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
They wove inner robes out of fine linen for Aaron and his sons. They also made the chief priest's turban and the other beautiful turbans out of fine linen. They made the undergarments and belt out of fine linen yarn. read more. The belt was embroidered with violet, purple, and bright red yarn. They followed Jehovah's instructions to Moses.
Let me sing to my loved one a song of my beloved concerning his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hill. He dug the soil all around and removed its stones. He planted it with the choicest vine. And he built a tower in the middle of it and also hewed out a wine vat in it. Then he expected it to produce good grapes, but it only produced worthless ones. read more. Now then, you inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judah, judge between my vineyard and me! What more could have been done for my vineyard than what I have already done for it? When I waited for it to produce good grapes, why did it produce only sour, wild grapes? Here is what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge and break down the wall that protects it. I will let wild animals eat it and trample it down. It will turn into a desert, neither pruned nor cultivated. It will be covered with thorns and briars. I will command the clouds not to send rain. I am Jehovah of Hosts (All Powerful)! Israel is the vineyard, and Judah is the garden I tended with care. I had hoped for honesty and for justice, but dishonesty and cries for mercy were all I found.
Jehovah told me: Go and buy a linen belt. Wear it on your hips for a while, but do not put it in any water. So I bought a belt and put it on my hips. read more. Then Jehovah said: Take off the linen belt. Go to the Euphrates River and hide the belt in a crack between some large rocks. And that is what I did, just as Jehovah commanded. Some time later Jehovah said: Go back and get the linen belt. I went back and dug the belt out of the hiding place, but the cloth had rotted, and the linen belt was ruined. It was good for nothing. Then Jehovah said: Jeremiah, I will use Babylon to destroy the pride of the people of Judah and Jerusalem. The people of Judah are evil and stubborn. They do not listen to me. They do whatever they want and even worship other gods. When I am finished with these people, they will be good for nothing, just like this linen belt. This belt is tight around your waist, and that is how tightly I held onto the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. I wanted them to be my people. I wanted to make them famous, so that other nations would praise and honor me, but they refused to obey me. Speak this word to them: 'Thus says Jehovah, the God of Israel, Every jug is to be filled with wine. When they say to you, Do we not know that every jug is to be filled with wine?
They will come and shout for joy on top of Mount Zion. They will stream to it to enjoy Jehovah's blessings: fresh grain, new wine, olive oil, lambs and calves. Their lives will be like well-watered gardens, and they will never suffer again.
The hand of Jehovah was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of Jehovah and set me down in the middle of the valley. The valley was full of bones. He caused me to pass among them round about. There were very many on the surface of the valley and they were very dry. read more. He said to me: Son of man, can these bones live? I answered, O Lord Jehovah, you know. Again he said: Prophesy over these bones and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of Jehovah. The Lord Jehovah says to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life. I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive. You will know that I am Jehovah.' So I prophesied as I was commanded. As I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rattling. The bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, sinews were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them. But there was no breath in them. Then Jehovah said to me: Prophesy to the wind (ruach: air, breath, spirit, life)! Prophesy, son of man. Tell the wind, this is what the Lord Jehovah says: 'Come from the four winds, O Breath, and breathe on these people who were killed so that they will live.' So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath of life entered them. Then they came to life and stood on their feet. There were enough of them to form a very large army. Jehovah also said: Son of man, all the people of Israel are like these bones. The people say: Our bones are dry, and our hope has vanished. We are completely destroyed.
Put on the full armor (every implement) of God, that you may be able to stand against the cunning (inventive) (clever) methods of the devil. Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in heavenly places. read more. For that reason, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore and gird your loins with truth. Put on the breastplate of righteousness. Shod your feet with the preparation of the good news of peace. Also take up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
A great cloud of witnesses surround us. Therefore let us lay aside every weight, and the sin that easily entangles us. Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.
It was granted to her that she dress in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen represents the righteous acts of the holy ones.