01.09b. Various Figures of the Bible (3)

SEC. 62. METONYMY OF THE SUBJECT.--In this form of the figure, we have the subject announced, while some property belonging to it, or circumstance, is referred to. These things are meant, but the subject is named.

(1.) The subject put for the adjunct: some mere appendage or circumstance dependent upon it. "Thou shalt love, the Lord thy God with all thine heart," means with the affections. (Deu 6:5). In Acts 4:32, it is said that the disciples were of one heart and one soul--that is, they were one in feeling, wish, faith, desire to glorify the Lord. In 1Sa 1:13, we are told that Hannah spoke only in her heart--that is, in her mind. David prayed that the meditation of his heart might be acceptable in the sight of the Lord. In that use of the word, the thinking power of the heart is intended. In Luke ii. 19, it is said that "Mary kept all these sayings, pondering them in her heart." The shepherds related what had occurred to them in the field, in the visit of the angels, and she remembered them, and thought over them frequently. In Acts 8:22, Peter said to Simon the sorcerer, "Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray the Lord, if perhaps the thought of thy heart shall be forgiven thee." The power of believing is ascribed to the heart (Rom 10:9-10); also the power to reason (Mark 2:6-9); and the power to judge (1Jn 3:20). Now, no one of these passages fully represents the heart of man. In each of these we have an adjunct, a quality, or power. So it is in all those Scriptures in which we have the different kinds of hearts referred to--the hard heart, the evil heart of unbelief, the upright in heart, the pure heart, the tender heart, the faint heart. These conditions and qualities are mentioned, not to indicate the whole heart. In this way an examination maybe conducted. For instance, it would not be agreed as to the meaning of the word heart as found in the Scriptures. The question might be decided by an induction of the whole number of things said of the heart; for a scriptural definition must certainly be equal to the whole number of things said of it. In this it would be found that the heart is said to imagine, to think, to reason, to meditate, to understand, to believe, to fear and love. Having, in this way, learned what the heart is supposed to be, it will be easy to understand the divine plan for the change and control of that heart.

(2.) The container is put for the contained.-- Gen 6:11 : The earth was corrupt, means that the people living in the earth were corrupt. John 1:29 : that taketh away the sin of the world--that is, of the people of the world. John 3:16-17 : "God so loved the world"--that is, He so loved the human race "that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Psa 105:38 : "Egypt was glad when they departed"--that is, the Egyptians were glad. See Mat 3:5-6 : "Then went out unto him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan; and they were baptized of him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins." No one thinks of these places doing all that, but all know that the people living in those places are meant. In Mat 11:20-24, Jesus is reported as upbraiding the cities wherein most of His mighty works had been done, and be says if the mighty works which had been done in Chorazin and Bethsaida had been wrought in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes; and that if the works that had been done in Capernaum had been wrought in Sodom, it would have remained till that time, and that it would be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city. Any reader will observe that not the cities nor the country of Sodom was had in mind, but the people who lived there. Luke says of Cornelius, that he was a devout man, and one that feared God with all his house--that is, he feared God, with all the members of his household. Exo 2:1 : "There went a man of the house of Levi." Pro 11:29 : "He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind." Not the building in which he lives, but the members of his family. Eze 18:31 : "For why will ye die, O house of Israel?" means the descendants of Jacob. In 2Sa 7:13, the Lord promises David to build him a house. It is then explained to mean that He would set up his son on the throne, and through his family put One on the throne at last who should never fail. The meaning of this language will be still more apparent by reading Isa 9:6-7. And when, in the course of centuries, this family seems to be giving away, and likely to fail utterly, it was foretold that David’s house should be reinstated in its former glory.

"In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old; that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all the nations which are called by my name, saith the Lord that doeth this," (Amo 9:11-12).

Now, from the use of this language, by James (Acts 15:13, Acts 15:17), it is evident that the tabernacle of David is simply the house of David, and that in the re-establishment of the house, we have the Christ placed upon the throne, to rule it with judgment and with justice from henceforth, even for evermore; now not to rule fleshly Israel only, but spiritual Israel.

(3.) The possessor put for they thing possessed.--In this use of the figure the possessor is named but the thing possessed is to be understood.

"Hear, O Israel: thou art to pass over Jordan this day, to go in to possess nations greater and mightier than thyself, cities great and fenced up to heaven, a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom thou knowest, and of whom thou hast heard say, Who can stand before the sons of Anak? Know therefore this day, that the Lord thy God is he which goeth over before thee as a devouring fire; he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thee: so shalt thou drive them out, and make them to perish quickly, as the Lord hath spoken unto thee" (Deu 9:1-3).

These nations were composed of men and women and children, but they were not to be their possession, for they were to drive them out; but their possession was to be in the cities which they had built and the land on which they lived. Hence these cities and lands were their possession. So the cities and lands are not mentioned, but nations are mentioned; but their possessions were intended.

"For they have devoured Jacob,
And laid waste his habitation" (Psa 79:7).

Here is a double metonymy--first, the word Jacob refers to his descendants; and second, his descendants stand for the land they owned and occupied.

Deu 10:9 : "Wherefore Levi hath no portion nor inheritance with his brethren; the Lord is his inheritance." See Jos 13:33. The name of the Lord is here put for the sacrifices that should be given to the tribe of Levi. These sacrifices were the Lord’s possession and they are given to this one tribe. Hence, to speak literally, Moses would have said that Levi had no possession with the other tribes, but their inheritance should be the sacrifices made unto the Lord. But by the figure of metonymy, he says the Lord is his inheritance. In Tit 2:14, 1Pe 2:9, Christians are presented as the inheritance of the Lord. Hence, by this figure (Mat 25:31-40), the Lord indicates that he can be fed and clothed in the persons of His disciples. "I was hungry, and ye fed me"--that is, they fed His disciples, who are His possession. In strict accord with this is the language of the Master to Saul: "Why persecutest thou me?" He regarded the disciples as His own, and hence a part of Himself.

Many times the church is presented under the figure of a body--the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. Hence, by the use of this figure we have the word Christ many times in the New Testament, in the place of the body, or church, which He owned. This is why Paul says, "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ, have put on Christ" (Gal 3:27). By this we come into covenant with Him, hence into His church; and by this figure Paul says "into Christ."

(4.) The subject is sometimes named, whereas something consequent thereon, or connected therewith, is intended.--The burdens of Isaiah respecting the different countries, were evils or calamities that were coming upon them. But what follows the announcement of each one of these burdens, is the prediction of the coming affliction (Isa 13:1; Isa 15:1; Isa 17:1; Isa 21:1; Isa 22:1; Isa 23:1).

Also the promise is put for the faith that receives it:

"That is, it is not the children of the flesh, that are children of God; but the children of the promise are reckoned for the seed" (Rom 9:8). The whole contrast, however, is not respecting the promise so much as the manner of receiving that promise. The Jews had the idea that the promise was to be enjoyed because of fleshly relation to Abraham. Paul assures them that it is not so, but that the blessings of the Lord are appropriated by faith. Hence the word promise is used for the faith that accepts it. In Gal 4:28 : that thought is presented in the same way: We, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise." By reading Gal 3:25-27, this language is interpreted: "For ye are all sons of God through faith, in Christ Jesus." In like manner sin is presented, instead of the offering that is to be made for its removal.

"If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin coucheth at the door: and unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him" (Gen 4:7). In this argument the Lord makes Cain to understand that there was no reason for a fallen countenance. The inheritance was his; his place was higher than that which belonged to his brother; and Abel would look to him for guidance and protection. If he did well, he would be accepted; and if he did not well, for whatever of wrong might be found in him, the sacrifice would be easily made, as if the animal was already crouching at the door, waiting for the services to be rendered. Hence, while the word sin is employed, the sin-offering is intended. See Exo 29:14; Lev 10:17; Hos 4:8; Isa 53:10, where the Hebrew has sin, though our translators have felt it to be their duty to add the word offering, lest the language should not be understood. And we can scarcely suppress the wonder that it did not occur to them to do so in some New Testament cases.

"Him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; that we might become the righteousness of God in him" (2Co 5:21).

Literally, Christ could not be sin; He was wholly without sin; and the only way for the language to be true is by the use of this form of metonymy. He became a sin-offering for us.

"So Christ also, having been once offered to bear the sins of many, shall appear a second time, apart from sin, to them that wait for him, unto salvation" (Heb 9:28).

He shall come without a sin-offering the next time. He made the sin-offering the first time, and the next, He will come in judgment, not to make a sacrifice for the race.

(5.) The thing signified is put for the sign.

"Seek ye the Lord and his strength;
Seek his face evermore" (1Ch 16:11). This is repeated in Psa 105:4.

"Arise, O Lord, into thy resting-place;
Thou, and the ark of thy strength" (Psa 132:8).

It is evident that the ark was the sign of the strength of Jehovah. It was always so regarded when taken into battle. But in those passages, the strength is mentioned rather than the ark which signified it.

"The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with desolation" (Eze 7:27).

Here the word desolation refers to the sackcloth, or some other sign of sorrow indicated by the dress of the princes.

Very many times in the Scriptures the word mourn is employed where some symbol of sorrow is intended. "We have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented." These children in the market had made the sound of mourning. There was a great deal of unreal mourning then, as now. There were hired mourners, who went about the streets making hideous noises and telling the good qualities of the dead. This is called "mourning," but of course it is only a symbol that is meant. The land of Israel is said to mourn, and the cities of Judah mourn, and Zion mourneth and languisheth. This can have no other meaning than that the land was neglected, the crops failed, and altogether there were everywhere the signs of lamentation, as if the land had been dressed in sackcloth and draped in the deepest sorrow. We now say of persons that they are wearing mourning, when they are wearing some badge of grief.

(6.) Many times actions are said to be performed when they have only been permitted, or even foretold.

"That my soul may live because of thee" (Gen 12:13). That is, if Sarah would claim to be his sister, they would not put him to death, but permit him to live.

"Then said I, Ah, Lord God! surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul" (Jer 4:10).

God had not told them that they should have peace in their iniquity, but He had permitted their prophets to do so.

Eze 13:19-22, speaks of slaying the souls that should not die, and saving the souls that should not live. This was done by the false dreamers, as they told the things that were not true. The mere telling of the things is spoken of as if they were done.

"Moreover also I gave them statutes that were not good, and judgements wherein they should not live; and I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire all that openeth the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am the Lord" (Eze 20:25-26). This can not refer to any law that God ever gave to that people; indeed, the idea that the first-born child should be offered in sacrifice was not in existence at the time that God’s law was given to them. The thought is that He gave them this bad law by their own hands, because of their wish in the matter, that they might reap the fruits of their own folly, and learn that He was the Lord.

"I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to pluck up and break down, and to destroy, and to overthrow; to build, and to plant" (Jer 1:10). And yet the truth is, Jeremiah had been appointed simply to foretell these calamities that were about to come upon the nations for their iniquity.

"Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgements are of the light that goeth forth" (Hos 6:5). No more is meant than that the ruin and general disaster had been foretold by the prophets of the Lord.

"What God hath cleansed, make not thou common" (Acts 10:15).

God had removed the partition from between Jew and Gentile, and hence all the ceremonies of the Jewish institution, and had called the Gentiles clean as well as the Jews. It does not mean that they were already pure in His sight, but that the whole world would be accepted on the same terms in Christ.

"And whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven" (Mat 16:19). Not that these men could bind anything upon men as a requirement of the Lord, but they could announce the things which had been given them, and that should be ratified in the upper courts.

"Whose soever sins ye forgive, they are forgiven unto them" (John 20:23). This does not mean that it belonged to men to forgive sins which had been committed against God, but they could make known the conditions of such heavenly forgiveness, and that should be approved in heaven.

(7.) An action is sometimes said, to have been accomplished when all that is meant by it is that an occasion was given.--In nearly all the lives of the kings of Israel, there is a statement that "he followed in the ways of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin." Of course he did not make those men to sin who lived after his time, nor did he compel others to sin who lived at the same time that he did; but he set the example, and led them into that sin. This is the subject being stated, whereas the agent only is intended. So a man is said to do that which his action occasions, or which he causes to be done. In Acts 1:18, Judas is spoken of as having obtained a field with the reward of iniquity. It was the money that he obtained for the delivery of the Saviour from the hands of the priests that bought the field, and the act is attributed to him because he was an actor in the matter, and what he did led to the consummation of that purchase.

"Destroy not with thy meat him for whom Christ died" (Rom 14:15).

It would only be the example that might lead the man into idolatry.

"For how knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? or how knowest thou, O husband, whether thou shalt save thy wife?" (1Co 7:16).

"Take heed to thyself, and to thy teaching; continue in these things; for in doing this thou shalt save both thyself and them that hear thee" (1Ti 4:16). Of course, these cases of one person saving another refer to the effect their actions and teachings have in the way of influence on others, to cause them to accept of the Lord and be saved. In this way it is said that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John. Yet Jesus did not baptize in person. He caused it to be done, and therefore the baptizing was credited to Him. The angels that came to Abraham at Mamre were regarded as men, yet one of them is the Lord, or the Lord’s agent in the destruction of the doomed cities, and in the blessing of Abraham. In Gen 28:13; Gen 31:11, Gen 31:13, the Lord God of Abraham is referred to as having appeared to Jacob while on his way to Paddan-aram; but in Gen 48:16, he is called the angel that had saved Jacob. In this way the angel is called by the name of Him whom he represents. He was simply the agent of the Lord.

(8.) Sometimes a statement is made as complete when the thought is only comparative. Those who were acquainted with that figure would not be liable to be misled by it. But it differs so much from our didactic style of speech, that we need to be reminded of the custom in the days of the Scriptures.

"Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Add your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat ye flesh. For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices: but this thing I commanded them, saying, Hearken unto my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people" (Jer 7:21-23). But we know that God had given them commandments concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. Hence we find here the comparative. Higher than these services was His demand for obedience. Compare 1Sa 15:22.

"If any man cometh unto me, and hateth not his own father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he can not be my disciple" (Luk 14:26).

If this had to be understood literally, it would contradict what the Master said on the mount (Mat 5:43-48). Indeed, it would contradict all we know in both Testaments respecting the duty of the race. To honor father and mother, was taught in the decalogue, and endorsed by the Saviour. Indeed, it was regarded as one of the great commandments to love one’s neighbor as himself. Besides, to absolutely hate, as here indicated, would make a man a demon, This is not a parallel with Mat 10:27, "He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me;" for that was given to the twelve in Galilee; but this was spoken in Perea, a good while after that. And yet there is no doubt that the meaning of the two passages is the same. The "hate" of Luk 14:26 is comparative; hence it is, love less.

"For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood" (Eph 6:12). This must be understood in a comparative sense. We do wrestle with flesh and blood; and no man knew it better or presented it in any stronger light than did the apostle Paul. In Gal 5:19-21, and in the whole of Rom. vii., he treats on the danger of being in the body, and shows the only way of escape. Hence the meaning of the passage is, We wrestle not against flesh and blood only. While that is one of our foes, it is not the only one.

"Be no longer a drinker of water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities" (1Ti 5:23).

Here, again, beyond any question, the thought is comparative. He does not intend to prohibit the use of water, but prescribes a little wine with it, on account of some physical infirmity. In this way a very large number was spoken of as the whole. There went out to John the Baptist, "Jerusalem, Judea, and the region round about Jordan; and they were baptized of him in the river Jordan." Yet there were many whom he would not baptize, calling them a generation of vipers; there were many who would not be baptized of him, of whom Jesus said, "they rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him." And still it is said that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John; and that was said, too, of His work in the same country; hence only comparatively a large number were baptized of John. In Gen 5:24, it is said that "Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him." When it says that he was not, it only means that he was not on the earth.

"Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away" (Gen 42:36). Of course, Jacob may have thought that Joseph was dead; but that was not to be supposed respecting Simeon, whom they had left in Egypt as a hostage. He did not mean that they were not in existence, as some have argued, but that they were not where he could secure them.

Again, on the positive side (Mat 5:48), we are required to be perfect, even as our Father in heaven is perfect. And even though this refers to having love for all, and doing good unto all, still it is furnished as a copy after which we are to pattern, and in which we are to do our best as long as we live, form of the metonymy the adjunct is put for the subject: the subject is intended, but the adjunct is named.

SEC. 63. METONYMY OF THE ADJUNCT.--In this form of the metonymy the adjunct is put for the subject: the subject is intended, but the adjunct is named.

(1.) Sometimes an accident, or that which is in addition to the subject, is mentioned, whereas the subject is meant.

"Then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave" (Gen 42:38).

Then shall ye bring me to the grave in sorrow. The gray hairs only relate to the age.

"I said, Days should speak, and multitude of years should teach wisdom" (Job 32:7). The abstract thoughts of days, and multitude of years, stand for the man who had seen them.

Circumcision and uncircumcision stand for Jews and Gentiles, because this mark on the Jew made him to differ from every other people (Rom 3:30; Gal 2:9). In Rom 11:7, the abstract thought of election stands for those who, from among Israel, had accepted the Christ, and thereby had become the elect of God.

"For every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians (Gen 46:34). The thought is that a shepherd is an abominable thing or person; the abstract, abomination, is employed for the person or thing that was regarded with loathing.

"For ye were once darkness, but are now light in the Lord" (Eph 5:8).

Darkness is the abstract for persons who were unenlightened by the power of saving truth. Being the light in the Lord, has just the opposite thought.

"I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou didst hide these things from the wise and understanding, and didst reveal them unto babes" (Mat 11:25).

Here are the qualities of men, real or claimed, put for the men themselves. In literal language, these heavenly truths had not been given to the supposed wise men of the country, but rather to the humble and the unpretending.

(2.) The thing contained is put for the container.--In metonymy of the subject we saw that the container was frequently put for the contained; but this is just the opposite.

"This stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house" (Gen 28:22).

We would say, rather a peculiar kind of house. Rather the place where he set it up, should be God’s house.

"Opening their treasures, they offered unto him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh" (Mat 2:11).

What they opened was the wallets, or bags, in which these treasures were contained; the treasures are put for the bags that contained them. The "outer darkness" of Mat 22:13, refers to the place of darkness--the quality of the place having been given for the place itself. And the marriage of Mat 25:10 is the place where the marriage was to be. Demons cried out, and said this or that; whereas it was done by those who were possessed by them. So are the qualities of the person described by assigning those characteristics to the demons themselves. The container is intended, but the contained is mentioned. Acts 16:13 : "A place of prayer" is a place where people were accustomed to meet for prayer.

(3.) Time, is put for the things which are done or happen.

"Men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do" (1Ch 12:32).

They understood the things done, and the condition of affairs (1Ch 12:29-30). The history of David had been written by Samuel and Nathan and Gad, giving his reign and his might, "and the times that went over him" that is, the things done in those times. Est 1:13 : "Then the king said to the wise men, which knew the times"--that is, the things that were occurring. 2Ti 3:1 : "But know this, that in the last days grievous times shall come." Grievous conditions and conduct. Deu 4:32 : "For ask now of the days that are past"--the events of the past. Mark 14:35 : Christ prayed in the garden that the hour might pass from Him--that is, that the suffering and trial might pass--if consistent with the will of the Father. John 12:27 : "Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this cause came I unto this hour." This is the struggle that is in the mind of the Saviour, found in the last quotation.

Days are said to be good or evil, according to the things done in them (Gen 47:9; Ecc 7:10; Eph 5:16). A day is called in honor of some person, because of something done therein, or something promised to be done on that day. Hos 1:11 : "For great shall be the day of Jezreel." This day was in the future, when the language was written--the greatness was to come.

"And when he drew nigh, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known in this day, even thou, the things which belong unto peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, when thine enemies shall cast up a bank about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall dash thee to the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation" (Luk 19:41-44).

Even at that late hour, if they could have discerned the signs of the times, and known and acknowledged the Saviour, their city and their own welfare would have been secured. For further investigation of this use of the subject, read Job 18:20; Psa 137:7; Eze 22:4; Obadiah 1:12; Mic 7:4; Psa 37:13. The day of the Lord is spoken of as the day of judgment; but sometimes the destruction of Jerusalem, because it was a typological prophecy of that coming event (Job 24:1; Isa 13:6; Joe 1:15; Joe 2:1-2; Amo 5:20; Zep 1:14-18; Zep 2:2). While these do not look directly at the day of judgment for the whole race, they have in view a punishment from the Lord. But many times the day refers to the judgment scene (Mal 3:2, Mal 3:17; Mal 4:1, Mal 4:3, Mal 4:5; Mat 24:36, Mat 24:50; Mat 25:13; Acts 2:20; Rom 2:5, Rom 2:16; 1Co 1:8; Php 1:6; 2Th 1:7-10). This custom of speaking of the day in honor of any one, was of long standing. The days of victories of the ancient generals and kings were known by their names. This is why the resurrection of the Saviour on the first day of the week, gave to that day his name, "the Lord’s day" (Rev 1:0). It rendered that day sacredly His own, because he had conquered death and the grave for the whole race on that day. This day should not be called the sabbath; it is "the Lord’s day," and should be kept in honor of him (Acts 20:7; 1Co 16:1-2). The passover is frequently used, when the paschal lamb is intended (Exo 12:21; 2Ch 30:17; Mark 14:12-14; Mat 26:17-19).

(4.) Sometimes things are spoken of according to appearance, opinions formed respecting them, or the claims made for them. Thus in Jer 28:1, Jer 28:5, Jer 28:10, Hananiah is called a prophet. This was reputation, rather than fact. Eze 21:3 : "Will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked." These were apparently righteous, rather than really so. Mat 9:13 : "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." The Lord does not mean to say that those men who complained against Him were righteous, bat that such was their claim. Compare Luk 18:9. In Luk 2:41-48, Joseph is spoken of as the father of Jesus, because he was supposed to be. Compare Luk 3:23; John 6:42.

"For seeing that in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom knew not God, it was God’s good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save them that believe" (1Co 1:21). This is not Paul’s estimate, but the estimate of the Greek philosophers--it was foolishness to them (1Co 1:22-24). In Gal 1:6, Paul wondered that they were so soon turned away to another gospel; not because he thought there could be any other gospel, but because they thought the gospel of Christ ought to be conglomerated with the law of Moses, which would make a false teaching of it. Mat 12:27 : "If I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out?" He does not mean to say that they cast out demons, but that they thus claimed.

"Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?" (Gen 37:10).

Jacob did not refer to Rachel as the mother of Joseph, for she had been dead for a number of years, but to Leah, who was not his mother, but seemed to be.

Psa 72:9 : "His enemies shall lick the dust," must refer to their prostration, and hence seeming to lick the dust. Compare Isa 49:23; Mic 1:10.

"The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgement with the men of this generation, and shall condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, a greater than Solomon is here" (Luk 11:31). Of course this coming from the ends of the earth is taken by appearance. There are many such expressions (Deu 4:32; Deu 30:4; Neh 1:9; Mat 14:31). And with all our scientific knowledge, we continue to say that the sun rises and sets. Angels are spoken of as men (Gen 18:16; Gen 19:10; Luk 24:4; Acts 1:10), because they were in the form of men--it was the appearance, not the fact.

(5.) The action, faith, or feeling, stimulated or caused by anything, may be employed, instead of the thing which caused such action, affection or feeling.--The senses are put for the things apprehended by them. Rom 10:17 : "So belief cometh of hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ." This read in connection with the preceding verses, and it is apparent that the hearing is put for the gospel heard. In 1Co 1:21, the foolishness of preaching is not preaching, but the thing preached, that was decided to be foolishness, in the minds of the philosophers. Gal 3:2-5, the hearing of faith, is the gospel received. Mat 14:1, Herod heard the report of what Jesus was doing. It was the faith in the statements made that gave him trouble, for which the hearing stands. Many times the word "faith" denotes the doctrine on which it was founded. Acts 6:7 : "And a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith." Gal 1:23 : "He that once persecuted us, now preacheth the faith."

"But before faith came, we were kept in ward under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. So that the law hath been our tutor to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith is come, we are no longer under a tutor" (Gal 3:23-25).

Eph 4:5 : There is one faith. Eph 4:13 : "Till we all attain unto the unity of the faith."

1Ti 4:1 : "In latter times some shall fall away from the faith." (Tit 1:13; Jude 1:3; Rev 2:13)

Love is put for the object of love. Jer 2:33 : "How trimmest thou thy way to seek love!"--to seek some object of affection.

Jer 12:7 : "I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies"--the dearly beloved one.

Fear is often put for the object of fear. Pro 1:26 : "I will mock when your fear cometh"--that is, when some object approaches that shall terrify you. Isa 8:13 : "The Lord of hosts, him shall ye sanctify; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread" that is, fear ye the Lord, and be in dread of Him.

"Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the Fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely now hadst thou sent me away empty" (Gen 31:42).

Thus Jacob is made to remind Laban that the God of Abraham, who was feared by Isaac, was his defense.

(6.) A sign is put for the thing signified.

"The sceptre shall not depart from Judah,
Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
Until Shiloh come;
And unto him shall the obedience of the peoples be" (Gen 49:10).

Judah was characterized for strength, and should hold a ruling power till the time of the coming of the Messiah. This ruling power is signified, rather than stated.

"And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder" (Isa 22:22). This was said of Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, and it is splendid typology of the coming Son of David, who shuts, and no man opens; opens, and no man shuts.

Zec 10:11 : "And the sceptre of Egypt shall depart away"--that is, the power to rule, which is signified by the sceptre.

"And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine band unto the Lord, God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take a thread," etc. (Gen 14:22-23). The thought is, that Abram had sworn to that effect, as the hand was lifted up in affirmation.

"He breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder" (Psa 46:9). As the bow and the spear were the weapons of war, breaking them is to cause war to discontinue.

"My sword go forth out of its sheath against all flesh," etc., etc. (Eze 21:4). The sign of destruction was the sword, hence general destruction is threatened. So in Mat 10:34, Christ had come to send a sword--contention, and disturbance, as in war. To beat swords into plowshares and spears into pruning-hooks, is to quit war and cultivate the arts of civilization (Isa 2:3-4). To bow the knee is the sign of reverence and worship (Isa 45:23; Php 2:10; Eph 3:14). To wear sackcloth was to mourn, as they did that in the time of very great distress:

"When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became a proverb unto them" (Psa 69:11).

(7.) The names of things are presented for the things themselves.--In many passages the name of the Lord, or of God, denotes Jehovah.

"The name of the God of Jacob set thee up on high" (Psa 20:1).

"O give thanks unto the Lord, call upon his name" (Psa 105:1).

"The name of the Lord is a strong tower" (Pro 18:10).

"Behold, the name of the Lord cometh from far" (Isa 30:27).

"Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name" (Jer 10:25).

Joe 2:32; Acts 2:21; Rom 10:13 : "Call upon the name of the Lord"--that is, they were to call on the Lord.

Names are given in the place of persons. In the Common Version of Acts 1:15, "And the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty," meaning the number of persons.

"But thou halt a few names in Sardis which did not defile their garments" (Rev 3:4). A few persons.

Sometimes names are given to denote character or condition.

"Afterward thou shaft be called The city of righteousness, the faithful city" (Isa 1:26). The thought is that, having been cleansed by having all their sin removed, they would be a people that would be faithful in the service of the Lord.

"Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah [my delight is in her], and thy land Beulah [married]: for the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married" (Isa 62:4). The reason that they should be called the city in which the Lord delighted was, they should be that city; and the reason that they should be called married, was that they should be married.

"So then if, while her husband liveth, she be joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress" (Rom 7:3). That is, she shall be an adulteress.