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.

4. But I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales. 5. And I will leave thee thrown into the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers : thou shall fall upon the open fields, thou shall not be brought together nor gathered : I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the field, and to the fowls of heaven,' &c. to ver. 17.

SECT. 2. No. 7. In the ancient picture writing, men being represented by the figures of the things to which they were metaphorically likened, the Jewish prophets have raised many allegories on that foundation. Thus, because princes and great men were likened to trees, the power of the Assyrian kings, and the greatness of their empire, were represented by Ezekiel in an allegory formed on the qualities and circumstances of a tall cedar tree with fair branches, among which all the fowls of heaven made their nests ; and under which all the beasts of the field brought forth their young ; and under its shadow dwelt all great nations, Ezek. xxxi. 3-9. Moreover, the destruction of the Assyrian empire is in the same allegory represented by the breaking of the boughs and the falling of the branches of this cedar, and by the departing of the people of the earth from its shadow, ver. 10-14.

In like manner, nations being metaphorically compared to a forest, their desolation and destruction are represented by the burning of a forest ; as in the following allegory, Ezek. xx. 46, ' Son of man, set thy face towards the south, and prophesy against the forest of the south field ; 47, And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the Lord, Thus saith the Lord God, Behold I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree : the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burnt therein. 48, And all flesh shall see that I the Lord have kindled it : It shall not be quenched. 49. Then said I, Ah, Lord God ! they say of me, Doth he not speak parables !' — On this allegory our Lord's expression, Luke xxiii. 31, ' If they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry !' seems to have been founded.

In allusion to the symbolical meaning of trees in picture-writing, the introduction of the Israelites into Canaan, and their becoming a great nation in that land, are represented under the allegory of a vine brought from Egypt and planted in Canaan, which took deep root and filled the land : Psal. Ixxx. 10, ' The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof, were like the goodly cedars. 11, She sent out her boughs from the sea, ( the Mediterranean Sea), and her branches to the river, ( Euphrates). Why hast thou then broken down her hedges, so that all they which pass by the way do pluck her ! The boar out of the wood doth waste it,' &c.

SECT. 2. No. 7. b. Because in ancient times kings, and magistrates, and priests, were metaphorically called shepherds, on account of their care in governing, defending, and instructing their people, the prophet Ezekiel hath, upon this metaphor, formed a beautiful allegorical discourse, in which he severely reproved the Jewish princes, magistrates, and priests, for their negligence in the execution of their offices ; for their enriching themselves and living luxuriously at the expense of their people ; and for their being at no pains to promote their happiness. Ezek. xxxiv. 2, ' Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds, Wo be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves ! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? 3, Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed ; but ye feed not the flock !' For this unfaithfulness God threatened to punish the Israelitish princes and priests severely; ver. 10, 'Thus saith the Lord, Behold I am against the shepherds, and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock. For I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them.' The people, thus neglected and spoiled by their rulers, God comforted in the same allegorical language, ver. 12, ' I will seek out my sheep, and I will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day : Ver. 14, I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be ; there shall they lie in a good field.' In the mean time, to prevent the wicked among the Israelites from fancying themselves the objects of his love, God reproved them in the same pastoral dialect ; ver. 17, ' As for you, О my flock, thus saith the Lord God, Behold I judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he-goats. 18, Seemeth it a small thing to you to have eaten up the good pasture, but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures ? And to have drunk of the deep waters, but ye must foul the residue with your feet ! 19, But as for my flock, they eat that which ye have trodden with your feet, and they drink that which ye have fouled. 21, Because ye have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad ; 22, Therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey, and I will judge between cattle and cattle. 23, And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David, a prince among them,' &c. On this allegory our Lord seems to have formed his parable of the sheep and the goats, in which he hath described the general judgment, Matt. xxv.


Having treated of verbal allegories, it remains to treat of those allegories which were set forth in symbols actually presented to the imagination of the prophet in a dream while asleep, or in a vision while awake. These allegorical dreams and visions, the persons who were favoured with them communicated to their contemporaries by word of mouth, and sometimes committed them to writing, for the instruction of posterity. In these, as in other allegories, the persons or nations who were the subjects of them were designed, sometimes by their known symbols, whose figure was presented to the imagination of the person who dreamed or who saw the vision, and sometimes by arbitrary symbols, whose character, however, and attending circumstances, were so formed as to lead to their meaning.

Of allegorical dreams formed on symbols which were generally known, that of Pharaoh, Gen. xli. 17, is a signal example. For, one of the symbols by which Egypt was designed being an heifer, the seven years of great plenty which were to be in Egypt, were represented in Pharaoh's dream by seven very fat and well-favoured kine, which came up out of the Nile, and fed in an adjoining meadow ; and the seven years of famine which were to succeed the years of plenty, by seven other kine, lean and ill-favoured, which also came up out of the river after the former ; and the greatness of the famine, by the lean kine eating up the fat kine, and remaining as lean and ill-favoured as at the beginning. -- Nebuchadnezzar's dream, Dan. iv, is another example of an allegorical representation formed on a well-known symbol. For, princes and great men being represented in picture-writing by trees, the greatness of Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom, and the benefits which the nations over which he reigned derived from the power of his kingdom, were represented by a tree which in his dream he saw growing in the midst of the earth, whose height reached to heaven, whose leaves were fair, and its fruit was much, affording meat for all.

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