And the whelp of the lion; and none made them afraid. The lion tare for his whelps, And strangled for his lionesses; And filled his dens with prey, And his habitations with rapine." Nah. ii. 11, 12. Fable and parable are akin to allegory. The most ancient fable is that which Jotham addressed to the Shechemites, when his brother Abimelech, the son of Gideon by a bondmaid, was appointed king of Shechem, after he had hired vain and light persons to slay his brethren. 1 and men are And the trees But the fig-tree "The trees went forth to anoint a king over them: and they said to the olive-tree, Reign thou over us. But the olive-tree said to them, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me gods honoured, and go to be promoted over the trees? said to the fig-tree, Come thou, and reign over us. said to them, Should I leave my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees? Then said the trees to the vine, Come thou, and reign over us. And the vine said to them, Should I leave my wine, which cheereth gods and men, and go to be promoted over the trees? Then said all the trees to the bramble, Come thou, and reign over us. And the bramble said to the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow: and if not, let fire come forth from the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon." Judg. ix. 8-15. Another elegant fable occurs in the historical books of the Old Testament. When Amaziah, king of Judah, provoked Jehoash, king of Israel, to war, the monarch of the more powerful state returned him this proud answer: "The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter unto my son to wife: and there passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trod down the thistle." 2 Kings xiv. 9. Every reader must have been affected by the parable which Nathan uttered to David, when that great king had taken Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, and had caused the death of his virtuous and magnanimous servant at the siege of Rabbah. "There were two men in one city; The rich man had exceeding many the one rich, and the other poor. flocks and herds: but the poor man had nothing save one little ewe 1 Hebr. to be waved, or, to wave myself. lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him and with his sons: it ate of his own morsel, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock, and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that came unto him; but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that came unto him." 2 Sam. xii. 1-4. 1 Very beautiful parables occur in the prophetical writings. I shall produce an example of one from Isaiah. 1 2 § I will sing now [a song] concerning my beloved, A song on my beloved concerning his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard On a high and fruitful hill. And he † fenced it round, and gathered out the stones thereof, And planted it with the choicest vine, And built a tower in the midst of it, And also hewed out a lake therein: And he looked that it should bring forth grapes, But it brought forth loathsome berries. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, 3 4 What could have been done more to my vineyard, 5 6 That I have not done unto it? Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, But come now, I will declare unto you What I will do to my vineyard. I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be wasted; I will destroy the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down, It shall not be pruned nor digged; But there shall come up briers and thorns : I will also command the clouds, That they rain no rain upon it. + Or, dug it. Isai. v. 1-6. 1 Ezek. xix. 2—9, 10—14, xxix. 3-5. xxxi. 3—14. xxxii. 2—6. § In the two first lines the prophet Isaiah addresses himself to his beloved countrymen. Then follows a parabolical song, in which the case is supposed among men. Men, in such circumstances, would express disappointment and displeasure. Judge then, says God, v. 3, what I should do, in similar circumstances, with respect to my people. It is observable, that according to 6. Ar. and Chald. God is introduced speaking at the third line. For the verbs are read in the first person, I fenced &c. I looked. Or the six verbs may have this force: And one fenced it round: that is, And it was fenced round &c. And it was expected that it should bring forth grapes, &c. Many passages in the Hebrew scriptures are animated by the apostrophe. * Judah is a lion's whelp. From the prey, my son, thou art gone up. Gen. xlix. 9. * They have corrupted themselves, they are not his, they are blemished sons; They are a perverse and crooked generation. Do ye thus requite Jehovah, O foolish nation, and not wise? Is not he thy father that bought thee? Did not he make thee and fashion thee? 1 Deut. xxxii. 5, 6. The prosopopoeia is very frequent in the sacred poetry of which figure there are two kinds; one, when inanimate things are personified; another, when a probable speech is attributed to a real person. *Canst thou send forth the lightnings, that they may go, And say unto thee, Here we are? Job xxxviii. 35. * Ho! sword of Jehovah ! How long wilt thou not be quiet? Put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still. How can it be quiet, since Jehovah hath given it a charge? * The mother of Sisera looked out through a window, And cried through the lattice: Why doth his chariot delay coming? Why tarry the wheels of his carriages? Her wise princesses answered, Yea, she returned answer to herself: Have they not found and divided the spoil? To every man a damsel or two; To Sisera a spoil of divers colours, A spoil of divers colours of needlework, Of diverse colours of needlework on both sides: a spoil meet ‡ for his neck? + See Samar. Judg. v. 28-30. See the lxx. 1 Præl, Hebr. xiii. p. 153. Grotius was so struck with this animated dramatic form that he remarks, Ostendit vel hic unus locus illis gentibus évvoías valde poeticas fuisse. Lively description is among the excellencies of the Hebrew poets. Joel thus prophetically describes the march of locusts, and the terror and destruction spread by them. Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm in mine holy mountain: Like them there hath not been of old time; Even to the years of many generations. Before them a fire devoureth, And behind them a flame burneth: The land is as the garden of Eden before them, And behind them a desolate wilderness: Yea, and nothing shall escape them. Their appearance shall be like the appearance of horses, And like horsemen shall they run : Like the sound of chariots, on the tops of mountains shall they leap: Like the sound of a flame of fire which devoureth stubble. They shall be like a strong people set in battle array. Before them shall the people be much pained: All faces shall gather blackness. They shall run like mighty men ; Like warriors shall they climb the wall: And they shall march every one in his way : Neither shall they turn aside from their paths: Neither shall one thrust another: They shall march each in his road: And if they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded. They shall run to and fro in the city, they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up into the houses: They shall enter in at the windows, like a thief. Joel. ii. 1-9. The military array of the Medes and Babylonians, and the besieging and sacking of Nineveh, are described by the prophet Nahum with great force and animation. The shield of his mighty men is made red: The chariots are as the fire of lamps, in the day when he prepareth them: And the horsemen spread terror. The chariots madden in the streets: They run to and fro in the broad places: Their appearance is as lamps, they run as lightning. He recounteth his mighty men: they cast down in their march. The gates of the rivers are opened: And the palace melteth with fear, and the fortress. She is taken into captivity, she is brought up: And her handmaids are carried away as with the moaning of doves, And the waters of Nineveh are become as a pool of water: And they flee; and men cry, 66 Stand, stand;" but none looketh back. They make spoil of silver, they make spoil of gold: And there is none end of the glorious store, From all kinds of desirable furniture. She is void, empty, and desolate : And the heart melteth, and the knees smite together: And there is great pain in all loins ; And the faces of them all gather blackness. 1 Nah. ii. 3-10. Bishop Lowth refers to the description of the horse in Job as universally admired; and as abundantly evincing how much this kind of beauty prevails in that ancient poem. * Hast thou given the horse strength? Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder? Canst thou make him afraid as the grasshopper? The glory of his nostrils is † terrible. He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength : He goeth forth to meet the || armed men. He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted; Neither turneth he back from the sword. The § glittering spear and the lance. He swalloweth the ground with ++ fierceness and ‡‡ rage: + H. terror. See versions. H. armour. § H. flame of the. tt Or, rushing. ‡‡ Or, violence. Or, When the trumpet soundeth amain, he saith, Ha, ha. [See Chald.] 1 Præl. Hebr. xxxiv. |