably to which, the prophet was directed not to put the girdle in water, that is, not to wash it, but to leave it in that filthiness which it had contracted in the wearing. Among the visions of Daniel, we find one in ch. x. 5, where he sees " a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz." The whole description very much resembles that in Rev. ch. i. 1 3, " One like unto a son of man," i. e. in the human form, " clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the breasts with a golden girdle" Diodorus Siculus, 1. 17, writes thus of Alexander, UT» T«T£ Il'.^(rtKov, &c. " Then he put on the Persian diadem, and clothed himself with a white tunic, with the Persian girdle." The seven angels mentioned in Rev. xv. 6, are de- scribed as " having their breasts girded with golden girdles," resembling the habit which the high priest wore when he went into the most holy place, and con- sulted the oracle. GLASS, being a brittle substance, is a very suita- ble emblem of fragility. The Oneirocritics generally consider it to denote a short-lived state. Horace gives the epithet of glass to Fame, 1. 2, sat. 3, v. 222. ^14 GLASS GOATS. Glass, also, on account of its transparency, is used as a symbol expressive of Beauty, Hor. 1. 1, Od. 17, 1. 20. And in the poets, waters, fountains, rivers, or seas, are often compared to glass. Hor. 1. 3, Ode 13 ; Virgil, ^n. 1. 7, V. 759. Mention is made in Rev. iv. 6, and xv. 2, of a sea of glass, like unto crystal, concerning the meaning of which interpreters vary, but it is probably an allusion to the brazen sea spoken of in 1 Kings vii. 23, and elsewhere, containing water for the priests to wash with, that they might not minister before God under any pollution. That the ancients understood the art of making the Eirtificial substance called glass, is put beyond all doubt by the writings of Aristotle, Lucretius, and others. See Philo's embassy to Caius Caligula. Horace has, 1. 3, Od. 13, " O fons Blandusise splendidior vitro." " O thou Blandusian spring, more bright than glass." And Ovid. Heroid. Ep. 15, line 158, " Vitreoque magis pellacidus £imne." " Clearer than the glassy stream." What is called a glass in 1 Cor. xiii. 12, James i. 23, is properly a mirror, and the ancient mirrors were not of glass, like ours, but of brass (see Exod. xxxviii. 8), and were consequently liable to spots and rust. Rev. xxi. 18, " And the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass," i. e. it shone with the brightness of crystal. See Lowman's note in loc. GOATS, from their offensiveness, mischievous, zmd libidinous disposition, &c. are symbols of the GOATS GOG AND MAGOG. 215 wicked, who are, at the day of judgment, to be finally separated from the good. Matt. xxv. 33. According to Clarke, " Goats denote hypocrites ; for goats were clean both for sacrifice and for food," Matt. xxiv. 51. But goats sometimes signify princes, as in Zech. x. 3, where Newcome translates " the chief ones." See Isa. xiv. 9 : and the Chaldee has a word equivalent to principes. GOG AND MAGOG. These names occur only in Ezek. xxxviii. 2, &c., xxxix. 11, and Rev. xx. 8. They seem to be taken allegorically for such princes and powers as are, in the last days, to unite to persecute the Church of God, and to oppose the new order of things which is to follow the destruction of the Beast and the False Prophet. We learn from Gen. x. 2, that Magog was the second son of Japhet. Ezekiel uses Magog for the country of which Gog was prince. Michaelis compares the word Gog with Kak or Chak, the general name of kings among the ancient Turks, Moguls, Tartars, Catalans, and Chinese, (Spic. Geog. p. 34,) and thinks that Magog denotes those vast tracts of country to the north of India and China, which the Greeks called Scythia, and we, Tartary. The Turks are generally allowed to be of Scythian origin. Scythopolis and Hierapolis, which the Scy- thians took when they overcame Syria, were ever after by the Syrians called Magog. See Plin. 1. 5, c. 23 ; Mede's Disc. 50, p. 280. The Arabs call the Chinese wall, " Sud Yagog et Magog," that is. Agger 216 GOG AND MAGOG. Gog et Magog, or the Mound of Gog and Magog. (See Hyde's Works by Sharpe, ii. 426.) The Scythians ruled over Media for twenty-two years, before they were expelled from that country by Cyaxares, early in the reign of Zedekiah. After their expulsion, Nebuchadnezzar assisted in invading them. It follows, that at this time they were a remarkable people on the theatre of the world. (See Newcome on Ezek.) Gog is called the " Prince of Rhos, Meshech, and Tubal." Rhos is understood of a people by the Septuagint, Symmachus, Theodotion, and Houbigant. Bochart shows that the river Araxes was called Rhos ; whence the Russi, who seem to have first settled in Taurica Chersonesus, Geogr. 1. 3, c. 13. Tubal and Meshech were sons of Japhet, Gen. x. 2. The people called Tibareni and Moschi, are probably here meant, who are generally mentioned together, and were situated towards Mount Caucasus. See Bochart, Michaelis, and Newcome. There is reason to believe, that what is now read Agag in Numbers xxiv. 7, is a corruption, smd should be read Gog, as in the Septuagint versions, the Sa- maritan text, and the Greek text of Symmachus (see Poli. Syn. in loc.) ; and it is likely that in the days of Moses, this was the common name of the princes of some powerful people ; so powerful, that to say the king of Israel, meaning David, or rather the Messiah, should be higher than Gog, or exalted over Gog, was to say every thing expressive of power and of exten- sive dominion. Hence the chief of the host, who, in GOG AND MAGOG. 217 the latter days, is to corae from the same quarter against the land of Israel, is thus denominated. The very name also might become proverbial. In the Koran, ch. xviii., Gog and Magog are said to waste the land, and a wall is mentioned which Gog and Magog could not scale, neither could they dig through it. They are also mentioned in ch. xxi., but nothing is said to convey an idea what persons or people were understood by these names. It is not improbable that Mahomet borrowed these, and many other allusions, from the Sacred writings, in order to give his pretended revelations a greater resemblance to genuine Scripture. It is probable, according to the notion of the Ara- l)ians, that Gog and Magog formerly inhabited the mountains of the Hyperboreans, and that they were known to the ancients by this name. This nation is unquestionably famous in antiquity, and there is reason for imagining, that they were some of the Scythians, and confounded among the Great and Little Tartars, and perhaps among the Muscovites and other north- ern people. See Well's Geogr. v. i. p. 160; Rees' Cyclop, and Calmet's Diet., article Gog. The Gog and Magog of Revelations cannot be literally imderstood of the nations so called in the Old Testament ; for there Gog the prince, with the people of Magog, came out of the north parts, where the posterity of Magog was seated ; but the Gog and 3Iagog of the Apocalypse, are said to be nations \vhich are in the four quarters of the earth. As, therefore, the Apocalyptic Babylon is not Babylon in Chaldea, but a counter type thereof, so the Apoca- 218 GOG AND MAGOG. lyptic Gog and Magog are not the Grog and Magog of the North, but a counter type of them. Mede supposes them to be the Turks, in which, perhaps, he includes in general the Mahometan powers ; and referring to the prophets alhided to in Ezek. xxxviii. 17, he thinks the following passages are meant, viz. Isaiah xxvii, 1, wrth the two last verses of the 26th chapter; Jer. xxx. 23, 24; Joel iii. 1, &c. ; Micah v. 5, 6, 9? 15 ; in all which places men- tion is made of some terrible enemy who should come against Israel, at the time of their return, whom the Lord should destroy with a hideous and dreadful slaughter. Newcome is of opinion, that the predic- tions of the prophets on this subject, referred to by Ezekiel, were never committed to writing, or are now lost. Mede also thinks, that Gog is the power meant by Micah under the name of the Assyrian, not as though this were his original nation, but as the province from whence he should invade the land of Israel. Lowman considers these nations of Gog and Magog to be a very proper figurative description of the ene- mies of true religion, and its faithful professors. Pyle supposes them to mean remote heathen na- tions, prompted by envy and desire of plunder, who shall be permitted to invade the Christian territories in vast bodies and armies. Shuckford thinks that the country round Aleppo is the land of Magog, once called Hierapolis, but more anciently Magog, as Pliny asserts, and Maimonides in Halicoththerumoth, c. 1, § 9> and that the lands of Meshech and Tubal were adjacent to it. See Bp. GOG AND MAGOG GOLD. 210 Newton on the Prophecies, v. ii. p. 347, and Daubuz, p. 574. GOLD is the symbol of the great value, the dura- tion, the incorruptibility, and the strength of the sub- ect to which it is applied. Thus, Isa. xiii. 12, •' I will make a man more precious than fine gold, Yea, a man than the rich ore of Ophir." Lam. iv. 2, •' The precious sons of Sion, of worth equal to the purest gold. How are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the manufacture of the potter !" So in 2 Tim. ii. 20, Vessels of gold, as being pre- cious, are opposed to vessels of wood and earth. Riches are the strength of a man. Prov. xviii. 1 1, " The rich man's wealth is his strong city, And as an high wall about his habitation." For power and riches go together, and are akin in the way of the world. And hence gold symbolically sig- nifies power, as well as riches. Agreeably to this, the Phoenicians represented their gods with purses of gold, as the symbol of their power, (Suidas, v. 'E^^?y.) Thus, also, potens is rich, Quint. Inst. 1. G, c. 3, and impotentia is poverty. Terence, Ad. act 4, sc. 3. Gold denotes spiritually the redeeming merits of Christ, Rev. iii. 18, "I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich." Though others interpret it of being rich in good works before God. In 1 Cor. iii. 12, it seems to denote sincere be- lievers, built into the Christian church, who will stand the fiery trial. 220 GOLD. Job xxxvi. 19. " Will he esteem thy riches ? Not gold, nor all the forces of strength." Or rather, as Durell renders it, " Not gold, nor all the powers of wealth." Dan. ii. 38, " Thou art this head of gold." The Babylonian empire is so called, on account of its great riches ; and Babylon was called by Isaiah, as in our version, " the golden city," (ch. xiv. 4,) but more properly, " the exactress of gold." Eccl. xii. 6, " Or the golden bowl be broken." Some explain this of the human head or skull, which resembles a bowl in form. Rev. iv. 4, " The elders," and ix. 7, " The locusts, had on their heads crowns of gold." In the costume of the East, a linen turbarid, with a gold ornament, was reckoned a crown of gold, and is so called in the language of Scripture, Lev. viii. 9. In the case of the Mahometan Arabs, who are, in all probability, here represented by locusts, they were accustomed to wear ornaments on their heads like crowns or mitres. And the Romish or Antichristian Babylon is ac- cordingly described under the figure of a female, decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, hav- ing a golden cup in her hand. Rev. xvii. 4 ; and in Rev. xviii. 16, the city, or mystical Babylon, is repre- sented by the same terras. Rev. xiv. 14, " Having on his head a golden crown." The ensign of royalty and sovereign power is here applied to Jesus Christ. (CRAPES. 221 GRAPES. Independently of their literal mean- ing, it is plain, from more than one passage of Scrip- ture, that they are used in a figurative sense. As, for instance, in Rev. xiv. 18, " Gather the clusters of the vine of the earth ; for her grapes are fully ripe ;" /. e. the appointed time for the execution of Divine vengeance is come, and the iniquities of the inhabi- tants of the earth have made them fully ripe for de- struction. In Micah vii. 1, it is also used figuratively, as well expressed by Newcome in his note on the place : " As the early fig of excellent flavour cannot be found in the advanced season of summer, or the choice clus- ter of grapes after vintage ; so neither can the good and upright man be discovered by diligent searching in Israel. This comparison is beautifully implied." So in Jerem. vi. 9, •' They shall thoroughly glean as a vine the relics of Israel. Turn again thine hand, like a grape gatherer, unto the baskets." An address to the Chaldeans, exhorting them to re- turn and pick up those few inhabitants that were left before, like the grape gleaning?, and to carry them also into captivity. The Chaldeans did so, as may be seen, ch. lii. 28, 29, 30. And in Jer. xlix. 9> the meaning is, that when the enemy came to spoil, they should meet with no inter- ruption, but should glean quite clean, and leave no- thing behind through haste. See Blayney. Ezek. xviii. 2, " The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge." A pro- verbial expression, explained by the Chaldee, " The fathers have sinned, and the sons are smitten." In 222 GRAPES GRASS. the second commandment, it is expressly declared, that the children should be punished in this life for the idolatry of the fathers. Idolatry was high trea- son while the Theocracy subsisted, and was to be re- strained by the severest sanctions, under a dispensa- tion appointed for these, among other wise purposes, to preserve the Israelites from the general taint of idolatry, and to maintain and propagate the know- ledge of the one God. The general principle of the law cannot be better explained than in the words of Cicero, ep. ad. Brutum 12, " Hoc praeclare legibus comparatum est, ut caritas liberorum amiciores pa- rentes reipublicae redderet." In the destruction by the Babylonians, the good were to escape, ch. ix. 4, 6, but they were only to de- liver themselves, ch. xiv. 14, 20, 21. Whenever the children had suffered temporal evils for the idolatry of their fathers, they had justly incurred a punish- ment solemnly denounced. With respect to the im- pending calamity from Nebuchadnezzar, God's pur- pose was to observe anotlier rule of conduct. (New- come.) GRASS. As trees signify princes, nobles, and rich men, so, by the rule of analogy, grass must signify the common people. And in Scripture, men are compared to grass, as in 1 Peter 1. 24 ; Isa. xl. 6, 7- In 1 Cor. ui. 12, hay or grass is applied figura- tively io persons. Rev. viii. 7, " And all green grass was burnt up," descriptive of the effects of those calamities which fell upon the Roman empire, by which the lower GRASS HAIL. 2l>3 orders (the grass) suffered, as well as the higher orders, (the trees.) Rev. ix. 4, " That they should not hurt the grass of the earth." The natural locusts hurt every green thing, and prey upon it as their food ; but these figurative locusts were under restrictions. It is generally explained of the rise of the Mahometan power; and it is very sin- gular, that Abubeker gave orders " not to destroy palm trees, nor burn any fields of corn, and to cut down no fruit trees ;" which seems to identify the Saracens with these mystic locusts. See Ockley's History of the Saracens. HAIL is the symbol of the Divine vengeance upon kingdoms and nations, the enemies of God and of his people. And as a hail-storm is generally accompajiied by lightning, and seems to be produced by a certain electrical state of the atmosphere, so we find in Scrip- ture hail and fire, i. e. lightning, mentioned together. Thus in Exod. ix. 23, " And the Lord sent thunder and hail, and the Jire ran along the ground, and the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt." Job. xxxviii. 22, 23, " Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow, Or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail.' Which I have reserved against the day of trouble. Against the day oi battle and war ?" Psalm cv. 32, referring to God's plagues on Egypt, " He gave them hail for rain. And flaming^rc in their land." Ps. Ixxviii. 48, treating of the same subject, has, " He gave up their cattle also to the hail. And their flocks to hot thunderbolti.'' 224 HAIL. Ps. cxlviii, 8, They are linked together thus, " Fire and hail, and snow, and vapour, Stormy wind, fulfilling his word." And the like in Ps. xviii. 13, " The Lord also thundered in the heavens. And the Most High gave forth his voice, /faj/stones and coals otjire." la Isaiah xxviii. 2, a passage relating to the Israel- ites, and which denounces their approaching destruc- tion by Shalmanezer, the same images are employ- ed. Hail is mentioned as a divine judgment by the prophet Haggai, ch. ii. 17- The destruction of the Assyrian army is thus pointed out in Isaiah xxx. 30, " And Jehovah shall cause his glorious voice to be heard. And the lighting down of his arm to be seen. With wrath indignant, and a flame of consuming^re, With a violent storm, and rushing showers, and -hailstones.'' Ezekiel xiii. 11, represents the vvall daubed with untempered mortar, as being destroyed by great hail- stones. And in his prophecy against Gog, he thus expresses himself, ch. xxxviii. 22, " And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood. And with an overflowing shower and great hailstones. Fire and brimstone will I rain upon him." A prediction, which probably remains to be accom- plished on the future enemies of the Jews, Gog and Magog, Rev. xx. 9, when his people are reinstated in God's favour, of which enemies it is there said, " And Jire came down from God out of heaven, and devour- ed them." The hail and fire, mingled with blood, mentioned in Rev. viii. 7, are supposed to denote the commo- tions that took place in the Roman empire during the HAIL. 225 reigns of Jovian, Valentinian, Valens and Gratian, during which the empire suffered great calamities, and many bloody battles took place from the year 363 to 379. Claudian has well expressed the misery of those times, to his son Honorius, as quoted by Low- maxi, " Omnibus afBictis, et vel labentibus ictu, Vel prope casuris, unus tot funera contra, Restitit, extinxitque faces, agrisque Colonos, Reddidit, et Leti rapuit de faucibus urbes. Nulla relicta foret, Romani nominis umbra, Ni Pater ille tuus, jamjam ruitura subisset Pondera," &c. It is a just observation of Sir Isaac Newton, " That, in the prophetic language, tempests, winds, or the motions of clouds, are put for wars ; thunder, or the voice of a cloud, for the voice of a multitude ; and storms of thunder, lightning, hail, and overflowing rain, for a tempest of war, descending from the hea- vens and clouds politic." In reference to the period, supposed to be predict- ed in Rev. viii. 7, Philostorgius, after mentioning numerous calamities which men were exposed to, adds, " Also there were inundations of rain waters, and in some places flashes of flames, and sometimes whirl- winds of fire, which produced various and intolerable torments. Yea, and hail bigger than a man's fist, or greater than a man could hold in his hand, did fall in many places, weighing as far as eight pounds." The great hail in Rev. xi. 19, denotes great and heavy judgments on the enemies of true religion. And the grievous storm in ch. xvi. 21, represents something similar, probably still future, and far more severe. 226 HAIL. The Hebrew term for hailstone, algehish, from ge- bish, a gem or crystal, with the Arabic article prefix- ed, i. e. hailstones of gems, or hailstones as large as gems, is thought by Parkhurst to refer to some idola- trous notion the Jews entertained about hail. " It is certain," he says, " that the latter heathen attributed the sending of hail to their Jupiter, and looked upon any remarkable showers of it as proofs of his anger." So Horace, Ode 2. lib. 1, " Jam satis terris nivis, atque dirae Grandinis tnisit Pater," &c. " Too long, alas, with storms of hail and snow, Jove has chastis'd the world below." Maynwatung. Comp. Virgil, ^n. 4, lin. 120, 161 ; iEn.9,lin.669, and Livy, 1. 2. cap. 62, and lib. 26, cap. 11. Spence, in his Polymetis, gives us a medal, on which Jupiter Pluvius, or the Rainy, is represented seated on the clouds, holding up his right hand, and pouring a stream of hail and rain from it upon the earth, whilst liis Fulraen is held down in his left. According to Achmet and the Interpreters of Dreams, hail, snow, and the like, portend anxieties and torments, or some sudden attack of an enemy. And when the hail injures or destroj's heaps of corn or barley, there hostile inroads and slaughter may be expected. Pindar and Demosthenes apply it to a like purpose, the latter of whom compares the progress of King Philip to a storm of hail. Isaiah xxxii. 19, is thus rendered by Lowth, " But the hail shall fall, and the forest be brought down. And the city shall be laid level with the plain." The city, says the Bishop, is probably Nineveh or HAIL HAIR. 227 Babylon ; but this verse is very obscure. Ephraim Syrus supposes the forest to be the kingdom of the Assyrians, and the city, their extensive camps. And so conjectured Archbishop Seeker, referring to Zech. xi. 2. Glassius thinks that the world in general is here described, the prophet by forest and city^ meaning the uncultivated and the habitable parts, and that while it should tremble and shake under calamities, the godly should be preserved from them alL HAIR. White hair, or the hoary head, is the symbol of the respect due to age. Levit. xLx. 22, " Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, And honour the face of the old man." And Solomon says, Prov. xvi, 31, " The hoary head is a crown of glory, If it be found in the way of righteousness." Hence we find in Dan. vii. 9, God takes upon him the title of " Ancient of Days." The hoary head is- the sym^bol of authority and ho- nour. All the interpreters agree in this. The shaving of the head, oo the contrary, signifies affliction, poverty and disgrace. Thus in Isa. vii. 20, " The shaving the head, the hair of the feet, and the beard, by a hired razoi," the king of Assyria, denotes the troubles, slaughter, and destruction to be brought upon the Jews by the Assyrian armies. The hairs of the head, are those of the highest order in the state ; those of the feet, or the lower parts, are the common people; the beard is the king, the high priest, the very supreme in dignity and majesty. The eastern people have always held the beard in the highest 228 HAIR. veneration, and have been extremely jealous of its honour. To pluck a man's beard, is an instance of the greatest indignity that can be offered. See Lowth in loc. Hence also in Jer xlvii. 5. Baldness is destruc- tion. Isa. XV. 2, " On every head there is baldness, and every beard is shorn." Herodotus, ii. 36, speaks of it as a general practice among all men, except the Egyptians, to cut oif their hair as a token of mourning. " Cut off thy hair and cast it away," says Jerem. vii. 29? " and take up a lamentation." And Homer in his Odyssey, 4, 197, as translated by Pope, " The rites of woe Are all, alas, the living can bestow ; O'er the congenial dust enjoined to shear The graceful curl, and drop the tender tear." A Nazarite was one who, by a special vow, had separated himself, or set himself apart for a time from all worldly connexions, to attend upon the ser- vice of God only. Num. vi. 2. Under these cir- cumstances he was to let the hair of his head grow ; verse 5, and when the days of his vow were fulfilled, he was then to shave his head at the door of the ta- bernacle of the congregation ; verse 18, in a solemn and public manner, to notify that he was no longer in his former state of separation. Forster, in his Observations, p. 560, speaks of the hair cut off and thrown upon the bier, at Otaheite ; and at the Friendly Islands, it is expressly said, that ■' cutting off the hair is one of their mourning cere- HAIR. 229 monies ; Cook's Voyage, v. i. p. 112. This was for- bidden by the Mosaic law, as well as cutting the flesh, at the same time, and on the same principles. The hair is the natural ornament of the head ; and the loss of it a considerable defect in the human figure. It was therefore not to be voluntarily assumed by those whose profession obliged them to " worship Jehovah in the beauty of holiness." At what time the observance of the law in these particulars began to be relaxed, does not appear ; but there are no traces of such customs among God's chosen people, earlier than those which are alluded to in the prophetical books, properly so called. See Blayney. Hairs, as the hair of women, Rev. ix. 8. This is part of the description of the apocalyptic locusts ; it may either denote the greatness, length, and fineness of the hair, the symbol of honour and authority ; or else, that the hair is tressed up and plaited after the manner of women, as was the way of the Saracens. And therefore those of the sect of Ali, to distinguish themselves, had not only a turban made after a particular fashion, but they also twisted their hair after a manner quite different from the rest of the Mussulmans. (Herbelot, title Ali.) Dressing the hair in this manner, is the symbol of luxury and effeminacy ; and therefore it is forbidden to Christian women, as being the practice of the heathens, and the dress of harlots, in 1 Peter iii. 3 ; 1 Tim ii. 9. And not only in women, but more particularly in men, is the said practice condemned in Holy Writ, as in 1 Cor. xi. 14, where the word Ko^/j signifies hair 230 HAIR HAND. studiously dressed, as women are wont to do with theirs. Persius, Sat. 4, 1. 1 , calls Socrates harbatus magister. Philosophers were so styled by way of honour and distinction, for cutting off the beard was a punishment and a mark of disgrace, as we learn firom the 13th book of Atheneeus. HAND. Hands are the symbols of human action ; pure hands are pure actions ; unjust hands are deeds of injustice ; hands full of blood, actions stained with cruelty, and the like. Ps. xc. 17 ; Job ix. 30 ; 1 Tim. ii. 8 ; Isaiah i. 1 5. And so Herodian describing a homicide, calls him, " a man of impure hands," lib. 1. And Seneca, Here. Jur. act 5, says, " Nullum mare, nulla flumina dextram abluere posse scelere sanguine- que contaminatam." Euripides in Orest. says, " uyyo^ y*^ ufu ;^sf, HE-GOAT. 249 a goat ; see Justin, 1. 7 ; and from the same author we learn, that the goat, since their king Caranus, was the arras of Macedon. Bishop Chandler, in his Vindication, p. 154, ob- serves, " That princes and nations being of old paint- ed by their symbols, which Procopius calls yy4i^*!r^T«, they came afterwards to be distinguished by writers with the names of their symbols, as by their proper appellations. Yet Alexander derived himself from Jupiter Ammon, and he and his successors had two ram's horns on their coins, the very description of the former beast. But this happened not till after he had subdued Egypt, when, being lord of Persia, he might adopt her arms or ensigns for his own." Dr Newton observes, " That Alexander's son by Roxana was named iEgus, or the son of the Goat, and that some of his successors are represented in their coins with goats' horns." " And touched not the ground," denoting the ra- pidity of his conquests. But the Syriac renders it, " Nothing touched or hindered him in the earth," i. e. he met with no impediment or material molestation. The " notable, or conspicuous horn," is Alexander himself, as explained by the angel, v. 21. Verse 6, " He came to the ram," &c., i. e. he en- countered Darius. Verse 9? The single, or small horn, is understood by some to mean Antiochus Epiphanes, whom Poly- bius calls Epimanes, or the Madman. But interpre- ters are by no means agreed on this subject. See the articles Horn and Leopard. The particulars which illustrate the frilfilment of this remarkable prophecy may be found at large in 250 HE-GOAT HORN. the following authors : — Arrian's Expedition of Alex- ander ; Quintus Curtius ; Diodorus Siculus ; Plu- tarch's Life of Alexander. And amongst the mo- derns, RoUin's Ancient History ; Prideaux's Con- nections ; Mede's Works ; Newton on the Prophe- cies ; Wintle on Daniel ; Spanheim on the Use of Coins, &c. &c. HORN. Horns naturally stand for power, as the great strength of those animals, which possess them, is placed there. They were, on that account, an- ciently the hieroglyphical symbols of power, (see the Oneirocritics, c. 82, 83, et alia ;) for it has been justly observed, that hieroglyphics were a source of metaphors in the ancient eastern languages. Thus, in Amos vi. 13, where it is said, " Ye that rejoice in a thing of nought. That say, have we not taken to ourselves dominion by our own strength?'''' Instead of " strength," the Hebrew has horns. So, in Deut. xxxiii. 1 7, horns are put for strength . and power : " His beauty shall be that of a young bull. And his horns shall be the horns of a rhinoceros, With these he shall push together the people to the extre- mities of the land. Such are the ten thousands of Ephraim, Such the thousands of Manasseh !" See this blessing on the head of Joseph well illustrated in Joshua xvii. 14-18. In 1 Kings xxii. 11, we find a striking display of symbolical action on the part of the false prophet Zedekiah. He made him horns of iron, and said, " Thus saith Jehovah, With these thou shalt push the Syrians, until thou have consumed them." HORN. 2ol Jerem. xlviii. 25, •' The horn of Moab is cut off, And his arm is broken, saith Jehovah;" /. e. His strength is decayed, he is no longer formid- able. Lament, ii. 3, The subdued and desolate state of the Jews is described by saying, " He hath cut off in his fierce anger every horn of Israel." On the other hand, promises of encouragement are held out in such language as this : Mieah iv. 1 3, " Arise, and tread out the grain, O daughter of Sion ; Thine horn will I make iron. And thine hoof will I make brass. And thou shalt beat in pieces many people. And thou shalt devote the gain from them to Jehovah, And their substance, to the Lord of the whole earth." This opinion of the strength of animals consisting in their horns, was held by profane writers, as by Aristotle, Hist. Anim. 1. 4, c. 8 ; ^Elian, Hist. Anini. 1. 16, c. 23. And we find Horace, 1. 3, Ode 21, say- ings " Tu spem reducis mentibus anxiis, Viresque addis et cornua pauperi ;" i. e. Thou restorest hope to anxious minds, and addest horns (meaning strength or confidence) to the poor. Horns are attributed to Bacchus by Ovid, Metam. 1.4, " Accedant capiti cornua, Bacchus eris." And Valerius Flaccus ascribes horns to rivers, on account of their rapid and irresistible com-se, Argon. 1. 6, V. 618, " Tunc et terrificit undantem comibus Hebrum.'" 252 HORN. Claudian also has, " taiirina levantur Cornua teraporibus raucos sudantia rivos." And Spanheira, in his Treatise on Coins, mentions some, in which rivers appear with horns. Horns were also the symbol of royal dignity and power ; and when they are distinguished by number, they signify so many monarchies. Thus, horn sig- nifies a monarchy, in Jerem. xlviii. 25, already quoted. And in Zech. i. J 8, &c., the four horns are the four great monarchies, which had each of them subdued the Jews. The ten horns, says Daniel, ch. vii. 24, are ten kings. The ten horns spoken of in Rev. xiii. 1, as having ten crowns upon them, no doubt signify the same thing, for so we have it interpreted in ch. xvii. 12. The king of Persia is described by Ammi- anus Marcellinus as wearing golden ram's horns by way of diadem, 1. 69, c. 1, " Aureum capitis arietini figmentum interstinctum lapillis pro diademate ges- sit." And the effigy of Ptolemy with a ram's horn, as exhibited in ancient sculpture, is mentioned by Spanheim, Dissert, de Numism. "Whence also the kings of Media and Persia are depicted, by Daniel viii. 20, under the figure of a horned ram. When it is said in Dan. viii. 9> that out of one of the four notable horns came forth a little horn, we are to understand, that out of one of the four king- doms, represented by the four horns, arose another kingdom, " which became exceeding great." Some understand by this, Antiochus Epipharies ; others, one of the first Caesars ; and others refer it to the Turkish empire, and will have Egypt, Asia, and HORN. 253 Greece, to be the three horns torn up or reduced by the Turk. But, as Dr Zouch observes, the king- dom possessed by Antiochus IV., surnamed Epi- phanes, was that to which he legally succeeded by the death of his brother Seleucus Philopater, the son of Antiochus the Great, It was not a new or fifth kingdom, arising out of any of the four kingdoms into which that of Alexander was rent. It was lite- rally a continuation of that kingdom, which com- menced in Syria soon after the death of Alexander. Antiochus Epiphanes was the 8th king of Syria. After him are enumerated no less than nineteen kings in regular succession, Antiochus 1 3th being the last. If it be asked, what, then, is meant by the little horn ? to give a definite reply would be presumptuous, after so much learned controversy on this subject. Suf- fice it to say, the more general opinion refers it to Antichrist, or the Papal usurpator, St Paul's " man of sin." See 2 Thess. ii. 9, 10 ; and Rev. xiii. 5, 6. Mede denies that the " little horn" can mean An- tiochus Epiphanes, because the reign of the little horn extends to the time when the Ancient of Days comes in fiery flames ; but Antiochus died 1 60 years and more before the birth of Christ. And he asserts that the horn is the same with the Antichrist of St John. Ezek. xxix. 21, "In that day I will cause the horn of the house of Israel to bud," &c. The enlargement of Jehoiachin is supposed to be referred to. See 2 Kings xxv. 27 ; Jer. lii. 31. Daniel and his three companions were also ad- vanced to authority. Dan. ii. 48, 49 ; iii. 30. These 254 HORN. marks of favour bestowed on the Jews were preludes to their geueral restoration. Horns are also used in Hebrew to express rays of light, from their resemblance to them, as hexn^ point- ed, and, in general, pointing upwards. Hence we find horn and lamp conjoined in Ps. cxxxii. 17. God is thus represented in Deut. xxxiii. 2, " From his right hand issued streams of light." And in Habak. iii. 4, " His brightness was as the light, Rays (/i/. horns) streamed from his hand, And there was the hiding-place of his power." A pencil or cone of rays, issuing from a point, di- verges in the shape of a horn, as Newcome observes. Moses is represented by the Jewish writers as wearing horns ; i. e. his face shone with a divine lustre, when he came down from Sinai, after his in- tercourse with God. The heathens also attribute horns to the moon, and to some of the supposed deities, for a similar reason. Hence Valerius Flaccus, Argon. 1. 2, v. 55, " Puraque nee gravido surrexit Cjmthia cornu." And again, " Ardua suspiciens miuuentis comua Lunae." And Ovid, " Quam de comigero de Jove natus erat." In Spanheim's Coins, there is one where Jupiter appears horned with this inscription, " Theos Am- mon." Messiah is, in Heb. i. 3, called " the brightness or splendour of the Father's glory ;" and in Rev. i. 16, HORN. 255 his countenance is described " as the sun shining in his strength." And the light that shone round Paul at his conversion, a light accompanying or proceeding from the Saviour, is said to be a light above the brightness of the sun. From this meaning of the Hebrew term, and from the action of the solar light upon the vegetable world, as the great instrument of producing plenty, came the notion in the Heathen Mythology of repre- senting abundance hy the emblem of a horn, the cor- nucopia, the feigned horn of Amalthaea, by which it was pretended Jupiter was nursed in his infancy, Araaltheea being the name assigned to the goat sup- posed to have nursed him, and which was afterwards converted into a star. See Ovid's Fasti, v. 117; Hygin. Astron. ii. 13; whose horn was thenceforth said to have the privilege, that whoever possessed it, should immediately have what they desired ; whence it came to be called the horn of plenty. And hence, perhaps, the Septuagint render the name of one of Job's daughters, viz. Kerenhappuch, by those words " the horn of Amalthaea." See Callim. Hymn to Ju- piter, lin. 48, 49, " Thou drewest the sweUing teat of that fam'd goat, Kind Amalthaea.'" See also Parkhurst's Lexicon on x.o^iv¥Vfci, ubi plura. Luke i. 69, Jesus is called " a horn of salvation," i. e. a mighty Saviour, equivalent to " horn of David," in Ps. cxxxii. 17, already referred to. This title is symbolical of the royal dignity and poicer of the Messiah. He is the anointed King in Zion, Ps. ii. 6. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords, which 256 HORN. name he carries written on his vesture and thigh, Rev. xix. 16. His kingdom is an everlasting king- dom, which shall break in pieces and consume all other kingdoms, Dan. ii. 44. He rules from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth, Ps. Ixxii. 8 ; Zech. ix. 9, 10. All kings shall worship him, and all nations shall serve him. He is a king, on whose head are many crowns, Rev. xix. 12. He spoiled principalities and powers, and triumphed over them. He hath the keys of Hades and of Death. We have the expression in Scripture, not unfre- quently, of " horns of the altar," meaning the projec- tions at the four corners, which were a symbol of the Divine protection, the altar being regarded as an asylum or sanctuary ; and therefore, when Amos says, ch. iii. 14, " The horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground f the meaning is, that there shall be no more atonements made thereon — the asylum or sanctuary, therefore, shall no more stand. Those who fled to the altar for protection, took hold of the horns of it. Thus Adonijali did, when afraid of Solomon, and Joab, in like manner ; but be- cause the latter was guilty of wilful murder, he was slain according to the law, Exod. xxi. 14. The idolaters likewise had horns to their altars, for they mimicked the true religion in all outward matters. See Jerem. xvii. 1 ; Amos iii. 14. And they also, when they fled for protection, or implored the help of their gods, were wont to take hold of the horns of their altars. See Servius on Virgil, 1. 6, v. 124, and Potter's Antiq. of Greece, vol. i. p. 1^3. Further, the altars were looked upon as the tables HORN HORSE. 257 of the gods, and therefore, he who had caught hold on the altar, was considered as one who was received into friendship with the god to wliom it was dedica- ted, and therefore as one who was not to be punished by man. By Exodus xxi. 14, it appears that the altar of holocausts was to the Jews an asylum for crimes un- designedly committed. As to the practice of the heathen in this respect, the proofs are copious ; whole tragedies of .Eschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, being founded on it. And the sanctuary of the altar was held so sacred and inviolable, that iEschylus in one place, amongst others, says, " That an altar was stronger than a tower — that it was an invincible shield." (Supplices, v. 198.) Hence, also no doubt, arose the custom, in more modern times, of making churches, abbeys, and other buildings, devoted to religious uses, an asylum for criminals, and a sanctuary for debtors. HORSE. The horse, as Daubilz observes, was of old used only for warlike expeditions, and not barely to ride, draw, and drudge, as is now practised with us. Hence, in that noble description of the horse in the book of Job, chap, xxxix. 18-25, there is no notice taken of any quality of his but what relates to war. So that the horse is the symbol of- vmt and con- quest. And therefore, when the Prophet Zechariah, chap. x. 3, says that " God hath made Judah as his goodly horse in the battle," the meaning is, that he will make them conquerors over his enemies, glorious and successful. Thus, in Ps. xlv. 5, ^D'l, receh, to ride, is trans- JR 258 HOUSE. lated in the Septuagint by /3x " They had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron." This denotes, says Daubuz, that the Saracens should be a bold, hard, mischievous enemy, being so well armed for that purpose. And this their great victories and conquests have sufficiently verified. It is observable, that the natural locust hath about its body a pretty hard shell, of the colour of iron, to IRON ISLAND. 267 which there is an allusion in Claudian, Epigr, 33, so that herein the symbol of the breastplate is exactly suited to the natural locust. That iron denotes strength appears from Dan. ii. 40, where it is said, " Iron, which breaketk in pieces, and subdueth all things." ISLAND. It is certain that the Hebrews did not mean the same as we do by islands, that is, lands encompassed with water all around ; but simply coun- tries or regions at a distance, such as they could not reach without crossing the sea, or such as had a line of sea-coast. Hence Lowth for most part renders the Hebrew term C't^) anm, by distant lands. Bochart has shewn, with much probability, that the countries peopled by Chittin, the grandson of Japhet, are Italy and the adjacent provinces of Europe, which lie along the Mediterranean Sea. The proper translation of *X in many passages would be, " the region which is by the sea-side." Mede thinks the Greek '«<«, derived from ^^, and that iEgyptus is «<«, Cuphti, .^Ethiopia, utx. Theophi, &c. Disc. 50. Zeph. ii. 11, " Jehovah will be terrible against them For he will famish all the gods of the earth ; And all the islands of the nations Shall bow themselves unto him, every one from his place." By the earth, says Sir Isaac Newton, on Daniel, p. 276, the Jews understood the great continent of all Asia and Africa, to which they had access by land : And by the isles of the sea, they understood the places to which they sailed by sea, particularly all Europe." The prophet here foretells the gradual fall of ido- 268 ISLAND. latry, and its deep, and at length deadly wounds by the spreading of the Gospel. Rev. vi. 14, " Every mountain and island were moved out of their places." Great public calamities are described in the prophets, as if the order of na- ture were overturned ; so that the expressions here and in ch. xvi. 20, are not to be understood literally. Every place or haven to which ships resorted, says Daubuz, was by the Jews called an island. Thus T3Te, as it was anciently, is called the isle, in Isa. xxiii. 2, 6, though seated only near the sea ; and the Tyrians are called " the inhabitants of the isle," v. 3, 1 1. And because the Hebrews looked upon islands as places of merchandise, to which men went to traf- fic and fetch riches, hence it comes, that an island, in their notion, is akin to Mart-io-wn, a rich, trading, po- pulous city, a place whence riches are brought. Thus in Ezek. xxvii. 3, Tyre is called a mart, ifCTro^iof, of the people from many islands. And the whole chap- ter, together with the Targum, is a proof of this, es- pecially the 1 5th verse, where it is said, " many isles were the merchandise of thine hand." So in Isa. Ix. 9, islands and ships are mentioned in order to pro- duce and bring silver and gold. Hence ships are the symbols of profit and riches. See Ship, In Euripides, fc-yot^ irXiiTu Xi/xtir, a great haven of riches signifies a great revenue. (Orest. v. 1077-) So that islands symbolically signify riches, reve- nues, ways of trading, and the like. And thus Ame- rica and the West Indies may, in the Hebrew style, be termed islands to Britain, Spain, &c. because of the commerce and traffic between them. ISLAND KFA". 269 Hence in Isa. xxiii. 4, it is said of Tyre : " The harvest of the river was her revenues. And she became the mart of the nations." He compares their trade by sea to the overflowing of the Sihor or Nile, and says that it brings them riches, as the Nile does to Egypt by its fertility. Job xxii. 30, " He shall deliver the island of the innocent." Durell observes, that At here is not a substantive, but an adverb, and translates it thus : " The innocent, wherever he is, will deliver himself — and deliverance shall be to thee by the purity of thine hands." KEY, is used as a symbol of government, power, and authority. Isa. xxii. 22, " I vnW lay the key of the house of David upon his shoulder." See Lowth's note on the passage. In allusion to the image of the key as the ensign of power, the un- limited extent of that power is ex|)ressed, with great clearness as well as force, by the sole and exclusive authority to open and shut. Our Saviour, therefore, has on a similar occasion made use of a like manner of expression. Matt. xvi. 19, and in Rev. iii. 7, has applied to himself the very words of the Prophet. " He that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth ; and shutteth and no man openeth." Matt. xvi. 19, - " And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven." I toill give, i. e. after my resurrection, the keys, /. e. the power of preaching the Gospel officially, of administering the sacraments, and of exercising church 270 KEY. discipline, as a steward of the mysteries of God, ajid as a faithful servant whom the Lord hath set over his household, not for domination, but for edification. Of the kingdom of heaven — not of earth. Bernard remarks on this passage : " Quaenam tibi major videtur et dignitas et potestas dimittendi pec- cata, an praedia dividendi ? Sed non est comparatio. Habent hsec infima et terrena judices suos, Reges et Principes terrse. Quid fines alios invaditis ? Quid falcem vestram in alienam messem extenditis ? Non quia indigni vos, sed quia indignum vobis talibus in- sistere, quippe potioribus occupatis." Nor is the ob- servation of Prideaux, bishop of Worcester, unde- serving of quotation : " Peter obtained no supremacy over the rest of the Apostles ; he received the keys with the rest, not above the rest, — and those, not of earth, but of heaven, as being first in age, zeal, and boldness, not in office — to feed Christ's sheep, not his own." Peter may be said to have opened the kingdom of heaven, as being the first who preached the gospel to the Jews after his Master's ascension, Acts, Ch. ii. and to the Gentiles, Acts, Ch. x. Rev. ix. 1, and xx. 1, " the key of the abyss ;" i. e. a commission to open it, to let loose Satan to deceive the nations. On this last passage, Henry More remarks, " A fallen star signifies a lapsed spirit, and the having the key of the bottomless pit given him, denotes his pow- er in the kingdom of darkness, of which a key is the symbol." Rev. i. 18, " The keys of Hades and of death ;" J. €. having power over the separate state of departed KEY. 271 spirits ; to call men out of this life into the invisible state, to raise them from death at last, and to reunite soul and body at the resurrection. See the Orphic hymn to Pluto, quoted by Parkhurst. The heathen to denote the government of Pluto, and the rest of the infernal gods, assigned to them the keys of the infernal pits. And, therefore, Pluto and Proserpine were represented with keys in their hands. Aristophanes says of Juno, whom the Pagan world supposed to be that deity who presided over the nuptial rite, that she keeps the keys of marriage. Silence is represented in Sophocles, (Oed.) by a golden key on the tongue. And in the Arabian writers, Soliman Ben Abdalmalek had the title of the hey of goodness, because he had set at liberty all the wretches in prison, and done good to all his subjects. As stewards of a great family, especially of the royal household, bore a key, probably a golden one, as the lords of the bedchamber do, in token of their office, the phrase of giving a person a key, naturally grew into an expression of raising him to great power. Key is used also as a symbol of ability to interpret Scripture. Luke xi. 50, " Ye have taken away the key of knowledge." And, according to the same analogy, " to open the Scriptures," Luke xxiv. 32, is to shew the true meaning of them, whereby others may understand them. It is said that authority to explain the law and the prophets was given among the Jews by the delivery of a key ; and of one Rabbi Samuel we read, that after his deatn, they put his key and his tablets into his coffin, because he did not deserve to have a son, to whom he might leave the ensigns of his office. If 272 KEY EIIX OR SLAY. the Jews really had such a custom in our Saviour's time, the above expression may seem a beautiful re- ference to it. Parkhurst on x>£k- KILL or SLAY. To kill or slay, is to be ex- plained according to the nature of the subject spoken of. To kill men, means to destroy them utterly. Matt. X. 28, " Fear not them who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul." To kill a kingdom, is to destroy utterly the power it had to act as such — for acting and living are analo- gical to each other. And government is the life of the commonwealth. And, therefore, as long as the commonwealth can perform the actions of govern- ment, so long it lives ; if they are stopped, that life dies. Wrath is said to kill a man, Job v. ii. either by its injurious effects, when indulged, upon the human frame — or by leading them to commit furious deeds, and so bringing them under the extreme penalty of the law, or as offending God, and provoking him to cut them off. Prov. xxi. 25. The desire of the slothful is said to kill him, because he lacks activity to procure the de- sired object lawfully, and has recourse to ruinous means of gratifying his desires. 2 Cor. iii. 6, " The letter," i. e. of the law of God, is said to kill. It condemns and denounces the most solemn pe- nalties, even that of death, upon every transgressor, leaving no hope, and furnishing no strength. Hosea vi. 5, " Therefore have I hewn them by the prophets, I have slain them by the words of my mouth." KILL OR SLAY KING. 273 /. e. I have been most importunate with them. See similar expressions from Terence and Menander, quoted by Newcome, KING signifies the possessor of the supreme power, whether lodged in one or more persons. Prov. viii. 15, 16. " By me kings reign, and princes decree justice, By me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth." It also frequently signifies a succession of kings. And king and kingdom are synonymous, as ap- pears from Dan. vii. 17, 23. It is applied especially to God, as sovereign over all. Ps. X. 16, " Jehovah is king for ever and ever." Ps. xxix. 10, " Jehovah sitteth upon the flood, Jehovah sitteth king for ever." Also Ps. xliv. 4, and others frequently. It is applied to the Messiah. Ps. ii. 6, " I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion." It is applied to aU true Christians, Rev. i. 6, who are consecrated to God as kings and priests. In I Peter ii. 13, 17, it particularly signifies the Roman emperor, whom the Greek writers call king. See Josephus de Bello, 1. 3, c. 7, § 3. Moloch, the name given to an idol worshipped by the Ammonites and others, in the Hebrew language signifies king, and is generally translated by the Sep- tuagint " the ruler ;" and in Jerem. xxxii. 35, they call him Moloch the king. The sun is supposed to have been worshipped under this name, as the king s 274 KING. or lord of day. And the Heathen deity Saturn, is understood to correspond to the Moloch of the Scrip- tures, as ajjpears by the similarity of their rites, and the sacrifices offered to them. See Diod. Sic. 1. 20. It is applied to Satan in Rev. ix. 11, for though the natural locusts have no king, see Prov. xxx. 27, yet those figurative locusts mentioned by John have one, who is the angel of the bottomless pit, the prince of the power of darkness, justly called the destroyer. It is applied to death, in Job. xviii. 14, who is there called the " king of terrors." In Job xli. 34, It is applied to the Leviathan or crocodile. " He looketh upon every thing ■with haughtiness, He is a king over all the children of pride." Hosea says, Ch. iii. 4, 5, " The sons of Israel shall abide many days. Without a king, and without a prince, &c. Afterwards the sons of Israel shall return. And shall seek Jehovah their God, And David their king. And shall reverence Jehovah and his goodness, in the latter days." This prophecy, which some refer to Zerubbabel, luid some to the Messiah, in all probability remains to be accomplished. It is the opinion of Newcome, that on the future return of God's people, an illustri- ous king of this name and stock, will reign over Is- rael, and transmit the kingdom to his descendants for ever. Compare Jer. xxx. 9 ; Ezek. xxxiv. 23, 24 — xxxvii. 24, 25. In the new song, Rev. xv. 3, God is called the ' king of saints." " Kings of the east," (Rev. xvi. 12). Mede and Lowman both consider the Turks to be meant under KING KINGDOM KISS. 275 this title. The latter thinks the Euphrates means the Adriatic sea, and that an invasion of the Papal territories is here intended. KINGDOM. Used sometimes to signify heaven, as in Matt. xxvi. 29 ; 2 Tim. iv. 18. Also, government or supreme administration, 1 Sam. xviii. 8. Also, the state of the Christian church under the gospel dispensation ; Matt. iii. 2, &c. Also, the royal priesthood of the true people of God ; Exod. xix. 6 ; 1 Peter ii. 9- Kingdom of the stone, Dan. ii. 34, 44, and king- dom of the mountain, Dan. ii. 35, 45, are both meant of the kingdom of the Messiah. See Mede's Works, p. 743, &c. KISS. The symbol of idolatrous worship. Hosea xiii. 2, " Let the men who sacrifice kiss the calves." See 1 Kings xix. 18. Thus Cicero describes a statue of Hercules, as hav- ing " rictum ejus ac mentem paulo attritius, quod in precibus et gratulationibus non solum adorari, verura etiam osculari, solebant ;" in Verr. act 2, 1, 4, § 43. Job xxxi. 27, " Or my mouth hath kissed my hand." There is here an evident allusion to the su- perstitious rites of idolators. The custom o^ kissing the hand, in token of adoration, is very ancient, as well as universal. The ground of it appears to be awe or respect : thus Job, when he determines to be silent before God, says, " I will lay my hand upon my mouth ;" ch. xl. 4. Pliny, where he enumerates strange customs, says, " In worshipping, we use the right hand for kissing, 276 KISS. and move the whole body round : in Gaul, they pre- fer using the left ;" Nat. Hist. b. 28, c. 2. Apuleius observes, that many of his countrymen applied their right hand to their mouths, the first fin- ger being upon the thumb erect, in order that they might perform due adoration to the goddess Venus. Lucian also remarks, that the poor, who had no- thing to offer in sacrifice but the kissing of their hands, were not excluded. Demosthenes, being carried into a temple, is said to have kissed his hand, in token of adoration. The Syrian churches, to this day, when they re- ceive the sacrament, are said to kiss the bread and cup before thej^ partake of them. Thus courtiers kiss the king's hand when presented to him, or when appointed to office ; and it is cus- tomary now in many countries to kiss the garment of a superior, out of respect. The holy kiss, or kiss of love, Rom. xvi. 16, 1 Cor. xvi. 20, and elsewhere, was a mere transfer of the common mode of salutation in Eastern countries, in ancient times, into an affectionate expression of pure attachment for the truth's sake, each saluting those of their own sex only, as described in the Apost. Con- stit. 1. 2, c. 57. This practice is mentioned by Justin Martyr in his apology : " Prayers being ended, we salute one another with a kiss, and then the bread and cup are brought to the president." The men and women sat apart in the Christian assemblies, the same as was done in the Jewish synagogues. Psalm ii. 12, " Kiss the son, lest he be angry." To kiss in this place implies to reverence. Thus, " all KISS KNEE LAMB. 277 the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him ;" 1 Kings xix. 18. KNEE. To bow the knee is to worship ; 1 Kings xix. 18 ; Rom. xi. 4. Also, to pray ; Eph. iii- 14. Also, to be in subjection ; Phil. ii. 10. That kneeling was the posture of prayer, see 2 Chron. vi. 13 ; Dan. vi. 10 ; Luke xxii. 41 ; Acts vii. 60, ix. 40, XX. 36, xxi. 5 ; Ezra ix. 5 ; Eph. iii. 14. Knees are sometimes put for persons, as in Job iv. 4; Heb. xii. 12. LAMB, the symbol of meekness. Isa. xi. 6, " Then shall the wolf take up his abode with the lamb." Isa. Ixv. 25, " The wolf and the lamb shall feed together." Jer. xi. 19, " For I was like a tame lamb that is led to slaughter." Hence it is the special and peculiar symbol of Jesus Christ, who is declared by the Baptist to be the Lamb of God, because he was to be sacrificed to him, in order to take away the sins of the world. We find Isaiah predicting his suffering under this charac- ter, ch. liii. 7, " It was exacted, and he was made answerable ; And he opened not his mouth, As a lamb that is led to the slaughter, And as a sheep dumb before her shearers. So he opened not his mouth." See Acts viii. 32. Jesus is recognised as such in the visions of John, Rev. V. 6, &c. " And lo, in the midst of the throne stood a lamb, as it had been slain." •218 LAMB LAMP. True Christians, who resemble their Master, have the same name assigned to them, Luke x. 3, " Be- hold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves." See John xxi. 15. The hypocritical assumption of this meekness, and the carrying on of persecution under a show of charity to the souls of men, and bestowing absolu- tions and indulgences on those who conform to its rules, appears to have given rise to the application of this otherwise sacred title to Antichrist, Rev. xiii. 1 1, " And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon." To what particular power or period this passage is applicable, it is extremely difficult to decide. Every commentator differs from another. Lowman tries to reconcile them, but I think unsuc- cessfully. LAMP, on account of its light, is the symbol of government or a governor. Thus concerning the law of God, the Psalmist says, Ps. cxix. 105, " Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my paths," the law being that whereby the king was to be guided. And in 1 Kings xi. 36, a lamp signifies the seat and domains, or else the perpetual succession of a kingdom. The words are, " That my servant David may have a lamp always before me in Jerusalem." But the Septuagint have, " That my servant David may have a seat or position." So the Septuagint turn the Hebrew of 1 Kings xv. 4, by KolxXuftfix ; and it follows /»« rria-n, a remnant to settle a foundation. But in 2 Kings viii. 19? they have Xu^ior a lamp; all which expressions are parallel to this in 2 Sam. vii. 1 3, " I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever." LAMP. 279 This being more proper, and the rest being symboli- cal expressions of the same promise of God. The Oneirocritics apply the misfortunes that hap- pen to the lamp, to the loss of a kingdom or power to rule. In the Greek Church, in the consecration of a Bishop, among other symbolical ceremonies, there was a lamp delivered to hira, and to the Patriarch of Constantinople, a double lamp. In the eastern countries, weddings were celebrated with lamps or torches, the bridegroom and bride, the bridemen and bridemaids having each one in their hands. And the same custom was observed among the Greeks and Romans. See Matt. xxv. 1 ; Homer, Iliad 6, V. 492,Eurip ; Phoenis.v. 346 ; Medea, v. 1027; Virgil, Eclog. 8, v. 29- The Jews used to light lamps at their festivals, a custom sneered at by Persius, Sat. 5, v. 179" And the same was common among the Romans, on occa- sions of domestic rejoicing, the doors of the house were hung with laurels, and illuminated with lamps. Juvenal thus expresses himself in one of his Sa- tires, " Longos erexit janua ramos. Et matutinis operatur festa lucernis." It appears from TeituUian, that the Christians adopted this practice. He thus charges the alienated disciples of the faith, " Sed luceant, inquit (nempe Chri.-tus) opera vestra. At nunc lucent tabernae et JEinuae nostnae : plures jam invenies fores sine lucernis et laurels quam Christianorum." The Jews probably took their custom of burning lamps at their feasts from the Egyptians. Herodotus, '■iSO LAMP LEAVES. b. 11, tells us, there was an annual sacrifice at Lais, known by the name of the feast of lamps. The Chinese have a similar festival at the present day. Persius, in the passage before referred to, must not be understood to speak of the feast of lamps among the Jews. That festival was instituted by Judas, and was held annually on the 25th of the month Chislen. See Josephus, and Picart des Ceremonies des Juifs. In Gen. xv. 17, the words " burning lamp," mean a flame or cone of fire, in the midst of the smoky cloud, the emblem of the Divine presence as at Sinai, Exod. xix. 18 ; so in Exod. xx. 18, lepidim are flames or flashes of fire. When lamp is used to signify successor, as in that passage, " I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed," Ps. cxxxii. 1 7, the metaphor is taken from the light being continually kept in by fresh supplies succes- si vely . Theocritus uses the same expression, Idyll. 27. Luke xii. 35, " And your lamps burning," a phrase to denote constant vigilance. LEAVES of a tree, are explained by the Interpre- ters, in ch. 15, of the common sort of men, cui^vTruy, as trees themselves are the symbols of the higher or- ders, or nobles, y and ^iyi-rcciut. Leaves that are strong and green, denote men of sound judgment ; those that are weak and withered, men of a weak judgment, and depraved manner. Sometimes leaves are explained of clothes, on ac- count of the analogy, since both serve for a covering. Homer beautifully compares the human race to leaves, II. 6, 1 46 : " Like leaves on trees the race of man is found. Now green in youth, now withering on the ground : LEAVES LEOPARD. 281 Another race the following spring supplies, They fall successive, and successive rise. So generations in their course decay. So flourish these, when those are past away. Pope. Job, deprecating the divine inflictions, uses tlie same simile, xiii. 25, " Wilt thou break a leaf driven to and fro ? Wilt thou pursue the dry stubble ?" And Isaiah Ixiv. 6, " We fade like a leaf all of us. And our sins like the wind carry us away." Rev. xxii. 2, " The leaves of the tree (of life) were for the healing of the nations ;" (see Ezek. xlvii. 12.) i. e. they have a sovereign virtue against all sorts of indisposition ; they are calculated to promote immor- tality. LEOPARD. The symbolic character of the Leo- pard rests chiefly upon three of his distinguishing qualities, viz. 1 . Cruelty, as referred to in Isa. xi. 6 ; Jer. v. 6 ; Hosea xiii. 7. 2. Swiftness. See Hab. i. 8. 3. Variety of skin. See Jer. xiii. 23. Hence, in Hieroglyphic language, a Leopard re- presents,— An implacable enemy — a crafty and per- nicious person — a powerful and fraudulent enemy. And the variety of his spots denotes wickedness and deceit. See Artemidorus and the Oneirocritics. In Jerera. v. 6, the wild beasts there spoken of are the King of Babylon and his troops. In Isa. xi. 6, the meaning plainly is, that men of a fierce untractable disposition shall, in the gospel •282 LEOPARD. kingdom, associate peaceably with those of an oppo- site temper, being subdued by divine influence. The passage in Jer. xiii. 23, clearly imports, that habits of sinning are as difiBcult to eradicate as it would be to take out the natural spots of a leopard. Dan. vii. 6, " After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four Avings of a fowl ; the beast had also four heads ; and dominion was given to it." The founders of the four great monarchies are pro- bably called Beasts, on account of the savage and cruel measures they pursued. The person here al- luded to is generall)^ considered to be Alexander the Great, and in many respects the parallel between him and the leopard must hold. His well known reply to one who asked him how he obtained so many sig- nal victories, of f^.ri^iv «»«o«AAo^«»af, i. e. never delay- ing, is quite consonant with the celerity of the leo- pard, and the method by which it leaps on its prey ; as his daring to engage with Darius and the most powerful princes, is illustrative of the leopard's spirit and courage, which will rouse it to a contest with the largest and fiercest wild beasts. The Leopard, says Bochart, is of small stature, but of great courage, so as not to be afraid to engage with the lion and the largest animals. And so Alexander, a little king in comparison, of small stature too, and with a small army, dared to attack the king of kings, that is, Darius, whose kingdom was extended from the ^Egean Sea to the Indies. The leopard is said to fix his eye upon the prey, in order to take the surest occasion of seizing them. This Pliny observes, " Insidunt pardi condensa arbo- LEOPARD. 283 rum, occultatique earum ramis in praetereuntia desi- liunt" Leopards tamed and taught to hunt, are made use of, according to Harmer, in Palestine for hunting, and seize the prey with surprising agility. When the leopard leaps he is said to throw himself 17 or 18 feet at a time : " Xon segiiior extulit ilium Saltus, et in medias jecit super arma catervas, Quum per summa rapit celcrem venabula pardum." LUCAN, 1). G. All this well expresses the speed of Alexander's conquests in Persia and the Indies, which were per- formed in ten or twelve years' time. The leopard is a spotted animal, and so was a pro- per symbol of Alexander, when we consider the dif- ferent manners of the nations which Alexander com- manded, and by whose help he became the conqueror of the world — as well as the diversified disposition of Alexander himself, who was sometimes merciful, and sometimes cruel, alternately temperate and drunken, abstemious and incontinent. By the four wings on its back or sides seems to be meant the union of the four Empires — the Assyrian, Median, Persian, and Grecian ; or as some think, Persia, Greece, Egypt, and India. But in this there is much uncertainty. May we not with greater pro- priety say, that the rapidity with which these nations were united under Alexander is fitly denoted by the character of icings. After the death of Alexander, the partition of his kingdom into four parts is probably what is meant by the four heads of the beast. And if we reflect on the small beginnings of this power — the difficulties 284 LEOPARD. which it surmounted — and the vast strides which it made towards universal empire, extending its con- quests as far as the Ganges in so short a space as twelve years (1 Mace. i. 7), we shall not be at a loss to assign a fair interpretation for the last clause of this verse, and to conclude that such " dominion was the gift of God." (See Wintle on Dan.) The " four heads" were Cassander, Ptolemy, Lysi- machus, and Seleucus, Alexander's captains and suc- cessors. Ptolemy reigned over Egj'pt, Lybia, Arabia, Coe- losyria, and Palestine. Cassander over Macedon, Greece, and Epirus. Lysimachus over Thrace and Bithynia. Seleucus over Babylon, Syria, and the rest of the empire. This division continued for se- veral years. See Diod. Sic. b. 20 ; Polyb. b. 5, &c. And here I think it right to insert the valuable ob- servations of Prideaux in reference to this subject, part 1, b. 8, " After that, Alexander subdued the Mardans, Arians, Drangeans, Aracausians, and several other nations, over which he flew with victory swifter than others can travel, often with his horse pursuing his enemies upon the spur whole days and nights, and sometimes making long marches for several days, one after the other, as once he did in pursuit of Darius, of near forty miles a day, for eleven days together ; so that, by the speed of his marches, he came upon his enemy before they were aware of him, and conquered them before they could be in a posture to resist him." Which exactly agrees with the description given of him in the Prophecies of Daniel some ages before, he being set forth in them under the similitude of a panther or leopard with four wings ; for he was im- LEOPARD LIGHT. 285 petuous and fierce in his warlike expeditions, as a panther after his prey, and came upon his enemies with that speed, as if he flew with a double pair of wings. And to this purpose he is, in another part of these prophecies, compared to a he-goat coming from the west, with that swiftness upon the king of Media and Persia, that he seemed as if his feet did not touch the ground. And his actions, as well in this com- parison as in the former, fully verified the prophecy. Rev. xiii. 2, " And the beast which I saw was like a leopard." This is generally considered to be the symbol of Rome papal, represented as a tyrannical government, whose characters resembled those men- tioned in Daniel's vision of the four monarchies, namely, rapacity, swiftness, strength, and cruelty, the leopard being the symbol of the Greeks — the bear, of the Persians — the lion, of the Babylonians. Rome papal, or the beast here represented, is said to be like unto a leopard, " And his feet were as those of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion ;" mean- ing, that it partook of the qualities of these animals, or rather of the nations whom they symbolized ; in which interpretation, whatever truth there is may easily be proved by reference to the history of the Papacy, from its first rise to the present hour. LIGHT. Lights or luminaries signify ruling powers, becaiise they show the way, and, consequent- ly, direct and govern men in their conduct, who otherwise would not know what to do, or whither to go. Sapor, king of Persia, writing to Constantius, call- '^d himself " the brother of the sun and moon," i. e. 286 LIGHT LIGHTNINGS. one who ruled the world, as well as those luminaries do. Anim. Marc. 1. 17- On account of the lurainaries governing the dot/ and night, all luminaries, in the symbolical language, signify ruling powers. And the light itself is well employed to signify the edicts, laws, rules, or directions that proceed from them for the good of their subjects. Thus, of the great King of all, the Psalmist says, Ps. cxix. 105, " Thy word is a light unto my path ;" and Hosea vi. .5, " Thy judgments are as the light." In John viii. 12, Christ is called " the light of the world." And TuUy calls Rome, a5 governing the world (Orat. pro Sylla), " the light of the nations." And with Philo, " instruction is the light of the souir Agreeably to the notion of lights being the symbols of good government, light also signifies protection, deliverance, and joy. LIGHTNINGS. On account of the Jire attend- ing their light, they are the symbols of edicts enforced with destruction to those who oppose them, or hinder others from giving obedience to them, Ps. cxliv. 6 ; Zech. ix. 14 ; Ps. xviii. 14 ; Rev. iv. 5 ; xvi. 18. Thunders and lightnings, when they proceed from the throne of God, as in Rev. iv. 5, are fit representa- tions of God's glorious and awful majesty ; but when fire comes down from heaven upon the earth, it ex^ presses some judgment of God on the world, as in Rev. XX. 9. The voices, thunders, lightnings, and great hail, in Rev. xvi. 18-21, are interpreted ex- pressly of an exceeding great plague, so that men blasphemed on account of it. LION. 287 LION. A lion is, in general, the symbol of a king. The Mussulmans call Ali, Mahomet's son-in- law, " The Lion of God always victorious." " To have the head of a lion portends," says Artemidorus, • obtaining of victory," By the head of a lion, the Egyptians represented a vigilant person or guardian, the lion sleeping with his eyes open. Gen. xlix. 9, Judah is styled a liorCs tvhelp, and is compared to a lion and lioness couching, whom no one dares to rouse. The warlike character and the conquests of this tribe are here prophetically de- scribed ; but the full force of the passage will not be perceived, unless we know that a lion or lioness, when lying down after satisfying its hunger, will not cittack any person. Mungo Park has recorded an in- stance of his providential escape from a lion thus cir- cumstanced, which he saw lying near the road, and passed unhurt. (Home's Introduction, v. ii. p. 642.) Ezek. xix. 2, 3, " What was thy mother ? a lioness : She lay down among lions. In the midst of young lions she noiirish'd her whelps." An allusion to Gen. xlix. 9, says Grotius. Judea was among the nations like a lioness among the beasts of the forest ; she had strength and sovereignty. The whelp mentioned in verse 3d, means Jehoahaz, the son of Josiah, whom Pharaoh Necho put in bonds, and carried into Egypt, 2 Kings xxiii. 33, 34. It is said, verse 8th, " He was taken in their pit." The .Vrabs dig a pit where the lions are observed to enter, and, covering it slightly with reeds or small branches of trees, they frequently decoy and catch them. 288 LION. Pliny has taken notice of the same practice. See Shaw's Travels. Amos iii. b, " The lion hath roared : who will not fear ?" The roaring of the lion is in itself one of the most terrible sounds in nature ; but it becomes still more dreadful, when it is known to be a sure prelude of destruction to whatever living creature comes in his way. He does not usually set up his horrid roar till he beholds his prey, and is just going to seize it. The awful admonitions uttered by the Prophets, are as natural a consequence of God's command, as fear is of the lion's roaring. " Fremitu leonis qualis audito tener Timidum juvencus applicat matri latus : At ille saevus, matre summota, leo Praedam minorem morsibus vastis premcns Frangit, vehitque ; talis e nostro sinu Te rapiet hostis." Sen. Troad. 794. " The Lord shall roar out of Zion," Joel iii. 16. That this expression is metaphorical, needs no re- mark. God's being said to roar out of Zion and Je- rusalem, intimates both the courage of the Jews fight- ing under his protection, and the certainty of their success. " The heavens and the earth shall shake." These words are a continuation of the metaphor. As a lion, when he roars, makes the woods or plains to resound, and the beasts of the field to tremble ; so God, being here compared to this fierce creature, his voice is justly said to make the very heavens and earth shake : the plain meaning of which is, all should be thrown into the utmost consternation, like a man seeing a roaring lion coming upon him to devour him, LION. 289 or as if^ he saw the very heavens and earth themselves moving, and in tlie utmost disorder. Dan. vii. 4, « The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings." The Chaldean or Babylonian empire, is here re- presented. See Jerera. iv. 7. Its progress to what was then deemed universal empire was rapid, and therefore it has the wings of an eagle. See Jer. xlviii, 40 ; and Ezek. xvii. 3. It is said by Megasthenes and Strabo, that this power advanced as far as Spain. When its wings were plucked or torn out, that is, when it was checked in its progress by frequent de- feats, it became more peaceable and humane, agree- ably to that idea of the Psalmist, ix. 20, '' Bring terror upon them, 0 Jehovah, That the nations may acknowledge themselves to be but men." Nahum ii. 11, 12, •' Where is the habitation of the devouring lions.' And that which was the feeding- place of the young lions? Whither the devouring lion and the lioness went. And the whelp of the devouring lion ; and none made them afraid," &c. The allegory, as Newcome remarks, is beyond mea- sure beautiful. Where are the inhabitants of Nine- veh, who were strong and rapacious like lions ? See the intrepidity of the lion well illustrated by Bochart, Hieroz. 1. 3, c. 2. Both Aristotle and ^lian say that he never flies, but retires slowly. So also Homer de- scribes him, II. 17, 108, " So from the fold the unwilling lion parts, Forc'd by loud clamours, and a storm of diirts. He flies indeed, but threatens as he flies. With heart indignant, and retorted eyes." See also Prov. xxviii. 1 ; and xxx. 30. T 290 LION. Isaiah xxix. 1, " Woe to the lion of God, the city where David dwelt." Jerusalem is here denoted, and the terms used ap- pear to signify the strength of the place, by which it was enabled to resist and overcome all its enemies. Jerem, iv. "], " The lion is come up from his thicket." By this is undoubtedly meant Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. See ch. 1.17; and v. 6, where the same person is meant. 2 Tim. iv. 17, "I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion." The general opinion is, that Nero is here meant, or rather his prefect, iElius Caesarianus, to whom Nero committed the government of the city in his absence, with power to put whomsoever he pleased to death. So, when Tiberius died, Marsycis said to Agrippa, " The lion is dead." And so speaks Esther of Artaxerxes, *' Put a word into my mouth before the lion," Esther xiv. 13. That the same symbol should sometimes be applied to opposite characters, is no way surprising nor in- consistent, since different qualities may reside in the symbol, of which the good may be referred to one, the bad to another. Thus, in the lion reside courage, and victory over antagonists. In these respects it may be, and is employed, as a symbol of Jesus Christ, who is called the Lion of the tribe of Judah, Rev. v. 5 ; whose emblem the lion was, see Gen. xlix. 9 > the whole Jewish polity being called a lion, on account of the singular firnmess and stability of its govern- ment, which lasted till the time of Christ, and was merged in him, who from that time became eminently LION LOCUST. 291 the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Tlie figure of a lion was carried on its standard, according to Mede and others, on which are said to have been inscribed these words : " Arise, O Jehovah, let thine enemies be scattered. And let all them that hate thee flee before thee." See Glassius, Philol. Sacra, p. 750. In the lion reside also fierceness and rapacity. In this point of view, it is used as a fit figure for Satan, 1 Peter v. 8 ; for Nero, as above, and generally for wicked and rapacious conquerors and tyrants, as in many passages of Scripture, some of which have been already quoted. The same takes place in regard to the unicorn, which, in Ps. xcii. 10, is applied to the pious ; while, in Ps. xxii. 21, it seems to be meant of the ungodly. The term leaven, also, is in one place used to denote the sound doctrine of the kingdom of heaven ; in an- other, the false doctrine of the Pharisees. See Matt, xiii. 33 ; and. xvi. 6. LOCUST. In the sacred writings, the locust is everywhere the symbol of hostile armies ; for these insects always appear in large companies or troops, and, from their destructive qualities, are considered as enemies. See Jerem. xlvi. 23, " Cut down her forest (t. e. her people or cities), saith Jehovah, That it may not be found on searching ; Although they surpass the locusts in multitude, And they are without number.'''' Nahum iii. 15, " There shall the fire devour thee : The sword shall cut thee off; it shall devour thee as the locust. Increase thyself as the locust. Increase thyself as the numerous locust." 292 LOCUST. Nalium iii. 17, " Thy crown''d princes are as the numerous locust, And thy captains as the grasshoppers ; Which encamp in the fences in the cold day, But, when the sun ariseth, they depart. And their place is not known where they are." See also Deut. xxviii. 38, 42 ; Ps. Ixxvlii. 46 ; Amos vii. 1. God made use of them as a hostile array, to exe- cute his judgments ; hence the first great plague on Egypt arose from their visitation, Exod. ch. x. There they are represented as coming from the East, i. e. from Arabia, the neighbouring country. And in Judges vi. 3-6, and ch. vii. 12, the " children of the East," meaning the Arabians, are compared to locusts for multitude, and as committing the same damage. See also 1 Kings iv. 30, where Solomon's wisdom is said to have excelled the wisdom of all " the children of the East," and all the wisdom of Egypt. See also the invasion of the locusts described by Joel, in the first two chapters of his prophecy, from which place, and from that in Exodus, ch. x., the ex- pressions in Rev. ch. ix., are plainly borrowed. The Eastern interpreters of dreams explain the ap- pearance of locusts in a similar manner. " The lo- cust," say they, " generally refers to a multitude of enemies. They march, by divine command, like an iirmy for the destruction of kingdoms. If any king or potentate shall dream of locusts coming to any country, in that place he may expect a multitude of powerful enemies." And Rabbi Tanchum, on Joel i. 4-6, says, " It is no way unreasonable to affirm, that in the things which are related concerning the nature of locusts and their actions, there is a parabo- LOCUST. 293 lie expression of the invasion of enemies, their multi- tude, and the devastation and ruin of that country." Josephus, de Bello Jud. 1. 5, c. 7, observes, in like manner, " As after locusts we see the woods stripped of their leaves, so, in the rear of Simon's army, no- thing but desolation remained." Locusts are said to be produced in the earth. Pliny says, " Locustae nascuntur in rimosis locis." And this insect has its name in Hebrew from geb, goub, or geba, which signifies a pit, ditch, or pool. The mystic locusts in the Apocalypse are hence said to have proceeded from the pit or abyss. But the locusts of the Apocalypse seem to have some affinity to another creature, viz. the scorpion, and therefore may be termed scorpion-locusts ; and their pain or torment is compared to that of a scorpion, when he strikes a man. The teeth of the locust ai'e very strong and sharp, as those of a lion are. Pliny, as cited by Bochart, AVTites of the locusts, that they bite through every thing, and even the doors of houses. So that Jerome upon the place very justly cries out, " What is more innumerable or stronger than the locusts, which no human industry can resist." The same comparison we have in Rev. ix. 8, " Their teeth were as the teeth of lions." The locust has a head very much resembling that of a horse ; hence the Italians call them cavelette, i. e. little horses. Joel notices this, eh. ii. 4 ; and St John makes the same comparison. Rev. ix. 7. The Ara- bians describe them in the same manner : they say, " The appearance of horses adorns their heads and countenance." But both Joel and St John may be 294 LOCUST. considered, not so much to refer to the natural ap- pearance, as to the properties of the insect ; namely, its fierceness and swift motion. Thus, the Apostle says, not merely horses, but horses " prepared unto battle," furious and impatient for the war. Like Vir- gil's description : " Nee vanos horret strepitus Stare loco nescit, micat auribus, et tremit artus, CoUectum que premens volvit sub naribus ignem." Geory. 3. Their " wings" also are mentioned as making a noise. Bochart says, that they may be heard at six miles distance, and that when they are eating the fruits of the earth, the sound of them is like that of a flame driven by the wind. Joel likens it to the noise of chariots on the tops of the mountains, ch. ii. 5 ; and St John uses nearly the same simile, " The sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle." The natural locust has a very hard skin, in appear- ance like scales or armour. Hence Claudian thus describes them, Epigr. 33, " CognatuB dorse durescit amictus; Armavit natura cutem," &c. Hence Joel says, ch. ii. 8, " When they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded." And the Apo- calyptic locusts are described " as having breastplates like breastplates of iron." As these symbolical locusts hurt men, Rev. ix. 4, which the natural locusts do not, further than by in- juring vegetation, we are at once led to infer, that they are to be understood of a class of persons, who LOCUST. 295 resemble that insect only in some of its more remark- able qualities ; such as number, noxiousness, and ca- pacity of devastation, especially when they are por- trayed as having (v. 7) " human faces ;" and (v. 8) " hair like women," " golden coronets," or turbans and the like ; all which could only be affirmed of those whom the locust symbolizes. The time of their continuance is said to be five months, the usual time of the appearance of these in- sects, which is only in four or five months of the year. They begin to appear in spring, about a month after the Equinox, and are only seen at most during part of April, May, June, July, and August, and part of September. These locusts were accounted the most dreadful plague ; insomuch that those who were in- strumental in delivering any nation from them, were repaid with divine honours. Thus, the CEteans named Hercules Cornopion, from Cornops, a locust, and worshipped him under that character, because he drove away the locusts from them. Almost all interpreters agree, that by the locusts in the Apocalypse, the Saracens are meant, and the rise of the Mahometan imposture and power, about the year 606. Mede, Daubuz, Lowman, and Bishop Newton, all agree on this subject ; and, indeed, the coincidence is so striking between the prophetic de- scription and the actual history, there is no resisting the evidence of it. But without determining posi- tively in a matter, respecting which so many have erred, it may be sufficient to remark, that could this point, of the application of the locusts to the Sara- cens, be well and satisfactorily ascertained, it would 296 LOCUST. be of great importance, inasmuch as we should then have a landmark in the region of prophecy, from whence we could look either backward into the past, or prospectively into the future, as from a fixed date or era, so as to give greater confidence in the inter- pretation of the other mystic visions of the Apoca- lypse. The points of coincidence may be seen well stated by Bishop Newton, and by Mede, but they would be too long for this place. • If, by the coronets or turbans, we are to understand the ensigns of regal power, we may with Mede sup- pose them to refer to the numerous nations subdued by the victories of the Saracens in an incredibly short space of time. For, in the space of eighty or ninety years, they had overrun and subjected Palestine, Syria, Armenia, nearly all the Lesser Asia, Persia, India, Egypt, Numidia, all Barbary as far as the river Niger, Portugal and Spain. They afterwards added a great part of Italy, Sicily, Candia, Cyprus, and other islands of the Mediterranean sea. So that they might well be said to be croumed locusts, from the multi- tude of kingdoms they subdued. They are said to continue five months ; and as five months of thirty days make 1 50 days, reckoning each day for a year, so their continuance or duration was to be 150 years, which, if computed from a.d. 632, the year of Mahomet's death, would bring the period down to 782. But Mede reckons it from a.d. 830 to 980 ; and Daubuz, from 612 to 762, each assign- ing reasons for his! mode of computation, for which :«ee their works. LOVE MANNA. 297 LOVE. To love, in Scripture, signifies to adhere or cleave to, as in Gen. xxxiv, 3, " His soul cleaved unto Dinah, and he loved the damsel." And so in Deut. xi. 12 ; xxx. 20. On the contrary, to hate is to forsake. Thus, in Rom. xii. 9> " Abhor that which is evil, and cleave to that which is good." In Isa. Ix. I'), forsaken and hated are put as syno- nymous. Thus, a man must hate his father for the sake of Christ ; i. e. must forsake or leave him, to follow and obey Christ, when it stands in competition. Thus God hated Esau, that is, passed by him, when he preferred before him his younger brother Jacob, in entitling Jacob to greater worldly privileges, and en- tering into a closer covenant with him. See Mai. i. 2, 3. The meaning is, that God chose rather to make the posterity of Jacob a greater nation than the posterity of Esau. For the words — Jacob and JEsau — are not to be understood of their persons, but of their offspring, as is evident from what was said of them by God to their mother, before they were born, Gen. xxv. 23. " Two nations are in thy womb, (?. e. the Edomites and the Jews,) and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels ; and the one people shall be stronger than the other ; and the elder shall serve the younger." MANNA. The miraculous food with which God fed his people Israel during forty years in the wilder- ness. In Ps. Ixxviii. 25, it is called angel's food in our \ersion ; but this is absurd. The word abirim there signifies strong ones, and by Durell is translated oxen, u 298 MANNA. as in Ps. xxii. 12 ; 1. 13 ; Ixviii. 30 ; Isa. xxxiv. 7 ; Jer. 1. 1 1 . He therefore renders it thus : — " Every one ate the flesh of oxen. He sent them venison (or victuals) in plenty." But Parkhurst, with more propriety, renders it " bread of the strong ones ;" meaning by that the material heavens, for in the preceding sentence it is called " corn of the heavens." See his note on Abir, Heb. Lex. p. 4. Manna is the emblem or symbol of immortality, Rev. ii. 17, "I will give him to eat of the hidden manna ;" i. e. the true bread of God, which came down from heaven, referring to the words of Christ, in John vi. 51, a much greater instance of God's fa- vour, than feeding the Israelites with manna in the wilderness. It is called hidden, or laid up, in allu- sion to that which was laid up in a golden vessel in the Holy of Holies of the tabernacle. Comp. Exod. xvi. 33, 34, and Heb. ix. 4. It is in a subordinate sense only, that what dropped from the clouds, and was sent for the nourishment of the bodi/, still mortal, could be called the " bread of heaven," being but a type of that which hath de- scended fi"om the heaven of heavens, for nourishing the immortal soul unto eternal life, and which is there- fore, in the sublimest sense, the bread of heaven. The original manna was corruptible, and they who ate thereof died; but those who partake of this shall never hunger, but shall live for ever. The immor- tality which it procures, transcends all imagination. In Luke xiv. 15, a person is recorded as saying, " Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God ;" probably in allusion to the manna. To eat MANNA MAN OF SIN, &c. 299 bread is a well-known Hebrew idiom for to share in a repast, whether it be at a common meal, or at a sumptuous feast. MAN of SIN— SON of PERDITION— LAW- LESS ONE. 2 Thess. ii. 3, &c. The figurative description of an eminently impious and wicked power, whose rise was to be contempo- rary with the " Apostasy," or general defection from God, and from genuine Christianity. He is called the man of sin, as being eminently wicked. The son of perdition, as being destined to certain destruction. The lawless one, as setting himself up above all law, human and divine. He is said to oppose God, as being peculiarly an adversary to truth and righteousness. And to exalt himself above God, as being guilty of the most im- pious arrogance, as proudly raising himself above all institutions of religious worship, by assuming to alter and set aside all the divine appointments of religion and worship. He is said to sit in the temple of God, as if he were God ; i. e. he shall seize the primacy or sove- reignty of the churches of Christ, and usurp the au- thority of the king of Zion. But properly, instead of sit, it should be he seateth himself, denoting his in- solent and violent intrusion of himself into God's church as lawgiver and ruler. Shewing himself, or rather " publicly declaring himseir' that he is a God ; i. e. impiously assuming divine powers and privileges, and arrogating that submission and obedience in matters pertaining to the conscience, which are due only to God. An event, or order of things, is said to restrain his 300 MAN OF SIN, &c. appearance, and he could not be revealed till that was removed. All the Fathers considered this to mean the imperial power of Rome, which then maintained its own sovereignty, and prevented the usurpation alluded to. See Tertullian's Apology, and his treatise on the Resurrection, where he says, " until he be taken out of the way, — who ? but the Roman empire, which being dispersed into ten kings, shall introduce Anti- christ," ch. xxiv. The poets and Roman writers in general having flattered the Caesars with the eternal duration of their empire — see Virgil, ^n. 1, 1. 281, &c., and given to Rome the title of the eternal city, it would not have been safe for Paul to have spoken more openly on this subject, whatever he might say to the Thessa- lonians in private, in explanation of his meaning. And therefore he says, " Ye know what withholds," &c. This " mystery of iniquity," or concealed wicked- ness, was even then in operation, and v/as exerting it- self covertly, till he who restrained it, " the Imperial Government," was taken out of the way. The ex- pression " taken out of the way," perhaps importing the violent deaths by which many of the Roman em- perors perished, and the dreadful struggles and con- vulsions which preceded the dissolution of the empire itself. It is further said, that the Lord will consume ; i. e. gradually destroy this lawless one, or usurping and tyrannical power, by the spirit or breath of his mouth ; I. e. by the word of his gospel, and the prevalence of the doctrine of Christ, which should supersede the errors, and expose the impostures, of Antichrist. MAN OF SIN, &c. 301 And destroy him, or render ineffectual, by the brightness of his coming ; i. e. by breaking down his authority, reducing his influence, and bringing him to a state of inactivity and impotence. The coming of the lawless one is described to be according to the operation of Satan ; i. e. invisibly and imperceptibly — yet effectually by the use of false miracles, specious pretences, counterfeit signs, and all the apparatus of imposture, or, as Paul expresses it, with every kind of unrighteous deception : meaning, that he would scruple no arts or delusions, that might support and perpetuate his own usurpation. Those who are deceived by him, are said to be •' those that perish, because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved." And, there- fore, God abandoned them to strong delusion, so as to give credit to a lie. And having wilfully banished the truth from their minds, they rendered themselves liable to the righteous condemnation of God, as per- sons who had made iniquity their choice, and who preferred error to truth, as being most favourable to the indulgence of their criminal passions. No man of understanding can be at a loss for the right application of this portion of Scripture, that it caunot reasonably be expounded of one or two par- ticular deceivers, who arose, appeared, and perished. But of a power of great extent and of considerable duration, whose rise was gradual, his assumption of sovereignty progressive, and whose downfall may oc- cupy a period proportioned to his rise. But see Whitby, Macknight, and Chandler in particular, and the commentators in general. 302 MARRIAGE. MARRIAGE, is symbolically used to signify a state, and reason or cause of great joy and happiness. A man is not perfect till marriage, there is something till then wanting to make him complete in his cir- cumstances, according to the divine institution, Gen. ii. 18. Therefore marriage by the Greeks was called rtx*? , perfection. And a bride, in Hebrew, is called 111 3, cere^ that is, a perfect one, from cere, to perfect or consummate. Wife, according to the Indian Interpreter, ch. 123, is the symbol of the power and authority of her hus- band ; and as he dreams of seeing her well or ill dressed, so he shall meet with joy or affliction. The church of God, under the Old Testament, is sometimes spoken of as the spouse of God, in terms borrowed from the marriage covenant. She is the barren woman that did not bear, and was desolate ; she is exhorted to rejoice, in Isa. liv. 1-6, on the re- conciliation of her husband, and on the accession of the Gentiles to her family. The same union is hinted at by the Apostle, in writing to the Ephesians, ch. v. 32, as subsisting be- tween Christ and the church. See also Isa. Ixii. 5, and 2 Cor. ii. 2, where Paul says, " For I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ." In the visions of John, a period is spoken of, when the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his bride hath made herself ready. Rev. xix. 7- As marriages were used to be celebrated with great joy, the marriage of the Lamb with his church is a fit emblem to shew the state of prosperity and happiness to which God will MARRIAGE MARSHES MEASURE. 303 raise it, after all its sufferings for the sake of truth and righteousness. MARSHES. There is not much said of these in the Scriptures, but they appear to be considered as the emblems of barrenness. They are in their own nature unfertile and insalubrious, resembling the Dead Sea, or Sea of Sodom, that dismal example of divine justice ; and in that sense may be viewed as repre- senting those who, notwithstanding the motions of God's Spirit, and the means used for their improve- ment, are utterly unproductive of good. In Ezek. xlvii. 11, it is said, " As for the marshes and pits, they shall not be healed ;" i. e. they shall remain filled with salt water, &c. The allegorical sense is, that some shall reject the Gospel, and some shall receive it without obeying it. Italy and Spain, in. Europe, and many other coun- tries throughout the world, may be viewed as in this marshy state, a state of obduracy, error, and spiritual death. See Vitringa, de Paludibus. MEASURE. To measure and to divide are the same ; and both signify to go about to take posses- sion, after the division. Hence a lot, or division, or inheritance, are all one ; because the Israelites got possession of the promised land by division, measure, and lot. And to divide the spoil, is to get a great booty or victory, because division of the spoils is a consequence of the other. See Numb. xxiv. 17 ; xxxiii. 54; Josh, i. 16 ; xiii. 6 ; Isa. ix. 3 ; liii. 12. To mete out is the same. Thus Ps. be. 5, " I will divide Sichem, and mete out the valley of Succoth," 304 MEASURE MILK AND HONEY. ^siguifies an entire possession after a victory, which God had promised to David. So in Isa. xviii. 2, a nation that is meted out and trodden down, is a nation overcome by its enemies, and quite subdued ; so that its possessions are divided and possessed by the conquerors. So when, in Josh. xxiv. 3, God says, " T have di- vided unto you by lot those nations that remain," — what is this but to say, that God had put them in possession of their lands ? So in Zech. ii. 2, to mea- sure Jerusalem., is again to take possession of it, to rebuild it ; or at least to repair that, and rebuild the temple. See also Amos vii. 1 7- The same notion is also in the heathen authors. Thus in Horace, immetata jugera, lands unmeasured, 1. 3, od. 24, v. 12, signify, not possessed by any pro- l)riety to them, but common ; whence the fruits of such lands are called by the poet, libera;, free to any one to take. See also Virgil, Geor. 1. 1, v. 126, 127. MILK AND HONEY, the emblems of fertility. Bochart, Hieroz. p. 2, 1. 4, c. 12, observes, that this phrase occurs about twenty times in the Scriptures, and that it is an image frequently used in the clas- sics, as in Euripides, Bacch. 142, thus translated by WodhuU : " Rills oi milk, and rills of wine, Moisten the enchanted land, For him the bee''s nectareous treasure stream, And Syrian frankincense perfumes his shrine." Josephus represents Galilee as wholly under cul- ture, and everywhere fruitful ; as throughout abound- ing in pastures, planted with all kinds of trees, and inciting, by the good quality of the land, those who MEASURE MOON. 305 are least disposed to the labour of tillage. See also Shaw's Travels, and Maundrell's. Milk sometimes denotes the unadulterated word of God, as in 1 Peter ii. 2, compared with Isa. Iv. 1. It also signifies the elementary parts, or rudiments of the Christian doctrine, 1 Cor. iii. 2; Heb. v. 12, 13. MOON. The moon has generally been considered by divines to be a symbol of the church of God, but on what grounds, it is difficult to discover. It would seem as if the notion had been taken up principally on the supposition that Solomon's Song has a secon- dary or mystical sense, representing the union of Christ with the church, though neither the name of God nor of Christ is once mentioned in it, nor is it ever quoted, or even alluded to, in the New Testa- ment. In Cant. vi. 10, the bride is said to be " fair as the moon ;" but that the church is that bride, is nowhere affirmed. Were it otherwise, the sun also might be supposed to be an emblem of the church, for the same bride is, in the same verse, said to be " clear as the sun." Even were it so, the passage amounts to no more than a simple comparison, " fair as the moon ;" in the same manner as Asahel " was light of foot as a roe," 2 Sam. ii. 18. Some divines, however, determined to find the church everywhere, fix on this passage among others, and inform us, that the church is so called, because of her brightness, which she derives from Christ, " the Sun of Right- eousness," as the moon does her light from the natu- ral sun ; and to intimate, that the church, like the moon, may have her eclipses, and be in darkness for a time. But if the icoman mentioned in Rev. xii. 1, X 306 MOOX. be intended, to represent the church, which is the opi- nion of most interpreters, then she is described as having the moon under her feet, which, in other words, would be treading upon herself, — a picture not very natural. The Fathers first led the way to the interpretation of the moon as a symbol of the church, as has been proved from their writings by several authors. The moon has also been considered to be the era- l)lem of the human judgment or intellect, in Eccles. xii. 2, but erroneously ; for Solomon is there merely describing the general condition of old age, under the figure of a climate wliere the sun seldom appears, where the sky is overspread with clouds, and heavy rains are frequent. As a proof how easily men of fertile imaginations can find a resemblance anywhere, I may be allowed to quote the following from a Danish author. " The moon," says he, " is the symbol of the church ; for, " 1 . The moon is raised above the earth, and the church hath her citizenship in heaven, Phil. iii. 20. " 2. The moon is a dark body in itself, and bor- rows its light from the sun ; in like manner, the church has no light but what she receives from the Saviour. " 3. The nearer the moon is to the sun, the less brilliant she appears ; so the more the rays of the di- vine light are thrown upon the church, the more her misery and her poverty are discovered. " 4. The moon is continually revolving, and is called by the poets ' the wandering moon,' luna vaga; so the church militant is a pilgrim and stranger, and has no abiding place here. MOON. 307 " 5. The moon has her different phases or aspects, waxing and waning in turn ; so the church increases in times of peace, and decreases in seasons of perse- cution, in numbers and stability, while her purity and soundness are reversely affected." And so forth ; for the grounds of comparison are multiplied. If it be asked, of what, then, is the moon symboli- cal ? the answer is, the sun, moon, and stars, denote different degrees of rank, power, and authority, in a family or state. Thus, in Joseph's dream, the sun represented Jacob the head, the moon his wife, as the next in order, and the stars his sons. When spoken of a kingdom, the sun is the symbol of the king him- self, and the moon of the next to him in power, whe- ther it be the queen, the prince-royal, or the prime minister. If kings are sometimes called stars, like the king of Babylon (Isaiah xiv. 1 7), it is when they are not compared with their own nobles or princes, but with other kings. In Rev. viii. 12, it is said, " the third part of the moon was smitten." In the figurative language, the darkening of any of the heavenly bodies denotes a defect in government, a downfall of power, a revolt, or political extinction. And if the Pagan Roman empire be here meant, then it is a third portion of the primary powers denoted by the sun, and of the secondary powers signified by the moon, that is to be extinguished. See Jer. xiii. 16 ; Isa. xiii. 10, 11 ; Ezek. xxxii. 1, 8. This is sup- posed to have been fulfilled between the years 536 and 556, when Belisarius and the Goths alternately 308 MOON MOTHER. besieged and took Rome, and reduced it to a mere duchy. Rev. xii. 1, " A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet." This is understood to be a symbolical representa- tion of the church, clothed with sunbeams, expressive of high honour and dignity ; and standing on the moon, as being above the low condition of this sub- lunary world. MOTHER. Father and mother are words which, in all languages, may figuratively signify author or producer of a thing. A city which has great dominions under it, and consequently several other cities, is frequently called a mother, in respect of those cities, which are there- fore, by analogy, her daughters. See Ezek. xxiii. ; Hosea ii. 2, 5 ; iv. 5 ; Isa. 1. 1. A city may be called a mother, in respect of the inhabitants, as in Isa. xlix. 23, and therefore, in the symbolical language, mother is explained of the pa- tria, or country, or city. See Suetonius in Jul. Caes. § 7 ; and Artemidorus, 1. 2, c. 82. See 2 Sam. xx. 19 ; Josh. xvii. 16 ; Num. xxi. 25 ; Judges xi. 26, &c. The name is sometimes transferred to signify the New Testament church, as in Gal. iv. 26, which should have been rendered, " But the Jerusalem, which is from above, represents, or corresponds to, the free woman, who is the mother of us all," t. e. of all Christians ; according to the allegory, in which the bondwoman answers to the Jews, the natural de- scendants of Abraham, whose capital b Jerusalem on this earth. MOTHER MOUNTAIN. 309 In Nahum iii. 8, where populous No or No Am- mon is mentioned, the inhabitants are called, in ver. 10, her young children. Some have supposed No to mean Alexandria, the great emporium of Egypt ; and the Chaldee and Vulgate have rendered accordingly. But Alexandria was not built at the time when Jere- miah prophesied ; and it does not appear that there had been before any considerable city, at least stand- ing on the spot, which the founder made the object of his choice. No was more probably Thebes, which was called Diospolis, on account of the temple of Ju- piter Ammon, who was worshipped there in a dis- tinguished manner. Rev. xvii. 5, " The mother of harlots and abomi- nations of the earth ;" ^. e. a chief promoter of idola- try and superstition, by whose authority it was pro- pagated among the nations. Ezek. xvi. 4, " Thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite ;" i. e. their degenerate and ido- latrous conduct was suitable to such a descent. John viii. 44. It is the language of indignation and re- proof, like " Duris genuit te cautibus horrens Caucasus." ^En. 4. 366. See Newcome in loc. Ezek. xi. 21, " The parting of the way, at the head of two ways," is, in Hebrew, the mother, because out of it, these two ways arise as daughters. On our Lord's words in Matt. xii. 48, " Who is my mother ?" see Erasmus's excellent paraphrase. MOUNTAIN. The governing part of the politi- cal world appears under symbols of different species, 310 MOUNTAIN. being variously represented, according to the various kinds of allegories. If the allegory be fetched from the heavens, then the luminaries denote the governing part ; if from an animal, the head or horns ; if from the earth, a mountain or fortress ; and in this case the capital city or residence of the governor, is taken for the supreme, by which it happens that these mutually illustrate each other. So a capital city is the head of the political body ; the head of an ox is the fortress of the animal ; moun- tains are the natural fortresses of the earth, and there- fore a fortress or capital city, though set in a plain level ground, may be called a mountain. Thus head, mountain, hill, city, horn, and king, are in a manner synonymous terras to signify a kingdom, or monarchy, or republic, united under one govern- ment, only with this difference, that it is to be under- stood in different respects ; for the head represents it in respect of the capital city ; mountain or hill in re- spect of the strength of the metropolis, which gives law to, or is above, and commands the adjacent terri- tories, and the like. Thus concerning the Kingdom of the Messiah, Isaiah says, ch. ii. 2, " It shall come to pass in the latter days. The motmtain of the house of Jehovah shall be established on the top of the mountains. And it shall be exalted above the hills, And all nations shall flow unto it." And ch. xi. 9, " They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain" that is, in all the Kingdom of the Messiah, which shall then reach all over the world. MOUNTAIN. 311 for it follows, " the earth shall be full of the know- ledge of the Lord." So the whole Assyrian Monarchy, or Babylon, for all its dominions is called a mountain in Zech. iv. 7, and Jer. li. 25, in which last place the Targum has a fortress ; just as Virgil in his iEneid, 1. 6, v. 783, calls the seven hills of Rome, arces or fortresses, though there was but one, the Capitol ; " Septemque una sibi rauro circumdabit arces." Thus also in Dan. ii. 35, " The stone that smote the image, became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth," that is, the Kingdom of the Messiah having destroyed the four monarchies, became an universal monarchy, as it is plainly made out in v 44, 45. In this view, then, a mountain is the symbol of a kingdom, or of a capital city with its dominions, or of a king, which is the same. Mountains are frequently used to signify all places of strength of what kind soever, and to whatsoever use applied ; mountains being difficult of access to an enemy, and overawing and commanding the country round about, being properly qualified, both to secure what is on them, and to protect and govern what is about them. See Jer. iii. 23. Among the heathens, persons of great note and eminence were buried in or under mountains ; tombs were erected over them in honour of their memory ; and by degrees their souls became the objects of worship. This gave rise to a custom of building temples and places of worship upon mountains. And though these temples were not always, strictly speaking, the very monuments of the heroes deceased, yet the bare in- 312 MOUNTAIN. vocation was supposed to call the soul thither, and to make the very place a sepulchral monument, as Tur- nebus proves from Virgil, JEd. 1. 3, v. 67, and 1. 6, V. 505. And therefore Servius on Virgil's iEneid, 1. 3, p. 701, observes, that human souls are by sacri- fice turned into, deities. For which see Lycophron's Cassandra, v. 927, 1123, and from v. 1126 to 1140. The said temples were also built like forts or towers, as appears from Judges ix. 46, 48, 49, where the temple of the God Berith is called in the original, " The tower of the house, or the tower, the house of the god Berith." They were likewise places of asylum, and beyond all, were looked upon as the fortresses and defenders of the worshippers, by reason of the presence of the false deities, and of the relics of deceased men kept therein within the sanctuaries. Thus in Euripides we find, (Heracl. v. 1030, &c.) that the heroes in their tombs were esteemed as sa- viours and defenders of the people. Tully, (de Nat. Deor. 1. 1. fin.) ; Clemens Alexan- drinus, (Protrep. p. 13); Arnobius (adv. Gentes, 1. 6), and Lactantius (de f. Rel. 1. c. 15), give examples of dead men worshipped, upon the supposition that the presence of their relics fixed the demon to the place, and protected those for whom they had a kindness when alive. ; ; Hence the Spartans in distress were by an oracle directed to get the bones of Orestes; and the Athe- nians in the like case were commanded to find the bones of Theseus, (Herod. 1. § 67 ; Pausan. I^con. p. 84.) Pausanias having observed, that the bones of Aristo- menes, the Messenian hero, were brought to the new Messene, and there gave out ostenta, prodigies, gives a MOUNTAIN. 313 reason for it, brought from the immortality of the soul, by which he supposes, that souls in the separate state keep still their thoughts and affections as before, and by consequence assist their votaries in suitable enterprises, on which account their relics were thought to do wonders. So the shield of that hero was thought to have helped the Theban army aga-nst the Lacedemonians. This notion may be traced up as high as Hesiod, Op. 1. 1. V. 121. It was the foundation of all idolatry, and was improved by the supposition that without the relics, as was before observed, the invocation with sacrifices might turn human souls into deities. Upon the accounts now given, mountains were the forts of Paganism, and therefore in several parts of Scripture, mountains signify the idolatrous temples and places of worship, as in Ezek. vi. 2-6 ; Jer. ii. 23 ; Mic. iv. 1. And thus mountains, by the rule of analogy, may be properly used in respect of the monasteries and churches of the Christian Church when corrupted by the introduction of saints and images. The aforesaid notion of the heathens concerning dead heroes was soon entertained by the new converts to Christianity in relation to the martyrs or their relics. And the fury of the people at last was so great, that they raised up altars in every place to the martyrs without relics, helping out the deficiency with dreams and revela- tions. By which all their altars are become tombs of the dead, as were those of the Pagans, and their churches, the houses of their protectors and saviours ; all the difference being, that they have taken the martyrs or heroes of the church, instead of those of Paganism. 314 MOUNTAIN. It is also observable, that anciently monasteries were built upon mountains, and built like forts. Those in the Greek. Church were certainly so, as ap- pears by several authors, as Cyril of Alexandria, and St Chrysostome, who therefore calls the monks " the dwellers on the mountains." On mount Athos there are still twenty-two monasteries, and about 6000 monks in them. In this they are conformable to their pattern the Therapeutse of Philo, who dwelt upon a mountain, and whose cells were called monasteries. In the Ethiopic language, the same word, viz. dabuyr, signifies a mountain and a monastery. The very etymology of the word helps out the signification of the symbol. For debir a mountain, comes from deber to command, subdue, and govern. So in mili- tary language, mountains are said to command the places about them. And accordingly the monasteries were the forts or mountains of Popery, and so many authors have styled them. See further illustrations in Daubuz. Selden and Pococke think that Baal-Peor, men- tioned in Hosea ix. 10, was so called from the moun- tain on which he was worshipped. See Numbers xxv. Sand xxiii. 28; Ps. cvi. 28. So Jupiter had the additional name of Olympius, and Mercury of Cyllenius, Ezek. vi. 3, " Set thy face towards the mountains of Israel, and prophecy iagainst them." See Deut. xii. 2 ; Jer. ii. 20 ; iii. 6 ; xviii. 6. Philip second King of Macedon, in his expedition against Sparta, sacrificed to the gods on each of the hills, one of which was called Olympus, and the other Eva ; Polyb. 1. 5, p. 372. Cyrus, just before his death, offered sacrifice to MOUNTAIN. 315 Jupiter, the Sun, and the other gods, upon the moun- tains ; Cyrop. 1. 8, p. 647, ed. Hutch. Jupiter speaks of Hector as sacrificing to him, on- the summits of Ida. See H. 22, 171. Great disorders and commotions, especially when kingdoms are moved by hostile invasions, are ex- pressed in the Prophetic style, by carrying or casting mountains into the midst of the sea ; See Ps. xlvi. 2, •• Therefore we will not fear though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea." It is said in Rev. xvi. 20, " And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found." The phrase is taken from those mighty earthquakes, in which every thing is thrown into confusion, and even mountains are swallowed up, or change their forms. See Rev. vi. 14. These mystic mountains in the Apocalypse mean kingdoms and states, which were no longer found, because overturned to make way for the Kingdom of Christ, mentioned by Daniel, which was to fill the whole earth. When David says, Ps. xxx. 7, " Lord, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong," he means, the stability of his kingdom. Vitringa, in commenting on Isaiah ii. 14, " and upon all the high mountains," &c. has these words, " Hoc est, ad subvertenda Regna et Respvblicas, sive socie- tates majores et minores, quae suis limitibus circura- scriptae, si probe sint confirmatae, alte in mundo emi- neant, celebres sint fama amplitudinis, potentiae, auc- toritatis, adeo ut difficilius adeantur, destruantur ac 316 MOUNTAIN MOUTH. loco moveantur. Vere gerunt figuram et emblem* montium et colli um." MOUTH, according to the Oneirocritics, denotes the house of the party ; and by analogy, the teeth are the servants of the household. The mouth also signifies the words that proceed out of it, which, in the sacred style, are the same as commands and actions, because they imply the effects of the thoughts ; words or commands being the means used to communicate the thoughts and decrees to those that are to execute them. Hence, for a person or thing to come out of the mouth of another, signifies to be constituted and com- manded, to become an agent or minister under a su- perior power. Thus : Rev. xvi. 13, " I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet." Rev. xvi. 14, " For they are the spirits of devils working miracles," &c. Rev. i. 16, " Out of his mouth went a sharp sword." Rev. xi. 4, " He shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth." Rev. xii. 15, " The serpent cast out of his mouth water." Rev. ix. 19» " Their power is in their mouths, and in their tails." Rev. xi. 5, " If any hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth." The Word of God, or the word that proceeds out of his mouth, signifies sometimes the actions of God's providence, his commands, whereby he rules the MOUTH MYRTLE. 317 worlds, and brings all things to his purpose ; and some- times that Divine Person, or emanated substance of himself, who executes his commands as a minister, and by a metonymy of the abstract for the concrete usual in holy writ, and in the eastern nations, is call- ed the Word of God. MYRTLE. The myrtle tree was an emblem of peace. It is mentioned in the following passages, Neh. viii. 15 ; Isa. xli. 19 ; Iv. 13 ; Zech. i. 8. The Hebrew term is Hedes, from which Hadassah, the original name of Esther. The note of the Chaldee Targum on this passage seems remarkable : " They called her Hedese, or Hadassah, because she was just, and the just are those that are compared KDt< 7 to myrtle." The Jews had a proverb, " The myrtle standing among nettles, is still called a myrtle ;" meaning, that a godly man living amongst the wicked, is still a godly man, like Lot in Sodom. Catullus celebrates it, el. 62, " Bona cum bona Nupsit alite virgo, Floridi3 velut enitens Myrtus Asiae ramulis." and Lucian admires its beauty, in Amor. v. 4, fcv^^tfti, &c. " the myrtle, and several other trees, which excel in beauty." On which account Pausanius says it was dedicated to Venus, along with the rose. And hence Virgil has, Eclog. 7, " Formosae myrtus Veneri, sua laurea Phoebo." In external beauty and fragrance, it is considered 318 MYRTLE NAKEDNESS. to be a fit emblem of the Christian church, as adorned with the various graces of the Spirit. The myrtle is a lowly and tender shrub, and there- fore the more resembles the saints. Horace applies to it the epithet fragilis, frail ; and Virgil calls it te- ner, tender. And Aristophanes terms it vx^^n* fav^rx, virgin myrtle. It is very fragrant ; hence Ho- race, lib. 2, od. 15: " Myrtus, et omnis copia narium, Spargent olivetis odorem Fertilibus." And Athseneus, lib, 15, Deipnos., observes, " that the Egyptian myrtle is acknowledged to excel all others in the sweetness of its fragrance, as Theophras- tus writes. And Ovid, lib. 3, Art. Amor. v. 690, " Ro9 maris et lauri, nigraque myrtus olent." The myrtle is an evergreen. So the Jews, in their Targum, say of Esther : The name of Esther is Ha- dassah, or myrtle ; for, as the myrtle never withers, winter or summer, so the righteous always flourish, both in this world and that which is to come. It was used at festivals, as Horace remarks, 1. 1, od. 4: " Nunc decct aut viridi nitidum caput impedire myrto, Aut flore, terrse quern ferunt solutae." And Josephus mentions, that at the feast of taber- nacles, they carried branches of myrtle in their hands, NAKEDNESS, signifies sin or folly. Thus in Gen. iii. 7, it is taken for sin in general. And in Exod. xxxii.25 ; andEzek.xvi.36 ; and2Chron. xxviii. 19, for idolatry. And so elsewhere in the Scriptures NAKEDNESS. 319 all kinds of vice, but idolatry in particular, come un- der the notion o( Jilthiness, or nakedness, or sores. And therefore to be in the highest degree naked, is to be guilty of idolatry. Nakedness signifies also guilt, shame, poverty, or misery, as being the consequence of punishment of sin, and of idolatry in particular, a crime which God never leaves unpunished. Thus in Jer. xlix. 10, " I have made Esau bare," &c. signifies the destruction of Esau, God having exposed them naked and defence- less to the invaders. So in Isa. xlvii. 3, •' Thy nakedness shall be uncovered; even thy shame shall be seen," is intei-preted in the next line by •• I will take full vengeance, neither will I suffer man to inter- cede with me ;" in other words, Babylon should be humbled, and made a slave. The Indian interpreter explains this symbol, of dis- tress, poverty, and disgrace. The nakedness of enemies is explained by thp inter- preters of omens, as signifying, that by some discovery of their secrets, a way would be made to vanquish them in the end. See a remarkable instance in Pro- copius, quoted by Daubuz. The nakedness of a land, Gen. xlii. 9, signifies the weak and ruined parts of it, where the country lies most open and exposed to danger. There is an admonition in Rev. xvi. 1 5, couched in terms which include this symbol, " Behold I come as a thief; blessed is he that watcheth, and keepetk his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame," /. e. let all who would faithfully persevere, watch over 320 NAKEDNKSS NAME. themselves, to maintain their purity and integrity, lest when Christ comes they be exposed to disgrace, and have no covering for their sin and folly. NAME. The name of a person or thing, accord- ing to the Hebrew style, frequently imports the qua- lity or state thereof. Thus, in Ruth. i. 20, " And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi," i. e. pleasant, " but call me Mara," i. e. bitter, " for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me." And thus, when it is said in Isaiah, ch. 9> " He shall be called Immanuel," the meaning is, that the Son there spoken of shall be God with us, dwelling amongst us. And so in Luke i. 32, " He shall he called the Son of the Highest," is, he shall be the Son of the Highest. And thus in Thucydides, 1. 5, § 9, " To be called the allies of the Lacedaemonians" is the same as to be their allies, and have effectually the honour and ad- vantage of that title. Agreeably to this, a new name signifies a new qua- lity or state, — a change of the former condition, as in Isa. Ixii. 2, " And thou shalt be called by a new name. Which the mouth of Jehovah shall fix upon thee." Hence the custom of changing names upon any re- markable change of condition. So, on account of the new covenant made with God, Abraham and Sarah received those new names from God himself; so Ja- cob was named Israel ; so Joseph had a new name given him by Pharaoh ; and Daniel another by the king of Babylon. So our Saviour changed Simon's name for Peter ; and the primitive Christians took a new name at their baptism. NAJIE. 321 To be called by the name of any one, signifies to belong to, to be the property of, or to be in subjection to, that person whose name is called upon the other, as in Gen. xlviii. 16. Thus, to be called by the name of God is to be ac- counted his servant, to be appropriated to him, and separated from the heathen world, as in Deut. xxviii. 10 ; 2 Chron. vii. 14 ; Acts xv. 17. So, because a woman by marriage becomes subject and the property of her husband, therefore, in Isa. iv. 1 , she is said to have the name of her husband called upon her. And thus, when God had submitted all creatures on earth to Adam, in token of their subjection, and to give him possession of the gift, God brought them to him to be named. So David, to express that God is the Lord as well as Maker of the stars, says, Ps. cxlvii. 4, " He telleth the number of the stars ; he calleth them all by their names." Thus masters gave names to their slaves ; and these, that it might be publicly known to whom they belonged, were branded in their foreheads with the names or marks of their masters. See Potter's Gre- cian Antiq. v. 1, p. 65 ; Martial, Plautus, &c. And, for the same reason, soldiers were branded in the hand with the name or character of their general. And, on the same account, it Wcis customary to stig- matise the worshippers and votaries of some of the gods. To call by name implies a superiority to examine and blame the actions of the persons called. The V 322 NAME. phrase is thus used in Ignatius's Epistles, and in Vir- gil's ^neid, b. 12, v. 759. Names of men are sometimes taken for the men themselves, as in Acts i. 15, " The number of the names," i. e. the number of the men. And thus in Virgil, — Sylvius, Albanum nomen, means, Sylvius, a man of Albania. The origin of this expression is to be deduced from the public registers of the names of citizens, which were very carefully kept by the Greeks and Romans, and from the exact account of genealogies among the Jews ; and from the diptychs or matricula used in the primitive church, in which were registered the names of all the faithful. Hence the expression, to blot out a man's name, signifies to reject or cast him out from enjoying any longer the privileges of a citi- zen or Christian, by blotting out his name out of the public register or matricula. Amos vi. 1, " Which are named chief of the na- tions," &c. The Hebrew word implies an allusion to the cus- tom of marking a name or character by punctures. See Lowth on Isa. xliv. 5. They call themselves, not after their religious ancestors, but after the chief of the idolatrous nations, with whom they intermarry, contrary to their law. " Persons of name" were " the known ones," or principal men, to whom the house of Israel came for justice, and to pay court. None but men of note seem to have been thus distinguished. Man of name is a man of renown ; so David is call- ed on account of his victories ; 2 Sam. vii. 9 ; 1 Sam. NAME. 323 xviii. 7 ; 2 Sam. xii. 28. And the Roman generals used to take names from their victories, as Africanus, Asiaticus, Macedonicus, and the like ; and sometimes from things done at home for the public good, as Cicero was saluted Pater Patrice, father of his coun- try, and Augustus afterwards. The word shem, name, denotes simply an object of worship or invocation. Hence, eshem, the name, sig- nifies the object of worship to Israel; Lev. xxiv. 11. And so in Exod. xx. 25, when God says, / record my name, the meaning is, I choose a place where I require to be worshipped, wherein I will shew my glory and power, and hear the prayers of them that invoke me. Thus the declaration of God, in Exod. iii. 15, when he first appeared to Moses, " This is my name for ever, and this is my memorial to all generations," re- spects his worship. It is that name by which he is to be remembered, and distinguished from all false objects ; for the word memorial is a term of the ri- tuals, Lev. ii. 2. Therefore, when God forbids Israel, in Exod. xxiii. 13, even to make mention of the names of other gods, he forbids to worship them, or to com- memorate any of their actions. For God calls him- self, Exod. xxxiv. 14, a jealous God ; in the Septua- gint, ^JiA»T«» o^ofAcc, a jealous name, or object of wor- ship. It was on this account that Moses enquired after the name of God, when he appeared to him ; Exod. iii. 13. And in Judges xiii. 17, Manoah says to the angel, " What is thy name, that when thy say- ings come to pass, we may do thee honour ;" an ex- pression originating probably in this, that when God appeai-ed by vision, dream, or miracle to the patri- 324 NAME NIGHT. archs, they noted the place, and commemorated the event by some solemn acts of devotion, and the im- position of a name, as in Gen. xii. 7, 8 ; xiii. 4-18 ; xxviii. 18, 19' And so in regard to false deities ; wherever they were supposed to have performed any thing memorable, or wherever they were understood to preside and to favour their votaries, there a monu- ment was raised, and the name invoked with suitable solemnities. See an instance in Pap. Statins, 1. 4, v. 664. Hence it comes, that not only among the Jewish authors but also the Gentile, to name is the same as to invoke in divine worship. And thus, to be baptized into the name of the Fa- ther, Son, and Holy Ghost, is to be baptized into their worship, as the one God. NIGHT, the time for sleep. 1 Thess. v. 7, " They that sleep, sleep in the night ;" whence sleep, among the mythologists, is called " the son of Night." Hip- pocrates, in his prognostics, says, " It is proper to be awake in the day, and to sleep in the night." And Virgil, jEn. 8, calls sleep donum noctis opacae, the gift of dark night. And Valer. Flaccus, Argon, 1. 5, " Nox hominum genus et duros miserata labores, Retulerat fessis optata silentia rebus." Homer thus expresses it, Odyssey, 1. 3, v. 334, " The lamp of day is quench'd beneath the deep, And soft approach the balmy hours of sleep ; Nor fits it to prolong the heavenly feast, Timeless, indecent, but retire to rest." The whole term of human life is frequently in Scripture called a day ; see Job, ch. 14, and other places. But in one passage it is called night ; Rom. xiii. 12, " The night is far spent (that is, the time of NIGHT. 325 ignorance and profaneness), the day is at hand." Or as the same apostle says, Eph. v. 8, " Ye were once darkness, now are ye light in the Lord." Night being the time of darkness, the image and shadow of death, in which the beasts of prey go forth to devour, symbolically signifies a time of adversity and affliction, in which men prey upon each other, and the stronger tyrannize over the weaker. Thus, Isa. xxi. 12, " Watchman, what of the night?" an in- quiry how long their captivity was to last. Zech. xiv. 6, 7> " And there shall be one day (It is known to Jehovah) It shall be neither day nor night, But at eventide there shall be light." See Rev. xxi. 23, and xxii. 5, — meaning, that there shall be no vicissitude of day and night, but a con- stant light ; and this signifies, symbolically, that there shall be no vicissitude of peace and war, but a con- stant state of quiet and happiness. Daubuz quotes, from Herbelot, to shew the notion of the Arabians : " In the Humajoun-nameh it is said, he that has done justice in this night has built himself a house for the next day, — meaning, says Her- belot, by this night, the present life of this world, which is nothing but darkness ; and by the next day, the future life, which is to be a clear day for good men." The night is plainly put for a time of ignorance and helplessness in Micah iii. 6, " Wherefore there shall be night to you, so that ye shall have no vision ; And there shall be darkness to you, so that ye shall have no divination ; 326 NIGHT OAK. And the sun sh.all go down upon the prophets, And the day shall be dark upon them." The paraphrase of Erasmus on 1 Thess. v. 7> de- serves to be noticed : " Dies metuendus iis," &c. i. e. the day of final judgment is to be dreaded by those who, blinded by their vices, lead a sort of nocturnal life ; but ye, brethren, need not be afraid lest it should overtake you suddenly ; for all you, who follow Christ, do not belong to the kingdom of darkness, but to the kingdom of light and of God. Henceforward, if we wish not to be overtaken, let us not sleep, as others do, who know not the light of Christ, but let us watch and be sober, always circumspect, that nothing may be admitted through inadvertence into the mind, which may offend either God or man, &c. In John ix. 4, night is put for death. So Horace, 1. 1, ode 4, "Jam te premet nox," — Soon will the night o'ertake my friend. And, ode 28, line 15, " Omnes una manet nox," — One night remains for all. Isaiah xv. 1, the words " in the night" are under- stood by Vitringa to mean suddenly, unexpectedly ; but there is some doubt about the correctness of the present reading. See Lowth's note. OAK, the symbol of men of high rank and power. Ill Isa. ii. 13, " the oaks of Bashan" are used in the way of metaphor, for kings, princes, and the like. See Zech. xi. 2, where, under the image of trees, the fall of mighty men and the subversion of the Jewish polity, are represented : " Howl, O fir tree, because the cedar is fallen. Because the goodly ones are destroyed. Howl, O ye oaks of Bashan, Because the fenced wood is felled." OAK. 327 In Amos ii. 9> the Amorite is said to be " strong as the oaks," The original Hebrew term for oak is derived, ac- cording to Celsius, from ail, robur, which is the La- tin word for the oak, on account of its hardness and strength. Oaks were the scene of idolatrous worship, and therefore are frequently mentioned as denoting such practices. Jer. ii. 34, " 1 have not found it (the blood) in a digged hole, But upon every oak." So Blayney renders it, in conformity to the Septua- gint and the Syriac ; and his note on the passage is : " In the law it is commanded, Lev. xvii. 13, that the blood of animals killed in hunting should be covered with dust ; in order, no doubt, to create a horror at the sight of blood. In allusion to this command, it is urged against Jerusalem, Ezek. xxiv. 7, that she had not only shed blood in the midst of her, but that " she had set it upon the top of a rock, and poured it not upon the ground, to cover it with dust ;" that is, she had seemed to glory in the crime, by doing it in the most open and audacious manner, so as to chaillenge God's vengeance. In like manner, it is said here, that God had not discovered the blood that was shed in holes under ground, but that it was sprinkled upon every oak, before which their inhuman sacrifices had been performed. The oak was not merely the scene of idolatrous worship, but sometimes the material of which the idol was made. Isa. xliv. 14, " He taketh the oak 328 OAK......OIIi. to make a God." Horace has something similarly severe : " Olim truncus eram ficulnus, inutile lignum, Cum faber, incertus scamnum faceretne Priapum, Maluit esse Deum." Sacred groves were a very ancient and favourite appendage of idolatry. They were fm-nished with the temple of the God to whom they were dedicated, with altars, images, and every thing necessary for performing the various rites of worship offered there ; and were the scenes of many impure ceremonies, and of much abominable superstition. See Ezek. xx. 28, and Hosea iv. 13, where idolatrous worship and its accompaniments — " Under the oak, and the poplar, and the ilex." are severely reprehended. OIL. The use of oil, in the anointing of a per- son, signifies the designation or inauguration of that person to some high office or dignity. Ps. xlv. 7, " God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." See Heb. i. 9- It is applied to the Jewish kings. 1 Sam. x. 1, " Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it on Saul's head, and kissed him. 2 Sam. i. 21 ; see also 1 Sam. xvi. 1, 13 ; 1 Kings i. 39 ; 2 Kings ix. 6. It is applied to the Messiah, Isa. Ixi. 1 ; compared with Luke iv. 18, and Acts iv. 27, and x. 38. It is applied to Cyrus, Isa. xlv. 1 . It :<» applied to Aaron the Priest, Lev. viii. 12 ; and to the prophets, 1 Kings xix. 16. The anointing in I John ii. 27, is the spirit of il- lumination, furnishing with gifts and graces. on- . 329 This consecration with oil not only served as a form of admission to important functions, but was considered as adding a sacredness to their persons, and sometimes served as a guard against violence, in consequence of the respect attached to it. " God forbid," says David, " that I should stretch forth my hand against Saul, since he is the anointed of Jehovah, 1 Sam. xxiv. 6. Sometimes mere designation, without unction, is implied in it, as in the case of Cyrus, Isa. xlv. 1, who was selected by God to restore Judah, and for the rebuilding of the temple of Jerusalem. Sometimes it is used of the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as in Ps. cv. 15, " Touch not mine anointed ones" for the word is in the plural number ; not as literally anointed, but as specially favoured of God, and set apart to be the heads or progenitors of a great nation. It is more eminently used as applicable to the Me- diator of the New Covenant, by David, Ps. ii. 2, who represents him as King of Zion ; by Isaiah, Ixi. 1, as the proclaimer of great and good tidings ; by Daniel, ix. 25, as making expiation for the sins of the people. And this was the substance of Apostolic preaching, e. g. Acts xvii. 1 8, " This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Anointed One." Acts xviii. 3, " Paul testified to the Jews, that Jesus was the Anointed One." Acts xviii. 28, " Shewing by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Anointed One." The oil of gladness, Ps. xlv. 7, denotes the imction of the Holy Spirit anciently typified by oil, by which unction Jesus was appointed to the offices of Prophet, Priest, ind King. 330 OIL OLIVE-TREE. In Zecb. iv. 14, Joshua the high priest and Zeru- babel are styled Sons of Oil, as being anointed with the Holy Spirit, and made his instruments in re-esta- blishing the Church and State of the Jews. Compare verses 6 and 12. Christians, as followers of the Messiah, and called by his name, may be considered as anointed ones, consecrated to his service. Would they were all such ! Oil is also the symbol of abundance, fertility, joy, &c. See Ps. xxiii. 5, xcii. 11, cxli. 5 ; Cant. i. 3 ; Isa. Ixi. 3. It is so considered, on account of its fragrance and salutary qualities. The latter are more particularly recognised in the New Testament, by the Apostle James, v. 14, where he enjoins that the sick should be anointed with oil, in the name of the Lord, as an accompaniment of prayer, for their recovery. See also Mark vi. 13. This ceremony, for it cannot be called an institution, was continued for some length of time in the primitive church ; but it seems to have ceased when the miraculous gifts of healing were withdrawn. See the case of Proculus, mentioned by TertuUian in his address to Scapula, who is said to have cured the Emperor Severus of a certain distem- per by the use of oil ; for which service that Empe- ror was favourable afterwards to the Christians, and kept Proculus as long as he lived in his palace. Je- rome and Chrysostom also mention cures of this kind, but how far they are to be esteemed miraculous must be left to every one's judgment. GLIVE-TREE, on account of its verdure, sound- OLIVE-TREE 331 ness, and the usefulness of the oil it produces, is the symbol of prosperity, plenty, and enjoyment. Thus the Psalmist, Ps. cxxviii. 3, describing the happiness of a man blessed of God, says, " Thy chil- dren shall be like the olive branches round about thy table." It is also the symbol of peace and abated anger. Thus Noah's dove, Gen. viii. 11, had, on her return to the ark, an olive leaf in her mouth. In enumerating the sources of aliment and wealth, the prophet Habakkuk, iii. 17, includes this among them, " though the labour of the olive should fail." David compares himself to a green olive-tree in the house of God, Ps. Iii. 8. Hosea uses similar lan- guage respecting Israel, ch» xiv. 6, " his beauty shall be as the olive-tree" — a simile employed also by Paul, in adverting to their state before their rejection, where he speaks " of the root and fatness of the olive- tree," Rom. xi. 17, 24. In Zech. iv. 3, 1 1, 14, the two olive-trees on either side of the lamp-sconces, pouring oil into the lamps, are there explained to be the two anointed ones ; Ze- rubbabel as captain of the people, and Joshua as high priest. And this signified that these two maintained the nation of the captive Jews, both as to their eccle- siastical and civil state ; as the olive-trees which af- ford oil maintain the light in the lamps, the symbols of government. Reference seems to be made to this in Rev. xi. 4, where the two witnesses are described as the " two olive-trees, and the two candlesticks, standing before the Go^ of the earth ;" i. e. the faithful in every age, who refuse to comply with the general corruption 332 OLIVE-TREE OX. shall be constantly supported by divine aid, as if a lamp were kept always burning, by a continual supply of oil from a living olive-tree, constantly feed- ing it with the aliment of its flame, that it may never go out in darkness. The olive became the emblem of peace to various and distant nations. See Virgil, ^En. 7, I. 154; 8. 116; 11. 101. Livy, b. 39. c. 16; and 14. c. 25; and Statius, Theb. I. 12. OX. The ox appears as one of the cherubic em- blems in Ezekiel's vision, ch. i. 10 ; and the same seems to have been copied in a perverted way in the idolatrous images of the heathen, e. g. Moloch had the head of a calf or steer. Apis or Serapis was represented in the form of a buU. Mnevis, who was kept at Memphis, was figured in the same form. Baal, or the Sun, was worshipped under the form of an animal of the ox or beeve kind. We read of the heifer Baal in Tobit i. 5. The Gauls worshipped a brazen bull. Juggernaut's temple in the East Indies has, in the middle of it, an ox cut in one entire stone larger than the life. In Acts xiv. 13, we find the priest of Jupiter bringing oxen for sacrifice. In 1 Cor. ix. 9, the question, " Doth God take care for oxen ?" leads the mind to the consideration of that higher sense the apostle has in view, namely, the maintenance of the christian ministry ; and is a proof, amongst others, that many injunctions under the law were emblematical of Gospel institutions. ox PALM. 333 The ox has always been the symbol of agriculture, as Suidas terms it, who relates that the Egyptian Apis was a certain wealthy person, who, during a fa- mine at Alexandria, relieved the people ; at whose death they erected a temple to his memory, in which an ox was nourished, as the hieroglyphic of husbandry. And Abarbanel says, " Therefore Jeroboam chose the appearance of an ox from the chariot of the che- rubim, because it is the sign of abundance of corn and blessing of the nations." And so it is represent- ed in Greek coins, an ox with an ear of corn, or a plough, to denote the fertility of the country. And the daughter of Zion is compared by Micah, iv. 12, 13, to this animal, in a beautiful allegory. See under Calf. PALM. Branches of palm trees are the symbol of joy after a victory, attended with antecedent suf- ferings. By the Mosaical law, Lev. xxiii. 40, they were used as a token of joy at the feast of tabernacles. And they were used on any solemn occasion of joy, as after a victory or deliverance. 1 Macca. xiii. 51 ; John xii. 13. With Philo, the palm is the symbol of victory. AUeg. I. 2. p. 50. And Plutarch (Sympos. 1. 8, c. 4), gives the same signification, assigning the reason of it, from the natural property of the palm tree to rise up against pressure. Hence palma for victory, of which numerous examples might be given from Horace, Cicero, Plautus, Ovid, Terence, and others. And hence the toga of a triumphing emperor was called palmata, as having branches of palms painted thereon. Martial, b. 1, ep. 3. Servius ad Aen. I. 2. 334 PALM. Ps. xcii. 12, '* The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree." Cardan observes, that the palm tree con- tinues long in its youthful state ; so that he who plants one, will scarcely live to see the fruit of it. Rev. vii. 9, " Palms in their hands." " Quid per palmas nisi prgemia victoriae designan- tur," &c. ; i. e. what is meant by palms here, but the rewards of victory ? For these are wont to be given only to conquerors. Hence also it is written of those, who in the contest of martyrdom have over- come the ancient enemy, and now rejoice as victors in their native region, that they have palms in their hands. Gregor. Magn. in Ezek. 1. 2, p. 17- It is easy to see what the multitude had in view, when they carried palm branches before the Saviour, John xii. 13. Their actions and words corresponded — " Hosanna, (i. e. save us) blessed is the king of Is- rael that Cometh in the name of the Lord." The ancients always speak of it as a stately and noble tree. It was esteemed an emblem of honour, and made use of as a reward of victory. " Plurima- rum palmarum homo," was a proverbial expression among the Romans, for a soldier of merit. Pliny speaks of the various species of palms, and of the great repute in which they were held by the Baby- lonians. He says, that the noblest of them were styled the royal palms, and supposes that they were so called from their being set apart for the king's use. But they were very early an emblem of royalty, and it is a circumstance included in their original name, JiKu.i by Wi^fMt^eti. For indeed i^< uixrTUi is but synonymous to it. Sitting signifies riding, reigning, judging, and en- joying peace. Thus, in Judges v. 10, " Ye that sit in judgment," are the magistrates or judges. In 2 Sam. xix. 8, " The king sitteth in the gate," i, e. he is ready to execute any duty of a king. POSTURE. .....PRINCE. 34.3 And to sit on the throne, is always synonymous to reigning, in the Scripture ; and is so used by Virgil in his iEneid, 1. 7, v. 169 ; a seat or throne being the symbol of government. Sitting, with other adjuncts, has a different signifi- cation. As, to sit upon the earth, or on a dunghill, signifies to be in extreme misery. To sit in darkness, is to be in prison and slavery. To sit as a widow, is to mourn as a widow. To fall down or prostrate before another, is the symbol of submission and homage. See Gen. xxxvii. 7, 8 ; xxvii. 29 ; Isa. xlv. 1 4. PRINCE. This title, as is well known, is applied to Jesus Christ, in various forms. He is the Prince of peace, Isa. ix. 6 ; the Prince of life. Acts iii. 15; the Prince of the kings of the earth, Rev. i, 5 ; the Prince of princes, Dan. viii. 25 ; the Prince of the host, Dan. viii. 11. The title is once given to Satan, as prince of this world, John xii. 31. Corap. Matt. iv. 19. But there is a peculiar sense in which the term is used by Daniel. Thus, ch. x. 13, Prince of the kingr dom of Persia; x. 21, Michael your Prince; x. 20, the Prince of Grsecia. In these passages the term probably means " a tu- telary angel." The doctrine of tutelary angels of dif- ferent countries seems to be countenanced in several passages, and especially by Zech. vi. 5. See also Zech. iii. 1 ; and Jude, verse 9 ; and Rev. xii. 7. Michael and Gabriel were probably the tutelary angels of the Jews, and would be their only protec- tors in the various contests for empire till the coming of Christ. 344 PRINCE PROPHECY. That there are principalities in the heavenly hie- rarchy, seems plain from several places in the New Testament, e. g. Rom. viii. 38 ; Eph. i. 21 ; iii. 10 ; Col. i. 16; ii. 10; Jude, verse 6. That there are such among the apostate angels, appears from Eph. vi. 12, Col. ii. 15. The names Michael and Gabriel do not occur in any books of the Old Testament that were written before the captivity ; and it is suggested by some, that they were borrowed from the Chaldeans, with whom and the Persians, the doctrine of the general administration and superintendence of angels over empires and provinces was commonly received. We know, and can know, no more of the offices of these celestial agents, than what is revealed to us ; and therefore it is in vain to indulge conjecture. In geaeral, as Wintle well observes, we may conclude, that they will be favourable or unfavourable to any nation or people, according to their deserts ; and that all things, and all powers, will work together for good to those that fear and love God. PROPHECY consists, not only in predicting fu- ture events by Divine inspiration, but also in a pub- lic study and zeal for God's laws ; the office of the ancient prophets being not only to reveal future events (which power was rather given them to establish their commission), but also to preach and maintain the law of God, already established, when the Israelites for- sook it, and to be zealous for it even unto death ; to the end that their zeal and constancy might be a wit- ness and testimony against their persecutors, of the truth of God's law. The primitive notion also of a prophet, is to be a PROPHECY. 345 spokesman, or interpreter, or declarer of the mind of God to man, as appears by comparing Exod. vii. 1. with Exod. iv. 16. See also Virgil's Mneid, 1. 10, V. 175. So that to prophesy is to bear witness or testimony to the truth against errors and corruptions. And hence to prophesy and to witness are used as near akin in several places of Scripture. Thus, when our Saviour was going to prophesy that one of his disciples should betray him, the word used is ifM^v^rta-i, he testified, instead of he prophesied, John xiii. 21: So in John i. 7, " to witness concerning the light," signifies to preach the Gospel, — to be the great pro- phet and forerunner of the Messiah. So in Acts i. 8, and xxii. 15, the apostles and Paul are said to be witnesses, because they were preachers or prophets ; and in Acts xx. 23, the Holy Spirit is said to witness, ^tdftx^v^iTxt. See likewise 1 Peter i. 1 1. And thus our Saviour " came into the world to bear witness to the truth," t. e. to declare the will of God to men, as that great Prophet, Deut. xviii. 1 5, 1 9, whom whosoever would not hear, should be cut off from his people. Prov. XXX. 1, and xxxi. 1, the prophecy which his mother taught him ; rather the charge or lesson which king Lemuel's mother taught him. t?tJ^D> 'mesha, \& frequently used by the prophets to signify what they were charged with, and thence called a burden. Rev. xi. 6, " These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy," &c. An allusion to what Hijah and Moses did ; mean- ing, that the witnesses should have similar power 346 PROPHECY RAIX. given them to smite the earth with plagues ; at least, what they denounce against the enemies of truth. God will accomplish. The witnesses here are not single persons, but a perpetual collective body of men, or a succession of witnesses against the errors and false worship introduced into the church. RAIN is the symbol of Divine benignity, vouch- safed as the reward of human obedience. Thus : Hosea x. 1 2, " Sow to yourselves in righteousness. Reap in the fruit of loving-kindness, Break up to yourselves the fallow-ground of knowledge. That ye may seek Jehovah, Till he come and rain righteousness upon you." Hosea vi. 3, " His going forth is prepared as the morning, And he shall come to us as the rain, As the latter rain which watereth the earth." t. e. he shall come as our deliverer, as surely as the morning returns after the night, or the latter rain comes in its season. Rain is used as the symbol of discourse and in- struction. Deut. xxxii. 2, " My doctrine shall drop as the rain." Job xxix. 22, 23, " After my words they spake not again. And my speech dropped upon them. And they waited for me as for the rain. And they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain." See also Isa. Iv. 10, 11, 12, 13, where the same is beautifully expressed, and the effects described under highly poetical images. The wilderness turned into a paradise, Lebanon into Carmel, the desart of the RAIiN. 347 Gentiles watered with the heavenly snow and rain, so that (as the Chaldee gives the moral sense of the emblem) " instead of the wicked shall arise the just, and instead of sinners, such as fear to sin." The divine influences are compared to rain in Isa. xliv. 3, 4 : " For I will pour out waters on the thirsty, And flowing streams on the dry ground^ I will pour out my spirit upon thy seed. And my blessing on thine offspring ; And they shall spring up as grass among the waters, As the willows beside the aqueducts." Zech. X. I, and xiv. 17, are in like manner under- stood by V^itringa to mean " spiritual" rain. And he remarks on the latter place, " If the Egyptians do not come up to the feast of tabernacles, there shall be no rain upon them ;" these words appear a paradox, since there is no rain in Egypt at any time, as is well known : though modern travellers do testify that rain occasionally falls. But the sense of the place is, there shall be nothing analogous to rain, i. e. no over- flowing of the Nile, to produce the usual fecundity. But the difficulty might be obviated, by supposing that the prophet meant, that no rains would fall in Ethiopia^ so as to produce the inundation of the Nile in Egypt. Grainger says, in Lower Egypt it rains much and often ; in Middle, seldom ; in Upper, not at all, Amos vii. 6, to drop the word, is to prophesy, — the metaphor being taken from the symbol of rain or dew. See Ezek. xx. 46, and xxi. 2 ; also Micah ii. 6, 1 1 . In 2 Peter ii. 17, false teachers are called " wells without water." 348 RAIN RAINBOW. In Ps. Ixxii. 6, the blessings of Christ's coming arc described as rain. And Homer, II. i^, v. 597, com- pares the exultation of joy in a man's mind, to the morning dew reviving the corn. Agreeably to this, the Oneirocritics explain the symbol of rain or dew, of all manner of good things. They say, a fine gentle sunshiny rain is the symbol of a general good ; according to which, the Psalmist says, " Thou O God sentest a gracious rain upon thine inheritance, to refresh it, when it was weary," Ps. Ixviii. 9. Hence among the Egyptians, the pro- phet carried in his hand, as a symbol of his office, in solemn processions, a pitcher, as being the disposer of learning, which is as water, rain, or dew to the soul. A tempestuous shower may be the symbol of war. Thus Pindar compares war to a shower, Isthm. Od. 6. And Hannibal compares Fabius Maximus, hovering on the hills to avoid a battle, and afterwards coming down to snatch the victory out of his hands, to a cloud on the top of a hill, breaking out afterwards in- to a shower, with storms and flashes. Plutarch on Fabius. RAINBOW. The rainbow was instituted by God himself, as the symbol or sign of his covenant with mankind after the flood, wherein he had destroyed the whole human race, except one family. By the rainbow, as a symbol or token of the cove- nant, he promised not to destroy the earth any more by the waters of the flood, and that upon the sight of it, he would be mindful of his promise ; Gen. ix. 13-17. RAINBOW. 349 So that whilst this world lasts, it will be a token of God's reconciliation with mankind ; and consequently that he will not bring them wholly under his anger, to destroy them. So that in general, it is a symbol of God's willing- ness to receive men into favour again. The common bow is a symbol of war and victory. But the rainbow has two notable properties, which make it fit to be a symbol of peace. For, 1st, Its rundle or part which should look towards the object aimed at, is always turned from the earthy there- by shewing, that it aims not at men, as we know that the pointing of the sword downwards, is a token of submission or surrender. 2d, It has no string, which shews that the master will not shoot ; so that a bow unbent, or without a string, is a proper symbol of peace and friendship. Hence the rainbow, however it appears, is, accord- ing to Artemidorus, 1. 2. c. 39, always accounted good to them that are in great poverty, or other ill circumstances. And all this is suitable to the natural properties of the rainbow, for it never appears but when there is a gentle rain with the sun shining, which kind of rain is never known to do any harm, but much good. (See Daubuz, from whom these particulars are bor- rowed.) When the Jews behold the rainbow they bless God, who remembers his covenant, and is faithful to his promises. And the tradition of this its designation to proclaim comfort to mankind, was strong among the heathen ; for, according to the mythology of the 350 RAINBOW. Greeks, the rainbow was the daughter of Wonder, " a sign to mortal men," as Homer calls it, D. 11. 1. 27, 28, " Reflected various light, and arching bowed, Like colour'd rainbows o'er a showery cloud, Jove's wondrous bow, of three celestial dyes. Placed as a sign to man amid the skies." Iris, or the rainbow, in Hebrew keshet, was regarded as a goddess, and upon its appearance, was viewed as tlie messenger of the celestial deities ; and that not only by the Greeks and Romans, but also by the in- liabitants of Peru in South America, when the Spa- niards came thither. The Abbe Lamberti tells us, " The Peruvians paid great honours to the rainbow, as well for the beauty of its colours, as because they proceeded from the sun, and it was for this reason the incas, or sovereigns of Peru, took it for their de- vice." Plutarch says, " The Greeks made Iris the daughter of Thaumas, or Wonder, because men admired or wondered at her." So Cotta, the Academician in Cicero de Nat. Deor. 1. 3. 20, quoted by Parkhurst, says, " For this reason the rainbow is said to be sprung from Thaumas, because it has an admirable form.'' According to Homer, II. 17, v. 647, the purple rainbow is spread out from heaven to mortal eye by Jove, " As when high Jove, denouncing future woe. O'er the dark clouds extends his purple bow, (In sign of tempests from the troubled air. Or from the rage of man, destructive war). The drooping cattle dread the impending skies. And from his half till'd field the labourer flies." An apocryphal writer has thus beautifully describexl it, Ecclesiasticus, Ixiii. 12. RAINBOW.... ..RAM. 351 " Look upon the rainbow, and praise Him who made it. Very beautiful it is in the brightness thereof; It compasseth the heaven about vvith a glorious circle. And the hands of the Most High have bended it." There is a reference to the rainbow, though not named, in Isaiah liv. 9, 10. Ezek. i. 28, " As the appearance of the bow which is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appear- ance of the brightness round about." Rev. iv. 3, " There was a rainbow round about the throne, in appearance like an emerald." Rev. X. 1, " And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud, and a rain- bow was upon his head." These three passages correspond with, and reflect upon each other. The rainbow in all of them is the designed token of God's covenant and mercy, and of his faithful remembrance of his promise. RAM. In the symbolical language, any horned beast may signify a king or monarch, because of the horns which denote power. So a ram is the symbol of a plain monarch or prince ; but other horned beasts are to be explained with some adjuncts ; as a goat signifies, according to the interpreters, a fool-hardy fighting prince. And so Darius is represented in Daniel's vision, as a ram ; whilst Alexander, the most furious and rash of all warriors, is figured by a goat. So wild beasts, ©»§««, with horns, signify tyrants. In several parts of Scripture the word "^^f^, which Signifies a ram., is taken for a prince., as in the Song of Moses, in Exod. xv. 15, the rams, or mighty men of Moab, is, in the Septuagint, the princes of the 352 RAM RAZOR REED. Moabites. And this is plainly from the metaphor, for the prince is the ram of the flock or people. See Ps. Ixxx. I ; Ixxviii. 71, 72. RAZOR. Isaiah vii. 20, " Jehovah shall shave by the hired razor." To shave with the hired razor the head, the feet, and the beard, is an expression highly parabolical ; to denote the utter devastation of the country from one end to the other, and the plundering of the people from the highest to the lowest, by the Assyrians, whom God employed as his instrument to punish the Jews. See Lowth's note on the place, and Ezekiel v. 1. See under Hair. REED, the emblem of fragility and insecure sup- port. Egypt is compared to the staff of a broken reed, Isa. xxxvi. 6. Ezekiel has the same image in ch. xxix. 7, " All the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am Jehovah, Because they have been a siaff of reed to the house of Is- rael, When they took hold of thee with thine hand. Thou wast crushed, and didst tear all their shoulder. When they leaned on thee, thou wast broken, ' And didst strain all their loins." It also denotes inconstancy and fickleness, as being easily moved by the air. Matt. xi. ?• Afflicted and contrite persons are compared to a bruised reed, Isa. xlii. 3. Such persons the Saviour would rather heal than discourage. The reed was in ancient times used as a pen, 3 John, verse 13. It was used by fishermen as a rod ; it was also employed as an instrument to measure with. It was about ten feet long, strong, and light. REED. 353 In Rev. xi. 1, 2, there is mention made of such, and the representation seems to be taken from Ezekiel's vision, ch. xl, in which he beheld a person with a measuring rod, taking the dimensions of the buildings of a temple, shewing the prophet, in vision, the model or plan of a new temple, to encourage the Jews to faithfulness in their religion, with the hopes of seeing the temple and true worship of God restored again. There are two things, says Daubuz, mentioned in Holy Writ, whereby men may measure, a line and a reed. The line, /DH, habel, implies constantly a divi- sion and giving of possession into new hands ; because it is the instrument by which the lands of conquered nations are divided, as in 2 Sam. viii. 2 ; Lam. ii. 8 ; Amos vii. 17 ; Isa. xxxiv. 11-17. In 2 Sam. viii. 2, it is said " he measured them by line," i, e. he divided the country of the Moabites in- to several parts, that he might the better know what towns it was most proper to cJemolish, and to extir- pate the inhabitants of them. He used two lines — a line to put to death, and the fulness of a line to keep alive. The fulness of a line seems to denote a very large tract of country. See Chandler's life of David, quoted by Parkhurst under ^^H. The line implies also the division of a land into new lots, supposing a late conquest, and its being di- vided, to be inherited by new masters, Nahum iii. 10. But the reed, as it is also used about lands, so it is chiefly employed about buildings. In Zech. ii. 1-5, a line is used to measure the whole city. In Ezekiel, the reed is employed to measure the temple. Profane authors have similar expressions, which 354 REED IIEND. shew that a measuring reed or line is to take posses- sion of the things measured. And hence from H^p, a cane or reed, comes 7^2p, kene, to acquire or pos- sess. This use of a line or reed explains the K«v*(v or rule upon which Paul argues, 2 Cor. x. 13, 16 ; the said rule signifying those churches to which he had the sole right by first occupation. " But we will not boast of things icithout our measure, but according to the measure of the rule which God hath distributed to us, a measure to reach even unto j'ou," verse 16 ; and not to boast in another man's line of things made ready to our hand. See the whole passage. A golden reed for measuring denotes that what is measured by it shall be glorious and permanent. REND. To rend the garments was, in eastern countries and among ancient nations, a symbolical action, expressive of sonow, fear, or contrition. Many instances may be seen in the Sacred Wri- tings, viz. Judges xi. 35 ; Esther iv. 1 ; Gen. xliv. 13 ; Matt. xxvi. 65 ; Ezra ix. 5 ; Job i. 20 ; Jer. xxxvi. 24 ; 2 Chron. xxxiv. 27. See also Virgil, Mn. 12, " It scissa veste Latinus, Conjugis attonitus fatis, urbisque ruina." Thus Seneca in his Octavia, v. 328, " Scindit vestes Augulsta suas, Laceratque comas." Joel ii. 13, " Rend your hearts, and not your gar- ments," in allusion to this custom. But the phrase here is a Hebraism, meaning, rend your hearts rather than your garments ; or, rend your hearts, and not your garments only. For the prophet does not for- REND REST. 355 bid the external appeai'ances of mourning ; but he cautions them against a merely hypocritical shew of sorrow, and exhorts them to cherish that broken and contrite spirit, which is acceptable in the sight of God. So in Deut. x. 16, " Circumcise the foreskin of your heart." And Hosea vi. 16, " I desired mercy and not sacrifice ;" i. e. I love the exercise of mercy rather than sacrifice, as the very next words plainly shew, " and the knowledge of God more than burnt- offerings." A somewhat similar form of expression we have in Rom. vi. l?, " God be thanked that ye were the servants of sin," &c. ; i. e. God be praised, that though ye cmce were the servants of sin, yet now ye have obeyed, &c. Rending the garments was sometimes expressive of different passions. Thus in Dion Cassius, the consul Paulus rends his garment through indignation. Caesar does the same when about to appease the mul- titude. Nmnbers also, in heathen history, upon the loss of their friends. Augustus rends his garment at the proposal of the dictatorship ; and he is said to have done the same on hearing of the defeat of Va- rus. REST, like sleep, is sometimes used as the symbol of death. Thus : Rev. xiv. 1 3, " Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, That they may rest from their lahours." Ps. Ivii. 2, " He shall go in peace, he shall rest in his bed. Even the perfect man, he that walketh in the straight path." Job iii. 13, 356 REST RESURRECTION. " For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept, then had I been at rest. With kings and counsellors of the earth," &:c. Dan. xii. 13, " But go thy way till the end be ; For thou shalt resl and stand in thy lot at the end of the days." Compare Job xi. 18 ; 1 Sam. xxviii. 15 ; Rev. vi. 9 ; Acts ii. 26, &c. This phrase is common on Jewish monuments for the dead : " May his rest be in the garden of Eden, with the other just men of the world" — May his soul rest in peace till the Comforter come. And one Epi- taph is to this effect : " This stone which I have placed is a monument for the remains of Rabbi Elia- kim, who was buried on the day before the feast of the Passover, in the 95th year of his ministry. May his rest be in the garden of Eden with other just men. Amen, amen, amen. Selah." Herodian has an expression of similar import, 1. 1, cap. 4, § 8. " When he had survived one single day and night, he went to rest," 'mttTrxva-oclo. See Virgil, .En. 10, V. 745, " Olli dura quies oculos, et ferreus urget Somnus." And iEneid, 6, v. 372, " Sedibus ut saltern placidis in morte quiescam." And so some of Gruter's inscriptions : " Et quieti aeternae, M. Aulini Antoni," Vet. Leg. 35, &c. And " Quorum corpora virginea heic condita sunt ad bene quiescendumP RESURRECTION, when used symbolically, sig- nifies, according to the Oriental Interpreters, a reco- very of such rights and liberties as have been taken IIESURRECTION RIGHT-HAND. 35? away, and a deliverance from war, persecution, afflic- tion, and bondage. What is said in Ezekiel xxxvii. 11-14, is conform- able to these notions, the resurrection there spoken of being to be understood as there explained, of a de- liverance of the Jews from thraldom and captivity, and a restoration of them to their own lands. For when resurrection is spoken of a political body, it is to be understood proportionably of a political resur- rection of that body in the like power. Paul uses the same phrase in the same meaning, Rom. xi. 15, " What shall the receiving of them be but life from the dead." And Isaiah in ch. xxvi. 19, says: " My dead shall live ; my deceased shall rise," &c. Under this image predicting the deliverance of the people of God from a state of the lowest depression. It appears from hence (as Lowth observes), con- trary to the notion of Warburton in his Divine Lega- tion, that the doctrine of the i3surrection from the dead was at that time a popular and common doctrine, for an image which is assumed in order to express any thing in the way of allegory, whether poetical or prophetical, must be an image commonly known and understood, otherwise it will not answer the purpose for which it is assumed. And so the Latin authors have used the word re- surgo, as appears from Ovid, Fasti. 1. 1, v. 523 ; Pliny, Nat. Hist. 1. 1 5, c. 32 ; and Terence, HecjT. act 5, scene 4, v. 1 2. RIGHT-HAND. Lifting it up denotes swearing. See Gen. xiv. 22 ; Exod. vi. 8 ; Dan. xii. 7 ; Rev. x. 5, 6, and other places. •3.>8 RIGHT-HAND RIVER. Among the Jews, the juror held up his right-hand towards heaven, which explains a passage in Ps. cxliv. 8, *' Whose mouth speaketh vanity, And their right-hand is a right-hand of falsehood." The same form is retained in Scotland still, and is allowed by law to the Seceders in Ireland. RIVER, may be considered in several views. 1. In respect of its original, and return thither. Eccl. i. 7, " All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full : to the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again." According to this consideration, the sea being a symbol of the extent of the jurisdiction or empire of any potentate, rivers will signify any emissary pow- ers from thence, whether armies or provincial magis- trates, or what agents abroad soever, that are under this chief power, and so act in reference to it. These may, according to exact analogy, be called rivers, be- cause both themselves and their affairs have recourse to the main sea, — the amplitude of that jurisdiction to which they belong. The Oneirocritics say, in ch. 278, " The sea is the symbol of a great king. And as all rivers run into the sea, so the wealth of the world flows to him." And again, — " New rivers running into the sea sig- nify new revenues accruing to the king or kingdom from distant nations." 2. A river may be considered in respect of its rising, overflowing, and drowning the adjacent parts. And in this view it is the symbol of the invasion of an army. Thus, in Isa. viii. 7, God's bringing upon the Jews the waters of the rivers, signifies the war- mVER. 359 like expedition of the Assyrians against the Jews. The symbol is used in several other places, as in Isa. xxviii. 2 ; lix. 19 ; Jer. xlvi. 7, 8 ; xlvii. 2 ; Amos ix. .■> ; Nahum i. 8. And in Dan. ix. 2Q,Jlood is imme- diately explained by war. So Plutarch compares Hannibal's expedition into Italy to a torrent. Ho- race, 1. 4, Od. 14, compares Tiberius driving the ene- mies to an overflowing river. And Virgil, Mn. 7, V. 228, speaks of the fall of Troy under the similitude of a deluge. And in Artemidorus, 1, 2, c. 27, where the symbol is adapted to private life, " a troubled and violent river running into a house, and carrying off or remo- ving the moveables therein, denotes an enraged ene- my." On Isaiah viii. 7, above referred to, the note of Bishop Lowth is very pertinent, " The gentle wa- ters of Siloah, a small fountain and brook just with- out Jerusalem, which supplied a pool within the city for the use of the inhabitants, is an apt emblem of the state of the kingdom and house of David, much reduced in its apparent strength, yet supported by the blessing of God ; and is finely contrasted with the waters of the Euphrates, great, rapid, and impe- tuous, the image of the Babylonian empire, which God threatens to bring down, like a mighty flood, upon all these apostates of both kingdoms, as a pun- ishment for their manifold iniquities,' and their con- temptuous disregard of his promises."^ The brook and the river are put for the kingdoms to which they belong, and the different states of which respectively they most aptly represent. Juvenal, inveighing against the corruption of Rome by the importation of 360 RIVER. Asiatic manners, says, with great elegance, that the Orontes has been long discharging itself into the Tiber : — " Jampridem Syrus in Tiberim defluxit Orontes." And Virgil, to express the submission of some of the eastern countries to the Roman arms, says, that the waters of Euphrates now flowed more humbly and gently : — " Euphrates ibat jam mollior undis." JE^. 8. 726. The prophet adds, " Even to the neck shall he reach." He compares Jerusalem to the head in the human body : as when the waters come up to a man's neck, he is very near drowning, for a little increase of them would go over his head ; so the king of As- syria coming up to Jerusalem, was like a flood reach- ing to the neck, — the whole country was overflowed, and the capital was in imminent danger. According- ly the Chaldee renders " reaching to the neck," by " reaching to Jerusalem." 3. A river may be considered as the barrier of a nation or kingdom. And in this respect, if a river or sea be dried up, it is a symbol* of ill to the land adjoining. It signifies that its enemies will easily make a conquest thereof, when they find no water to stop their passage. So Jordan was dried up to give the Israelites pas- sage and possession of the Holy Land. So Isaiah, xliv. 27, speaking of the conquest of Cyrus, and the de- struction of the Babylonian monarchy, has these words, " That saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers." The prophet Zechariah, ch. x. 11, explains the symbol : IIIVER. 36 1 " And he shall pass through the sea with distress (unto i*). And shall smite the waves in the sea. And all the depths of the river (Nile) shall be dried up. And the pride of Assyria shall be brought down, And the sceptre of Egypt shall depart." See to the same purpose Isa. xi. 15, 16, and ch. xix. 5, 6. 4. A river may be considered in respect of the clearness, coolness, and excellent taste of its water, and of its usefulness in watering the grounds, and making them verdant and fertile. And in this view a river may become the sj'mbol of the greatest good. Hence, in the Oneirocritics, " to dream of drinking of the pure, clear water of a river, denotes an obtain- ment of joy and happiness by means of a great man." The Heathen, in order to represent the universal power and beneficence of Jupiter, used the symbol of a river flowing from his throne ; and to this the Syco- phant in Plautus alludes (Trium, act 4, sc. 2, v. 98), in his saying that he had been at the head of that river : " Ad caput amnis, quod de coelo exoritur, sub solio Jovis." But with God only is the fountain of life (Ps. xxxvi. S, 9), from whom proceeds a river of pleasures, re- presenting the comforts and gifts of the Holy Spirit. And therefore, in relation to private persons re- ceiving the Holy Spirit, to their own joy, and to the advantage of others, our Saviour says, John vii. 38, " He who believeth on me, as Scripture saith, shall prove a cistern, whence rivers of living water shall flow." And in relation to all the inhabitants of the New Jerusalem, the abundance and inexhaustible fund of 362 RIVER ROBE. their happiness is described in Rev. xxii. 1, by their having " a river of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb." As the first paradise is represented as watered by a river, that went out of Eden, to water the country, — and as Ezekiel, in his prophetic vision of a new city and temple, represents water in great plenty, flowing from the house or temple, — so it is here. Water being necessary to the support of life, contributing to re- freshment, ornament, and delight, is elegantly made a figure to express the glorious and happy immortality of all true Christians in the heavenly state. That rivers and streams are used as symbols of the Holy Spirit, may be proved by reference to Isa. xxxv. 6, 7, compared with ch. xxxii. 15 ; Joel iii. 18 ; Isa. xliv. 3 ; Ezek. xlvii. 1-7 ; Ps. Ixv. 10, 11 ; Ps. Ixviii. 10 ; Zech. xiii. 1 ; Ps. Ixxii. 6. A Jewish writer says, " As our first Redeemer (Moses) produced a well (Num. xx. 1 7)> so our last Redeemer shall produce waters, as it is said (Joel ii. 10), " And a fountain shall go forth from the house of Jehovah, and shall water the valley of Shittim." That rivers were held in veneration by the heathen, is well known : witness the Nile by the Egyptians, of which coins remain to this day, with the inscrip- tion, " Deo Sancto Nilo." And Seneca, in his Epist. 4, says, " Magnorum fluminum capita veneramur, sn- bita et ex abdito vasti amnis eruptio aras habet." ROBE. The robe and baldrick, or girdle, were the ensigns of power and authority, worn by kings, princes, and men in high station. The high priest wore a peculiar one, mentioned in Exod. xxviii. 31. ROBE ROD. 363 David was clothed with a robe, 1 Chron. xv. 27. The king of Nineveh, in a time of public repent- ance, put away his robe from him ; Jonah iii. 6. Jesus was invested with a scarlet robe by the in- sulting Jews, as a mock emblem of royal dignity ; Matt, xxvii. 28, Luke xxiii. 11. Ezekiel says, concerning Tyre, ch. xxiv. 16, " Shall not all the princes of the sea come down from their thrones, And lay aside their robes, And put off their embroidered garments ?" as marks of humiliation and depression. The redeemed are said to be clothed with white robes. Rev. vi. 11, as expressive of the favour and acceptance of God, and as marks of approbation, ho- nour, and dignity ; for such garments were usually sent by princes as presents, and as tokens of royal favour, granted only on special occasions. See Luke XV. 22 ; see also 2 Sam. xiii. 18, where kings' daugh- ters are said to be so apparelled. See under Garment. ROD. It signifies primarily a shoot or branch of a tree, whence it came to be used for a tribe issuing out from a patriarch, as a branch from its stock, and afterwards for any rod or staff, whether of punish- ment or authority ; and hence it has an appropriate signification, according to the purpose to which it is applied. A particular staflT or sceptre is that used by a sovereign magistrate in token of his supreme autho- rity. Sometimes it means the rod or staffs which the herdsman or shepherd carried in his hand, and kept his cattle in order with. 364 ROD. As a sceptre, it occurs in Vs. xlv. 7 ; Ps. ex. 2 ; Isa. xiv. 5 ; Ezek. xix. 11-14. Compare Ps. ii. 9- In the -pastoral sense it occurs, Ps. xxiii. 4 ; Ezek. XX. 37 ; Micah vii. 15 ; Levit. xxvii. 32. As the symbol of correction, it is used in 2 Sara, vii. 14 ; Job. ix. 34, and xxi. 9. In Gen. xlix. 10, the sceptre seems to denote, not T-f^ra/ authority, but friit«z/ jurisdiction, or that ex- ercised by the head of a tribe. Hence used for the ruler himself. Gen. xlix. 16. Compare verse 28 and 12 Sam. vii. 7 with 1 Chron. xvii. 6. Besides all these, there is the measuring rod, for marking out portions of land to be purchased or in- herited. Thus, Jer. x. 16, and li. 19, " Israel is call- ed the rod of God's inheritance." Every nation had its supposed tutelary deity, who might with propriety be styled its portion, on account of the peculiar rela- tion that subsisted between them. The " portion of Jacob," therefore, is the same as the God of Jacob, who had marked Israel out for his own possession, as with a measuring rod, and to whom the name of Je- hovah belonged. Ezek. XX. 37, " And I will cause you to pass under the rod. And I will bring you under the chastisement of the cove- nant ;" i. e. the chastisement due to you for breaking my covenant. But there may be an allusion here to the custom of numbering flocks and herds, by striking them with a rod, and of thus severing some for pre- servation and some for slaughter. Ezek. xxi. 10, " It contemneth the rod of my son," ROD. 365 kc. This obscure passage appears better rendered thus : " Alas, the sceptre of my son is destroyed ; It despiseth every tree." By my son, meaning the people of God, who are so called, Exod. iv. 22, Hosea xi. 1, and referring the event to Nebuchadnezzar, who took away the sceptre and overturned the kingdom. In Isa. X. 5, the Assyrian is called " the rod of God's anger." In Jer. i. 11, a rod of an almond tree is explained by the Targum, of a king hastening to destroy, because the sheked, almond tree, is a hasty budder, having its name from sheked, to hasten, or to do evil, or to watch for that purpose, as in Isa. xxix. 20. Amongst the pagans, magicians and augurs in their divinations made use of a rod, sceptre, or staff, which they pretended was given them by some god for that purpose. And thus, in opposition to the rods of the magi- cians, which they used in their enchantments, God commanded IMoses to make use of his rod or walking staff in the working of miracles in Egypt, and which is therefore called, in Exod. xvii. 9, the rod of God. See more in Daubuz on this subject, art. Rod. The Egyptian hieroglyphic of a sceptre with an eye on the top of it denoted a wise king or govern- ment. In Ezek. xxxvii. 16, a. rod, from its name being the same with that of a tribe, is used symbolically to sig- nify the tribe of Judah, with all its adherents ; as another, with the name of Ephraim, to denote all the apostate Israelites. 366 ROOT SACRIFICE. ROOT is the producer and bearer of a tree, and so denotes the origin from whence a person has his rise or being- Thus Christ, who, in respect of his human nature, is the offspring, the son and successor of David in the government of the Jews, is also, in respect of his divine nature, the root of David, the Lord from whom David received his government. See Rev. v. 5, xxii. 16 ; Isa. xi. 10, liii. 2 ; Rom. xv. 12. It is also put for the origin or first principle of any disposition or passion. See 1 Tim. vi. 10 ; Deut. xxix. 18 ; Heb. xii. 15. To take root, or to become rooted, denotes per- manency and multiplication ; Job. v. 3 ; Ps. Ixxx. 10 ; Isa. xxvii. 6, &c. The withering of the root, on the contrary, signi- fies destruction ; Job. xviii. 16 ; Isa. v. 24 ; Hosea ix. 16. Job xix. 28 is thus rendered by Durell, preferably to the common version ; " Surely, ye shall say, why have ye persecuted him ? Hath any ground of charge been found in him ?" SACRIFICE is put for slaughter in several pas- sages, among others in Ezek. xxxix. 27, " Come to my sacrifice which I make for you." This bold imagery is founded on the custom of invi- tations to feasts after sacrifices. See Gen. xxxi. 54 ; 1 Sam xvi. 3 ; Zeph. i. 7. Compare Isa. xxxiv. 6, which Ezekiel seems to have imitated, and Rev. xix. 17, 18, where we find Ezekiel's animated address to the birds of prey, and even some of his expressions. The prophet has indulged the bent of his genius in a sublime amplification. By the rams, btUls, and he- SAClllFICE SALT. 367 f/oals, in v. 18, of Ezekiel, are naturally expressed kings, princes, and tyrants ; and the table of God, in V. 20, is the field covered with dead bodies, the place ()f the slaughter of Magog. In James v. 5, " Ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter," (properly, sacrifice) ; there is the same allusion to a feast after a sacrifice. SALT. Salt hinders flesh from corruption, and makes it keep, and is therefore the symbol of incor- ruption, eternity, and perpetual duration. Thus, in Num. xviii. 19, "All the heave-ofierings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer unto the Lord, have I given thee, and thy sons, and thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever : It is a covenant of salt for ever." See Home's Introd. v. 3, p. 192. So again, 2 Chron. xiii. 5, " The Lord God of Is- rael gave the kingdom to David for ever by a cove- nant of salt." And so Lot's wife, Gen. xix. 26, " became a pillar of salt," I. e. she was overtaken by the miraculous salso-sulphureous shower, and thereby fixed and in- crusted like a statue ; and, being thus cha^iged, sym- bolically shewed that she was a standing or perpetital monument of divine vengeance. Agreeably to this is our Lord's discoiirse in Mark ix. 48, 49, who says, that the torments of the wicked shall be like that of those who are gnawed by a per- petual worm, in reference to their conscience ; and that they shall be tormented also by an unquenchable fire, in reference to their body. He then proceeds, " for every one shall be salted with fire ;" i. e. every 368 SALT. one shall be salted or preserved by that very fire which torments him. Salt is the emblem of barrenness : " All places," as Pliny observes, " where salt is found, are barren and produce nothing." Deut. xxix. 23, " The whole land thereof shall be brimstone, and burning salt ; it is not sown, nor bears, nor any herb grows therein, like the overthrow of Sodom," &c. The land surrounding the Dead Sea is strongly impregnated with acrid salt, and produces no plants : the very air is loaded with it, and cannot suit vegetation, " whence," says Volney, " that aspect of death which reigns around the lake." See Judges ix. 45, and Zeph. ii. 9 ; Ezek. xlvii. 1 1 ; Jer. xvii. 6. The passage in Ezekiel seems to be applied allegorically, meaning, that some shall reject the Gospel, and some receive it without obeying it. And so in Ps. cvii. 34, according to the original, " a fruitful land into saltness." Salt is the symbol of hospitality ; see Ezra iv. 14, " Now, for as much as we are maintained from the king's palace," literally, " we are salted with the salt of the palace." Salt, being a wholesome and neces- sary ingredient in human diet, has aht^ays been, and still is, among the Eastern nations the symbol of hos- pitality and friendship ; see Mede's Works, p. 370 ; Herbelot, Harmer, Cudworth, &c. cited by Parkhurst, Heb. Lex. p. 380. Diogenes Laertius, in his Life of Pythagoras, tells us that, concerning salt, it was his maxim that it ought to have its place upon our tables as a memento of justice and integrity, it being pre- servative of whatever it lays hold upon, and made out of the purest materials, water and the sea. SALT SAND. 369 See Levit. ii. 13, where God prescribes that salt shall always constitute a part of the offerings made to him. Salt, on account of its use in preserving food, and rendering it palatable, was anciently made the em- blem of wisdom and virtue. In allusion to this, Paul ordered the Colossians, ch. iv. 6, to season their speech with salt, that it might be preserved from the corrup- tion, condemned in Eph. iv. 29- Macknight thinks the Apostle might possibly refer to those elegant turns in conversation which from the Athenians took the name of attic salt. Salt is the emblem of peace ; Mark ix. 50, where the copulative may be considered as exegetical : — •' Have salt in yourselves, that is, have peace one with another." Being used at meals, and in sacri- fices, it became a sort of bond of union, and hence a symbol of peace. Isidore says, Atxv S-ctvfix^u, x. r. x. " I wonder very much how it happens, that robbers, who brandish their naked swords and arm themselves against those who have never injured them, after par- taking of their salt, cease to be robbers." SAND, as being an aggregate body of countless particles, is naturally employed as the symbol of mul- titudes. Considered as the barrier of the sea merely, it is the symbol of hope and safety, such as the ship- wrecked mariner experiences when he reaches the shore. God graciously promised Abraham that his pos- terity should be without number, as the sand ; Gen. xxii. 17 ; xxxii. 12. And the quantity of corn which Joseph collected B I) 370 SAND SCORPION. iu Egypt is compared to the sand of the sea ; Gen. xH. 49. And Hosea, speaking of the restoration from cap- tivity, ch. i. 10, says, " Yet shall the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, Which cannot be measured or numbered." Horace calls Archytas " Maris et terrae numeroque carentis areni, lake, in Hesiod stands for the ocean. (Theog. v. 365). A sea, clear and serene, denotes an orderly collec- tion of men in a quiet and peaceable state. A sea troubled and tumultuous, denotes a collec- tion of men in motion and war. Either way, — the waters signifying people, and the sea being a collection of waters — the sea becomes the symbol of people, gathered into one body politic, kingdom, or jurisdiction, or imited in one design. And therefore, the Oneirocritics say, in ch. 178, " If any dream he is master of the sea, he will be en- 372 SEA. tire successor in the whole kingdom." And again, " If a king see the sea troubled by a wind from a known quarter, he will be molested by some nation from that quarter. But if he see the sea calm, he will enjoy his kingdom in peace." And in the same chapter, the sea and deep are in- terpreted of a great king. Agreeably to this, in Dan. vii. 2, the great sea agitated by the four winds, is a comprehension of several kings or kingdoms in a state of war ; one kingdom fighting against another to enlarge their dominions- See under Fishes. In Ps. Ixv. 7, these two are classed together, shew- ing the analogy : — " Who stilleth the noise of the seas. The noise of their waves, And the tumults of the people.'''' In Jer. li. 42, " The sea is come up over Babylon." Here the sea is put metaphorically for a numerous army, and the overspreading of waters, for the inva- sion and conquest of the country. In Isa. Ix. 5, " The riches of the sea shall be poured in upon thee," is explained by the next line. " And the wealth of the nations shall come to thee ;"' meaning the inhabitants of the islands, and their de- votedness to the gospel. Rev iv. 6, " Before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal ;" an allusion to that which was in the temple of old, 1 King's vii. 23, and seems to denote the purity that is required in all who make a near approach to the presence of God. SEA. 373 Rev. viii. 9, " The third part of the creatures which were in the seas, and had life, died." See Ezek. xxix. 3, &c. Rev. X. 2, " He set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the earth." As earth and sea make up this terraqueous globe, so the inhabitants of the earth and sea seem in this prophecy to mean the inhabitants of this world at large. See ch. xii. 12, 13. But Su: Isaac Newton thinks the expression represents the angel standing with one foot on Asia, and the other on Europe, to signify that the prophecies he was about to reveal, would relate to both the empires of the east and west. Rev. xiii. 1, " I saw a beast rise up out of the sea ;" i. e. a new dominion or government, which should owe its origin to the commotions of the people. Rev. XV. 2, " I saw a sea of glass, mingled with fire." Of this, it is difficult to give a satisfactory in- terpretation. Rev. xxi. 1, " And there was no more sea ;" i. e. there were no turbulent spirits to disturb the peace of that happy state — for the new heavens and new earth merely denote a new order of things, in which former sorrows and troubles shall no more be remem- bered. Vitringa says, " The sea in general, in a mystical sense, is taken for the world as opposed to the church, or for that part of the earth where there is no wor- ship of the true God, for as the globe is divided into two parts, earth and sea, so the world is divided into two parts, that within and that without the church, which last comes under the name of sea, as being in continual commotion, as incapable of cultivation, as 374 SEA SEALING. the seat of storms and tempests, and dangerous to navigate. Hence the wicked are compared to it in Isaiah Ivii. 20. The same author observes, on Rev. xxi. 1, 2, that there was no sea in the New Jerusalem. " John saw there no Pagans or Idolaters," because in that latter period the whole world will receive the true worship of God ; therefore, the sea, in the mystical sense, will be abolished, and the whole now world will be changed into earth or land. Ewaldus supposes, that by the earth or land in Rev. X. 2, is meant Judea, and by the sea Gentilism. And that his posture, with one foot on each, denotes dominion, lordship, or conquest, since to place the foot on any one implies this. See Ps. ex. 1 ; Deut. xi. 24 ; Josh. i. 3 ; 1 Cor. xv. 27, &c. Among the ancients, the sea was the symbol of various matters, 1. Of the world and its vanities, ac- cording to the Persian proverb, " He who covets this Avorld's goods, is like one who drinks sea-water ; the more he drinks, the more he increases thirst, nor does he cease to drink until he dies." 2. Of calami- ties and persecutions. Thus, Ps. Ixix. 1, 2, 14, 15 ; Ps. cxxiv. 4, 5. 3. Of inconstancy. SEALING. Sealing has several acceptations. 1. It denotes preservation and security. Thus, in Cant. iv. 12, " A fountain sealed," is a fountain care- fully preserved from the injuries of weather and beasts, that its water may be preserved good and clean. In Job xiv. 17> "Sins sealed up in a bag," signify that no sin shall be forgot. And thus, for the greater SEALING. 375 security, the stone at the mouth of our Saviour's se- pulchre was sealed with a seal. 2. It denotes also propriety, from the custom of sealing goods and servants when they were bought, that it might be known to whom they belonged. 3. Sealing denotes secrecy and privacy ; men seal- ing up those things which they intend to keep secret. Thus, a book sealed, Rev. v. 1, is a book whose contents are secret, and have for a very long time been so, and are not to be published till the seal be removed. Horace has used the like symbol, 1. 1, Ep. 20, v. 3. And in Isa. xxix. 11, "A vision like to a book sealed," is a vision not understood. 4. Sealing sometimes signifies completion and per- fection ; because the putting of the seal to any instru- ment or writing completes the matter about which it is, and finishes the whole transaction. Thus, concerning the king of Tyre, the prophet Ezekiel says, ch. xxviii. 12, " Thou sealest up the sum (or measure) full of wisdom and glory ;" that is, thou lookest upon thyself as having arrived at the highest pitch of wisdom and glory. Thus the Arabians call the Koran " the seal of God's promises," as being, according to them, the completion or perfection of God's promises ; and Mahomet, " the seal of the prophets," as being ac- cording to them the greatest of the prophets, after whom no more are to follow. 5. Sealing signifies assent, confirmation, and au- thority, from the use of a seal's being put to decrees, diplomas, covenants, and wills. Thus, in Nehem. ix. 39, the princes, the priests, 376 SEALING. and Levites, to shew their assent to it, sealed the covenant. And sealing has the same signification in John iii. 33. In Esther viii. 8, a writing sealed with the king's seal, denotes the will and pleasure of the king, and that it is unalterable, not to be reversed. And hence a person sealed, signifies a person au- thorised and commissioned, as in relation to our Sa- viour, concerning his giving that meat which endur- eth to everlasting life, says John vi. 27, " him hath God the Father sealed." Hence the bearing of a ring or seal is the token of a high office. See Gen. xli. 41. And therefore, in Aristophanes, the giving of a ring to a person is making him chief magistrate or high steward ; and the taking away of the ring is the discharging him of his office. And to the same purpose speak the Persian and Indian interpreters in ch. 260, concerning a ring or seal. 5. Sealing signifies hindrance and restraint, to put a cessation to, or stop the ejffect of any design. Thus, in Job xxxvii. 7> God is said to seal up the hand of every man ; i. e. to hinder their work by storms and wet weather, or to restrain their power. And so in Job ix. 9, he is said to seal up the stars ; t. e. to restrain their influences. And thus in iEschylus, Eumer. v. 830. &c., thunder sealed up, is thunder restrained, not used, or laid aside. In Ephri. 13, " Ye were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit," there is thought to be an allusion to the magic rings and seals common amongst tlie Ephesian SEALING SEE. 377 idolaters, used as amulets or charms, and for other similar purposes, as mentioned by Clemens, Alexan- drinus, Stromata, lib. 1, and by Lucian Phileps, t. 2, also by Aristophanes in Phit. The £«pte-<« y^oLftntotTa, or Ephesian letters, were thought to have the same virtue. To such as these vain securities, the Apos- tle opposes the sacred seal of the Holy Spirit, as an earnest of their heavenly inheritance. SEE. To see is, in several places, a prophetical expression, shewing the proper work of the Prophets. For, in 1 Sam. ix, 9) he that was in those days called a Prophet, was before time called a Seer, and, there- fore, their inspiration, when it was given thern by symbols, comes under the name of seeing, or vision, as in Num. xxiv. 4, 16. And this is the very style of the heathens, as ap- pears from Euripides and Virgil. (Helen v. 755 ; Mn.\. 6, V. 86, 87.) Verbs that belong to the human senses are often put for one another in the best authors. Thus, to see a voice, is an expression used by the sacred writ- ers, and by ^schylus. (Exod. xx. 18; Rev. i. 12; Prometh, V. 21). Aristophanes uses yiva-xi tth 3-v^*?, taste the door, instead of feel the door. (Ranae.) And Petronius, a nice author as to matters of style, says, " Necdum libaveram cellulae limen." See also Lucretius, b. 1, v. 645. The eyes often sympathize with the affections of the soul, and therefore, to see, in Scripture, frequently signifies to rejoice or to be grieved, according to the circumstances of the person affected. Thus old Simeon, when he saw our Saviour, said, 378 SEE SEPULCHRE. " Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation ;" i. e. I shall now die in peace and joy, be- cause I have seen my Saviour. So, in Ps. Ixiv. 18, " If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me ;" i. e. if I take de- light in sin, God will not bless me. In like manner, as to the zifFection of sorrow, 2 Kings vii. 2, " Thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not eat thereof ;" i. e. thou shalt have the sorrow not to enjoy the benefit of it. See also 2 Kings xxii. 20 ; Esther viii. 6 ; Ps. cxii. 10 ; 1 Sam. ii. 33 ; Deut. xxviii. 34. So, in profane authors, in relation to joy, pascere oculos, to feed the eyes, signifies to take a delight in seeing : in oculis gestare, to carry a person in one's eyes, is to love him dearly, to desire to have him always present. And in relation to sorrow, a thing done before the eyes, heightens the grief, as in several places in Ter- ence and Virgil. So, in Luke i. 48, " He hath regarded the low es- tate of his handmaid ;" means, he has taken a delight in favouring her, so as to account her worthy of the greatest honour. And, on the other hand, our seeing God, denotes the large and clear knowledge we shall have of him, the inconceivable pleasure of contemplating him, the joy of loving, and of being loved by him ; all which is fitly represented by seeing, sight being of all our senses the most noble and refined. , SEPULCHRE occurs several times in Scripture in a symbolical sense, as in Ps. v. 10, " Their throat .SEPULCHRE. • 379 is an open sepulchre ;" and so of the Chaldeans, in Jer. V. 16, " Their quiver is an open sepulchre ; All of them are mighty men." And oiu" Lord, in Matt, xxiii. 27, compares the Pharisees to whitened sepulchres, as being hypocrites. Sepulchres, as he observes, are full of dead men's bones, and all uncleanness ; and though the Pharisees outwardly had a show of sanctity, their inward prin- ciples were evidently unsound and corrupt. Those who touched the dead, were considered as polluted ; and hence burying-grounds were generally without the city, in places remote from the usual commerce of men. So our Lord's character of the Pharisees, shows that he considered them as danger- ous guides in religion. And in Luke xi. 44, he calls them " graves that appear not," as those of the poor, no doubt, ofisn were, being concealed with grass and weeds. See Num. xix. 16. Because the Pharisees concealed, under a cloak of sanctity, the real abomi- nations of their hearts, and professed a strict regard to the letter of the law, while they were filled with malice, covetousness, and vain-glory. In the same chapter, viz. Matt, xxiii. v. 29, he says, " Ye garnish the sepulchres of the righteous," in allusion to a custom prevalent among the Greeks, as well as among the Jews, of repairing and adorning the monuments of those who had merited well of them, or who had sufiered an imdeserved death. Thus Homer, II. 16, " His friends and people, to his future praise, A marble tomb and pyramid shall raise, And lasting honours to his ashes give ; His fame ('tis all the dead can have) shall live." 380 SEPULCHRE. . And Raphelius produces a passage from Xenophon to this effect : — " If any one do not adorn (the very terra used in the Gospel) the sepulchres of his dead parents, the State will inquire into it in the investiga- tion of the Magistrates." And Lucian has the fol- lowing,— " Those who have valuable and lofty monu- ments on the earth, and columns, and images, and in- scriptions, are not more honourable in the shades below than the plebeian dead." All these things were done " to be seen by men ;" and our Lord traces them all to the principle of vain ostentation. " Yet even these bones from insult to protect. Some frail memorial still erected nigh, With uncouth rhymes and shapeless sculpture deck'd, Implores the passing tribute of a sigh." The Jews were in the habit of visiting the sepul- chres of the dead ; and hence they thought, when Mary, the sister of Lazarus, went out, that she had gone to the grave to weep there. They even erected temples over the sepulchres, and performed religious worship therein. Mahomet is said to have execrated them on this account. The prophet, in his last dis- ease, from which he never arose, said, " May God curse the Jews, for they convert the sepulchres of their prophets into temples." As to whitened sepulchres, Dr Shaw observes, " That tombs among the Moors, with the very walls of their cupolas and enclosures, are constantly kept clean, white-washed, and beautified, and so fer con- tinue to illustrate the expressions of our Saviour. It is in reference to this that Paul calls Ananias a whitcd wall. Acts xxiii. 3, an expression which proved pro- phetical ; for Ananiasj after having contributed to the SEPULCHRE SERPENT. 381 ruin of his country, by a powerful faction which he had raised, and which produced many calamities, was slain after the revolt of the Jews, a. d. 66, with his brother ; and fell not by the arms of the Romans, but by another faction of the Jews, which was headed by his own son." Tillemont, H. E. 1, p. 274. SERPENT. The symbol of Satan, who is called the " old serpent," Rev. xii. 9- This symbol occurs frequently in Scripture, viz. 1 Cor. xii. 3, " I fear, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety." Luke X. 19, 20, " I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enem?/," Sec. " Notwithstanding, in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject to you, but," &c. Rev. xii. 12, " The Demi is come down to you, having great wrath." Rev. xii. 14, " And the woman was nourished for a time and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent." Rev. XX. 2, " And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years." Hence the phrases, " offspring of vipers," Matt, iii. 7 ; and " children of the Devil," John viii. 44, may be considered to be parallel. The Jews acknowledge the serpent to be the sym- bol of Satan. In the cabalistic book, entitled Tikkun Sophai', quoted by Vitringa, Observ. Sacr. Tit. 1, p. 1 5, we read, " He said to them, that serpent with which ye contend, that ye may escape from him, is the same who hath slain and devoured others, and not only the first man, but all generations." And Mai- 382 SERPENT. monides, Mor. Nev. p. 2, c. 30, " Sammael (/. e, the serpent seducing Eve) is no other than Satan himself, whatever secret that name may signify ; he is also called Nachash, a serpent." Those passages of the fathers, in which this symbol is adverted to, may be seen in Suicer's Thesaurus, article Ophis. It is well known, that the serpent was worshipped with divine honours among many ancient nations. See Herodotus, iElian, and others. Sidonius Apolli- nar. has this passage : " Magnus Alexander necnon Augustus liabentur Concept! Serpente Deo." See also the Octavius of Minucius FelLx. We find many ancient coins with the figure of ser- pents, and somewhere an altar is exhibited, and a serpent, to whom Victory is sacrificing. See Span- heim de usu Numism. ; and Oisel on the same sub- ject, who has a plate representing a serpent with a green tree, as if the worship of the serpent had been derived from the seduction of Eve in the garden. We learn from the New Testament, that Satan was considered by our Lord as the " prince of this world," John xii. 31 ; and by Paul, as the " god of this world," 2 Cor. iv. 4. In allusion to which, the apos- tle observes, Eph. vi. 12, " We wrestle not against flesh and blood (only), but SLgainst pritwipalities and powers, against the rulers of this dark world, against wicked spirits in high places." And hence idolatry is termed, in Ps. cvi. 37, a sacrificing their sons and daughters unto devils or demons. And the same is affirmed in Deut. xxxii. 17 ; 1 Cor. x. 20 ; and Rev. ix. 20. In Ephes. ii. 2, Satan is called the " Prince SERPENT. 383 of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience ;" and in Heb. ii. 14, he is said to " have the power of death," from which men can only be delivered by a Redeemer. As the head of the serpent is the seat of life, hence the overthrow of Satan's power is called " bruising or crushing the serpent's head," Gen. iii. 15. Rom. xvi. 20, has a plain reference to the same subject. And this overthrow is attributed to the Messiah, 1 John iii. 8. Among the Hebrews, Nachash or Nehash, was the name of the land serpent, and of that tribe of animals in general ; the river serpent, crocodile, &c. they called fenin. Among the Latins, the water snakes were called angues ; the land snakes, serpentes ; and when these animals were consecrated, and in temples, dracones, from which our term dragon. And so Virgil styles them, when they are said to be hid at the feet of Pal- las, yEn. 2, v. 225, " At gemini.lapsu dehibra ad summa dracones Eftiigiunt," &c. The Egyptians reputed the serpent to be an em- blem of their god Cneph, by which word they meant the Demiurgus, or maker of all things. And the Phcenicians seem to have represented, in their mystic figures of the serpent, the power by which all things consist. See Shuckford, vol. iv. The sharep mentioned by Moses, Numb. xxi. 6, are nowhere called dragons, but are a species of serpent, which probably had that name from the heat or burn- ing pain occasioned by their bite, or from their vivid fiery colour ; for sharep signifies to bum. See also 384 SERPENT. Deut. viii. 15. The Septuagint call it " the biting serpent." It is referred to in Isa. xiv. 29, " For from the root of the serpent shall come forth a basilisk, And his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent." Isa. XXX. 6, " The burden of the beasts travelling southward, Through a land of distress and difficulty, Whence come forth the lioness and the fierce lion. The viper and the fiery flying serpent;" describing the deserts through which the Israelites passed in their journeys, and which were designed to be a barrier between them and Egypt. It is remarkable, that the seraphim, or cherubic emblems, derive their name from the same root, meaning burning spirits. The serpent or dragon is employed by the Sacred writers as the symbol of solitude and desolation ; for as venomous and loathsome creatures generally hide themselves in uninhabited places, amidst ruins, reeds, and rubbish, so, where there is any mention of the ruin of a city, or the desolation of a province, the place is said to be a dwelling for dragons. Thus, Isa. xiii. 22, " And wolves shall howl to one another in their palaces. And dragons in their voluptuous pavilions." Similar to what Milton has said, Par. Lost, b. 11 , 1. 750, — — " And in their palaces. Where luxury late reign'd, sea-monsters whelp'd, And stabled." Isaiah xxxiv. 13, •' And in her palaces shall spring up thorns. The nettle and the bramble, in her fortresses; And she shall become a habitation for dragons, A court for the daughters of the ostrich." SERPENT. 385 Jerem. ix. 1 1, " And I will reduce Jerusalem into heaps, a den of dragons. And the cities of Judah will I make a desolation without inhabitant." When the opposite picture is intended, that is, a recovery from desolation, then the following language is used. Isa. xxxv. 7, " And the serab, or glowing sand, shall become a pool. And the thirsty soil bubbling springs ; And in the haunts of dragons shall spring forth The grass, with the reed, and the bulrush." In Psalm cxlviii. 7, amongst other parts of creation invited to praise God, we find the following : " Praise Jehovah, ye dragons, and all deeps'.*' Meaning, ye great serpents, and all deep caverns, where they dwell. The Hebrew words tenim and tenout, seem some- times to be applied to an animal of a different species, though our translators, without discrimination, have rendered them by dragons in the following passages : Job XXX. 29 ; Micah i. 8 ; Mai. i. 3. From the noise, wailing, or whining, ascribed to it by Micah, it more probably means the jackal, or shakal, which, in the night, makes a lamentable howling noise, as Pocock, Shaw, and Bochart remark. In Jerem. li. 34, Nebuchadnezzar is compared to a dragon : " He hath swallowed us up like a dragon, he hath filled hi> maw; From our Eden (or Paradise) he hath cast us out ;" where there seems to be an allusion to the ejection of the first human pair from the garden of God's plant- ing. According to the Oneirocritics, the dragon is the s}Tubol of a king that is an enemy. c c 386 SERPENT. Job xxvi. 13, " By his spirit he hath g.amish'd the heavens, Hi3 hand hath form'd the crooked serpent." The Septuagint read : Hath killed the rebel dra- gon. . It is difficult to say to what this applies. The Rabbis apply it to the constellation called Draco. Parkhurst, to some sea monster. Schleusner explains it : — " Serpentem celeriter se fuga proripientem." Rev. xii. 3, the dragon here seems intended to re- present some fierce and powerful enemy of the Chris- tian church ; and, from the description given of its seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon its head, we are led to infer that the Roman power is here meant, since to no other does this description so well apply. This dragon is said to have fought (see V. 7) with Michael and his angels ; and in v. 9, he is said to be cast out or discomfited. The whole seems to intimate, that there should be a sharp contention between faithful Christians on the one hand, and the maintainers of error, idolatry, and wickedness on the other, represented by these two symbolical classes, which contention should at last end in a complete victory over the enemies of true religion. The language employed appears to allude to the fall of the rebel angels, at a period prior to the crea- tion of the present world ; but we are left so much in the dark on that subject, that the allusion is mere matter of conjecture. As to the beast, spoken of in Rev. xiii. 11, " who spake like a dragon," it is extremely difficult to give any satisfactory interpretation of what is meant by it. SERPENT. 387 The opinions of commentators differ so widely from each other, and appear so little in accordance with the prophetic description, that one is compelled to leave the matter undetermined. That which seems most plausible, is the explanation given by Bishop Newton, who considers the ten-horned beast to be the Roman state in general, and the two-horned beast to be the Roman church in particular. And his " speak- ing like a dragon," he explains to mean, " his usurp- ing divine titles and honours — his commanding idola- try, and his persecuting and slaying the true worship- pers of God, and faithful servants of Jesus Christ." We read in the 21st chapter of the first book of Macrobius, " that two serpents were carved under the images of iEsculapius and Health, because they bring it to pass, that the human constitution is again renewed by their influence, as serpents are by throw- ing off their skins." Herodotus, likewise, in his 8th book, says, " That the ancients worshipped the gods and genii of any place under the form of serpents." Hence Persius's expression, Sat. 1, 1. 113. '* Pinge duo3 angues : Pueri, sacer est locus." The serpent was adored in Egypt as the emblem of the Divine nature, not only on account of its great vigour and spirit, but of its extended age and revi- rescence. In Cashmere, also, there were no less than 700 places where carved figures of snakes were wor- shipped. In Salsette and Elephanta, almost all the deities either grasp serpents in their hands, or are environed with them, which can only be intended as a mark of their divinity. In the hieroglyphic sculp- :388 SERPENT SEVEN. ture of Egypt, their wreathed bodies represented the oblique course of the stars, while the same bodies formed into a circle were an emblem of eternity ; and the serpent was one of the most conspicuous of the forty-eight great constellations, into which the ancients divided the visible heavens, (Maurice's Ind. Antiq. V. ii. p. 189.) SEVEN. Of all the sacred numbers this is the most ancient and remarkable ; the most ancient, as marking the septenary division of time from the crea- tion of the world ; and the most remarkable, as being used to set forth a great variety of events and mys- terious circumstances. It may be viewed in two lights, as the symbol of perfection, and as the symbol of rest. God conse- crated the seventh day as a day of repose ; and every seventh year was sabbatical, as being consecrated to the rest of the earth. The rest of the seventh day or Sabbath, according to the Apostle, Heb. iv. 4, 9, in- timates eternal rest. Seven times seven, or the forty-ninth year, intro- duced the year of Jubilee. Jacob's seven years' ser- vice to Laban ; Pharaoh's seven fat oxen, and seven lean ones ; the seven branches of the golden candle- sticks ; the seven trumpets, and seven priests who sounded them ; the seven days' siege of Jericho ; the seven churches, seven spirits, seven stars, seven §eals, seven vials, and many others, sufficiently prove the importance of this sacred number. But in several places, severiy like ten, is put inde- finitely for many. Thus Isaiah iv. 1, " Seven women," i. e. several or many women. SEVEN. 389 Psalm xii. 6, " Silver purified seven times," i. e. many times. Psalm Ixxix, 1 2, " Render to our neighbours seven- fold," i. e. punish them severely. Prov. xxvi. 16, " Seven men that can render a reason," i. e. many men. The word seven (Heb. shebo) in its radical mean- ing, imports sufficiency, fulness, plenitude. And the seven prismatic colours, and the seven sounds of the octave, seem to give it a tmiversality which no other number possesses. Cicero declares, that it contains the mystery of all things. Hippocrates affirms, that this number, by its occult virtues, tends to the evolu- tion of all things ; and he, like Shakspeare, divides the life of man into seven ages. Even in the heathen world, we find traces of this favourite number, the seven wise men of Greece ; the seven wonders of the world ; the seven stars ; the seven chiefs before Thebes ; the seven bulls' hides in the shield of Ajax, and many more. We have also the seven heavens of the Rabbis, the seven sacraments of the Church of Rome, the seven champions of Christendom, the common phrase of a man's seven senses, the seven years' apprenticeship, seven years* transportation, and the like. In the Divine economy, in respect of Chastisements, it is very evident. Thus in Job v. 12, the just is only smitten six times, but not a seventh ; " He shall de- liver thee in six troubles ; yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee." Thus also in Ezek. ix. 2, six men are employed to destroy, but the seventh has the inkhorn, whereby they that were to be saved are marked. 390 SEVEN. Philo observes, that nature loves the number seven, which Censorinus confirms by saying, " That the said number was of great efficacy in every thing." Farther, the two numbers of four and seven, are ©bserved by Hippocrates to be critical in the growth and resolution of fevers. He says, " Of seven days the fourth is the index ; of the next septenary, the beginning of it, viz. the eighth day ; and the eleventh as being the fourth of the second septenary ; and the seventeenth as being the fourth from the fourteenth, &c. Skebo, seven, is plainly derived from shebo, he was ftill. And so shebo to swear, is derived from the signification of fulness ; an oath being an end of all strife for confirmation, (Heb. vi. 16), when things are unseen or future, to content for the present, to satisfy Bind Jill the mind. Zech. iv. 10, " These seven are the eyes of Jehovah, which run to and fro through the whole earth." Mede interprets this of the seven principal angels which minister before the Throne of God, and are therefore called Archangels. That the Jews had a notion or tradition of this kind, appears from the Paraphrase on Gen, xi. 7, where the words, " Go to, let us go down, and confound their language," are thus paraphrased, " The Lord spake to the seven angels which stand before him. Go to now, let us go down," &c. These seven archangels seem to be considered as the Privy Council of God, to whom his secret pur- poses are made known before their accomplishment. And here in Zechariah, the seven lamps are said to be, t. e. to denote the seven eyes of the Lord ; that is, SEVEN. 391 the seven watchers or prime ministers of his provi- dence. This is confirmed by John, Rev. iv. 5, who says, " He saw seven lamps before the Throne, which are the seven spirits of God." And again, ch. v. 6, " I saw a Iamb having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth" nearly the very words of Zechariah. Jose- phus de Bello Judaico, 1. 6, c. 6, affirms that the seven lamps signify the seven planets, and that they stood slopewise, to express the obliquity of the Zodiac. This is a notion of his own, but the Jewish astrolo- gers considered the seven angels to be the prefects of the seven planets. In the salutation set down, Rev. i 4, 5, the language is, " Grace be unto you, and peace from Him who is, who was, and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits which are before his Thone, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness." Here the seven spirits are put between the Deity and his Son. And in ch. viii. 2, " I saw," says John, " The seven angels who stood before God, and to them were given seven trumpets." These are the chief princes men- tioned in Daniel x. 13, " Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help rae." And we find Paul ad- juring Timothy thus : " I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and theElect angels," mean- ing not the angels in general, but the seven arch- angels which stand before the Throne of God. And hence in Persia, whose monarchy was at one time regulated in part by Daniel as prime minister, there were seven chief princes, so that the Persian Court, in that respect, resembled the Hierarchy of Heaven. They are twice mentioned in Scripture, Esther i. 14, the seven princes of Media and Persia 392 SEVEN SHADOW. w ho saw the king's face, and sat first in the kingdom. And in Artaxerxes' commission to Ezra eh. vii. 14, they are called the king's seven counsellors. Perhaps, when the church of Jerusalem chose seven deacons to minister in the society, they had an eye the same way. And we find the angel that appeared to Zacharias and Elizabeth saying, " I am Gabriel that stand in the presence of God." Now, all the angels, in one sense, stand in the Divine presence ; but not in this peculiar sense, as his prime minister. And Michael is said in Dan. xii. 1, to be the prince that stood up for Daniel's people. And in the church's combat with the dragon, Rev. xii. 7, Michael and his angels are said to be her champions, and to have cast the dra- gon down to the earth. And in Zech. iii. 9, it is said, " On one stone there are seven eyes ;" that is, that these seven eyes or angels superintend the foundation which Zerubabel laid for the temple. And so we may guess at the meaning of what Hanani the seer told King Asa, 2 Chron. xvi. 9 ; " The eyes of the Lord {i. e. these seven eyes), run to and fro through the whole earth, to shew themselves strong in behalf of those whose hearts are perfect towards him." (See Medes' works, p. 43.) SHADOW. In determining the true signification of figures, it is necessary we should view the objects in the same light in which they appeared to the author who employed them. We must have an eye to the climate in which he lived, the prevailing customs and popular notions of the country, &c. In a cold country a shade or shadow would scarcely be allowed to be a proper emblem of any thing that is desirable. But in SHADOW SHEEP. 393 Palestine and other hot countries, where the scorching heat was intolerable, nothing was more pleasant than a shade to protect from it. The first care of Jonah, when he waited in the plain near Nineveh, in order to be an eye-witness of the fate of that great city, was to prepare a booth, and sit under it in the shadow. The only comfort God sent him to allay his grief, was to make a gourd or shady plant to come up over Jonah, and that comfort was no sooner taken from him, than the sun beat upon his head that he fainted, and he wished in himself to die. This image, which is taken from the life, may help us to account for the most vehement desires being compared to a labourer's longing for the shadotc. Job vii. 2. Agreeably to the same notion, we find among the ))rincipal blessings promised in Christ's kingdom, Isa. iv. 6, a tabernacle for a shadow in the day-time from the heat. Thus the general construction to be put upon the word shade or shadow, is that of protection against )^<* and 2; " When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy." Perhaps this may refer to an opinion, that the stars are under the direction of guardian angels. But why the morning stars ? Because it was at the time of the creation, the morning of the first day. Rev. i. 20, the pastors of the seven churches are called the seven stars, on account of their office. Jude, verse 13, the false teachers are described as " wandering stars," in allusion to those meteors arising from electrical matter in the air, which blaze and are in motion for a time, but are suddenly extinguished. Rev. vi. 13, " The stars of heaven fell upon the earth ;" i. e. some principal ruling powers fell from their authority into a state of subjection. Bishop Newton considers this to signify the down- fall of the Pagan Roman empire, when the great lights of the heathen world, the sun, moon, and stars, the powers civil and ecclesiastical, were all eclipsed and obscured, the heathen emperors and Caesars were 424 STAR STING STONES. slain, the heathen priests and augurs were extirpated, the heathen officers and magistrates were removed, the heathen temples were demolished, and their re- venues were appropriated to better uses. Rev. xii. 4, " His tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven ;" i. e. the power here alluded to, would subdue the governments in the third part of the then known world. Here, as Daubuz observes, the decorum of the symbol is followed, crocodiles and some great serpents, seizing their prey with tlieir tails. STING is equivalent to the poison it contains, and transmits into the wound it makes. In Scripture, poison, lies, error, delusion, curses, gall, and mischief, are synonymous ; the former being the causes of the latter. So in Ps. cxl. 3, " Adders' poison is xmder their lips," is to be explained by lies or curses ; as in Ps. Iviii. 3, 4, " They go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies. Their poison is like the poison of a serpent : they are like the deaf adder, that stoppeth her ear." And in Ps. xiv. 5, " With their tongues have they deceived ; the poison of asps is under their lips ; their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.'* For the sting of the scorpion, see under Scorpion. STONES. (White Stone.) The most ancient way among the Grecians of giving sentence in courts of judicature, was by black and white pebbles, called 4'?^o<. They who were for acquitting a person tried, cast into an urn a white pebble, and those who were for condemning him a black one. Ovid has noticed this custom, Met. 1. 15, v. 41, STONES. 425 " Mo3 erat antiquis, niveis atriaque lapillis, His damnare reos, illis absolvere culpa." " Black and white stones were used in ages past. These to acquit the prisoner, those to cast." The like was done in popular elections ; the white pebbles being given by way of approbation, and the black ones by way of rejection. The ballot of the present day is something similar. Hence a white pebble or stone becomes a symbol of absolution in judgment, and of conferring honours and rewards, Rev. ii. 17- The symbol of a stone cut out of a mountain with- out hands is used in Dan. ii. 34, and may be thus ex- l)lained : — A mountain has been shown to signify symbolically a kingdom or empire. Now, a mountain consists of stones united together. By the rule of analogy, stones, therefore, must signify the several peoples of which a kingdom or empire, represented by a mountain, is composed. And, therefore, a stone cut out of a sym- bolical mountain, will be a people to be formed out of the kingdom represented, and to be (forasmuch as the cutting denotes a separation) of a quite different nature from the rest of the people, of which the said kingdom consists. And this is said to be done without hands, which may denote that the said people would be of a sudden formed, when men were not aware of any such thing ; and that it wordd be done without any visible worldly support or assistance. Zech. ix. 16, •' And Jehovah their God shall save them, In that day shall he save his people as sheep, When consecrated stones shall be erected for a standard in his land ;" 426 STONES STORK. a reference to heaps of stones, set up by way of me- morial, and consecrated to that particular use ; i. c. as monuments of victory. See I Sam. vii. 1 2, " Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Eben-ezer, saying, Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." Ebenezer signi- fies the stone of help. See also 2 Sam. xx. 8 ; and Virgil, Georgic, 1. 3, " Stabunt et Parii lapides spirantia signa." Strabo, Geogr. 1. 3, mentions, *' that it was custo- mary amongst the ancients to mark the limits of their victorious progress by altars or columns of stone." And Xenophon, Anabasis, 1. 4, records, " that an im- mense pile of stones was erected by the Greeks, on their return from the expedition to Asia." Stones of this kind were wont to be consecrated by pouring oil upon them. See Gen. xxviii. 18. They were also crowned with garlands ; but of this there is no mention in Scripture. STORK, a well-known bird, remarked for its na- tural affection, and for other qualities. It is a bird of passage. It is mentioned in several passages of Scripture ; among others, in Jerem. viii. 7, ■' Even the stork in the heavens knoweth her stated times. And the turtle-dove, and the crane, and the swallow, observe the season of their coming: But my people have not discerned the judgment of Jehovah." " In the end of autumn," says a Danish author, the storks, not being able to bear the winter of Den- mark, gather in a great body about the sea-coasts, as we see swallows do, and go off together ; the old ones leading, the young brood in the centre, and a STORK SUN. 427 second body of old ones behind. They return in spring, and betake themselves in families to their several nests." It is this quality of foresight and anticipation of the seasons, of which the sacred writer makes the stork the symbol, and which he employs as a ground of reproach against the Jews ; in the same manner as our Lord reproaches the Pharisees (Matt. ch. xvi.) with being able to discern the face of the sky, but not to discriminate the signs of the times. As these birds shun the winter instinctively, so the people of God, when they see the coming of Divine judgments, should make preparation to escape from them, by repentance or otherwise. And as these birds return in spring to their former abodes, so God's people ought to distinguish the times and periods which He has fixed for the duration of his judgments. It is the wish of God that his people should be so employed ; and it is their interest and duty not to be indifferent spectators of the signs of the times, that they may escape the visitations which impend over others. SUN. Sun, Moon, and Stars. Wherever the scene of government is laid, whether in the civil or ecclesiastical state, or in that of a single family, the sun, moon, and stars, when mentioned together, de- note the different degrees of power or governors in the same state. This is evident, in relation to a single family, from Joseph's dream. Gen. xxxvii. 10, where the sun~, moon, and stars are interpreted, of Jacob, the head of his 428 SUN. family, — of his wife, the next head or guide, — and of his sons, the lesser ones. And as to a kingdom, the Oriental Oneirocritics, ch. 167, jointly say, that the sun is the symbol of the king, and the moon of the next to him in power. And therefore the stars, when mentioned together with the sun and moon, must denote governors or rulers of an inferior kind, but next in power to him who is the second person in the government. And therefore the stars, in the symbolical charac- ter, which, taken from the appearance of things, and their proportion, being to the eye lesser luminaries, signify, according to the interpreters, inferior princes or governors. And thus Hippolytus, prince of Athens, is called a star by Euripides (Hippol. v. 11 20). When a king is not compared with his own nobles or princes, but with other kings, a star may be his symbol. Thus, in Isa. xiv. 17, the king of Babylon is represented by the morning star. For, as it is brighter than the rest of the stars, and is the forerun- ner of the sun, and so shews a power preceding in time the rest of the light, so the king of Babylon was greater in power and dignity than other kings, and the monarchy established in Babylon was the first that was established in the world. A setting sun is the symbol of a declining and pe- rishing power. A rising sun, of a rising power or government. Whatever comes from the rising of the sun beto- kens some fortunate accident, according to Artemi- dorus, 1. 3, c. 36. It is a good and prosperous omen, and betokens assistance. SUN. 429 Thus in 2 Sam. xxiii. 4, the favour and protection of God to his people is compared to the light of the morning when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds. For as in Hosea vi. 5, light is the symbol of God's government, so the dawning of it in the rising of the sun, is the beginning of his favour and deliverance, which is to go forwards to greater perfection. Hence Solomon says, Prov. iv. 18, " The path of the just is as the shining light, which shineth more and more unto the perfect day." And again, ch. xx. 27, " The lamp or light of Jehovah is the breath of man," i. e. the favour of God keeps men alive, makes them active, vigorous, and prosperous. In Isa. Iviii. 8, it is said, " Then shall thy light break forth as the morning. And thine health shall spring forth speedily." The health implies forgiveness of sins, and the light of the morning a deliverer. That is, God will send a Deliverer, and forgive the sins of his people, or re- mit the punishment. So also in Isa- Ix. 1, 2, " Arise, shine, for thy light is come. And the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee," &c. The Light or Deliverer here is the Messiah, who, to the church of Israel, is the 'AyaeTaAii, the day-spring, east, or sun -rising, as well as the light of the world, Zech. iii. 8, Mai. iv. 2, John i. 4, &c., and is there- fore called the Sun of Righteousness. All which agrees with the words of Zacharias, Luke i. 78, 79> " Whereby the day-spring, AyasToAji, from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to 430 SUN. guide our feet into the way of peace." For the words " to sit in darkness and in the shadow of death," signify, to be in slavery and .subjection ; in allusion to an eastern custom still in practice, of putting the slaves in prisons, or pits under ground, where they are locked up every night. And sometimes they were blinded, as appears from Judges xvi. 21, and from the custom of the Scythians, related by Hero- dotus, 1. 4, § 2. Those that were designed for work elsewhere, were every morning taken out of the dun- geon, and sent to their labour. Now as the day-spring delivers them from that place, at least for a time, so it is a proper symbol of release from slavery, according to the subject spoken of. Thus in Isa. xlii. 6, 7, " I \rill give thee for a covenant to the people, For a light to the nations, To open the eyes of the blind. To bring the captive out of confinement, And those that dwell in darkness from the dungeon." See to the same purpose Isa. xlix. 9- And thus also it is said, Ps. xlix. 14, " The upright shall have do- minion over them in the morning ;" that is, when God comes to judge the cause of the upright, that have been in oppression, and sets them at liberty, then shall the upright in their turn subdue the wicked. And there is this further conformity of the expres- sion to the nature of the thing, that justice was exe- cuted, and causes tried in courts in the morning, as appears from Jer. xxi. 12; so that the morning is the proper time of gaol-delivery, and courts of justice met then, — the places in which slaves were either de- livered to their masters by sentence for payment, or SUN. 43 1 else set at liberty, such causes being there managed, as is evident from Exod. xxi. 6, So Tyndarus, in Plautus, being taken out of the quarry-pits, says, " Lucis das tuendae copiam, — you release me from my slavery." (Capt., act. 5. so. 4. V. 11.) God himself is called a sun, Ps. Ixxxiv. 12. And Jesus Christ calls himself the light of the world, i. e. the sun of the world, John viii. 12. Deborah, in her song, makes the sun the symbol of believers in God : " Let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might," Judges v. 31. The sun may be considered to be an emblem of Divine truth, respecting which the Apostle says, Eph. v. 13, " But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light, for light is that \Yhich doth make things manifest." As light is not only manifest in itself, but makes other things manifest, so one truth detects, and reveals, and manifests another, as all truths are dependent on, and connected with each other, more or less. As the sun is the supreme material light, so that when he rises, all other lights disappear ; so when God teaches, whether by reason or by revelation, all other teaching appears valueless, and every other mo- nitor seems silent, that the voice of God alone may be heard. As it is the same sun that illuminates all parts of the earth, so whatever nations throughout the whole habit- able globe are instructed by God, it is the same truth by which they are instructed ; for God does not teach differently in different places. ; Truth is no geogra- 432 SUN. phical thing, affected by latitudes, climates, or the like. As the light of the sun is one, pure, and un- stained, for the spots we seem to discover on his disc, are probably not on, but collected around the sun ; so it is said of God, 1 John i. 5, " God is light, and in him is no darkness at all ;" i. e. he is exempt from all error, deceit, injustice, imperfection, and all light derived to the creatures, proceeds solely from him. The light of the sun was considered anciently to have a sanative and vivifying power ; and Macrobius mentions (Saturn. 1. cap. 17.)> when treating of Apol- lo, that the vestal virgins were wont to address him in this manner, " O Apollo Medice — O Apollo the physician ;" and we find Jesus spoken of as the sun of righteousness, with healing in his wings, i. e. in his beams. And hence John says, " In him was life, and the life was the light of men," chap. i. 4. Amongst the ancients, the sun was considered to be the symbol of a king. So Gordian, Hadrian, Au- relian, are represented on coins under the figure of the sun, with the inscription, " Oriens. Aug. sive soli invicto, Soli invicto Comiti," &c. In the Jewish writings we often find this title ap- plied to the Messiah. Thus in Rabboth, fol. 149, " They said unto him, No, unless when the suh shall come, i. e. the Messiah, as it is written. And to you who fear my name shall the sun of righteousness arise." And Raschi on Isa. xxiv. 15, where he says, " Jonathan interprets it, when light shall come to the just, — this is said of the two lights of deliverance from Babylonish and Roman captivity, i. e. the Mes- SUN SWORD. 433 siah, whom they feigned to themselves to be such a deliverer." SWORD. The symbol of war and slaughter, as appears from numerous passages of Scripture, espe- cially in the prophetical books. See Isa, xxxiv. 5 ; Ezek. xxi., &c ; Rev. xix. 17, 18. Lev. xxvi. 25. " I will bring a sword upon you ;" /. e. I will cause war to come. Gen. xxvii. 40, " By thy sword thou shalt live ;" /. €. Thou shalt support thyself by war and rapine. 2. It is the symbol of the Divine judgments. See Deut. xxxii. 41, &c. Also, of the instrument whom God employs to ex- ecute his judgments. Ps. xvii. 13, " The wicked, who is thy sword." 3. It is the symbol of power and authority. Rom. xiii. 4, " He beareth not the sword in vain." This is spoken agreeably to the notions and cus- toms of the Romans at the time when the apostle wrote. Thus, not more than ten or twelve years af- ter the date of this epistle, Vitellius, when he resigned the empire, gave up his dagger, which he had taken from his side, to the attending consul, thus surrender- ing the authority of life and death over the citizens. See Tacitus, b. 3, c. 68, and Suetonius in Vitell. cap. 15. " So the kings of Great Britain are not only, at their inauguration, solemnly girt with the sword of state, but this is afterwards carried before them on public occasions. 4. It is the symbol of unjust violence. Matt. xxvi. 52, " All they that take the sword, shall perish by the sword." Ff 434 SWORD. Our Lord uses it in opposition to peace, Matt. x. 34, " I came not to send peace on earth, but a sword," which Luke, xii. 51, expresses by the word Division ; i. e. men would so abuse his doctrine, as to make it the occasion of violent contentions, but as to its pro- })er design and natural tendency, the angels pro- claimed it at his appearance in the flesh, that it was to send " peace on earth." The Egyptians, those great masters of symbolical learning, called Ochus, king of Persia, a cruel con- queror to them, by the name of sword. See Plut. de Isid. et Osir. p. 394, quoted by Daubuz. In many authors, the sword is the symbol of death or destruction. Thus Euripides says (Helen, v. 809), " The sword shall reach thee, not my nuptial bed." 5. The word of God is often in Scripture com- pared to a sword, as by Paul in Eph. vi. 17, " And the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God ;" i. e. the spiritual sword of God's word, the knowledge of which not only separates them from evil affections, but teaches them to discern between truth and false- hood ; guards the Christian from the influence of cor- rupt and destructive doctrines, and destroys the influ- ence and force of the most artful and delusive errors. So in Heb. iv. 12, " The word of God is quick and powerful (or living and energetic), sharper than any two-edged sword." And in Hosea v^. 5, the word of God is said to destroy all his enemies : " Therefore have I hewn them by the prophets, I have slain them by the words of my mouth ; And my judgments have been as the light when it goeth forth." On which passage see Newcome's notes. See also Isa. xlix. 2, and Lowth's excellent note SWORD TABERNACLE. 435 there, in which, irder alia, he remarks, " The meta- phor of the sword and the arrow, applied to powerful speech, is bold yet just." It is said of Pericles by Aristophanes, " His powerful speech Pierced the hearer's soul, and left behind. Deep in his bosom its keen point infix'd." Pindar is particularly fond of this metaphor, and applies it frequently to his own poetry. See Olymp. 2. 160 and 149, and Olymp. 9- 17, where he calls his verses shafts, to denote their acute and apposite appli- cation. So, in Acts ii. 37, the words of Peter are said to have " pierced the hearts of his hearers." Jer. xlvii. 6, " Ho, sword of Jehovah," &c. The Babylonish monarch seems to be addressed by this title, as the Assyrian was by that of " the rod of God's anger," Isa. x. 5 ; such conquerors being the appointed executioners of the Divine judgments. Com- pare Ezek. xiv. 17, and xxi. 3, &c. In the vision related by John, Rev. i. 16, of one like unto the Son of man, it is said, " out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword," in conformity to Isaiah's expression already referred to in ch. xlix. 2, He hath made my mouth like a sharp sword;" — a character belonging exclusively to him who b himself •' the Word of God." TABERNACLE. The - tabernacle among the Jews was the symbol of God's presence, and conse- quently of his protection, and of his church, to whom that protection was vouchsafed. So that it prefigured the Christian Church as in favour with God, and un- 436 TABERNACLE TAIL- der his protection, but in an unsettled condition. Acts vii. 44 ; Heb. viii. 5, ix. 24. The tabernacle of the Jews, on account of the Schechinah dwelling in it, was a tj'pe of the body of Christ, in whom dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead lx)dily, and who was therefore on earth the tabernacle of God with men. See Temple. Tabernacle is also used to denote the human body, which, though the residence of an immortal spirit, is constituted of frail and slight materials, and is short- ly to be by death taken down and dissolved. 2 Cor. V. 1,4; Wisdom ix. 15. Amos has a remarkable passage, quoted in Acts xv. 16, " In that day I will raise up the fallen tabernacle of David, And I will close up the breaches thereof. And I will raise up its ruins, And I will build it as in the days of old ; That the residue of men may seek Jehovah, And all the heathen over whom my name is called, Saith Jehovah who doeth this." Amos ix. 11, 12. By the tabernacle of David, he elegantly expresses the kingdom or real dignity of David in the person of the Messiah ruling over the Church. The mansion of the Sun in heaven is called by the Psalmist a tabernacle, Ps. xix. 4. TAIL. Tail in holy writ is used symbolically to signify two things which meet frequently both toge- ther in one subject, the one being the cause of the other. 1st, It signifies subjection or oppression under ty- TAIL. 437 ranny. So this symbol is used and explained by God himself in Deut. xxviii. 1 3, where he promises bles- sings to the obedient : " And the Lord shall make thee the head and not the tail, and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath " And thus in the Oriental Oneirocritics, the tail of a beast, as being the part that follows or comes be- hind, signifies the retinue, honour, dignity, and riches of the subject concerned, eh. 233, 236. The other signification of tail is, when it signifies a false prophet, imposter, or deceiver, who infuses the poison of his doctrine, which brings on a curse, as the scorpion doth with his tail. Thus in Isa. ix. 14, 15, " The Lord will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day. ^he ancient and honourable he is the head, and the prophet that teacheth lies he is the tail." So again, ch. xix. 15, " Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which the head or tail, branch or rush may do ;" that is, neither the power of the princes, nor the devices of the false prophets and enchanters shall avail any thing. By this may be explained the symbolical meaning of that great miracle exhibited to Moses, of the ser- pent transformed out of his staff, and into it again ; which was to assure him of his power to overcome the Egyptians. The staff was thrown upon the earth and turned into a serpent, at which Moses was frightened, to shew what terror he and the Israelites were in at the sight of Pharaoh the great Egj-ptian Dragon. He is ordered to take it by the tail, and it was turned into a staff, to shew that he would over- come the tail of the serpent, the false prophets, and 438 TAII TEARS. retinue of Pharaoh, and by that victory get into his power a sceptre or authority to govern the Israelites. (Exodus iii. 3, 4.) To the same purpose was the second miracle wrought in consequence of that, when the rod of Moses turned into a serpent, Exod. vii. 9> 12, swal- lowed up those of the magicians ; for that plainly shewed and signified the power of Moses to overcome the magicians in their enchantments, and to rescue Israel out of their hands. TEARS. Isa. xxv. 8, » And the Lord Jehovah shall wipe away the tear from off all faces." Rev. vii. 17, " And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." See also Rev. xxi. 4. Tears are the well known emblems and usual ac- companiments of grief; and as grief is generally most violent when it is indulged for the dead, so here, in two of the above passages, the wiping away of tears is connected with the abolition of death. Isaiah xxv. 8, " He shall utterly destroy death for ever." Rev. xxi. 4, " And there shall be no more death." Tears are wont to be poured out on occasions of mortality. Thus : Jer. xxxi. 15, " A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, , Refused to be comforted for her children, Because they were not.'''' Jer. xxii. 1 0, " Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him, But weep sore for him that goeth away. For he shall return no more, nor see his native country." TEARS. 43!) Tears are sometimes shed for national calamities. Tlius : Lam. i. 2, " She weepeth sore in the night. And her tears are on her cheeks." Num. xiv. 1, " And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried. And the people wept that night."' Tears are sometimes the offspring of painful sus- pense and anxiety. Thus : Cicero, Ep. b. 14, ep. 3. " Accepi ab Aristocrato tres epistolas, quas ego lacry- mis prope delevi. Conficior enim moerore, mea Te- rentia." And Ovid has — ^ — " Est quaedaa flere voluptas. Expletur lacrymis egeriturque dolor." And David, Ps. xlii. 4, •' My tears have been my meat day and night. While they continually say to me, where is thy God." And Ps. Ixxx. 5, " Thou feedest them with the bread of tears. And givest them tears to drink in great abundance." Ps. cii. 9, " For I have eaten ashes like bread. And mingled my drink with weeping." And Hagar's pitiable case is thus described in Gen. xxi. 15, 16, " And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child u/ider one of the shrubs. And she went and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bow-shot ; for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lifted up her voice, and wept!' 440 TEARS TEETH. A Greek poet in the Anthology thus bewails his condition : AxKpv^iuv yivouvjv, KXi axx^vTXi tiveS-ma^.i), x.. r. A. which may be thus rendered in Latin : " Lacrymans sum natus et lacrymans morior. In lacrymis universam comperi vitam. O genus hominum lacrymosum, debile, miserabile, Tractum in terra solutumque." Tears are often the symbol of divine judgments, as they are sometimes also of human oppressions. Eccl. iv. 1 ; Acts XX. 19 ; Jer. xiv. 17. They are sometimes the fruit of repentance and contrition. See Heb. xii. 17 ; Matt. xxvi. 75- And commonly the result of natural affection, de- ploring a beloved object, of which the examples are too obvious and numerous to cite. There is a singu- lar inscription in Aringhi's Roma Subterr. cap. 20, •• Tempore Adriani imperatoris, Marius adolescens dux militum qui satis vixit, dum vitam pro Christo cum sanguine consumsit, in pace tandem quievit. Bene merentes cu7n lacrymis et metu posuerunt." Whatever the causes of tears to the righteous, all these shall be abolished, which is what is meant by " God's wiping away all tears from their eyes." For death, oppression, calamity, repentance, shall have no place in the heavenly region. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. TEETH are frequently used 'in Scripture as the symbols of cruelty, or of a devouring enemy. Thus in Prov. xxx. 14, " There is a generation whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as TEETH. 44 1 knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men." So David, to express the cruelty of tyrants, Ps. Ivi. 6, prays to God, " to break out the great teeth of the young lions." So God, threatening the Israelites for rebellion. Deut. xxxii. 24, says, " I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them." And David, Ps. Ivii. 4, compares the teeth of wick- ed men to spears and arrows. " My soul," saith he, " is among lions, and I lie even among them that are set on fire, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword." See Ps. iii. 8, Iviii. 7, cxxiv, 6 ; Job xxix. 17. There are various places of the New Testament in which future punishment is set forth under the sym- bol of gnashing of teeth, viz. Matt, viii, 12, xiii. 42.. XXV. 30 ; Luke xiii. 28. From these it would appear to denote despair, on account of the hopelessness of their condition. So Virgil, ^n. 6, v. 557, " Hinc exaudiri gemitus e t seeva sonare," &c. " From hence are heard the groans of ghosts, the pains Of sounding lashes, and of dragging chains. The Trojan stood astonish'd at their cries. And ask'd his guide, from whence those yells arise. And what the crimes, and what the tortures were, And loud laments that rent the liquid air." Drvden. The phrase may also denote envy, on account of the happiness of others. Ps. cxii. 10, " The ^vicked shall see it, and be grieved. He shall gnash with his teeth and melt away ; The desire of the wicked shall parish." 442 TEETH TEMPLE. Horace uses the expression, 1. 4, ode 3, " Et jam dente minus mordeor invido." It is also a mark of malignity and fury. Thus Acts vii. 54, " they gnashed on Stephen with their teeth." See also Job xvi. 9- Hesiod in his shield of Hercules, v. 403, applies it to the fury of wild beasts : " As two grim lions for a roebuck slain. Wroth in contention rush, and them betwixt The sound of roaring and of clashing teeth Atiseth." Elton. It may include horror and murmuring on learning their doom. See Matt. xxv. 41. So Homer, II. xxiii. V. 101, " Like a thin smoke he sees the spirit fly, And hears a feeble, lamentable cry." See Rev. xvi. 9, 10, 11. TEMPLE. Temple and tabernacle, or tent, are opposite. A tabernacle or tent denotes an unsettled state, from the use of tents in places where men travel and have no settled habitations. And thus, whilst Israel was unsettled in the desart, and even in Canaan, till the utmost of what was pro- mised to Abraham for their sakes was fulfilled, God had a moveable tabernacle, and therefore said of him- self that he also walked in a tent and in a tabernacle ; 2 Sam. vii. 6. But, on the contrary, when the Israelites were fully settled in the promised land, God had then, to shew his JLced abode with them, a standing house, palace, or temple built for him ; and, to make up the notion of dwelling or habitation complete, there were to be all things suitable to a house belonging to it. TEMPLE. 443 Hence, in the holy place, there was to be a table and a candlestick, because this was the ordinary fur- niture of a room. The table was to have its dishes, spoons, bowls, and covers, and to be always furnished with bread upon it ; and the candlestick to have its lamp continually burning. Hence, also, there was to be a continual fire kept in the house of God, upon the altar as the focus of it. And, besides all this, to carry the notion still far- ther, there was to be some constant meat and provi- sion brought into this house, which was done in the sacrifices, that were partly consumed by fire upon the altar, as God's own portion and mess, and partly eaten by the priests, who were God's family, and therefore to be maintained by him. Besides the flesh of the beast offered up in sacri- fice, there was a mincha made of flour and oil, and a lihamen that was always joined with the daily sacri- fice, as the bread and drink which was to go along with God's meat. It was also strictly commanded, that there should be salt in every sacrifice, because all meat is unsa- voury without salt. Lastly, all these things were to be consumed on the altar only by the holy fire that came down from hea- ven, because they were God's portion, and therefore to be eaten or consumed by himself in an extraordi- nary manner. From all this it appears that the building of the temple was wholly designed to make a durable and permanent mansion for God, and consequently for his worship ; — a rest for the ark, a settlement f(rr the feet of God, as David designed it, 1 Chron. xxviii. 2 ; 444 TEMPLE. and as God himself did declare it to David by the prophet Nathan, 1 Chron. xvii. 4, 5, 9. And therefore the word temple, when used sym- bolically, is the symbol of the Christian church since its settlement. In the Oneirocritics, a temple is interpreted of the hotise of the king, which agrees with the Jewish temple being a house or palace for God, as the king or monarch of the Jews. As a tabernacle denotes an unsettled state of the church, so even the symbol of temple may come un- der the notion of a tabernacle whenever the church is in a weak declining condition. Thus, in Jer. x. 20, when the Jewish nation was reduced to such a state that the temple was to be destroyed, and the people led into captivity, the temple is spoken of under the symbols of tabernacle and curtains, to shew that the temple was as it were tottering, and as un- settled as a tabernacle. The like opposition is to be seen in Amos ix. II, where the kingdom or house of David in oppression comes under the notion of a ta- bernacle. The opposition between a house and ta- bernacle appears in Prov. xiv. 1 1, " The house of the wicked shall be overthrown, But the tabernacle of the upright shall flourish." The meaning is, the most flourishing state of the wicked shall have an end, but the upright, firom a low oppressed condition, shall be exalted to honour and happiness. And thus Paul, comparing this life and its unsettled state with the certainty and perpetuity of the next, calls the first " our earthly house of this tabernacle," subject to dissolution, adding, that " in this tabernacle TEMPLE TEN. 445 we groan being burdened ;" but the other is " a build- ing of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens," 2 Cor. v. 1. So in Heb. xiii. 13, 14, we have the symbols of a camp and city opposed, which bear the same proportion to each other £is tent and temple. TEN. Ten, according to the style of the Scrip- tures, may have, besides the signification of that de- terminate number, that also of an indefinite one, yet so as not to imply either a very great number or a very small one. See Gen. xxxi. 7, 41, where ten times means many times ; Lev. xxvi. 26, ten women are many women ; 1 Sam. i. 8, ten sons are many sons ; Eccles. vii. 9, ten men are many men. See also Dan. i. 20 ; Amos vi. 9 ; Zech. viii. 23. And so in several places of Plautus, ten signifies many. Mercat. act 2, sc. 3, v. 2 ; act 4, sc. 2, v. 3 ; Stich. act 3, sc. 2, v. 44; Amphitryon, act 2, sc. 1, v. 27. Rev. ii. 1 0, " Ye shall have tribulation ten days." Ten days (says Lowman), I conceive, is not to be understood literally, — a short time of affliction, in- deed ! hardly agreeable to a description of that tri- bulation this prophecy seems to prepare the church for. So ten thousand words, 1 Cor. xiv. 19, are put for an indefinite number, or for a prolix discourse. And ten thousand, or a myriad, is frequently used in the same indefinite sense. See 1 Sam. xviii. 7, " Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands." That 12, 16. These have been explained to mean ten distinct kingdoms, that should arise in several parts of the Roman empire, and lists have been given of them by different interpreters. But as these kingdoms were shifting and variable, it may be well not to under- stand the number ten too precisely, but simply that several new kingdoms were erected when the northern nations divided the empire among themselves, which is a well-known fact. TERAPHIM were idols of the human form. In Syriac terep signifies to inquire, and, in Arabic, to abound with the goods of life. Teraphim may therefore denote images to enquire of, or to bestow, good things. Spencer thinks the word equivalent to seraphim, a celestial order, by the usual substitution of tau for skin in the Eastern tongues. Whatever they were, they appear to have been objects of ido- latrous worship. Yet we find them in use both among believers and unbelievers ; see Gen. xxxi. 1 9, 34, 35 ; Judges xvii. 5 ; xviii. 14, 18, 20; 1 Sam. xix. 13, 16 ; and in 2 Kings xxiii. 24 ; Ezek. xxi. 21 ; Zeeh. X. 2. Comp. 1 Sam. xv. 23 ; Hosea iii. 4. TERAPHIM THIGH. 447 From these, as Parkhurst observes, the heathen of various nations appear to have had their penates, or household gods, as the Tyrians, Arcadians, and Tro- jans, from whom the Romans derived theirs. THIGH is the part on which the sword of a war- rior is hung. See to this purpose Exod. xxxii. 27 ; Judges iii. 16, 21 ; Ps. xlv. 3 ; Cant. iii. 8 ; Homer, II. 1, 900. In another sense, the thigh is the symbol of off- spring. Thighs, literally taken, are explained by the interpreters o^ kinsmen. A third symbolical signification of thigh may be taken from the custom in the time of the patriarchs, when a man imposed an oath upon another to secure his promise, he made him put his hand under his thigh. Abraham thus adjured his servant, Gen. xxiv. 2, 9. And Jacob adjured Joseph that he should not bury liim in Egypt, Gen. xlvii. 29. This is still practised in the East, as some authors tell us. In 1 Chron. xxix. 24, according to the ori- ginal, " the putting of hands under Solomon" is a ceremony of homage and obedience, whereby the person swearing gave the greatest token of his design to be faithful. Jer. xxxi. 19, "I smote upon my thigh." Smiting upon the thigh was an indication of in- ward sorrow and compunction. See Ezek. xxi. 1 2 ; so also in Homer's Hiad, 2, 124, " Divine Achilles viewed the rising flames. And smote his thigh, and thus aloud exclaims, Arm, arm, Patroclus!" Rev. xix. 16, " And on his thigh a name written," I. e. on one part of the garment which covered his 448 THIGH THREE. thigh, the place where the sword is usually worn, a motto or inscription was observed, on which he was styled " King of Kings, and Lord of Lords," to sig- nify that he was really possessed of a just dominion over all the princes and kingdoms of the earth. THREE, frequently signifies, in the sacred writers, greatness, excellency, and perfection. It is thus used in Isa. xix. 23, " In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and Assyria ;" i. e. great, admired, be- loved, and blessed, as it there follows. So in Prov. xxii. 20, according to the original, " Have I not written unto thee three things," which our version renders excellent things. But all the ancient versions read three times, as Durell remarks, referring proba- bly to the three books that bear Solomon's name. See also Prov. viii. 6, and Hosea viii. 12. So t£^»St2^, shelish, in Ps. Ixxx. 6, and Isa. xl. 12, is a great measure. And so the third in order, sig- nifies a hero or great man, as in Exod. xiv. 7, and xv. 4 ; 2 Kings vii. 3 — ix. 25. See also 1 Kings ix. 22 ; Ezek. xxiii. 15. In the Latin and Greek tongues, the number three is also mystical, and often signifies many, and does not so much imply an exact number, as a great in- crease. Whether their attachment to the number three, as Potter observes, was owing to its supposed perfection, because, containing a beginning, middle, and end, it seemed to signify all things in the world ; or whether to the esteem the Pythagoreans, and some other phi- losophers had for it, on account of their trinity : or lastly, to its aptness to signify the power of all the ods, who were divided into three classes, celestial. THREE. 449 terrestrial, and infernal, I shall leave to be determined by others. Thus much is certain, that the ancients thought there was no small force and efficacy in un- equal numbers, whence we find three fatal sisters, three furies, three names and appearances of Diana, three sons of Saturn, among whom the empire of the world was divided ; and for the same reason we read of Jupiter's fulmen trifidum, Neptune's trident, with several other tokens of the veneration they had for this number. Hence T^«r^5y(ro5, thrice great, that is, very great. And in Horace, 1. 1, Od. 1, triple honours are many honours. The repetition of a word, sentence, or petition thrice, is a token of great earnestness, as in Jer. xxii. 29, " 0 earth, earth, earth, hear the word of Jehovah." Ezek. XX i 27, " I will overturn, overturn, overturn it." It was a great empheisis when our Saviour told Peter that he should deny him thrice. So Paul, to shew the earnestness of his prayers, says, " That he besought the Lord thrice" 2 Cor. xii. 8. So our Saviour prayed three times in his agony, that the cup might pass from him. Matt. xxvi. 44. The heathen, to shew their sorrow for the death of their kinsmen, called upon them thrice. In Pindar, there is an allusion to some old custom of saluting a king thrice at his inauguration. And the acclamations in the Roman theatres seem also to have been commonly repeated thrice. And so in the senate-house, of which there is an instance and form in Vulc. Gallicanus, in these words : — Gg 450 THREE THRESHING THRONE. " Antonine I*ie, Dii te servent ; Antonine Clemens, Dii te servent; Antonine Clemens, Dii te servent." THRESHING, is always in the Prophets a sym- bol of the punishment or destruction of the subject concerned, as in Isa. xli. 15 ; Jer. li. 33 ; Amos i. 3 ; Micah iv. 13; Habak. iii. 12; and in Isa. xxi. 10, " O my threshing, and the corn of my floor," signi- fies, as explained by the Septuagint, " people afflicted, forsaken, and grieved." See the different methods of threshing in ancient times, described by Bishop Lowth, in his note on ch. xxviii. 27, 28, who thus paraphrases the passage above alluded to, in ch. xxi. 10. " O thou, the ob- ject upon which I shall exercise the severity of my discipline, that shalt lie under my afflicting hand, like corn spread upon the floor to be threshed out and winnowed, to separate the chaff" from the wheat ;" and he adds, " The image of threshing is frequently used by the Hebrew poets with great elegance and force, to express the punishment of the wicked, and the trial of the good, or the utter dispersion and destruction of God's enemies." THRONE. The symbol of a kingdom or govern- ment. Thus, in holy Scripture, throne is put for kingdom, Gen. xli. 4, " According to thy word shall all ray people be ruled ; only in the throne will I be greater than thou." In 2 Sam. iii. 10, kingdom and throne are set synonymously " to translate the kingdom from the house of Saul ; and to set up the throne of David over Israel." And both together, as in 2 Sam. vii. 13, " I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever." THRONE. 451 And thus God, to represent himself symbolically as king of the Jews, had the mercy seat with the cheru- bim about it, as his throne. See Isa. vi. 1, 2 ; 2 Kings xix. 15 ; 1 Sam. iv. 4 ; 2 Sara. vi. 2 ; 1 Chron. xiii. 6 ; Ps. Ixxx. 1. In like manner, " the settling of the throne" sig- nifies the settling or establishment of the government in peace, as in 2 Sam- vii. 12, 13, 16, where throne and kingdom explain each other. And the enlargement of the throne implies a great accession of dominion and power, as in 1 Kings i. 37, compared with verse 47. And therefore Solomon, when he had subjugated all the nations round about him, so that they were obliged to bring him tribute, and had thus enlarged his dominions beyond what David had possessed before, he made a new throne, a great throne of Ivory, which symbolically represented his power, and the enlargement of his dominions, and the peace and prosperity of his reign. A throne is, by all the Oneirocritics, in ch. 225, explained of power. And by the Persian and Egyp- tian in ch. 261, a royal throne is explained of a. king, or his eldest son. In the magic oracles of Zoroaster, Ayatyxji? ©gonaf, the throne of necessity, signifies the power of fate or death. Throne of God — may signify a great magnificent throne, according to an usual Hebraism, where nouns joined with the word God, acquire a sense of excel- lency and greatness. According to which, the throne of God may be an high and exalted throne, a royal or imperial seat, fi'om whence the political world is ruled, as God from hea- 452 THRONE THUNDER. ven rules the whole universe. See Isa. Ixvi. 1. See ulso under Chariot. As thrones are seats of dignity, and are to distin- guish those who have the administration of govern- ment committed to them, from the rest of the people who are to be governed by them, and can with no propriety be applied to every member of the king- dom. So in Rev. xx. 4, where it is said, " I saw thrones, and they sat upon them," the meaning no doubt is, that some sat on them, while others had no thrones appointed to them. The expressions seem to allude to the Sanhedrim, in which the members sat on raised seats or thrones, on each hand of the presi- dent. The same allusion may exist in Matt. xix. 28. Ps. Ixxxix. 14, and Ps. xcvii. 2, "justice and judg- ment are the basis of his throne ;" i. e. justice and equity are the foundation of all his proceedings. THUNDER, in Ps. xxix. 3, is called the voice of God. This voice comes from heaven ; and as hea- ven signifies the station of the supreme visible power, which is the political heaven, so the thunder is the voice and proclamation of that power, and of its will and laws, implying the obedience of the subjects, and at last overcoming all opposition. So that in this sense, thunder is the symbol of such oracles or laws as are enacted with terror, and so ter- rify men into a suitable obedience. And thus the law of Moses was ushered in with thunders and light- nings, Exod. xix. 16. The Oneirocritics had some notion of thunder sig- nifying the publication of things. See Artera. 1. 2, c. 8, " Thunder discovers those that are hidden or liesire to be hid." THUNDER. 453 Thunder considered as a motion or shaking, signi- fies a revolution in the state, or change of affairs, as in Haggai 2, 6, 7, 21. And from the terror which thunder occasions, it is frequently used in Scripture of God's discomfiting the enemies of his church, as in 1 Sam. ii. 10 — vii. 10 ; Ps. xviii. 13, and in Isa. xxix. 6, of his punishing the rebellious Jews. x\mongst the Pagans all other portending symbols were stopped by that of the thunder, unless the thun- der did confirm the former by being on the same side. Senec. Nat. Quest. 1. 2, c. 34 and 4 1 . They esteemed thunder the immediate voice of God, and therefore thought it presumption to consult about any thing when God spake. His voice ought to impose silence on all according to that eternal maxim of all govern- ment, that when the supreme authority speaks, the lesser Courts cannot exert their power, and the pre- sence of the supreme magistrate supersedes for the time the power of all the inferiors. With the Egyptians, thunder was the symbol of a voice at a great distance. Hor ap. Hierogl. 29. The seat of thunders and lightnings is the air. Thunders and lightnings are sometimes mere ac- companiments of the divine presence ; but at other times they are symbols of great judgments on the earth. When they proceed from the throne of God, as in Rev. iv. 5, they are fit representations of God's glorious and awful majesty ; but when fire comes down from heaven upon earth, it expresses some judgment of God upon the world, as in Rev, viii. 5 — xx. 9 — xvi. 19. Those mentioned in Rev. viii. 5. being pre- vious to the sounding of the trumpets, may be under- 454 THUNDER. stood as a general description of the many calamities of that period. " A thunder storm and tempest," says Lowman, p. 94. " that throws down all before it, is a fit metaphor to express the calamities of war, from civil disturb- ances, or foreign invasion, which often, like a hurri- cane, lay all things waste, as far as they reach. It is thus Isaiah expresses the invasion of Israel by Shal- manezer, king of Assyria, ch. xxviii. 2, " Behold the mighty one, the exceedingly strong one, Like a storm of hail, like a destructive tempest, Like a rapid flood of mighty waters pouring down. He shall dash them to the ground with his hand." See also Ezekiel xiii. 13. It is a just observation of Sir Isaac Newton, that, in the prophetic language, tempests, winds, or the motions of clouds, are put for wars. Thunder, or the voice of a cloud, for the voice of a multitude ; and storms of thunder, lightning, hail, and overflow- ing rain, for a tempest of war, descending from the heavens and clouds politic. The natural thunder is well described by Job, ch. xxxvi. 29, &c. and xxxvii. 1, &c^ " Yea, verily he understandeth the expansions of the clouds. And the thunder of his habitation." " At this also my heart trembleth, And is moved out of its place. Hear attentively the concussion of his voice, And the sound that goeth forth from his mouth, He directeth it under the whole heaven, And his lightning to the ends of the earth. After it a voice roareth, he thundereth with his majestic voice, And he wiU not restrain them (t. e. his bolts) when his Toice is heard. God thundereth marvellously with his voice, He doeth great things, which we cannot comprehend." TIME. 455 TIME. According to Artemidorus, 1. 2. c. 65, days, months, and years, are symbolical terms, and are not always to be understood literally ; but are to be interpreted according to the circumstances of the case, and the age of the person or dreamer. And so in the Sacred writings, a day in some places is put for a year, as in Num. iv. 34 ; Ezek. iv. 4, 6. This practice seems to have arisen, either from days and years being all one in the primitive state of the world, or else from the ignorance of men at first, in settling words to express the determined spaces of time. A day with them was a year ; a month a year ; three months a year ; four months, or six months, a year, as well as the whole yearly revolution of the sun. The Egyptians, from whom the symbolical lan- guage chiefly came at first, gave the name of year to several spaces of time. (See Suidas, v.'hx»«5, 'H(p««r«5.) The day is a period and revolution, and so it is an hixvleg, a year. Plutarch and Diodorus say, that four months, or a season, were called a year. As for the annual revolution of the sun, it was called by them the year of the sun, or the year of God; Horap. Hierogl. 1. 1. Hence a full year is called by Virgil a great year, Mu. 1. 3, v. 284 ; and the year of Jupi- ter by Homer, II. 2, v. 134. Terms of time being thus ambiguous among the ancients, they must in the symbolical language be, by the rule of proportion, determined by the circum- stances. Thus, if days were mentioned of a matter of great importance and duration, they must be ex- plained by solar years, or full years. U years were spoken of a mean subject, as of the persons of men, 456 TIME. and seemed to be above proportion, they must be ex- plained of so many diurnal years, or common days. This is evidently the principle of Artemidorus, who finds mysteries in all numbers, and all expressions determining spaces of time. Upon this also are grounded Joseph's expositions of the dreams of the chief butler and baker. For otherwise three branches should rather signify three distinct springs or solar years, as the seven ears of corn in Pharaoh's dream portend seven distinct crops, and by consequence seven solar years. But the sub- ject-matter altered the property. Pharaoh's dream concerned the whole nation, the king being a repre- sentative of the people. But the chief butler's dream concerned only his own person. The way. of the symbolical language in expressions determining the spaces of time, may be yet set in a plainer light from the manner of predictions, or the nature of prophetical visions. For a prophecy con- cerning future events, is a picture or representation of the events in symbols, which, being brought from objects visible at one view or cast of the eye, rather represent the events in miniature, than in full propor- tion, giving us more to understand than what we see. And, therefore, that the duration of the events may be represented in terms suitable to the symbols of the visions, the symbols of duration must be also drawn in miniature. Thus, for instance, if a vast empire, persecuting the Church for 1260 years, was to be symbolically represented by a heast, the decorum of the symbol would require, that the said time of its tyranny should TIME. 457 not be expressed by 1260 years, because it would be monstrous and unnatural to represent a heast ravag- ing for so long a space of time, but by 1260 days. And thus a day may imply a year, because that short revolution of the sun bears that same propor- tion to the yearly, as the type to the antitype. In the chief butler's dream, the three branches sig- nified three days ; in that of the chief baker, the three baskets signified the same. In Pharaoh's dream, the seven fat and seven lean kine, portended so many years of plenty and famine ; as did also the seven good and seven bad ears of corn. So likewise in Nebu- chadnezzar's image, the proportion and order of the members signifies the order of succession and time : the head begins, and signifies the Babylonian mo- narchy, and so on to the feet, legs, and toes, signify- ing the last tyrannical powers exercising cruelty against the Saints and Church of God. Thus also in the Portentum exhibited to the Greeks in Aulis, of eight young birds with the mo- ther, which is the ninth, being swallowed up by a dragon, who is after that turned into a stone, signi- fying that the Greeks should spend nine years in their war against Troy ; and that in the tenth year, they should take the town. (Homer, H. 2, v. 308.) Cicero objects against this interpretation (de Divi- nat. 1. 2.) and demands, why the birds were rather to be interpreted of years, than of months or days ? But the answer is obvious. Years only were proportion- able to the event, and to the way of managing wars in those days. So that the rule of proportion is to be framed upon the circumstances. 458 TIME. There is such another portentum in Virgil, ;En. 1. 8. V. 42, where thirty young pigs denote as many years. And in Silius Italicus, there is an augurium set down of a hawk pursuing and killing fifteen doves, and whilst he was stooping upon another, an eagle comes and forces the hawk away. Which is there explained of Hannibal's wasting Italy during sixteen years, and his being driven away by Scipio. In several places of Scripture, a day signifies an appointed time or season, as in Isa. xxxiv. 8 ; Ixiii. 4. And so may imply a long time of many years, as in Heb. iii. 8, 9) " the day of temptation in the wilder- ness," is the time of forty years. In the Latin authors, a day is used to signify time in general, as in TuUy, de Nat. Deor. 1. 2, " Opinio- num enim coramenta delet dies, naturae judicia con- firmat ;" and in Terence, " diem adimere aegritudinem hominibus." And dies also may signify more especially the whole year, as it does in these verses of Lucretius, 1. 1. V. 10. " Nam simul ac species patefacta est verna Diei, Et reserata viget genit.alis aura Favoni." In Tully, dies perexigua signifies a short time, yet so as to contain 110 days. Again, annus is the season, thus annus hybernus in Horace is the winter ; and in Virgil, formosissimus annus is the spring. And xaij, is in the author of the description of the Olympiads called A«jt«7r«?, and as it is supposed to be mentioned in the Marble Chronicle at Oxford, it is there said to burn, xxlixdv. Now a comet was always thought to be a prodigy of bad omen ; that in the times of Augustus only ex- cepted by Pliny. And streams of fire like torches, of which Livy gives some instances, were looked upon as ill omens. And Silius Italicus, describing the prodigies Avhich foreboded the event of the battle at Cannoe, mentions such torches. The ancient Grecian signals for beginning a battle were lighted torches, thrown from both armies, by men called ^rv^^a^oi or 7rv^o:p9^ot who were priests of Mars, and therefore held inviolable, and who having cast their torches, had safe regress. TOWER. Towers and fortresses are put, in the figurative language of prophecy, for defenders and protectors, whether by counsel or strength, in peace or in war. 2 Sam. xxii. 51, " God is the tower of sal- vation for his king." Ps. Ixi. 3, " Thou hast been a shelter for me, And a strong towei from the enemy." Prov. xviii. 10, " The name of Jehovah is a strong tower. The righteous runneth into it, and is safe." Isa. xxxiii. 18, " Where is he that numbered the towers," that is, the commander of the enemy's forces, who surveyed the fortifications of the city, and took an account of the height, strength, and situation of the walls and towers, that he might know where to TOWER TRAVAILING. 461 make the assault with the greatest advantage. See Lowth's note. Towers are sometimes used to denote proud men, tyrants, and men in high station. Thus in Isa. ii. 15 ; XXX. 25. They were used, naturally enough, as asyla or places of safety. It is to this use of them the sacred writer alludes in Prov. xviii. 10, above quoted. Euri- pides in Medea, v. 389; has an expression to this pur- pose, " Remaining therefore a short time, if any tower of safety should appear to us." They were also used for the purpose of watching ; See 2 Kings ix. 17, and xvii. 19; See also Isa. xxiii. 1:3. TRAVAILING. Travailing (with child) is a symbol of great endeavours to bring something to pass, not without much difficulty, pain, and danger. And the compassing the end, which the persons re- presented by the symbol aimed at, is a deliverance from the pain and danger they laboured under. Hence the symbol of travailing with child is often used in the Prophets to denote a state of anguish and misery, as in Isa. xxvi. 17, 18; Ixvi. 7 ; Jer. iv. 31 ; xiii. 21 ; xxx. 6, 7. And also in the New Testament, the pains of child- bearing are used to signify the sorrow of tribulation or persecution, as in Matt. xxiv. 8 ; Mark xiii. 8 ; John xvi. 21, 22 ; 1 Thess. v. 3. And Paul applies the expression to the propaga- tion of the Gospel through persecutions, Gal. iv. 19, " My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you ;" i. e. for whom I am concerned and in fear, till the Christian doctrine has 462 TRAVAILING TREAD. overcome in you the habits of sin. And in Rom. viii. 22, he compares the earnest desire of the creation for the kingdom of Christ, to the pains of a woman in travail. The same metaphor is not unusual in Pagan authors, and Cicero has it more than once. It is likewise un- derstood by the Persian and Egj'ptian interpreters of afflictions and cares, in ch. 127. On the other hand, the symbol of the birth betokens joy and deliverance ; and especially if the child be a male, as in John xvi. 21. And in Isa. Ixvi. 7, where the man-child is interpreted by the Targum of a king, a deliverer. TREAD. To tread under, or trample on, signi- fies to overcome and bring under subjection. Thus in Ps. Ix. 12, " Through God we shall do valiantly. For it is he that shall tread down our enemies." See also Isa. x. 6 ; xiv. 25 ; Dan. vii. 23 ; Ps. cxi. 13, comp. with Luke x. 19. To tread upon oaths, in Homer, signifies to break or violate them. See II. 4, v. 157, where the word ■Kocliti is used. In Rev. xi. 2, the outer court is said to be given to the Gentiles, that is, should become profane and com- mon, and the " holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months," which Henry More thus ex- plains : " A kind of Pagano-Christianity, instead of pure Christianity, shall visibly domineer for forty and two months of years, that is, for 1 260 years. The operation of treading the winepress is well known, and from thence many emblematic expressions TREAD TREE. 463 are borrowed, and employed in various parts of Scrip- ture. See Ps. Iviii. 1 1 ; Isa. Ixiii. 3, &c. TREE. Trees were at first, in the primitive way of building, used for pillars ; and agreeably to this, they denote in the symbolical language, according to their respective bulks and height, the several degrees of great or rich men, or the nobles of a kingdom, as in Zech. xi. 1, 2, " Open thy doors. O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars — Howl, O fir-tree, for the cedar is fallen, because all the mighty are spoiled — Howl, O ye oaks of Bashan, for the forest of the vintage is come down." Where the words, •■ all the mighty are spoiled," shew that the prophecy does not point at trees, but at men. See to the same purpose Isa. ii. 13 ; x. 17, 18, 19 ; xiv. 8 ; Jer. xxii. 7, 23 ; Ezek. xxxi. 4. See Lowth's excellent note on Isa. ii. 13. The Oneirocritics are very full in this particular, as the Persian and Egyptian in ch. cxlii. and all of them in ch. cli. and clxv., where trees blown down with the wind, signify the destruction of great men. Homer, who has many remnants and notions of the eastern language, and whose comparisons are exactly just, very often compares his heroes to trees, as in b. 14. Hector, felled by a stone, is compared to an oak overturned by a thunderbolt. In b. 4, the fall of Siraoisius is compared to that of a poplar ; and in 1. 17, that of Euphorbus, to the fall of a beautiful olive. A tree exceeding great, may be the symbol of a king or monarchy, as in Dan. iv. And as the vine, in the dream of Astyages, cited by Valerius Maximus, 1. 1. c. 7. 464 TREE TRUMPET. Ezek. xvii. 24, " The high tree, and the green tree," refer to Nebuchadnezzar ; " The low and the green tree," to the Jews. Tree of Life, is a tree that gives fruit to eternal life, so that they who eat thereof continually shall never die. It is thus explained, Gen. iii. 22, and is therefore a proper symbol to signify immortality. From the happiness of eating of the Tree of Life in Paradise, any sort of true happiness or joy may come under the symbol of a tree of life, as in Prov. xv. 4, " A wholesome tongue is a tree of life," meaning, a tongue that gives sound advice, or pacifies great offences. And so also in ch. xi. 30, " Hope deferred maketh the heart sick ; but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life." TRUMPET. The trumpet sounding is, in Exod. xix. 16— 19> the forerunner of the appearance of God, and of the proclamation of the law. Amongst the Jews, trumpets were used on several occasions. 1. To give notice, whilst they were in the wilder- ness, when the camp should remove, Num. x. 2. 2. To call assemblies. Num. x. 2. 3. To proclaim the return of the jubilee, Lev. xxv. 8,9. 4. To sound over the daily burnt-offering, and over the burnt-offerings and peace-offerings, on the solemn days and new moons, 2 Chron. xxix. 27, 28 ; Ps. Ixxxi. 3. 5. To give notice of the entrance and going out of the Sabbath. 6. To sound alarms in time of war ; whence they signify, in the Prophets, a denunciation of judgments, TRUMPET. 465 and a warning of the imminent approach of them, a« in Jer. iv. 19, 20, 21. See also Jer. xlii. 14 ; li. 27 ; Amos iii. 6 ; Zeph. i. 16. 7. Trumpets sounded at the inauguration of the Jewish kings, 1 Kings i. 34 ; 2 Kings ix. 13 ; xi. 14. 8. When the city Jericho was to be taken, the trumpets were to sound, and a shout was to be raised, Josh. vi. 16. 9. Trumpets were used at the laying of the foun- dation of the second temple, Esdras iii. ] 0. And it is highly probable that trumpets were used at the laying of the foundation of the first ; for, during the time of the building of it, music was con- tinually used. Compare 1 Chron. vi. 31, 32, with eh. xvi. 7, and xxv. 1. Amongst the heathens, trumpets were used also, upon divers accounts. 1. The Romans made use of them to notify the watches in the night, and to give notice also of the time upon several other occasions. 2. They made use of them at the inauguration of their emperors. 3. The Roman magistrates caused the trumpets to sound at the execution of criminals, whom they look- ed upon as sacrifices, or persons devoted, as appears from Tacitus and Seneca. 4. Trumpets were used by the heathen in sound- ing alarms for war. Thus Homer makes the heaven to sound the trumpet when the gods went to war. " Heaven in loud thunders bids the trumpet sound. And wide beneath them groans the rending ground." And Plutarch, in the Life of Sylla, says, " that there H h 466 TRUMPET. Avere many omens of the war between Sylla and Ma- rius ; but that the greatest of all was, the sound of a trumpet in the air." 5. Trumpets were used by the heathen at the de- struction of cities. Thus, in Amos ii. 2, " I will send a fire upon Moab, Which shall devour the palaces of Kirioth ; And Moab shall die with tumult, With shouting, and the sound of the trumpet." And exactly in the same manner is the burning of Troy described by Virgil, JEn. 2, v. 313, '• New clamours and new clangors now arise. The sound of trumpets mix'd with fighting cries." Homer also makes mention of this custom in the fol- lowing verses, II. 18, v. 218, " As the loud trumpet's brazen mouth from far, With shrilling clangor sounds the alarm of war. Struck from the walls, the echoes float on high. And the round bulwarks and thick towers reply ; So high his brazen voice the hero rear'd. Hosts drop their arms, and trembled as they heard." According to the same custom, the Romans de- molished Corinth by sound of trumpet. These were a kind of religious acts. And therefore Alexander the Great, concerning Persepolis, declared to his generals, that they ought to make a sacrifice to their ancestors, by its destruc- tion. And thus the inhabitants of Jericho were accursed or devoted, and as sacrifices slain, Josh. vi. 17, 18, 21. G. The foundations of cities were laid at the sound of musical instruments ; in allusion to which, in Job XXXV iii. 6, 7, it is said, " That when God laid the foundation of the earth, the stars and angels sang and TRUMPET TWELVE. 467 shouted for joy," which shows that such a custom had been used in the patriarchal times ; to which also there is allusion in Zech. iv. "J. The trumpet was used to proclaim danger. Thus, Joel ii. ], " Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm in my holy mountain," as a signal for the immediate approach of the locusts, and to excite the hearts of the people to repentance. Amos iii. 6, " Shall a trumpet be blown in a city, And the people not be afraid ?" ^. e. as the people . run together through fear, when the signal of an approaching enemy is made, so let my warning strike the Israelites with terror. Rev. iv, ], " I heard as it were a trumpet talking with me." " This may probably allude (says Low- man) to the custom of the Jewish church, that upon opening of the gates of the temple, the priests sound- ed their trumpets, to call the Levites and stationary men to their attendance." There was an instituted festival among the Jews, called the Feast of Trumpets, celebrated in the be- ginning of the civil year, in the month Tisri, answer- ing to our September. The day was kept solemn, all servile business was suspended, and particular sacrifices were offered, Lev. xxiii. 24, 25. The new moons, or first days of every month, were celebrated also by the sound of trumpets. Num. x. 10 ; and by extraordinary sacrifices, &c., Ps. Ixxxi. 3. TWELVE, a sacred number, symbolical of just proportion, beauty, stability, and the like. Thus, Exod. xxiv. 4, twelve pillars according to 468 TWELVE. the twelve tribes ; Exod. xxviii. 21, twelve precious stones ; Lev. xxiv. 5, twelve cakes ; Num. vii. 3, twelve oxen ; Num. vii. 84, twelve chargers, twelve silver bowls, twelve spoons ; Num. vii. 87, twelve bullocks, twelve rams, twelve lambs ; Num. xvii. 2, twelve rods ; Josh. iv. 3, twelve stones out of Jor- dan ; 1 Kings vii. 25, the sea stood on twelve oxen ; 1 Kings ix. 20, twelve lions. AH these twelves, no doubt, had a reference to the number of the tribes. 1 Kings xi. 30, Jeroboam's garment was rent in twelve pieces ; 1 Kings xviii. 31, Elijah took twelve stones and built an altar ; 1 Kings xix. 19, Elisha plowed with twelve yoke of oxen-; and so in many other places, where the number twelve occurs. Job xxxviii. 32, canst thou bring forth the twelve signs ; E^ek. xliii. 16, the altar shall be twelve cubits long and twelve broad ; Matt. x. 2, twelve apostles ; Matt. xiv. 20, of the fragments twelve baskets ; Matt. xxvi. 53, twelve legions of angels ; Luke ii. 42, when Jesus was twelve years old ; John xi. 9, are there not twelve hours in the day ? Acts vii. 8, and Jacob be- gat the twelve patriarchs ; Rev. xii. 1, on his head a crown of twelve stars ; Rev. xxi. 12, the city had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels ; Rev. xxi. 14, the wall of the city had twelve foundations ; Rev. xxii. 2, the tree of life bare twelve manner of fruits. And we find the mystical number twelve multiplied into itself in Rev. xxi. 17, 144 cubits, according to the measure of a man, as measured by the angel. The note of Bossuet, bishop of Meaux, on Rev. vii. 4, is worth transcribing. " This single passage," says TWELVE TWO. 469 he, " may show the mistake of those who always ex- pect the numbers in the Revelation to be precise and exact ; for is it to be supposed, that there should be in each tribe 12,000 elect, neither more nor less, to make up the total sum of 1 44,000 ? It is not by such trifles, and low sense, the divine oracles are to be ex- plained. We are to observe, in the numbers of the Revelation, a certain figurative proportion, which the Holy Ghost designs to point out to observation. As there were twelve patriarchs and twelve apostles, twelve becomes a sacred number in the synagogue, and in the Christian church. This number of twelve, first multiplied into itself, and then by a thousand, makes 144,000. The Bishop observes, in the solid proportion of this square number, the unchangeable- ness of the truth of God and his promises ; perhaps it may mean the beauty and stability of the Christian church, keeping to the apostolic purity of faith and worship." Lowman, p. 84. TWO, a symbolical number. The two olive trees, Zech. iv. 3. See Olive Tree. The two witnesses. Rev. xi. 4. " Two," says Dr Henry More, '• though never so many, partly by reason of the ti/pes in the Old Tes- tament to which they allude, viz. Moses and Aaron, Elijah and Elisha, Zerobabel and Joshua, who show- ed their zeal for the purity of God's worship against the idolatry in the wilderness, in the Baalitish idola- try, and in the captivity of Babylon. " There may also be an allusion to things in this division into two, viz. to magistracy and ministry, to the Old Testament and the New, to the people of the Jews, and to the virgin company of Christians." 470 TWO VALLEY. The two tables of testimony, Exod. xxxi. 1 8. Two disciples sent forth at a time, Mark vi. 7. Two women who had wings, Zech v. 9- Two immutable things, the promise and the oath of God, Heb. vi. 18. It is sometimes used to denote very few. Thus, in 1 Kings xvii. 12, "I am gathering two sticks ;" i. e. a few. So in Isa. vii. 21, two sheep; i. e. a small tiock. In Persius, " Vel duo vel nemo" — two or none — next to none. And the like in Homer, II. 2, v. 346. VALLEY. Though for most part used literally, is sometimes to be met with in a figurative and sym- bolical sense, as in Isa. xxii. 1, " The oracle concern- ing the valley of vision." Jerusalem is here called by that name symboli- cally, because, as Jerome observes, this city was the seminary or school of the prophets, in which the temple was built, and the visions of God were multiplied, where he manifested himself visibly in the holy place. Ps. xxiii. 4, " Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me ;" /. e. though I encounter the most imminent peril of death itself. The Psalm speaks of God as a shepherd, and the metaphor is taken from sheep, which, wan- dering in search of pasture, and having strayed into shady valleys, become liable to the dangers arising from the incursion of wild beasts that make their haunt there. See Ps. cxix. 176. Ps. Ixxxiv. 7, " Who passing through the valley of Baca, make it a well." VALLEY. 471 Baca means a large shrub or tree, which the Ai'abs still call by that name, probably so called from its distilling an odoriferous gum from bece to weep or ooze out. It appears, according to Celsius (quoted by Parkhurst), to have been a rugged valley, embar- rassed with bushes and stones, which could not be passed through without labour and tears, such as we may collect from Deut. xxi. 4, were to be found in Judea. And as Parkhurst adds, " a valley of this kind was a striking emblem of that vale of thorns and tears through which all believers must pass to the heavenly Jerusalem." The Septuagint, Aquila, and the Vulgate, all translate the word baca by weep- ing or tears. But see a valuable note in Home's In- trod. V. 3, p. 42, Ed. 2. Hosea ii. 15, " And from thence will I give her her vineyards. And the valley of Achor for a door of hope." It Avas in this valley, immediately after the execu- tion of Achan, that God said to Joshua, viii. 1, " Fear not, neither be thou dismayed," andpromised to sup- port him against Ai, her king, and her people. And from this time Joshua drove on his conquests with uninterrupted success. In like manner, the tribula- tions of the Jews, in their present dispersion, shall open to them the door of hope ; and there, i. e. in the wilderness and in the vale of tribulation, under those circumstances of present difficulty, mixed with cheer- ing hope. See Horsley in loc. Valley of Hinnom or Grehenna, 2 Chron. xxviii. 3 ; Jer. vii. 32 ; Isa. xxx. 33, and other places- Gehenna or Tophet, or the valley of Hinnom, was a place near Jerusalem, of which we hear first in the 472 VALLEY. book of Joshua, xv. 8. It was there that the cruel sacrifices of children were made by fire to Moloch, the Ammonitish idol. The place was also called Tophet, and that, as is supposed, from the noise of drums ("Toph signifying a drum), a noise raised on purpose to drown the cries of the helpless infants. As this place was in process of time considered as an emblem of Hell, or the place of torment reserved for the punishment of the wicked in a future state, the name Tophet came gradually to be used in this sense, and at length to be confined to it. The term Gehenna, which corresponds to Tophet, occurs twelve times in the New Testament. In Isa. XXX. 33, the place where the AssjTian ar- my was destroyed is called Tophet, by a metonymy, for that army was destroyed probably at a greater distance from Jerusalem, and quite on the opposite side of it. See Lowth in loc. Jeremiah xxxi. 40, calls it the " valley of dead bodies and of ashes," from its having been made a common burying-place, and a receptacle for the rub- bish and filth of the city. The valley of Hinnom lay to the west of the city, winding to the south. Zech, xii. 11, " Id that day the mourning shall be great in Jerusalem, Ab the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddo.'" Jerome says this was a place near Jezreel. De Lisle places it near Megiddo, where Josiah was slain, over whom great lamentation was made, 2 Chron. XXXV. 22-25. This mourning of the Jews, Newcome thinks, will take place on the re-appearance of their Messiah from heaven, Rev. i. 7, xx. 4, when the restored descend- VALLEY VEIL. 473 ants of those Jews who slew him shall be touched with the deepest compunction for the guilt of their forefathers. Joel iii. 2, " The valley of Jehoshaphat." As the term Jehoshaphat signifies in Hebrew " the judgment of God," it is very probable that the valley here mentioned is symbolical, and means, the valley of the divine judgment, wherever that might be. For it is said, " I will gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and I will plead ivith them there. In this sense the Chaldee paraphrase understands it, and renders it " the valley of the division of judgment." And Theodotion, " into the place of judgment ;" and in verse 14, it is called " the valley of decision." From these passages, the Jews and some Christians have been of opinion, that the last Judgment will be solemnized in the val- ley of Jehoshaphat. If we understand the words in this sense, the valley of Jehoshaphat will denote no particular place in the country of Judea, but only some place where God would execute his vengeance on the enemies of the Jews, which, as Grotius on the place remarks, may be called a valley, from the man- ner of human judgments — the judges sitting in a more exalted place, and the criminals standing in a lower. VEIL, a covering worn by females In token of modesty and subjection. It was also used as an ornamental part of dress, richly embroidered and transparent, in very early ages. Homer describes, in his Iliad, a beautiful one offered by the Trojan matrons at the altar of 474 VEIL. Minerva. And Penelope's is thus described in Pope's Odyssey, " A veil translucent, o'er her brow display'd, Her beauty seems, and only seems, to shade." Ceres is said to have worn a black veil by the Grecian poets, either as a sign of sorrow for the loss of Proserpine or to conceal her grief from observation. We find Rebecca makes use of one, on being in- formed that Isaac was approaching to meet her ; Gen. xxiv. 65. When Judah meets Thamar, she is described as covering herself with a veil. This phrase is rather remarkable, as Judah, on that account possibly, sup- posed her to be a courtezan ; Gen. xxxviii. 14. And it is said that slaves formerly in Greece wore larger veils than other people. Euripides makes Andromache complain, in his play of that name, " I was conducted from my husband's bed to the strand, my face covered with the veil of a captive." It is well known that the veils of female slaves in the Levant, at present, cover the whole body, and that the Greeks have been more tenacious of their old customs than most other nations. That the Jewish ladies, in Isaiah's time, wore veils is plain from ch. iii. 19. Virgil describes Helen as veiled, ^n. 1, v. 654, " Et circumtextum croceo velamen acantho, Ornatua Argivae Helenae." The veil, as a mark of subjection, seems to be re- ferred to by the apostle, in 1 Cor. xi. 10, where women are required to have on their head l^na-nty, i. e. xxXvfe.fi* a veil, to shew that they are subject to their husbands, who exercise 8|aa-«»» or power over them. VEIL VESSEL. 475 And to this may be referred Gen. xx. 16, where the veil of Sarah is adverted to. Euripides, speaking of Hecuba, says, Hecub. v. 486, " she lies wrapped in veils ;" which he explains, v. 495, by " She lies like a servant, or subject, on the earth." The veil was worn by suppliants and unhappy persons of either sex ; see 2 Sam. xv. 30 ; xix. 4 ; Esther vi. 12 ; Jer. xiv. 3, 4, to which may be refer- red Mark xiv. 72, where the term iTriUxXui is applied to Peter as a penitent. But see Parkhurst on the term. The veil is employed as the symbol of ignorance. Thus, Isa. XXV. 7, " And on this mountain shall he destroy The covering that covered the face of all people. And the veil that was spread over all nations." See also 2 Cor. iii. 14, &c. where Paul alludes to the veil of Moses, and says, when the Jews shall attend to and receive the doctrine of Christ, the veil that is over their hearts, in the reading of the Old Testa- ment, shall be taken away. See Origen against Cel- sus, b. 5, p. 271- VESSEL. Used to represent the human body or person, 1 Thess. iv. 4 ; 1 Sam. xxi. 5. Cicero has a similar phrase, " Corpus quidem quasi vas est aut aliquod animi receptaculum." See also Lucret. 1. 3, V. 441, and v. 553. Earthen vessels, or vessels of shell, 2 Cor. iv. 7, the ministers of the Gospel. The weaker vessel, 1 Peter iii. 7, the wife, as com- pared with her husband. 476 VESSFX...VINE and VINEYAIID...VIRGIN. Vessels of wrath, or of mercy, Rom. ix. 22, 23, such nations or communities as are objects of God's favour or displeasure, in allusion to the comparison of the potter, v. 21. A chosen vessel unto me, Acts ix. 15, i. e. a most choice instrument. Neither, says Grotius, did Poly- bius, speaking of Damocles, use the word o-xtwo?, a vessel, in another sense ; for this man was a most profitable vessel for service, and most fit for business. Compare 2 Tim. ii. 20, 21. VINE and VINEYARD. A well-known emblem of the church of God, whether under the old or new dispensation. See a beautiful allegory under this image in Ps. Lxxx. 15, &c. ; in Isa. v. 1, where, at v. 7, it is said, " The vineyard of Jehovah is the house of Israel." And the same image is frequently em- ployed by our Lord, as in Matt. xx. 1 ; xxi. 28 ; Luke xiii. 6. See also John xv. 1 ; Jer. ii. 21 ; Ezek. xix. 10 ; Hosea x. 1. Vineyards were usually the scenes of joy, especially at the time of vintage. Hence, when God threatens by Amos, v. 1 7j " And in all vineyards shall be wail- ing," it was reversing the customary merriment, and a mark of indignation. VIRGIN. This term is often used to denote a pet)ple, city, or nation. Thus, Isa. xlvii. 1, " Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Baby- lon !" Jer. xiv. 17 ; xxxi. 4, 21 ; xlvi. 11 ; Lam. ii. 13 ; Amos v. 2. It is sometimes used as the symbol of purity, 2 Cor. xi. 2, " That I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ." VIRGIN VOICE. 477 It is also employed to represent freedom from ido- latrous defilement and corruption, as in Rev. xiv. 4, " These are they. who are not defiled with women, for they are virgins." VOICE. The voice of a person, according to the Indian Interpreter, ch. 50, denotes his fame and re- putation among the people. A voice to a person from behind, when the word behind is not used to denote symbolically a thing fu- ture, signifies, that the person to whom it is directed is gone out of the way, and requires to be recalled, which implies repentance. Thus, in Isa. xxx. 21, " And thine ears shall hear a voice prompting thee behind, Saying, This is the way, walk ye in it ; Turn not aside, to the right or to the left." Agreeably to this, a voice to a person from behind, in order to direct him to behold a vision behind him, will denote that the vision relates to something past or existent, and to be observed as well backwards to- wards the time past, as forwards towards that which is to come. In Gen. iv. 10, the voice of Abel's blood is said to cry unto God, a very singular expression, importing that God is the spectator and avenger of all murderous transactions, — according to the dying words of Zecha- riah, when slain by Joash, 2 Chron. xxiv. 22, " The Lord look upon it and require it." There being no successor to Abel to avenge his death, God takes up his cause and punishes the fratricide. Thus, as Paul remarks, whether we live, we live by the Lord, and whether we die, we die by the Lord ; living and dy- ing we are the Lord's ; Rom. xiv. 8. 478 VOICE WALL. Thunder is repeatedly called the voice of God. Thus Job, ch. xxxvii. 2, " Hear attentively his voice with trembling. Hear attentively the concussion of his voice ; He directeth it under the whole heaven. And his lightning to the ends of the earth. At\er it a voice roareth, God thundereth with his majestic voice ; He will not restrain (his thunderbolts) when his voice is heard. God thundereth with his majestic voice, He doeth great things, which we cannot comprehend." , WALL is the strength of a city, and therefore the symbol of security. So in Isa, xxvi. 1, " Salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks." Zech. ii. 5, " I will be a wall of fire round about her, And the glory in the midst of her." This sublime image, a wall of fire, strongly expresses the divine protection, and must have reminded the Jews of the pillar of fire, by which God directed and defended their ancestors. The " glory in the midst" is, no doubt, an allusion to the symbol of the divine presence in the holy of holies ; Rom. ix. 4. A high wall denotes a still greater degree of sta- bility and safety. See Prov. xviii. 11. A wall of brass is used by Horace, Ep. 1, b. 1, v. 60, as a symbol of the greatest strength and defence. The wall of the New Jerusalem, Rev. xxi. 12, &c. is evidently intended to express the security of the inhabitants in that happy state, and the angel at each gate, as a centinel or guard, expresses the same thing, with the addition of the honour arising from such guardianship. WALL. 479 In Prov. XXV. 28, the man who has no command over his own temper is compared to a city that is broken down and without walls. He lives exposed to all the consequences of his own turbulent passions. Claudian has " non dabitis murum sceleri," i. e. you shall give no harbour or security to crime. The servants of Nabal speak of David's followers as having been a wall to them both night and day, i. e. were a guard or security, 1 Sam. xxv. 16. So Ajax is called by Homer the wall or bulwark of the Grecian band ; II. 7. That is a beautiful expression made use of by Isaiah ch. xxvi. 1, " In that day shall this song be sung. In the land of Judah we have a strong city, Salvation shall he establish for walls and bulwarks." Sometimes a wall denotes separation. Thus the ceremonial law given to the Jews is called a *' middle wall of partition ;" Eph. ii. 14. Walls used to be dedicated with particular cere- monies ; see Nehem. xii. 27, and were thence called sacred. In idolatrous countries, they were used as a place of sacrifice. The king of Moab offered his eldest son upon the wall ; see 2 Kings iii. 27- Pomponius mentions the sacredness of walls in lib. 11, § 10, " Sanctse res quoque, veluti muri et portae civitatis quodammodo juris divini stmt, et ideo nulr lius in bonis sxmt, ideo autem muros sanctos dicimtis, quia poena capitis constituta est in eos, qui aliquid in muros deliquerint." Wlience the law of Romulus, " Ne quis nisi per portam urbem ingreditur, maenia sacrcsancta sunto." — Let no one enter the city ex.- cept by the gate, — let the walls be sacred. 480 WATCHMAN. WATCHMAN. By watchmen are meant the prophets of God. See Ezek. iii. 17, and xxxiii. 2, 9 ; Isa. Iviii. 1. They gave notice of God's dispensa- tions, and called upon men to act suitably under them. The true watchman or faithful prophet is dis- tinguished from the temporizer and seducer. In Jer. vi. 17, God declares his intention of send- ing watchmen to give timely warning to his people, and at the same time exhorts them to pay due atten- tion to the warning so given them by sound of trumpet, as the manner of watchmen was in making public proclamation of the enemy's approach. Lowth considers the term watchmen to be borrow- ed from the temple service, in which there was ap- pointed a constant watch, day and night, by the Le- vites. The watches in the east, even to this day, are performed by a loud cry from time to time, to mark the hoxu", and to shew that they themselves are atten- tive to their duty. Hence the watchmen are said by Isaiah, Iii. 8, to lift up their voice, and in Ixii. 6, not to keep silence, and the greatest reproach to them is, that they are dumb dogs — they cannot bark — dreamers — sluggards — loving to slumber, ch. Ivi. 10. And he cites the 134th Psalm as an example of the temple watch, which was the alternate cry of two different divisions of watchmen. By this, light is thrown on an obscure passage in Malachi ii. 12 : " Jehovah will cut off the man that doeth this ; The toatchman and the answerer, from the tents of Jacob, And him that preaenteth an offering to Jehovah God of hosts." Rabbi Eliezer says, there are three watches in the night, and in each watch sits the holy and blessed Grod, and roars like a lion ; as it is said, Jehovah WATCHMAN WATER. 481 roars from on high, and utters his voice from his ha- bitation. In the room of the prophets of the Old Testament are the ministers of the New, who are the watchmen of the Christian Church, and " watch for their souls, as they that must give account." And to whom it is said, " Take heed to the flock over which the Holy Spirit hath made you watchmen (overseers)." Hence to the Angel of the Church of Sardis, it is written, " Be watchful and strengthen the things which re- main, that are ready to die." If thou wilt not watch, I will come upon thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. WATER. Water is so necessary to life, that the Oneirocritics make it, when clear, cold, and pleasant, the symbol of great good. Thus according to the Indian, in ch. 28, " to dream of quenching one's thirst with pure water," de- notes a greater joy than can be procured by any worldly affluence. And in ch. 187, it is said, " If a king dreams that he makes an aqueduct for his peo- ple of pure water, and they being thirsty, drink of it, it signifies that he will relieve, set at liberty, and make joyful the oppressed." And on the other hand, in ch. 1 82, muddy waters denote diseases and afflictions. Hence the torments of wicked men after this life, were by the ancients represented under the symbol of a lake, whose waters were full of mud and dung. Virgil, ^n. 1. 6, v. 296 ; Diogen. Laert. 1. 6, § 39 ; Plutarch de Audiend. ; Poet. p. 19. Many Waters, on account of their noise, number, li 482 WATER WELL. and disorder, and confusion of their waves, are the symbol of peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. The symbol is so explained in Rev. xvii. 1 5 ; and Jer. xlvii. 2, waters signify an army or multitude of men. The comparison of the noise of a multitude to the noise of many or mighty waters, is used by Isaiah, in ch. xvii. v. 12, 13, much after the same manner as Homer compares the noise of a multitude to the noise of the waves of the sea in a storm, Hiad, b. v. 394. The passage in Isaiah is as follows : ■' Woe to the multitude of the numerous peoples, Who make a sound like the sound of the seeis ; And to the roaring of the nations. Who make a roaring like the roaring of mighty waters. Like the roaring of mighty waters do the nations roar. But he shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far away, And they shall be driyen like the chaff of the hills before the wind. And like the gossamer before the whirlwind." The parallel in Homer is far inferior in grandeur : •' The monarch spoke ; and straight a murmur rose, Loud as the surges when the tempest blows ; That dash'd on broken rocks tumultuous roar. And foam and thunder on the stony shore." WELL. A pit sunk below the surface of the earth, signifies any obscure place, whence it is diffi- cult to draw forth any thing. In eastern countries, the prisons for slaves were made like pits or dens under ground, and their ^are* were sometimes formed in a similar manner, as the Egyptians and Phrygians did. Hence it comes that graves were compared to pri- sons, and prisons to graves. And in Isa. xxiv. 22, the pit there mentioned is explained of a prison. WELL WHORE. 483 And so a prison is called Puteus, a pit, in Plautus, Aulul. Act 2, Scene 5, " Vincite, verberate, in puteum condite." So that a well or pit without water, singly consi- dered, may, as the case requires, signify either the grave or a prison. WHORE. The Hebrew term for whore signifies not only a lewd woman, but an innkeeper and trading woman, from zoun, to feed or entertain strangers. And because such women were addicted to prostitu- tion, the word came to signify a bawd or whore. Thus the harlot Rahab is in the Samaritan Chronicle an hostess ; and by the same word are Jerusalem and Samaria described in the targum on Ezekiel xxiii. 44, where the prophet describes them at the same time as whores and hostesses, entertaining aU the idolatrous strangers. Ux)ihox^oi, an inn, signifies also a brothel in the verses of Philippides, cited by Plutarch. By this we may guess why it was so shameful to be seen in a victualling-house, as we find it was by some passages in ancient authors, because such places were brothels. Hence the reproach in Jer. v. 7, they lodge in the harlots houses. Though Blayney makes it to signify the idol's temple, as adultery means ido- latry. From this notion of a whore being a trader and en- tertainer of strangers, the city of Tyre, which was the finest mart in the world at that time, is, by the prophet Isaiah, called an harlot, in ch. xxiii. 16, and so likewise Nineveh, in Nahum iii. 4. Whoring and trading are therefore synonymous, and to this pur- pose, see Isa. xxiii. 17. 484 WHORE WINDS. As uncleanness of all kinds was the frequent ad- junct of idolatry, amongst the Babylonians, Grecians, and others, as mentioned by Herodotus and Strabo ; so it appears to have been among the Canaanites and Midianites ; and hence fornication, whoredom, and adultery came to be used to denote in general idola- trous worship and practices. On these accounts a harlot or whore is the symbol of a church, city, or nation, that is guilty of idolatry, unchristian or irreligious practices, and that procures to herself by the gains thereof great riches and powers See Rev. xvii. 1, 2, 5 ; and see Lowman on the pas- sage. WINDS. Winds, as the cause of storms, are a proper symbol of wars, and great commotions. The raging of the winds and waves, and the madness of the people, have long been considered as analogous. They are unanimously so explained by the oriental interpreters. And with Artemidorus, stormy winds denote great dangers and troubles. The metaphor taken from winds to denote wars, is common in all authors. See Horace, 1. 1, ode 14, with the commentators. The use which the prophets make of the symbol is to the same effect, to denote incursions of enemies and the like. Thus in Dan. vii. 2, 3, the prophet has a vision of the four monarchies, which were to arise from the wars and tumults of men, expressed by the symbol of " four winds striving upon the great sea." The vi- cinity of the several kingdoms to the great sea, or Mediterranean, so called by way of distinction from the lesser seas or lakes in Judea, may serve to illus- WINDS WINE. 485 trate farther, as Wintle observes, the propriety of the prophet's analogy. From the various tumults and commotions with which the countries around this sea were agitated, the four large monarchies or empires emerged or came up ; and their various ravages, idolatry, and tyranny, sufficiently justify the allusion to wild beasts. Virgil, Mn. 1, 89, has a similar passage, only there the winds are literally meant. " Una Eurusque Notusque ruunt, creberque procellis Africus." In Jer. xlix. 36, 37, the symbol is both used and explained. " I will bring against Elam four winds From the four extremities of the heavens,*' &c. /. e. enemies directing their force against them from every quarter of the heavens. So in Jer. li. 1, a destroying wind is a destructive war. Wind is sometimes applied metaphorically to doc- trine, Ep. iv. 14 ; Heb. xiii. 9 ; James i. 6. It is also used as the emblem of the Holy Spirit, Acts ii. 2 ; John iii. 8. It is occasionally employed as an emblem of the uncertainty of human life and its fluctuating concerns. Thus, in Job vi. 26 — vii. 7 : Ps. Ixxviii. 39 ; Eccles. V. 15 ; Jer. v. 13 ; Hosea viii, 7, &c. Rev. vii. 1, to hold the winds that they should not blow, is a very proper prophetic emblem of a state of peace and tranquillity. WINE. The Egyptian Interpreter says, " Sharp sour wine denotes bitterness and affliction." 486 WINE. The Nazarites were particularly commanded to ab- stain from wine. See Amos ii. 11, 12. Wine is used £is the symbol of spiritual blessings. See Isa. xxv. 6 : " And Jehovah God of hosts shall make For all people, in this mountain, A feast of delicacies, a feast of old wines. Of delicacies exquisitely rich, of old wines perfectly refined. " See also Prov. ix. 5 ; Isa. Iv. 1. Wine is also the symbol of the Divine judgments, Ps. Ix. 3 : " Thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment." This may be considered as equivalent to the cup of fury or trembling, Isa. Ii. 17 ; Zech. xii. 2. For it is usual to denote the dispensations of Providence, fa- vourable or adverse, by some similar metaphor. See Ps. xxxvi. 8 ; Job xxi. 20 ; Isa. xxx. 20 ; Jer. xxiii. 1 5 ; xxv. 1 5 ; Matt. xx. 22, 23 ^ John xviii. 1 1 ; Rev. xiv. 10. See also Isa. Ixv. 8. God reproaches the Jews by Isaiah, ch. i. 22,^ " Thy silver is become dross. Thy wine is mixed with water," an image to express adulteration. See Lowth's note on the passage. A metaphor which Paul seems to use 2 Cor. ii. 17, where he says, " We are not like many who adulterate the word of God," i. e. with hu- man inventions or imaginations. Wine, from its intoxicating effects, is used to de- note communion in the idolatries of the mystic Baby- lon, Rev. xiv. 8. Comp. Jer. Ii. 7. Lees, or dregs of wine, figuratively signify Divine judgments, Ps. Ixxv. 8; Isa. Ii. 17, &c. WINE WINE-PRESS. 4S7 In Jerem. xlviii. 11, it denotes permanence in one situation : " Moab hath settled upon his lees." By this allegory, Moab is represented as having en- joyed singular advantages from having constantly re- mained in his own country ever since he became a people. Hosea iii. 1, " And love flagons of wine;" i. e. to drink wine in the temples of their idols. Amos ii. 8; Judges ix. 27. WINE-PRESS, among the Israelites, was like a threshing-floor ; and therefore we read that Gideon was threshing in one of them. Judges vi. 11. The Septuagint has it, 'g«S^<^4»» a-noy in An^S. The form of it seems to have been this : suppose a bank of earth raised in a convenient circumference, or else a floor sunk below the surface of the ground about it, that the grapes and juice may be kept in : then on one side a pit was sunk much lower than the floor, to place the vats to receive the new pressed juice falling into them- This floor was the wine- press. Hence we may easily understand why our Saviour expresses the making of a wine-press by dig- ging ; as also Isaiah in ch. v. The meaning of the symbol is very easy. The In- dian Oneirocritic, inch. 196, explains it of ^reaf co/i- quest, and, by consequence, mtich slaughter. It is so used in Isa. Ixiii. 3, " I have trodden the wine-press alone. And of the people there was none with me. And I trod them in mine anger, And I trampled them in mine indignation^ And their life-blood weis sprinkled upon my garments. And I have stained all mine apparel." 488 WINE-PRESS WING. And in Lam. i. 15, the destruction of Judah is re- presented under this type : "' Jehovah hath trodden down all my valiant ones in the midst of me ; He hath called an assembly against me, to crush my young men ; Jehovah hath trodden the virgin, the daughter of Judah, as in a wine-press." And the symbol is extremely proper. The pressure of the grapes till their blood comes out, as their juice is called in Deut. xxxii. 14, aptly representing great pressure or affliction, and effusion of blood Rev. xiv. 19, " The great wine-press of the wrath of God." To tread a wine-press, as before remarked, is a prophetic description of destruction. The images in this vision are very strong and expressive. The largest wine-presses were used to be in some places out of the city. So in ver. 20, " The wine-press was trodden without the city," and seems to intimate the great numbers that shall be involved in this gene- ral destruction. This judgment seems still to be fu- ture. No past period or event appears exactly appli- cable to it. It must be therefore left to time more fully to explain it. The wine-press is sometimes the symbol of abun- dance of good. Thus Prov. iii. 10, " Thy presses shall burst out with new wine." WING. "Wings are the symbol of defence and protection, and are taken from the action of the pa- rent bird, when her young are in danger. Hence Jesus says of Jerusalem, Matt, xxiii. 37, " How often would I have gathered thee, as a hen gathereth her WING. 489 brood under her wings." And the Psalmist says, Ps. xxxvi. 7, " The sons of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings." And Boaz thus addresses Ruth, ch. ii. 1 2, " Under whose wings (i. e. God's) thou art come to trust." That the term wing is sometimes used in an adverse sense, is true. See Jerem. xlviii. 40, and xlix. 22 ; and compare Deut. xxviii. 49- That it has many other metaphorical meanings, such as, The flanks of an army, and the arrangement of its battalions, Isa. viii. 8. The extremities of the earth, and remote regions, Job xxxvii. 3; xxxviii. 13; Isa. xi. 12; xxiv. 16; Ezek. vii. 2, &c. The extremity, hem, fringe, or tuft of a garment, Num. XV. 38 ; Ruth iii. 9 ; 1 Sam. xxiv. 5 ; Jer. ii. 34 ; Haggai ii. 12 ; Zech. viii. 23, &c. The beams of the sun, Mai. iv. 2. An opposite mode of speaking is found in Virgil, ^En. 1. 8, " Night cornea on, and covers the earth with its dusky wings." The wings of the wind, i. e. its swift and impetuous motion, 2 Sam. xxii. 1 1 ; Ps. xviii. 1 1 ; Ps. civ. 3. That it has these various meanings ; in short, that it signifies any thing that projects, as the wing of a bird from its body, is plain, from numerous passages of Scripture. Still the symbolical meaning above assigned to it, as its most general figurative applica- tion, is correct. See Ps. xvii. 8 ; Ps. xci. 4, &c. Jolaus, in Euripides, quoted by Lancaster, to ex- press that the children of Hercules were under his protection after their father's death, says, " they were 490 WING. under his wings." And Megara, speaking of the same children, says, " she preserved them under her wings, as a hen her young ones. Hercules Furens. V. 71. The Hebrew term for wing, cenep, signifies a co- vering, and, as a covering, is protection ; so the wing is a proper symbol of the same, just as a tabernacle is a covering in hot countries, and is therefore a symbol of protection. So the fortress in Babylon was called xls^ae, wings, from the protection it pretended to afford. On account of wings being the symbol of protection, some of the Egyptians called their god, whom they looked upon as everlasting and immortal, Cneph, that is, the wing, or CnuphiSy as Strabo writes it, with the Greek termination. And they also represented him with a wing upon his head, as the symbol of his royalty ; the chief notion of the Deity and of kings, being that of protectors. And therefore the true God is, on this account, styled, in 1 Tim. iv. 10, *' The protector of all men, but especially of those that be- lieve." See Daubttz. Another use of wings is to carry away or help in flight; and in this case also, wings are the symbols of protection. Thus, in Exod. xix. 4, God says to the Israelites, after he had delivered them from Pha- raoh, and caused them to pass safely into the wilder- ness, " Ye have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you to myself." The same image is beautifully ex- panded in Deut. xxxii. 11, 12, " As an eagle stirreth up her nest, Fluttereth over her young, - Spreading abroad her wings, Taketh them^ beiureth them on her wings; WING. 491 So Jehovah alone did lead him. And there was no strange God with him." Wings, when used to fly upwards, are the symbols of exaltation. Thus, Isaiah xl. 31, " They shall mount up with wings as eagles ;" i. e. they shall be highly exalted. Ps. cxxxix. 9> " Should I lift up my wings to the dawn, Or dwell in the utmost extremity of the sea." By the dawn, meaning the East ; by the sea, the West ; in other words, Should I take my flight east- ward or westward, the result would be the same. And, as Merrick observes, there is no more impro- priety in attributing to a man wings, than horns. The passage in Isaiah xviii. 1, " Ho ! thou land shadow'd with wings !" has always been considered an obscure one. Lowth translates it, " Ho to the land of the winged cymbal !" and defends his interpretation in a note. But Vi- tringa's mode of explaining it, as quoted by Park- hurst, seems preferable ; he explains the wings here mentioned of the chains of mountains, which it is well known border, and bound on each side, the long val- ley of the Nile, so that Egypt is overshadowed or protected, both from the rays of the sun, and from invasion, on the west towards Lybia, and on the east towards Arabia ; and which chains of mountains, in running from the south towards the north, diverge on each side to a greater distance, like two wings. See Shaw, Pococke, Egmont, and Hayman's Travels. Junius and Tremellius give nearly the same idea, understanding by wings, the coasts or shores of the 49*2 WING. country, which are inclosed with high and shady mountains, such as Strabo affirms to be in the neigh- bourhood of the Red Sea. While Glassius interprets wings in the above pas- sage, as meaning the " sails of ships," which are their extreme parts, and are spread out in the shape of wings, and are the instruments of swift motion over the waters, when blown by winds. They also afford a shade to sailors. So in Virgil, ^En. 3, 520, " Ve- lorum pandimus alas." We spread forth the wings of our sails. Dan. ix. 27, " The desolating wing of detesta- tion." By which phrase is to be understood the Roman army and its legions, who were detestable on account of their idolatry. Compare Matt. xxiv. 1 5, with Luke xxi. 20. There is another reason why Daniel may use the term " wing" here, as well as why he assigns the wings of a bird or fowl to two of the four mystical beasts, which, in his vision, represented the four great monarchies. For by this picture, the devastation which these monarchies were to bring on other na- tions, and the speed and force with which they would act, were strongly and beautifully represented to those who understood symbolical writing. The stretching out of wings signifying action or design, the names of these symbols were naturally used for the things signified by them. Hence Isaiah, predicting the invasion of Judea by the king of Assy- ria, has used that expression, ch. viii. 8, " And the extension of his wings shall be Over the full breadth of thy land, O Immanuel !" WING. 493 By the like metaphor, Jeremiah predicted the de- solation of Moab, ch. xlviii. 40, " Behold, like an eagle shall he fly. And shall spread forth his wings over Moab." Maimonides, in his More Nev. p. 1, c. 49, says, ■' Observe that all things, which are moved by a very rapid motion, are, on account of their celerity, said to fly." Hence TertuUian also says, " Omnis spiri- tus ales," every spirit is winged. And hence Mer- cury, the messenger of the gods, is said to be winged. Euripides applies the term to weapons, in Orestes, v. 274, " The winged arrows of bows ;" and Virgil, in ^En. 1. 5, has, " Swifter than the winds and the wings of the thunderbolt." And Claudian, 1. 2, de Rapt. V. 218, " Jupiter aethere summo Pacificus rubri torsisset fulminis alas." Euripides in Hecuba, v. 70, applies the term to dreams : " 0 venerable Earth, Mother of Dreams, having black wings." And to spectres, in the same play, v. 704, " A spectre passed by me, having dark wings." Hence we find them ascribed to the seraphim in Isaiah, ch. vi., whose wings, six in number, were used for a threefold purpose ; to cover the face, to cover the feet, and to fly. And God himself is said to " walk upon the wings of the wind," Ps. civ. 3. The theology of the Gen- tiles attributed wings to their deities. Thus Virgil, vEn. 5, V. 657, " Cum Dea se paribus per coelum sustulit alas." 494 \VING...WITHIN and WITHOUT. ..WOMAN. And Homer decks his hero Achilles in a similar raauner, II. 19, " The chief beholds himself with wondering eyes ; His arms he poises, and his motion tries ; Buoy'd by some inward force he seems to swim. And /eels a pinion lifting every limb." WITHIN AND WITHOUT. These, in Scrip- ture style, mean the Jews and the Gentiles, the one within, and the other without, the Mosaical Law and Covenant. Thus in Deut xxv. 5, " The wife of the dead shall not marry vnthout unto a stranger." And thus in relation to those who were Christians, or within the Church, and those who were not so, Paul says, 1 Cor. v. 12, " Do not ye judge them that are within ? But them that are without God judgeth." Col. iv. 5, " Walk in wisdom toward them that are without" i. e. toward unconverted persons. And the same in 1 Thess. iv. 12. And this language is used in reference to the New Jerusalem, Rev. xxii. 15, " For without are dogs and sorcerers," &c. WOMAN. W^oman, in the symbolical language, is frequently the symbol of a city or body politic ; of a nation or kingdom. Thus in ^Eschylus, Persae 181, the monarchy of Persia, and the Republic of Greece, are represented in a symbolical dream by two women. They who are acquainted with medals and inscrip- tions, many of which are symbolical, know that cities, as even Rome, frequently were represented by women. And so in like manner, statues in the shape of women were made to represent cities. In the ancient Prophets, the symbol is very often WO^fAN. 495 used for the church or nation of the Jews. Thus in Ezekiel, ch. xvi. there is a long description of that people under the symbol of a female child, growing up by several degrees to the stature of a woman, and then married to Grod, by entering into covenant with him. And therefore when the Israelites acted contrary to that covenant, by forsaking God and following idols, then they became properly represented by the symbol of an adulteress or harlot, that offers herself to all comers ; Ezek. xvi. 32, 38 ; xxiii. 45 ; Hosea iii. 1 ; Isa. i. 21 ; Jer. ii. 20; Ezek. xvi. 15, 16, 28, 35, &c. Hosea i. 2. And adultery itself, or fornication in a married state, becomes the symbol of idolatry, as in Jer. iii, 8, 9 ; Ezek. xxiii. 37? and ch. xvi. 26, 29. There is a very mysterious prophecy in Zech. t. 5, Sec. where a woman is represented as sitting in an ephah, and as carried through the air by two others. It is not easy to say what meaning should be attach- ed to it. Newcome says, " The meaning of the vision seems to be, that the Babylonish captivity had hap- pened on account of the wickedness committed by the Jews ; and that a like dispersion would befal them, if they relapsed into like crimes." Thus the whole chapter is an awful admonition that multiplied curses, and particularly dispersion and captivity, would be the punishment of national guilt. But Capellus's interpretation well deserves atten- tion. He considers verse 8, as denoting that God treads on the neck of wickedness, and restrains it from expatiating; and verse 9, 10, 11, as signifying that God was propitious to the Jews, and transferred 496 WOMAN WRITE. the punishment of iniquity to the Babylonians, whom the weight of the Divine vengeance should ever de- press. It may be added to the remark of this critic, that Babylon was soon to suffer a signal calamity from the reigning Persian monarch. See a dissertation on this subject in the Emblemata Sacra of Ewaldus, v. 3, p. 508, &c. For an explanation of that other vision in Rev. xii. 1 , &c. see the Dissertation of the same author, and Lowman on the Revel, in loc. where the church is represented by the figure of a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. Woman is sometimes used metaphorically for weak and effeminate persons, as Isa. iii. 12 ; xix. 16 ; Jer. 1. 37; li. 30; Nahum iii. 13. WRITE, signifies to publish or notify, because this is the first intention of writing ; and at fir^t no writings were made but upon pillars or other monu- ments, merely to notify things. Thus when God says in Isaiah Ixv. 6, " Behold it is written before me ;" it immediately follows as syno- nymous, " I will not keep silence." And in Jeremiah xxii. 30, it is said, " Write this man childless ;" i. e. publish and let all men know, that this man shall be childless. And hence, because writing is publishing, there- fore an author not read, is, with Martial, one that hath not written, " Versiculos in me narratur scribere Cinna, Non scribit, cujus carmina nemo legit." /. 3, ep. 9. WRITE. 497 By the notification of things, the effect intended is brought about ; and. in this sense, to icrite is to effect Solomon says, Prov. vii. 3, " Bind my words upon thy fingers. Write them upon the tablet of thine heart." He of course meant that such precepts should be un- derstood figuratively ; and yet it was on such texts as these that the Pharisees founded their practice of binding Phylacteries upon their foreheads ; See Exod. xiii. 16 ; Deut. vi. 5 ; xi. 18. And hence, perhaps, also the popular phrase among us, of having a thing at the finger's ends, when we are perfectly acquaint- ed with it. (Durell.) Kk ERRATA. Introductiou, p. 5. The Author was led to dass " Walchii AntJquitatFs Jrymbolicae," amoDg the works illustrative of thi« subject, merely from its title, iiaving never been able to meet with W. He now, however, suspects, that it relates rather to Ancient Creeds. Respecting the others, there is no error. P. 134, /or 2 Lam. read 2 Sam. P. 278, for 2 Lam. read 2 Sam. P. 394, for Psalm Ixiv. }-ead xliv. P. 168, for DiodorM, read Diodoru«, P. 350, for Thacemas, read Thaumas, Some other mistakes have occurred owing to the .Author's distance from the press, but he hopes none of material importance. IN CCMPLLANCE WITH CURRENT COPiKIGHT LAW OCKER & TRAPP, INC. AND PRINCETCN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY PRODUCED THIS REPLACEMENT VOLUME CN WEYERHAEUSER COUGAR OPAQUE NATURAL PAPER, THAT MEETS ANSI/NISO STANDARDS Z39. 48-1992 TO REPLACE THE IRREPARABLY DETERIORATED ORIGINAL. 1997 OO Princeton Theological Scmmary-Speef Library 1 1012 01137 6920 DATE DUE it.^fii^glfMmnmn'M^- pMWti.t/.* A GAYLORD #3523PI Printed in USA