Reference: Symbol
Hastings
The prevalence of figurative language in the Bible is due partly to the antiquity and Oriental origin of the book and to the fact that its subject, religion, deals with the most difficult problems of life and the deepest emotions of the soul. The English word 'type,' as the equivalent of 'symbol' or 'emblem,' is sometimes confusing, as it has been used both for the fulfilment of the prototype and as that which points forward to the antitype. Like the proverb and parable, the symbol implies a connexion between two things of which one is concrete and physical, the other abstract and referring to intellectual, moral, and spiritual matters. The former, of course, is the symbol.
1. Symbols of similarity.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And they made coats of bysse of woven work for Aaron and his sons, and a mitre of bysse, and goodly bonnets of bysse, and linen breeches of twined bysse, read more. and a girdle of twined bysse, jacinth, scarlet and purple: even of needle work, as the LORD commanded Moses.
Now will I sing my beloved friend a song of his vineyard. My beloved friend hath a vineyard in a very fruitful plenteous ground. This he hedged, this he walled round about, and planted it with goodly grapes. In the midst of it builded he a tower, and made a wine press therein. And afterward when he looked that it should bring him grapes, it brought forth thorns. read more. I show you now my cause, O ye Citizens of Jerusalem and whole Judah: Judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. What more could have been done for it, that I have not done? Wherefore than hath it given thorns, where I looked to have had grapes of it? Well, now I shall tell you how I will do with my vineyard: I will take the hedge from it, that it may perish, and break down the wall, that it may be trodden under foot. I will lay it waste, that it shall neither be twisted nor cut, but bear thorns and briers. I will also forbid the clouds, that they shall not rain upon it. As for the vineyard of the LORD of Hosts, it is the house of Israel, and whole Judah his fair planting. Of these he looked for equity, but see there is wrong; for righteousness, lo, it is but misery.
Moreover, thus said the LORD unto me, "Go thy way, and get thee a linen breech, and gird it about thy loins, and let it not be wet." Then I got me a breech, according to the commandment of the LORD, and put it about my loins. read more. After this, the LORD spake unto me again, "Take the breech that thou hast prepared and put it about thee, and get thee up, and go unto Euphrates, and hide it in a hole of the rock." So went I, and hid it, as the LORD commanded me. And it happened, long after this, that the LORD spake unto me, "Up, and get thee to Euphrates, and fetch the breech from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there." Then went I to Euphrates, and digged up, and took the breech from the place where I had hid it: and, behold, the breech was corrupt, so that it was profitable for nothing. Then said the LORD unto me: "Thus sayeth the LORD: Even so will I corrupt the pride of Judah, and the high mind of Jerusalem. This people is a wicked people; they will not hear my word, they follow the wicked imaginations of their own heart, and hang upon strange gods, them have they served and worshiped: and therefore they shall be as this breech, that serveth for nothing. For as straightly as a breech lieth upon a man's loins, so straightly did I bind the whole house of Israel, and the whole house of Judah unto me, sayeth the LORD: that they might be my people; that they might have a glorious name; that they might be in honour. But they would not obey me. "Therefore lay this riddle before them, and say, 'Thus sayeth the LORD God of Israel: Every pot shall be filled with wine.' And they shall say, 'Thinkest thou we know not, that every pot shall be filled with wine?'
And they shall come, and rejoice upon the hill of Zion, and shall have plenteousness of goods, which the LORD shall give them: Namely, wheat, wine, oil, young sheep and calves. And their conscience shall be as a well-watered garden, for they shall no more be hungry.
The hand of the LORD came upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and let me down in a plain field that lay full of bones. And he led me round about by them, and behold, the bones that lay upon the field were very many, and marvelous dry also. read more. Then said he unto me, "Thou son of man: thinkest thou these bones may live again?" And I answered, "O LORD God, thou knowest." And he said unto me, "Prophesy thou upon these bones, and speak unto them, 'Ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus sayeth the LORD God unto these bones: Behold, I will put breath into you, that ye may live. I will give you sinews, and make flesh grow upon you, and cover you over with skin: and so give you breath, that ye may live and know that I am the LORD.'" So I prophesied, as he had commanded me: and as I was prophesying, there came a noise and a great motion, so that the bones ran every one to another. Now when I had looked, behold, they had sinews, and flesh grew upon them: and above they were covered with skin, but there was no breath in them. Then said he unto me, "Thou son of man, prophesy thou toward the wind: prophesy, and speak to the wind, 'Thus sayeth the LORD God: Come, O thou air, from the four winds, and blow upon these slain, that they may be restored to life.'" So I prophesied, as he had commanded me: then came the breath into them and they received life, and stood up upon their feet: a marvelous great sortie. Moreover, he said unto me, "Thou son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, 'Our bones are dried up, our hope is gone, we are clean cut off.'
Put on the armour of God, that ye may stand steadfast against the crafty assaults of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood: but against rule, against power, and against worldly rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness for heavenly things. read more. For this cause, take unto you the armour of God, that ye may be able to resist in the evil day, and to stand perfect in all things. Stand, therefore, and your loins gird about with verity, having on the breastplate of righteousness, and shod with shoes prepared by the gospel of peace. Above all, take to you the shield of faith, wherewith ye may quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God,
Wherefore let us also - seeing that we are compassed with so great a multitude of witnesses - lay away all that presseth down, and the sin that hangeth on us, and let us run with patience, unto the battle that is set before us,
And to her was granted, that she should be arrayed with pure and goodly raynes" - For the raynes is the righteousness of saints.