An Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures

No. II.

INDEX

THE SYMBOLICAL LANGUAGE OF THE SCRIPTURES.

ABOMINATIONS.

[Designed to facilitate the perusal of the Prophetic Books, analysed in this Volume.]1

1. Sin in general.-Isa. lxvi. 3. Their soul delighteth in abomina-
tions. Ezek. xvi. 50. They... committed abomination before me.
See also ver. 51.

2. An Idol. Isa. xliv. 19. Shall I make the residue thereof an abomi-
nation? See also 2 Kings xxiii. 13.

3. The rites and ceremonies of the idolatrous and corrupt church of
Rome. Rev. xvii. 4. Having a golden cup in her hand, full of
abominations.

4. Abomination of Desolation.-The Roman army, so called on ac-
count of its ensigns and images which the soldiers worshipped, and
which were abominable to the Jews.-Matt. xxiv. 15.
When ye
shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the Pro-
phet.

ACCURSED.

1. Devoted to destruction. Josh. vi. 17.

2. Accursed from Christ. Excluded from intercourse, fellowship, and
alliance with Christ.-Rom. ix. 3.

ADULTERESS, or Harlot.-An apostate church or city; particularly
the daughter of Jerusalem or the Jewish church and people.-Isa.
i. 21. How is the faithful city become a harlot? See Jer. iii. 6. 8, 9.
Ezek. xvi. 22. xxiii. 7. In Rev. xvii. 5. Babylon the Great, the Mo-
ther of Harlots, means the idolatrous Latin church.
ADULTEROUS Generation (Matt. xii. 39. xvi. 4. Mark viii. 38.); a faith-
less and impious generation.

ADULTERY.-Idolatry and apostacy from the worship of the true God.
Jer. iii. 8, 9. When backsliding Israel committed adultery... with
stones and with stocks. See also Ezek. xvi. 32. xxiii. 37. Rev. ii.
22.
AIR, Wind, Breath.-The Holy Spirit.-John iii. 8. The wind bloweth
where it listeth; and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell
whence it cometh and whither it goeth; so is every one that is born
of the Spirit.-John xx. 22. He breathed on them, and saith unto
them, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost."-Acts ii. 2. 4. Suddenly there
came a sound from Heaven as of a rushing mighty wind.... And
they were all filled with the Holy Ghost-See PRINCE.
ALPHA and OMEGA, an appellation which Jesus Christ appropriates to
himself; to denote that, as he is the Creator, so he will be the final
judge of all things. Rev. i. 8. I am Alpha and Omega the begin-
ning and the ending.

AMEN.

ARM.

1. The infinite power of God in creating the world.-Jer. xxvii. 5.
have made the earth... by my great power, and by my outstretchea
arm. See also Jer. xxxii. 17.

2. The power, strength, and miracles of Christ.-Isa. liii. 1. John xii.
38. To whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?

ARMOUR.-Such graces and spiritual weapons, as are for the defence
of the soul, and by which we may be enabled to combat with our
spiritual enemies.-Rom. xiii. 12. Let us put on the armour of
light.-Eph. vi. 11. Put on the whole armour of God.
ARROWS.

1. Calamities, or judgments of God.-Job vi. 4. The arrows of the
Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit.-
2 Sam. xxii. 14, 15. compare Psal. xxxviii. 2, 3. and Ezek. v. 16.
That calamities are represented among the eastern writers as the
arrows of the Almighty, we have abundant proces: one single
instance, from the fine sayings ascribed to Ali (or Aaly) the son-in-
law of the impostor of Arabia, will illustrate this remark. "It was
once demanded of the fourth Khalif (Ali), on whom be the mercy
of the Creator, if the canopy of heaven were a bow; and if the
earth were the cord thereof; and if calamities were arrows: if man-
kind were the mark for those arrows; and if Almighty God, the
tremendous and the glorious, were the unerring archer, to whom
could the sons of Adam flee for protection? The Khalif answered
saying, The sons of Adam must flee unto the Lord.' This fine
image Job keeps in view, (vi. 8, 9.) wishing that the unerring marks-
man may let fly these arrows, let loose his hand, to destroy and cut
him off." Dr. A. Clarke on Job vi. 4.

Abusive or slanderous words.-Psal. Ixiv. 3. Who bend their bows to
shoot their arrows, even bitter words.

Children.-Psal. cxxvii. 4, 5. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty
man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his
quiver full of them. "The orientals are accustomed to call brave
and valiant sons the arrows and darts of their parents, because they
are able to defend them. To sharpen arrows, to make sharp arrows,
is, among them, to get brave and valiant sons." [Burder's Oriental
Literature, vol. ii. p. 53.]

1. Truth and faithfulness; a title of Christ.—Rev. iii. 14. Thus saith ASHES. See DUST and ASHES.
the Amen; Truth, i.e. He who is true says, &c.

2. So be it: a form of wishing, approving, or praying at the end of a
sentence. Rom. i. 25. Gal. i. 5. Eph. iii. 21. Phil. iv. 20. 1 Tim.
i. 17. It was customary among the Jews, when the priests or other
persons offered up prayers or praises to God in public, for the whole
assembly to respond Amen. Numb. v. 22. This custom was
adopted by Christians; and in allusion to it Amen occurs in 1 Cor.
xiv. 16.

ANGELS.

1. Angel of the LORD.-Jesus Christ.-Zech. i. 12. The angel of the
LORD answered and said.... See Lowth's Commentary, in loc.
2. Those intellectual and immaterial Beings, whom the Almighty em-
ploys, as the ministers of his providence or of his judgments. Rev.
xv. 8. xvi. 1. Seven Angels.-xxii. 8. I fell down to worship before
the feel of the angel, who showed me these things.

3. The presiding ministers or bishops of the church.-Rev. ii. 1. The
angel of the church of Ephesus. See also ii. 8. 12. 18. iii. 1. 7. 14.
4. Fallen Spirits.-Matt. xxv. 41. Everlasting fire prepared for the
Devil and his Angels.

1 Besides the authorities cited for particular words, this Index of the
Prophetic or Symbolical Language of the Scriptures has been drawn up,
after a careful perusal of the remarks on this subject by Sir Isaac New-
ton, Bishops Lowth and Hurd, the Commentary of William Lowth on the
Prophets, the Rev. William Jones's Key to the Language of Prophecy,
Dr. Lancaster's admirable Symbolical Alphabetical Dictionary prefixed
to his Abridgment of Daubuz's Perpetual Commentary on the Revelation
of St. John, Robinson's Greek Lexicon to the New Testament, and Dr.
Woodhouse's Notes to his Translation of the Apocalypse. Those symbols,
and interpretations of symbols, which have been the subject of contro
versy among some late writers on prophecy, are designedly omitted.

BABES.

1. Foolish and inexperienced princes.-Isa. iii. 4. I will give children
to be their princes, and babes (or infants) shall rule over them. This
minatory prediction was fully accomplished in the succession of
weak and wicked princes who reigned over the kingdom of Judah
from the death of Josiah to the destruction of the city and temple,
and the taking of Zedekiah, the last of them, captive by Nebuchad-

nezzar.

2. Those who are weak in the Christian faith and knowledge, being
ignorant and inconstant, like infants.-1 Cor. iii. 1. And 1, brethren,
could not speak unto you... but as... unto babes in Christ.-
Heb. v. 13. For he is a babe.
BABYLON.-Papal Rome with all her idolatrous rites.-Rev. xiv. 8.
Babylon is fallen. See also Rev. xvii. xviii.

BALAAM, Doctrine, error, or way of-A defection from true religion
united with immoral and lascivious practices.-Rev. ii. 14. Thou
hast them that hold the doctrine of Balaam.-Jude 11. They have
.... run greedily after the error of Balaam.-2 Pet. ii. 15. Following
the way of Balaam.

BALANCE.

1. The known symbol of a strict observation of justice and fair deal-
ing. Prov. xi. 1. A false balance is abomination unto the Lord.-
Prov. xvi. 11. A just weight and balance are the Lord's. See also
Job xxxi. 6.

Joined with symbols, denoting the sale of corn and fruits by weight,
it becomes the symbol of scarcity.-Lev. xxvi. 26. When I have
broken the staff of your bread; ten women shall bake your bread in
one oven; and they shall deliver you bread again by weight, and

4. Good or evil desires and designs.-Deut. xxviii. 54. His eye shall
be evil towards his brother.-ver. 56. Her eye shall be evil towards
the husband of her bosom, and towards her son, and towards her
daughter. That is, they shall form cruel and evil designs against
them to kill, and even to eat them. History confirms the predic-
tion.

FACE.

FIELD. The World.-Matt. xiii. 38.
FIRE.

1. With such adjuncts as denote that it is not put for light, it signifies
destruction or torment, great sickness, war, and its dismal effects.-
Isa. xlii. 25. It hath set him on fire.-Isa. lxvi. 15. The LORD will
come with fire. See Ezek. xxii. 20-22.

2. Burning fire.-The wrath of God.-Ezek. xxii. 31. I have con-
sumed them with the fire of my wrath.

3. Afflictions, or persecution. Isa. xxiv. 15. Glorify ye the LORD God
in the fires.

1. As applied to God, it denotes his favour.-Dan. ix. 17. Cause thy 4. Coals of fire proceeding out of the month of God, or from his
face to shine upon thy sanctuary.-See Psal. xxxi. 16.

2. As applied to man.

FACES harder than a rock (Jer. v. 3.) denote unblushing, shameless

persons.

FAITH (II.) In consequence of not attending to the ambiguity of
the word is, which in our authorised version is usually trans-
lated faith, it has been applied by many divines, wherever it occurs,
exclusively to faith in the Messiah, when the context often manifestly
requires it to be taken in a different sense. Faith or believing then
denotes,

1. Our assenting to any truth, even to such truths as are known by the
evidences of our senses: thus in John xx. 29. Thomas, whom the
evidence of his senses had convinced of the reality of Christ's re-
surrection, is said to have believed.

2. A general disposition of the mind to embrace all that we know concern-
ing God, whether by reason or revelation: as in Heb. xi. 6. Without
faith it is impossible to please God; which expression is subsequent-
ly applied to the existence of God, his goodness and bounty towards
his sincere worshippers.

3. A peculiar assent to a certain revelation; for instance, in Rom. iv.
throughout, and in other passages that treat of Abraham's faith, it is
manifest that this faith must be referred to the peculiar promises
made to Abraham that a son should be born unto him, though he
himself was then about a hundred years old, and Sarah, who was
ninety, was barren.

4. An assent given to the revelation made to Moses; as when the
children of Israel are said to have believed the Lord and his servant
Moses. (Exod. xiv. 31. compared with John v. 45, 46. and ix. 28)
5. An assent given to the relation made to the prophets: as when King
Jehoshaphat says to the Jews (2 Chron. xx. 20.,) "Believe in the
Lord your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, 'so
shall ye prosper." Compare also Isa. vii. 9.

6. A cordial assent to the Christian revelation or to some of its leading
and fundamental points; as in those passages where we are com-
manded to believe in Christ, or that he is the Son of God, or that he
rose from the dead.

7. An assent to future and invisible things revealed by God, as in
Heb. xi. 1. where it is defined to be the substance of things hoped
for, and the evidence of things not seen, that is, the giving of a present
subsistence to things future, which are fully expected, and the
proving and demonstrating of things which are not seen.

8. The Gospel, as in Gal. iii. 2. where Saint Paul demands of the
Galatians, whether they received the Spirit by the works of the law,
or by the hearing of faith in which passage it is evident that the
hearing of faith denotes the hearing of the preached Gospel; and in
this sense the word faith appears to be used in all those parts of the
Epistle to the Romans, where it is opposed to the works of the law.
9. A persuasion that what we do is well pleasing to God: thus the
meaning of Rom. xiv. 23, Whatsoever is not of faith is sin, is, that
it is sinful in us to do any thing, which we are not fully persuaded
is well pleasing to God, or at least permitted by him.
10. Faith in miracles, that is, a firm confidence in Christ, to which, at
the first propagation of the Gospel, was annexed the performance
of miracles: such was the faith which Jesus Christ frequently re-
quired of his disciples and others, that he might work certain
miracles by them (compare Matt. xvii. 20. Mark xi. 22. xvi. 17. and
Luke xvii. 6.;) and to which Saint Paul refers in 1 Cor. xiii. 2.
Lastly, faith sometimes signifies,

countenance, denote his anger.-Psal. xviii. 8. 12, 13.
FIRMAMENT. See HEAVENS.
FLESH (or MEAT.)

1. The riches, goods, or possessions of any person conquered, oppres-
sed, or slain, as the case may be.-Psal. lxxiv. 14. Thou breakest
the heads of leviathan in pieces (didst destroy the power of Pharaoh
and his princes,) [and] gavest him [to be] meat to the people inhabiting
the wilderness: that is, didst enrich the Israelites with their
spoils. Isa. xvii. 4. The fatness of his flesh shall be made lean. See
also Mic. iii. 2, 3. and Zech. xi. 9. 16.; in all which places the Tar
2. To devour much flesh, is to conquer and spoil many enemies of their
gum explains flesh by riches and substance.
lands and possessions. In Dan. vii. 5. this expression is used to de-
note the cruelty of the Medes and Persians, many of whose sove
reigns were more like ferocious bears than men. Instances of their
cruelty abound in almost all the historians who have written of
their affairs.

Weak, mortal man.-Isa. xl. 6. All flesh is grass.
The exterior of man; viz.

(1.) External actions, as circumcision, the choice of food, &c. in
which the body is the part chiefly affected.-Rom. iv. 1. What shall
we say then, that Abraham our father hath found, as pertaining to the
flesh i. e. so far as regards external actions.-1 Cor. x. 18. "Behold
Israel after the flesh; . e. as it respects the external performance of
their religious rites.-Gal. iii. 3.... Are ye now made perfect by the
flesh? will ye turn again to mere external ceremonies?
(2.) External appearance, condition, circumstances, character &c.-
John vi. 63. The flesh profiteth nothing.-2. Cor. v. 16. We know
no man after the flesh.
FLOOD-Extreme danger.-Psal. Ixix. 15. Let not the water-flood

FORTRESS.-See TOWERS.

Fox-A cunning, deceitful person.-Luke xiii. 32 Go, tell that fox.-
Ezek. xiii. 4. Thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts.
FRUIT.

1. The consequences of an action. Prov. i. 31. They shall eat the fruit
af their own ways.
2. Good works--Psal. i. 3, He (the pious man) .....bringeth forth
his fruit in his season.-Matt. iii. 8. Bring forth fruits meet for re-
pentance.
FURNACE.

1. A place of great affliction-Deut. iv. 20. The LORD hath... brought
you forth out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt.

2. Such afflictions as God sends for the amendment and correction of
men. -Jer. ix. 7. I will melt them, and try them, that is, in the
furnace of affliction.

11. Fidelity, or faithfulness in the discharge of duties or promises, and
so the Greek word is properly rendered in Tit. ii. 10.; as it
also should have been in 1 Tim. v. 12., the faith, there said to have
been cast off by the younger widows, being their fidelity to Christ.
FALLING down, or prostrate, before another. Submission and ho-
mage.-Isa. xlv. 14. They shall fall down unto thee, and make sup-1. White garments were not only the emblem of purity and being in
plication unto thee. See also Gen. xxvii. 29. xxxvii. 7, 8.
FAMILY.-The Church of God.-Eph. iii. 15. Of whom the whole
family in heaven and earth is named.

FAT.

1. The most excellent of every thing.-Psal. lxxxi. 16. He should have
fed them with the finest (Heb. fat) of the wheat.-Psal. cxlvii. 14. He
filleth thee with the finest (Heb. fat) of the wheat.

2. Riches.-Psal. xxii. 29. All the fat upon earth.-Jer. v. 28. They
are waxen fat.

FATHER.

1. God, whose children we all are by creation and redemption.-Mal.
i. 6. If I be a father, where is mine honour ?-Mal. ii. 10. Have we
not all one Father? Hath not one God created us? See Jer. xxxi.

2. Father of any thing; that is, the author, cause, or source of it.—
John viii. 44. When he (Satan) speaketh a lie... he is the father of
it. James i. 17. The Father of lights; the source of spiritual and
coporeal light.

3. Example, pattern, or prototype.-John viii. 44. Ye are of your
father, the devil; ye follow the example of Satan, so that he may be
properly called your father, and ye his children.

GARMENTS.

the favour of God (Psal. li. 7. Isa. i. 18.,) but also, as being worn
on festival days, were tokens of joy and pleasure. (Isa. lii. xi.
10.) Kings and princes likewise were arrayed in white garments
of fine linen. (Gen. xli. 42. 1 Chron. xv. 27. Luke xvi. 19.) Hence,
to walk or be clothed in white, signifies to be prosperous, successful,
and victorious, to be holy, happy, honoured, and rewarded.-Rev.
iii. 4, 5. They shall walk in white...... The same shall be clothed
in white raiment.

2. Souls. Rev. iii. 4. Thou hast a few names in Sardis which have
not defiled their garments.-The Hebrews considered holiness as the
garb of the soul, and evil actions as stains or spots upon this garb.
GATES.

1. Gates of the daughter of Sion. The ordinances of Jehovah, by
which the soul is helped forward in the way of salvation.-Psal. ix.
14. That I may show forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter
of Sion.

2. Gates of Death.

Imminent danger of death.-Psal. ix. 13. Have mercy upon me, O
LORD..... thou that deliverest me from the gates of death. "The
Hebrew poets supposed the lower world, or region of death, to have
gates. Thus it is said in Job xxxviii. 17. Have the gates of death

No. II.

INDEX

THE SYMBOLICAL LANGUAGE OF THE SCRIPTURES.

ABOMINATIONS.

[Designed to facilitate the perusal of the Prophetic Books, analysed in this Volume.]1

1. Sin in general.-Isa. lxvi. 3. Their soul delighteth in abomina-
tions. Ezek. xvi. 50. They... committed abomination before me.
See also ver. 51.

2. An Idol.-Isa. xliv. 19. Shall I make the residue thereof an abomi-
nation? See also 2 Kings xxiii. 13.

3. The rites and ceremonies of the idolatrous and corrupt church of
Rome.-Rev. xvii. 4. Having a golden cup in her hand, full of

abominations.

4. Abomination of Desolation.-The Roman army, so called on ac-
count of its ensigns and images which the soldiers worshipped, and
which were abominable to the Jews.-Matt. xxiv. 15. When ye
shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the Pro-
phet.

ACCURSED.

1. Devoted to destruction. Josh. vi. 17.

2. Accursed from Christ. Excluded from intercourse, fellowship, and
alliance with Christ.-Rom. ix. 3.

22.

AIR, Wind, Breath.-The Holy Spirit.-John iii. 8. The wind bloweth
where it listeth; and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell
whence it cometh and whither it goeth; so is every one that is born
of the Spirit.-John xx. 22. He breathed on them, and saith unto
them, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost."-Acts ii. 2. 4. Suddenly there
came a sound from Heaven as of a rushing mighty wind.... And
they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.-See PRINCE.
ALPHA and OMEGA, an appellation which Jesus Christ appropriates to
himself; to denote that, as he is the Creator, so he will be the final
judge of all things. Rev. i. 8. I am Alpha and Omega the begin
ning and the ending.

AMEN.

1. Truth and faithfulness; a title of Christ.-Rev. iii. 14. Thus saith
the Amen; Truth, i.e. He who is true says, &c.

ANGELS.

3. The presiding ministers or bishops of the church.-Rev. ii. 1. The
angel of the church of Ephesus. See also ii. 8. 12. 18. iii. 1. 7. 14.
4. Fallen Spirits-Matt. xxv. 41. Everlasting fire prepared for the
Devil and his Angels.

ARM.

1. The infinite power of God in creating the world.-Jer. xxvii. 5. ▲
have made the earth... by my great power, and by my outstretchea
arm. See also Jer. xxxii. 17.

2. The power, strength, and miracles of Christ.-Isa. liii. 1. John xii.
38. To whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?

3. When Jehovah is said to make bare his holy arm, it means that he
hath displayed his great power, which for a long time seemed to be
hidden and unemployed.-Isa. lii. 10. The Lord hath made bare his
holy arm.
ARMOUR.-Such graces and spiritual weapons, as are for the defence
of the soul, and by which we may be enabled to combat with our
spiritual enemies.-Rom. xiii. 12. Let us put on the armour of
light.-Eph. vi. 11. Put on the whole armour of God.
ARROWS.

1. Calamities, or judgments of God.-Job vi. 4. The arrows of the
Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit.—
2 Sam. xxii. 14, 15. compare Psal. xxxviii. 2, 3. and Ezek. v. 16.
That calamities are represented among the eastern writers as the
arrows of the Almighty, we have abundant proofs: one single
instance, from the fine sayings ascribed to Ali (or Aaly) the son-in-
law of the impostor of Arabia, will illustrate this remark. "It was
once demanded of the fourth Khalif (Ali), on whom be the mercy
of the Creator, if the canopy of heaven were a bow; and if the
earth were the cord thereof; and if calamities were arrows: if man-
kind were the mark for those arrows; and if Almighty God, the
tremendous and the glorious, were the unerring archer, to whom
could the sons of Adam flee for protection? The Khalif answered
saying, The sons of Adam must flee unto the Lord.' This fine
image Job keeps in view, (vi. 8, 9.) wishing that the unerring marks-
man may let fly these arrows, let loose his hand, to destroy and cut
him off." Dr. A. Clarke on Job vi. 4.

Abusive or slanderous words.-Psal. Ixiv. 3. Who bend their bows to
shoot their arrows, even bitter words.

BABES.

nezzar.

BABYLON.-Papal Rome with all her idolatrous rites.—Rev. xiv. 8.
Babylon is fallen. See also Rev. xvii. xviii.
BALAAM, Doctrine, error, or way of.-A defection from true religion
united with immoral and lascivious practices.-Rev. ii. 14. Thou
hast them that hold the doctrine of Balaam.-Jude 11. They have
..run greedily after the error of Balaam.-2 Pet. ii. 15. Following
the way of Balaam.
BALANCE.

1 Besides the authorities cited for particular words, this Index of the
Prophetic or Symbolical Language of the Scriptures has been drawn up,
after a careful perusal of the remarks on this subject by Sir Isaac New-1.
ton, Bishops Lowth and Hurd, the Commentary of William Lowth on the
Prophets, the Rev. William Jones's Key to the Language of Prophecy,
Dr. Lancaster's admirable Symbolical Alphabetical Dictionary prefixed
to his Abridgment of Daubuz's Perpetual Commentary on the Revelation
of St. John, Robinson's Greek Lexicon to the New Testament, and Dr.
Woodhouse's Notes to his Translation of the Apocalypse. Those symbols,
and interpretations of symbols, which have been the subject of contro
versy among some late writers on prophecy, are designedly omitted.

....

The known symbol of a strict observation of justice and fair deal-
ing. Prov. xi. 1. A false balance is abomination unto the Lord.-
Prov. xvi. 11. A just weight and balance are the Lord's. See also
Job xxxi. 6.

ye shall eat and not be satisfied.-Ezek. iv. 16. They shall eat bread
by weight and with care.

BALDNESS.-Destruction.-Jer. xlvii. 5. Baldness is come upon Gaza.
BASHAN. See KINE, OAKS.

BEAST.

1. A heathen kingdom or power of the earth.-Dan. vii. 17. These
great beasts, which are four, are four kings. See pp. 208-210. of
this volume.

2. The Papal antichrist.-Rev. xiii. 2. 12.

BED-Great tribulation and anguish.-Rev. ii. 22. I will cast her into
a bed. To be tormented in bed, where men seek rest, is peculiarly

grievous. See Psal. vi. 6. xli. 3. Isa. xxviii. 20.

BIRD of Prey. A hostile army coming to prey upon a country.-Isa.
xlvi. 11. Calling a ravenous bird from the east; Cyrus and his
army. Compare Jer. xii. 9. Ezek. xxxii. 4. and xxxix. 17.
BITTER-BITTERNESS.-Affliction, misery, and servitude.-Exod. i.
14. They made their lives bitter with hard bondage. See Jer. ix
15.-Gall of bitterness. (Acts viii. 23.) A state offensive to God.
BLACK-BLACKNESS.-Affliction, disasters, and anguish.-Jer. xiv. 2.
Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish; they are black unto
the ground.-Joel ii. 6. All faces shall gather blackness.-Rev. vi.
5. Behold a black horse. The black colour of the horse in this
place indicates that the publication of the Gospel, at the time al-
luded to, will, by way of punishment upon the heathens, for re-
fusing to hear it, be attended with great affliction. [Daubuz and
Woodhouse, in loc.]

BLESSING (Cup of.) See CUP, 2.

BLINDNESS.-Want of understanding in divine wisdom.-Isa. xxix. 18.
In that day.... the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and
out of darkness.
BLOOD.

1. Slaughter and mortality.-Isa. xxxiv. 3. The mountains shall be
melted with blood. See Ezek. xxxii. 6.

2. Our natural descent from one common family.-And hath made of
one blood all nations of men, for to dwell on all the face of the earth.
(Acts xvii. 26.) Flesh and blood is an expression, which signifies
the present natural state of man, unaided by divine grace. When
Paul was converted, he did not consult with flesh and blood. (Gal. i.
16.) When Peter declared his belief, that his Master was Christ,
the Son of the living God, Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed
art thou, Simon Bar-Jona; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it
unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. (Matt. xvi. 17.) We are
assured that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.
(1 Cor. xv. 50.)

3. Death. To resist unto blood, is to contend unto death. (Heb. xii. 4.)
When I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I
said unto thee, when thou wast in thy blood, Live. (Ezek. xvi. 6.) To
shed blood is to murder; hence a cruel murderer is called a bloody
man. To give the wicked blood to drink, is to put into their hand
the cup of death. The metaphorical term is sometimes employed
in personification. What hast thou done? said God to Cain. The
voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. (Gen. iv.
10.) Ye are come to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better
things than that of Abel. (Heb. xii. 24.)

4. The sufferings and death of Christ, considered as an atonement for
the souls of sinners Being justified by his blood, we shall be saved
from wrath, through him. (Rom. v. 9.) The following expressions
in the New Testament are allusions to the typical blood, which was
so plentifully shed under the Old. Christians are taught to reason;
that if the blood of bulls, and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer
sprinkling the unclean, 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 consciences from dead
works to serve the living God? (Heb. ix 13, 14.) God hath set forth
Jesus Christ to be a propitiation, that we may have faith in his
blood; that is, that we may believe in the efficacy of his atonement,
We have redemption through his blood; even the forgiveness of sins,
according to the riches of his grace. (Eph. i. 7.) We were not re-
deemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, but with the
precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish, and without
spol. (1 Peter i. 18, 19.) In the Scriptures, the blood of Christ is
sometimes represented as the procuring cause of our justification.
Much more being justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath
through him. (Rom. v. 9.) The term blood, when used in this sense,
means the merits of Christ's atonement. But in other passages, our
sanctification is imputed to the blood of Christ. How much more
shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered him-
self without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works, to
serve the living God? (Heb. ix. 14.) The saints are represented as
walking in white; because they had washed their robes in the
blood of the Lamb. (Rev. vii. 14.) The term blood, when used in
this figurative sense, evidently signified the doctrines of the cross;
which are the great mean of purifying the believer's heart. Now
ye are clean, said Christ to his disciples, through the word, which I
have spoken unto you. (John xv. 3.)

5. Blood of the covenant.-(Matt. xxvi. 28.) The blood of Christ, who
died in consequence of a covenant to redeem sinners.
BODY.-A Society; the church, with its different members.-1 Cor.
xii. 20-27.

Book of Life.-Rev. iii. 5. I will not blot out his name out of the Book
of Life." As, in states and cities, those who obtained freedom and
fellowship, were enrolled in the public register, which enrolment
was their title to the privileges of citizens, so the King of heaven,
of the New Jerusalem, engages to preserve in his register and en-

rolment, in the book of life, the names of those, who, like the good
Sardians, in a corrupted and supine society, shall preserve allegiance
and a faithful discharge of their Christian duties. He will own
them as his fellow-citizens, before men and angels. Matt. ix. 32.
Luke xii. 8. See also Psal. Ixix. 28. Ezek. xiii. 9. Exod. xxxii. 33.
Dan. xii. 1. Mal. iii. 16. Luke x. 20." [Dean Woodhouse on Rev.
iii. 5.]
whom God threatened to fill
Every bottle shall be filled

BOTTLES.-The inhabitants of Jerusalem,
with the wine of terror.-Jer. xiii. 12.
with wine.

Bow.

1. Strength-Job xxix. 20. My bow was renewed in my hand.
2. Victory-Rev. vi. 2. He that sat on him had a bow; where it sig
nifies the progress of the Gospel, which was assisted by sudden and
unexpected and miraculous aid and deliverance.

BOWELS-Pity, compassion.-Luke i. 7, 8. Through the tender mercy
BRANCH. See TREES, 3.
(literally bowels of mercy) of our God.

BRASS.-Strength.-Psal. cvii. 16. He hath broken the gates of brass;
that is, the strong gates. See Isa. xlv. 2. In Jer. i. 18. and xv. 20.
brazen walls signify a strong and lasting adversary and opposer.
BREAD or FOOD.

1. The word of God.-Deut. viii. 3. Matt. iv. 4. Man doth not (or
shall not) live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out
of the mouth of God.

2. One bread. (1 Cor. x. 17.) The union of real Christians.
BREATH. See AIR.

BRETHREN.-Christians united by their profession.-Rom. xii. 1. I
beseech you, brethren. See Acts xxi. 7. 1 Cor. xv. 6.
BRIARS.-Mischievous and hurtful persons.-Isa. lv. 13. Instead of
the briar shall come up the myrtle-tree. See THORNS, 2.
BRIDE. The heavenly Jerusalem.-Rev. xxi. 9. The bride, the
Lamb's wife.
BRIDEGROOM.-Christ, as the spouse of the church.-Rev. xxi. 9. See
also VOICE, 1.

BRIMSTONE.

1. Perpetual torment and destruction.--Job xviii. 15. Brimstone
shall be scattered upon his habitation; that is, his home or family
shall be destroyed for ever by an inextinguishable fire. Compare
Isa. xxxiv. 9, 10. Rev. xiv. 10, &c.

Corrupt, infernal, and destructive doctrines. Rev. ix. 17. Out of
their mouth issued fire and brimstone. See verse 18.
BULLS.-Wicked, violent men.-Psal. xxii. 12. Many bulls have
compassed me; strong [bulls] of Bashan have beset me round: that
is, mine enemies, who are as furious and formidable as the bulls
fed in the rich pastures of Bashan, beset me on every side.
BURNING. See FIRE, 2.

Buy. To attain in preference to earthly riches.-See Isa. Iv. 1. Prov.

xxiii. 13. Rev. iii. 18.

CALL-CALLED-CALLING.

1. That invitation which God holds out to men to come and enjoy the
blessings which flow from a sincere reception of the Christian reli-
gion. Eph. i. 18. That ye may know what is the hope of his calling:
that is, what is the nature of that hope, which those, who have
been invited into the divine kingdom, may properly indulge.
To call to any duty; that is, to appoint, constitute, or choose. Gal.
i. 15. Who called me, chose me, by his grace, viz. to be an apostle.
CANDLESTICK. See LAMP.
CEDARS.

1. Great men.-Zech. xi. 2. The cedar is fallen.
2. Cedars of Lebanon.-Kings, princes, and nobles of Judah.-Isa. it
13. The day of the Lord shall be.... upon all the cedars of Leba-

non.

3. Top of the young twigs of cedars-The prime nobility and able
soldiery. Ezek. xvii. 4. He cropped off the top of the young twigs.
CHAFF.-Unprofitable and worthless men.-Psal. i. 4. The ungodly are
... like the chaff, which the wind driveth away.-Matt. iii. 14. He
will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
CHAIN-Bondage or affliction.-Lam. iii. 7. He hath made my chain
heavy.
CHILD, CHILDREN.

1. Those who have received their religous knowledge, character,
education, &c. from any one: i. e. a beloved disciple. 2 Tim. i. 2.
Timothy, my dearly beloved child.

2. Children joined with the names of cities denote their inhabitants or
citizens. Matt. xxiii. 37. O Jerusalem..... how often, would I
have gathered thy children. See also Luke xiii. 34. xix. 44. Gal.
iv. 25.

Children of God; those whom he regards with parental affection,
and on whom he bestows peculiar favour. John i. 12. As many as
received him, to them he gave the privilege to become the children of
God.

4. Children of God and children of the devil, in 1 John iii. 10., are
those who resemble God, and those who resemble Satan.
CIRCUMCISION.-An engagement like that of baptism, to renounce the
flesh and circumcise the heart-Deut. x. 16. Circumcise therefore
the foreskin of your heart.-Deut. xxx. 6. The Lord thy God shall
circumcise thine heart.-Rom. ii. 29. Circumcision is that of the
heart.

CLAY in the hands of the potter.-Man in the hands of his Creator.-
Isa. xliv. 8. Now, O LORD, thou art our Father; we are the clay;
and thou our potter, and we are all the work of thy hand. See alsc
Rom. ix. 21.

CLOUDS.-Multitudes and armies.-Jer. iv. 13. He shall come up as
clouds.-Isa. lx. 8. Who are those, that fly as a cloud?-Heb. xii. 1.
A cloud of witnesses.

COLD. Inconstant in affections, purpose, and conduct; destitute of
fervent piety and holy zeal. Rev. iii. 15, 16.
COLUMN. See PILLAR.

CORNER-STONE. Jesus Christ, who is compared to a corner-stone in
three points of view; viz.

1. As this stone lies at the foundation, and serves to give support and
strength to the building, so Christ, or the doctrine of a Saviour, is
called the chief corner-stone in Eph. ii. 20.; because this doctrine is
the most important feature of the Christian religion, and is the
fundamental object of all the precepts given by the apostles and
other Christian teachers.

2. As the corner-stone occupies an important and conspicuous place,
Jesus is compared to it in 1 Pet. ii. 6., because God has made him
highly esteemed (or precious,) and has advanced him to a dignity
and conspicuousness above all others.

3. Since men often stumble against a projecting corner-stone, Christ
is therefore so called (Psal. cxviii. 22. Matt. xxi. 42. and parallel
passages,) because his Gospel will be the cause of aggravated con-
demnation to those who wilfully reject it. (Robinson's Lexicon,
p. 21.

CROSS.

1. The doctrine of the cross, that is, of Christ crucified. The cross of
Christ, the preaching of the cross, occur in this sense in 1 Cor. i. 17,
18. See also Gal. v. 11. vi. 12. 14. Phil. iii. 18.

2. To take up or bear one's cross, that is, to be ready to undergo the
severest trials, or to expose one's self to the most imminent dangers.
Matt. x. 38. xvi. 24. Mark viii. 34. x. 21. Luke ix. 23. xiv. 27.
CROWN of Life, a triumphant immortality.-Rev. ii. 10. Be thou
faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

CUP.

1. The blessings and favours of God.-Psal. xxiii. 5. My cup runneth
over. The cup of salvation, in Psal. cxvi. 13., is a cup of thanks-
giving, or blessing the Lord for all his mercies.

2. The Cup of blessing. The paschal cup was called by the Jews the
Cup of blessing, because they sanctified it by giving thanks to God
for it. To this Saint Paul alludes in 1. Cor. x. 16. when he terms the
sacramental cup the cup of blessing.

3. Afflictions or sufferings, the effects of the wrath of God.-Isa. li. 17.
Stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the LORD
the cup of his fury. Thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of
trembling. See WINE, 2.

DARKNESS.

1. Sin and ignorance.-Rom. xiii. 12. Let us cast off the works of
darkness.

2. Affliction, misery, and adversity-Jer. xiii. 16. Give glory to the
LORD your God, before he cause darkness. See Ezek. xxx. 18.
xxxiv. 12.

3. Darkness of the sun, moon, and stars. General darkness and de-
ficiency in the government.-Isa. xiii. 10. The stars of heaven, and
the constellations thereof, shall not give their light; the sun shall be
darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light
to shine. See Ezek. xxxii. 7. and Joel ii. 10. 31. iii. 15.
DAY.

1. A year, in prophetical language.-Ezek. iv. 6. Thou shalt bare
the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days; I have appointed thee
each day for a year. See also Isa. xx. 3. (Bp. Lowth's version and
notes.)-Rev. ii. 10. Ye shall have tribulation ten days.

2. An appointed time or season.-Isa. xxxiv. 8. It is the day of the
LORD'S vengeance. See also Isa. lxiii. 4.

3. A state of truth, hope, and knowledge.-1. Thess. v. 5. Ye are all
children of the light, and children of the day.
DEATH.

1 The separation of the soul from the body.-Gen. xxv. 11. After
the death of Abraham, &c. This is temporal or the first death,
which is the common lot of man by the divine sentence. (Gen. iii.
19.) The

2. Second death (beyond the grave) is the eternal separation of the
whole man from the presence and glory of God; not only an ex-
tinction of all our pleasurable feelings, and of all our hopes of hap-
piness, but an ever-during sense of this extinction, "where the
worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched."-Rev. ii. 11. He
that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

3. The state of a soul insensible of sin and corruption, and destitute of
the spirit of life.-Jude 12. Twice dead.-Rev. iii. 1. Thou....
art dead.

4. A state of mortification, death unto sin, and crucifixion with Christ.-
Rom. vi. 8. He that is dead, is freed from sin.-1 Pet. ii. 24. Who
his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we being
dead to sin, should live to righteousness.
DESERT.

Desert of the Sea.-Babylon.-Isa. xxi. 1. The burden of the desert
of the sea. Babylon and the adjacent country is so called, because
it was shortly to become desert, and a marsh full of pools of water,
as if converted into a lake or inland sea. The country about
Babylon, and especially below it towards the sea, was a great flat
morass, often overflowed by the Euphrates and Tigris. (Bp. Lowth
and Dr. Scott, in loc.)

Dew upon Herbs.-The blessing of Heaven, and the power of the
resurrection.-Hos. xiv. 5. I will be as the dew unto Israel.-Isa.
xxvi. 19. Thy dead men shall live; together with my dead body shall

1. The Gentiles.-The bad properties of dogs are obstinate barking,
biting, insatiable gluttony, filthiness in lust, vomiting, and returning
to their vomit. (Compare Prov. xxi. 11. 2 Pet. ii. 22.) Hence the
Gentiles, on account of the impurity of their lives, and their being
without the covenant, were called dogs by the Jews.-Matt. xv. 26
It is not meet to take the children's bread and cast it to dogs.-Psal.
xxii. 16. Dogs have compassed me, the assembly of the wicked have
inclosed me.

2. A watchman, for his vigilance to give notice of approaching
danger.-Isa. lvi. 10. His watchmen are blind, they are all ignorant
they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark.

3. Impudent, shameless persons, and false teachers.-Rev. xxii. 15
Without are dogs.-Phil. iii. 2. Beware of dogs.
DOMINION.

1. Power.-Neh. ix. 28. They had dominion over them.
2. Persons over whom another has power.-Psal. cxiv. 2. Israel wr
his dominion.
3. Angels.-Col. i. 16. By him were created......dominions.
4. The universal government of Almighty God.-Dan. vii. 14. His
dominion is an everlasting dominion.

DOOR.

DRAGON.

1. A symbol of a king that is an enemy.-In Ezek. xxix. 3. it means the
king of Egypt, so also in Psal. lxxiv. 13.

2. Satan acting and ruling by his visible ministers.-Rev. xii. 9. Be-
hold, a great red dragon, &c.

3. Any hurtful thing.-Psal. xci. 13. The young lion and the dragon
shalt thou trample under foot.
DRUNK-DRUNKENNESS.

1. The symbol of the folly and madness of sinners, who, making no
use of their reason, plunge themselves in all manner of crimes.-
Isa. xxviii. 1. 3. Woe to the drunkards of Ephraim.......... The
drunkards of Ephraim shall be trodden under feet.

That stupidity, which arises from God's judgments; when the sin-
ner is under the consternation of his misery, as one astonished, stag-
gering, and not knowing what to do.-Isa. xxix. 9. They are drunken,
but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.-Isa. li. 21.
Thon afflicted and drunken, but not with wine. See also Jer. xiii
13, 14. and Lam. iii. 15.

DUST and ASHES.-Mortal man, under death and condemnation.-
Gen. xviii. 27. I have taken upon me to speak unto the LORD, which
am but dust and ashes.-Gen. iii. 19. Dust thou art, and to dust shall
thou return. See Job xlii. 6.

EAGLE.

1. A king or kingdom.-Ezek. xvii. A great eagle, with great wings
long winged, full of feathers, which had divers colours, came to Leba
non: that is, Nebuchadnezzar. The divers colours refer to the
various nations that composed the Babylonian empire.

2. The Roman army, whose ensigns or standards were eagles.-Matt.
xxiv. 28. Wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered
together. See WINGS.

3. Eagles' Wings.-To be borne on eagles' wings signifies divine,
miraculous deliverance. Who can pursue the eagle throngh the
air, and take from him what is committed to his charge? Exod.
xix. 4. Psal. xci. 4. Isa. xl. 31. Rev. xii. 14.

EARTHEN Vessel.-The body of man.-2. Cor. iv. 7. We have this
treasure in earthen vessels.

EARTHQUAKES.-Great revolutions or changes in the political world.-
Joel ii. 10. The earth shall quake before them. See also Haggai ii.
21. Heb. xii. 26.

EGYPT-A mystical name of wickedness.-Rev. xi. 8. Their dead
bodies [shall lie] in the street of the great city, which spiritually is
called Sodom and Egypt.
ELDERS (the twenty-four.) Probably such of the Patriarchs and Pro-
phets of the old church, as saw by faith the day of redemption and
rejoiced; and who are expressly termed Elders (pop) in
Heb. xi. 2.-Rev. iv. 10. The four and twenty elders fall down be-
fore him that liveth for ever. [See Dean Woodhouse on Rev. iv.
10.]

EYES admit of various interpretations, according to circumstances.
I. As applied to the Almighty, they denote,

1. His knowledge and prescience.-Prov. xv. 3. His eye is in every
place to behold good and evil. See Psal. xi. 4.

2. His watchful providence.-Psal. xxxiv. 15. The eyes of the LORD
are upon the righteous.

II. As applied to Jesus Christ they signify his omnipresence.-Rev. v.
6. In the midst of the elders stood a lamb, having....seven eyes. [See
Dean Woodhouse, in loc.]

III. As applied to Men, the eyes denote,

1. The understanding, which is as it were the eye of the soul.-Psal.
exix. 18. Open thou mine eyes.

2. A guide or counseller.-Job xxix. 15. I was eyes to the blind.
3.. The whole man.-Rev. i. 7. Every eye shall see him; that is, all

men.

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