From Book: A New Literal Translation From the Original Greek of All the Apostolical Epistles, Essay VIII,
"Concerning The Right Interpretation of the Writings in which the Revelations of God are Contained", p. 702, 1841.

Allegories being in great repute when the Jewish prophets were commissioned to instruct the people, and to foretell future events, it need not surprise us to find them delivering most of their prophecies in allegories; especially when we consider, that at the time these were delivered, it was proper to conceal the events foretold under the veil of allegory, that they might not be understood till they were explained by their accomplishment. — But, notwithstanding the ancient Egyptian allegory was attended with the advantages above-mentioned, its extreme darkness occasioned it to ho laid aside after the gift of prophecy ceased. A new species, however, hath been substituted in its room, better fitted to convey instruction, because it is formed on symbols more obvious than those used in the ancient allegory. Of this new species the writings of the moderns furnish many beautiful examples, none of which need be mentioned here, in regard they are generally known.

Of the ancient allegory there were four kinds : — 1. The proper allegory ; 2. The apologue, or fable ; 3. The parable ; 4. The enigma.

The proper Allegory was a discourse, in which the condition, the qualities, and the actions of a person, or thing, were represented by the condition, the qualities, and the actions of the symbol, device, or metaphor, by which it was represented in picture-writing. It was therefore a representation of real matters of fact under feigned names and feigned characters.

The Apologue or Fable was a narration of speeches and actions attributed sometimes to men, sometimes to brute animals, and sometimes to things inanimate, according to their natural or supposed qualities. But these speeches and actions had no existence, except in the imagination of the author of the fable, who contrived them in the manner he judged fittest for conveying the moral he had in view to inculcate. Of this kind was Jotham's fable of the trees going forth to anoint a king, Judges ix. 8 ; and Joash's fable of the thistle, which desired the cedar to give his daughter as a wife to his son, 2 Chron. xxv. 18.

The Parable or Similitude was a discourse in which one thing was compared with another which had a resemblance to it; so that the thing compared was more clearly understood by means of the qualities of the thing to which it was compared, and made a strong impression on the minds of the hearers. Of this kind were many of our Lord's parables. But although the apologue and parable were thus distinguished, we find them sometimes confounded with each other.

Lastly, the Enigma or riddle was a mysterious assemblage of different symbols, set forth either in a verbal discourse, or by presenting the symbols themselves to the eye. Either way exhibited, the meaning of the assemblage was so dark, that it required the greatest ingenuity to discover it Of the verbal enigma, Samson's riddle is an example. Of the symbolical enigma, Herodotus hath recorded a remarkable instance, Hist. lib. iv. 128. 130, where he tells us, that when Darius Hystaspes invaded Scythia, the Scythian king sent him a present of a bird, а mouse, a frog, and five arrows. This Gobyras, one of Darius's generals, considering as an enigma, interpreted in the following manner: — That unless the Persians could fly through the air like birds, or hide themselves in the earth like mice, or swim through the lakes like frogs, they should not return to their own country, but be slain by the arrows of the Scythians.

All allegories have two senses ; First, The literal sense exhibited in the verbal description, or in the visible symbol ; secondly, the remote sense, concealed under the literal sense, or under the visible symbol. Wherefore, in every allegory, the first or literal sense is itself the sign of the second or hidden meaning, called the figurative sense of the allegory. And this figurative sense should be as distinctly represented by the literal sense of the allegory, as the literal sense is exhibited, whether by the verbal description, or by the visible symbol. Properly speaking, therefore, the first or literal sense constitutes the body of the allegory, and the second or figurative sense, its soul. In compositions of this kind, if rightly formed, the literal sense ought to be perfectly plain, and the only exercise of one's ingenuity ought to lie, not in understanding the literal sense, but in finding out its concealed meaning.

Some of the ancient fables and parables exhibited such striking representations and reproofs of the common follies of mankind, that by their frequent application they became proverbs. In allusion to this use of the parable, Habakkuk saith, chap. ii. 6, 'Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a proverb against him?' and, Micah ii. 4, ' In that day shall one take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation.'

In the beginning of this section, the proper allegory was said to be that in which persons and things, together with the accidents befalling them, are set forth by the name of the symbol used in picture-writing to represent them: and by such accidents as may naturally be supposed to befall that symbol. According to this account of the proper allegory, the symbols of which it was composed, together with the accidents befalling these symbols, might be set forth in a verbal description addressed to the ear, or by presenting the symbol either to the eye of a person awake or to his imagination while asleep. Hence of the proper allegory there were three kinds, of which it is proposed to treat separately.


When the allegory set forth in a verbal description was intended to convey immediate information to the persons to whom it was addressed, it was commonly formed on a symbol which was well known to belong to the persons or things which were the subjects of the allegory ; and the circumstances and qualities of the symbol, together with the accidents befalling it, were such as naturally suggested the designed information. Of this species of allegory we have an example, Ezek. xxxii., where, because the dragon or crocodile was one of the well-known symbols by which Egypt was represented in the ancient picture-writings, (Sect. 2. No. 2.), the pride of the kings of Egypt, and the mischiefs which their insolence brought on the neighbouring nations, are allegorically represented by the actions of a dragon or crocodile ; and the destruction of the kingdom of Egypt is represented by the taking and killing of a dragon, and by the bringing it to land, and filling all the fowls of the air, and the beasts of the whole earth with its flesh. Ver. 2, 'Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and say to him, Thou art as a dragon in the seas, and thou camest forth with thy rivers, and troubledst the waters with thy feet, and fouledst their rivers. Thus saith the Lord God, I will therefore spread out my net over thee with a company of many people, and they shall bring thee up in my net. Then will I leave thee upon the land. — And will cause all the fowls of the heaven to remain upon thee,' &c.

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