F~fO OF AN H Y P E RB 0 LE. Book 1. (I.) Amplification, which the Greeks call '""~"~''' Auxe.fis, and Extenuation, which ~hey call MHW«<, Meiojis. Examples of this Auxe.fis· or Amplification are partly rhetorical, partly logical. Such as relate to Rhetoric are either in jingle Words, or in a co11juntl Phrafe. To fingle Words thefe belong, WAR is put for any private Strife, 'james iv. •· which anfwers the Hebrew Word lbn~) which is taken in this Senfe, Jer. i. 19. and xv. 20. Heaven is put for very great Height, as on the contrary, an Abyfs or Hell, for great Depth or Dejection, Gm. xi. 4• Let us build us a City and a Tower whofe Top, (or Head) 1nay reach Heaven, that is, higher than any Thing on Earth. See Deut. i. 28. and ix. 1, &c. Pfal. cvii 2 6. '!'hey mount up to Heaven, they go down to the Depths, which denotes the vehement and dreadful tolling of Waves in a Sterm. lfa.lvii. 9· 'J'hou didft debafe thyfelfto Hell, that }s, to be moft abjetl: of all, he fpeaks of the Kingdom of Juda, who fubmitted them– felves very bafely by their King Ahaz to the AJ!jrians, becaufe they would be aflifted by them, 2 Kingsxvi. 7, &c. See more Examples, Matt. xi. 23. Lam.ii. 1. L uke x. 21. 1 Sam. v. 12. 2 Chron. xxviii. 9· Jer. li. 9· Rev. xviii. 5· Ifa. xiv. 13• Jer.li. 53, &c. 'l'o VOMJ'l' UP, is put for Recompence or Payment of what a Man has eaten, Prov. xxiii. 8. Matt. xix. I2. 'l'o make one's felf an EUNUCH, is put for, to fupprefs irregular Lulls, yea, there are fome, who by the Gift of God, have Gift of Continency ; this is a metaphorical Hyperbole ufed by Chrift, ""'' "'''"''"'""'"""' by way of Atanaclajis. James iii. 6. '!'he Tongue is a Fire, a World of Iniquity, that is, a Thing full ofWickednefs, as the World is full of many Things. See Jer. iv. 29. Ruth iv. 6. 'l'o ROB '""""~"' is put for to receive, 2 Cor. xi. 8. This is a great Auxe.fis, for he names the Acceptation of due and moderate Salary, Depredation or Robbery. RIVER,S of OIL, are put for Abundance of all good Things, Job xxix. 6. See Job xx. I9· Micah vi. 7· where there is a mme illuftrious Exaggeration, ten 'J'houfands of Rivers of Oil. · 'l'hunder is put for the ftrong neighingof a Horfe, Job xxxix. 19. A 'l'ower is put for a very high Place, Neh. viii. 4, .&c. In a conjuntl PHRASE, we have thefe Hyperboles, Gen. xli. 47· And in the fe-ven plentiful Years, the Earth brought forth by Handful> ; as if he had faid, that from one Grain they had gathered a Handful. This hyperbolical Speech denotes great lncreafe. See Verfe 49, &c. More Examples you may read, Gen. xlii. 8. Exod. viii. I7- Judg. v. 4· (with Numb. xx.) Verfe 5· Judg. xx. I6. I Sam. vii. 6. Pfal. vi. 6. and cxix. 136. Jer. ix. I. Lam. iii..48, 49, &c. I Sam. xxv. 37· 1 Kings i. 40. and x. 5· !fa. v. 25. with Deut. xx;,:ii. 22. Lam. ii. 11. Ezek. xxvii. 28. 2 Sam. xvii. 13· 2 Kings xix. 24. Job xxix. 6. and xl. 18. !fa. xiii. 13· xiv. 14. xxxiv. 3, 4, 7· Ezek. xxvi. 4· xxxii. 5, 6, 7, 8. and xxxix. 9, IO. Amos ix. 13. Nahum ii. 3, 4- Gal. iv. 15. A logical Hyperbole which is ufed in proper Words, fhall be confidered, (1.) With Refpetl:, 1. To hyperbolical Comparifons, when one Thing is compared with another, which can bear no tolerable Proportion with it, as Gen.,xiii. 16. And I will make thy Seed as tM Duft of the Earth. So that if a Mmz cmz number the Duft of the Earth, then fha/l thy Seed aljo be numbered. The Senfe is, that the Seed of Abraham fhould be a very great Multitude, becaufe imrnmerable, or not to be numbered. But inafmuch as it is com– pared to the Duft of the Earth, it is hyperbolical, becaufe as Augujlilz ·• fays, it is obviou5 to every one's Stnfe, that the Number ofthe Sands (or Duft) is incomparabl:y beyond the Num– ber of human Kind from Adam to the End of the World, much more beyond the Number of Abraham's Seed, whether natural Jews, or Belie utrs, who are called his Seed, becaufe they
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