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Bishop LowTH on Isaiah, chap. ii. 13-16, remarks, 'These verses afford us a striking exam'ple of that peculiar way of writing which makes ' a principal characteristic of the parabolical or poetical style, of the Hebrews, and in which their prophets deal so largely; namely, their manner of exhibiting things divine, spiritual, mo'ral, and political, by a set of images taken from things natural, artificial, religious, historical; in

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the way of metaphor or allegory. Of these na*ture furnishes much the largest, and the most pleasing share; and all poetry has chiefly recourse

to natural images, as the richest and most pow'erful source of illustration. But it may be ob'served of the Hebrew poetry in particular, that ‘in the use of such images, and in the application of 'them in the way of illustration and ornament, it is

more regular and constant than any other poetry 'whatever; that it has, for the most part, a set 'of images appropriated, in a manner, to the ex

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plication of certain subjects. Thus you will 'find, in many other places beside this before us, 'cedars of Lebanus and oaks of Basan are used in the way of metaphor and allegory, for kings, princes, potentates, of the highest rank; high mountains, and lofty hills, for kingdoms, republics, states, cities; towers and fortresses for de'fenders and protectors, whether by counsel or strength, in peace or war; ships of Tarshish, and works of art and invention employed in adorning them, for merchants, men enriched by 'commerce, and abounding in all the luxuries and elegancies of life; such as those of Tyre and • Sidon."

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Sometimes the natural and moral world are com. pared in like manner, by a set of images not less beautiful, and little less sublime. Thus mankind, in a state of natural depravity, are compared to the wild olive and the poisonous vine, which are, by the grace of God, converted into the good olive and the fruitful vine. So the thorn, the this tle, and the bramble, are changed into the box, the myrtle, and the fir-tree. The grace of God itself is compared to fountains and rivers of living water; and the odours emitted by the most fragrant plants represent that good report of all * men, and of the truth itself,' which results from a truly virtuous and christian character. By an assemblage of these images, both Solomon and Isaiah compare the church of God to a rich, fertile, and inclosed garden.

2. Typical images and allusions are another grand and important source of figurative language. Types are properly figurative things; and typical actions, things, places, or persons, bear the same relation to other actions, things, places, or persons, that figurative language bears to literal.

The method of typical instruction appears to have been adopted by God himself, immediately on the creation of mankind. When God formed our first parents he placed them in a garden, planted, as it should seem, with figurative instruction. The tree (or trees) of life, had certainly a typical allusion and figurative design, pointing, in the first instance, to that immortality to which he was originally created. So, it has been supposed

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the tree of knowledge received its name, from being appointed the test and medium of knowing practically the difference between good and evil, After the fall, the tree of life was employed as an image of a happy life; and a type of eternal happiness, and of Him who was to be the author and medium of it. But to shew that this life was not to be obtained by the mere strength of human exertion, the cherubim, inclosed with cloud and revolving flame, were placed to guard the entrance to the garden where it grew.

It is observable, that the first promise of divine mercy was made in this kind of figurative language. -The seed of the woman' was to break the

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serpent's head, and at the same time to be wounded by it in his beel.' These are all figurative terms. The serpent, as he had been the agent, was also to be considered as the emblem of Satan. After the fall, also, our first parents were clothed with the skins of beasts, which, there is reason to believe, had a figurative import.

The tabernacle and temple were not only types themselves, but full of typical things. Their institutions and services were all typical; and even the instruments and utensils employed in them. But of what they were typical, is another subject of inquiry. JOSEPHUS makes the tabernacle, the sacerdotal vestments, and the holy vessels, all figurative of the system of the world and nature. The three parts of the tabernacle he resembles to the earth, the sea, and the heavens. The twelve loaves of the shew-bread, according to him, sig

nify the twelve months. The golden candlestick (or chandelier) represents the signs of the zodiac, and the seven lamps the planets. The curtains, of four colours, the four elements. The high priest's linen garments, design the body of the earth, and the violet colour, the heavens-the pomegranates answer to lightning, and the bells to thunder. The four-coloured ephod bears resemblance to the very nature of the universe, " and the interweaving it with threads of gold, to the rays of the sun, which enlighten us.-The pectoral (or breast-plate) in the middle, intimates 'the position of the earth in the centre of the world. The priest's girdle, the sea about the

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globe of the earth-the two sardonyx stones on the shoulders, the sun and moon-and by the ⚫ other twelve stones on the breast, may be un'derstood either the twelve months, or the twelve

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signs of the zodiac'.'-Fanciful and extravagant as this account seems, we may learn from it two things deserving observation : 1. That the antient Jews considered these things as typical and figurative; and 2. That the carnal part of them being ignorant of the mysteries of the gospel, applied them to natural instead of spiritual objects; just as now some men, (who call themselves rational christians) reduce christianity to the standard of natural religion.

Antiq. lib, iii. cap. 7. So Philo, and among the more modern Jews, R. Abrabanel and R. Bechai, explain the tabernacle as representing the universe, in a manner not very dissimilar from Josephus. See Kidder's Messiah, 2d edit. fol. p. 113, 114.

St. PAUL, and the other New Testament writers, represent these things in a different point of view, Christ and christianity are all in all with them. In one remarkable circumstance only, St Paul and the Jewish historian seem perfectly to agree they make the holy of holies typical of heaven, the immediate residence of God. The epistle to the Hebrews is a system of typical exposition; to which may be added that of St. BARNABAS, whose interpretations, however fanciful they may seem, are certainly not more so than the allegories of Philo and Josephus,

SECTION II.

ON THE ORIGIN OF POETRY, AND ON THE NATURE OF THE HEBREW POETRY,

IN tracing the origin of figurative language, we have also traced the origin of poetry, since the first poetry appears to have been only language highly figurative and musical.

It is in this sense, as Dr. Blair observes, Poetry has been said to be more ancient than prose and, however paradoxical such an asser'tion may seem, yet, in a qualified sense, it is 6 true. Men certainly never conversed with one * another in regular numbers; but even their ordinary language would, in antient times, approach to a poetical style; and the first compositions

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