Part I. M E TA P H 0 R S FROM A HuMAN BoDY. and Help to affi!l:, 1 Sam. xxiii. 16. Job iv. 3· !fa. xxv. 3· When a Hand is attribmed to the Earth, it fignifies a etrtain Place or Space, Deut. xxiii. 12. Numb. xxxiv. 3· z Sam. viii. 3· !fa. !vi. 5· and lvii. 9· Jer. vi. 3· &c. '!'he BACKdenotes Alienation,E!l:rangednefs, or Neglect, I Kings xiv. 9· Neh. ix. 26. Sometimes it is a Symbol of Oppreffion and Affliction, Pfal. cxxix. 3· '!'he Plo-wersplowed on my Back, &c. !fa. li. 27. Rom. xi. 10. . '!'he LOINS becaufe the Strength of the Body confi!ls in them, Job xl. 11. are me· taphorically, (or it may be rather metonymically) put for Strength it fdf, Jfa. xlv. 1. I wi/1/oofe (or di!folve) the Loins of Kings, the Septuagint has it •~• '%" (3~<~>-rw> J,~ii"~w, And!willbreak the Strmgth of Kings*. See.Pfal.lxix. 23. R.om. xi. 10. This Metaphor chiefly refpeCl:s the Girding of the Loins, which denotes a Confirma– tion of Strength and Activity in order to run, labor or fight, 1 Kings xviii. 46. 2 Kings iii. 2 1o Pfal. xviii. 40. Prov. xxxi. 17. Job xxxviii. 3· Jer. i. 10. lfa. v. 27. &c. Hence the Phra!e ofgirding the Loins, is tranaated to Spirituals, !fa. xi. 5· denoting the Faith– fulnefs, Alacrity and Expedition of the Mejfiah, in his great mrdiatorial and redeem– ing Office, Pfal. xlv. iii. In the faithful Members of Chrilt, it denotes Chri!tian Pigi– lancy and Perfeveratzce in the Profeffion of Truth and Piety, Lukexii. 35· 1 Pet. i. '3· Eph. vi. 14. Upon which Place Hemingius fays, As the Loins, in which is the chiefeft Strength of the Body, are made more firm by girding, making the Soldier in Fight more fteady and artive: So the Heart is made more firm by the 'l'rulh of God, which caufes, that i11 our Doubts and Hejitations the Devil cannot overthrow and dejlroy us. A NAPEL by which Nouri!hment is conveyed to the Infant in the Womb, is by an elegant Metaphor transferred to the Sons of the Church, Prov. iii. 8. It (that is, to fear the Lord, and depart from Evil) jha/1 be Health, (or a Medicine) to thy Navel; as if he had faid, as the Child is nouri!hed by the Navel, fo the Knowledge and Fear of, and Obedience to God, will by the ble!fed Spirit feed, educate and comfort. It is ad– ded, and Watering or Moi!l:ening to thy Bones, that is, it fhall be thy whole Strength, as the Bones are Moi!l:ened and !1:rengthned by Marrow, as Job. xxi. 24, &c. Not wt~ ting the Navel, is allegorically tranflated to denote the primitive, miferable and abomi– nable State of the ]ewijh People, Ezek. xvi. +· It !ignifies the Middle or an eminent Place in the .Earth, as the Navel is in the Mid!l:, Judg. ix. 37. Hence God is faid to work Salvation i11 the Midft of the Earth, Pfal.!xxiv. 12. becaufe Judea was. e!l:eemed fo by the Geographers of thofe Times. A BOSOM is put for the Middle or Concavity of a Chariot, I Kings xxii. 35· Ezek. xliii. 13, 14, 17. And becaufe that part for Mode!l:y's fake is covered with a Garment, it is applied to the hidden and inward Parts of Man, Job xix. 27. Eccl. vii. 10. Pfal. lxxxix. 5'·· and xxxv. I2, 13. It carries the Notion of Love, becaufe of conjugal Em· braces, Deru. xiii. 6. and xxviii. 56. Eternal Life is called the Bofom of Abraham, Luke xvi. 22. Upon which Brentius in his Commentary. t By the Bofom of Abraham you are not to underftand a certain corpo– ral or external Place in this World, but either the Promife of Chri!t made to Abraham ; In thy Seed fhall all Nations be blelfed; or Chrift himfelf who came of the Seed of Abra– ham ; for in this Senfe all the Godly that jleep in the Lord are repojited or reft in Chrift b:m– felf, till in the /aft Day they rife together with their Bodies, Acts vii. 59· Phi/. i. 23-. 'fherefore when Lazarus is faid to be carried by Angels into Abraham's Bolom, we are to tmderftand, that he was in the E;~oyment of Jiepreme Felzcity in Chriji, which in lhe /aller day jha/1 be revealed, &c. Abraham is propofed as theFatberof all Believers, Rom. iv. Il, 12. becaufe fuch as follow his Steps, and con!l:antly perfevere in Faith and Godlinefs to the End, fhall as our s,zvior n)ews be gathered together in immorral Life: For f('ndcr Children are WOnt to be carried and cheri!hed in the Bofom of their loving Parents, Ruth iv. 16. I Kings xvii. '9· This 'I'erm denotes the Condition of eternal Life, for the carrying of Infants in the Bofom of the Parent, denotes Love and intimate good Will; fo in the heavenly Life, there is mofl: pure Love, from whence arifes true Joy. In the Bofom of the Parent, • Et fortitudilttm rezum f rangam. t Simtm Abrahte intelligas non corpora/em ftltmlam F..:! externum hujus ficuli locum, &c. the
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