2. The differences in style between various books of Scripture have a special significance from the point of view of the history of religion. It is a weighty circumstance that Nathan’s prophecy, which is found in 28 7!4»-16, ig reproduced some- what differently in 1 Ch 17/4, and that the oracle of Is 22-4 has another form in Mic 41, From this we gather that the Israelites of earlier times cared for nothing more than to preserve the contents of revelation in their essential identity. The form was of importance only in so far as it served for the preservation of the contents, and thus, even with the Prophets, the form was the human element. God permitted His interpreters to make use of the language of their own time. If this statement required proof, it would be found in such facts as the following. In the prophetical writings the two forms for the pronoun ‘I,’ namely ’andkhi and *dnt, stand to one another in the following ratios : —in Amos as 10: 1, in Hosea as 11: 11, in Micah as 1:2, in Jeremiah as 35:51, in Ezekiel as 1 (36%) : 138, in Daniel as 1 (10") : 28, in Haggai as 0:4, in Zec 1-8 as 0:9, in Malachi as 1: 8. Then in the historical books, Samuel has 48 *anokht to 50 ’dni, Kings 9 to 45, Ezra 0 to 2, Nehemiah 1 to 15, Chronicles 1 (1 Ch 17!|| 28 7?) to 30, Esther 0 to 6. A number of other evidences will be found in the present writer’s article ‘ Pro- phecy and History’ in the ELapository Times, xi. (1900) pp. 305-310. The above assertion that the form of the language is the human element in the Bible, is subject only to the reservation that the contents of a prophecy were naturally not without influence upon its form, and this was the case also with the spirit which animated the pro- phets (Mic 38, Is 8! ete.). But we are convinced that there is still another point to be observed. When, for instance, we read ‘They pierced my hands and my feet’ (Ps 221%), the present writer cannot believe this sentence to have been written without the co-operation of the Divine Spirit, who was the supreme director of Israel’s history. Such expressions were meant to pre-establish a harmony between the Old and the New Covenant, so that believers who lived under the new dispensation might be strengthened in their faith by noticing the presence of such features in the earlier history of God’s saving purpose.
LirerAtuRE.—In addition to the works mentioned in the introductory part of the above article, the present writer’s Stilistik, Rhetorik, Poetik, in Bezug auf die Biblische Litteratur komparativisch dargestellt (1900) may be consulted throughout. For special points, reference may be made to Karl J. Grimm's Euphemistic Liturgical Appendices in the OT (1901), pp. 3-5, and Ed. Sievers’ Metrische Untersuchungen, 2 vols. (1901).
Ep. KONIG.
SYMBOL, SYMBOLICAL ACTIONS.—
i. Distinction between Metaphor and Symbol.
ii. Symbols in Scripture.
iii, Symbolical actions: (A) in common life; (B) in ‘the re- ligious life : (@) constant or usual actions; (0) unusual actions. The symbolical actions in the prophetical literature.
i, DISTINCTION BETWEEN METAPHOR AND SyM- BOL.—Both these terms stand for something which is not used in its barest literal sense or for its proper purpose. Both describe methods which are employed to give concrete expression to ideas be- longing to the realm of spirit. But what the Metaphor is in the sphere of speech, that the Symbol is in the sphere of things. ‘Metaphorical’ applies to expressions, ‘ symbolical’ is an attribute of objects and actions. How closely allied the two conceptions are is shown by the fact that in familiar speech the terms are occasionally interchanged. For instance, we recently met with this sentence: ‘Tf the ordinary man is to fulfil the command to love God above everything, the word ‘‘love” must be understood merely as a symbolical [sinnbildlich]
a S|
170 SYMBOL, SYMBOLICAL ACTIONS
SYMBOL, SYMBOLICAL ACTIONS
designation for two dispositions of mind for which there is no more fitting expression’ (Die Grenzboten, 1900, p. 447). The correct term here would be ‘metaphorical,’ not ‘ symbolical.’ ’
The varieties of Metaphor which occur in Biblical literature are enumerated and explained in the present writer’s Stilistik, Rhetorik, Poetik, in Bezug auf die Biblische Litteratur komparativisch darge- stellé (1900). But the notions of ‘Symbol’ or ‘symbolical’ could not be handled there, because they have not to do with a sphere in which lan- guage is the agency at work. Hence the explana- tion there given (pp. 93-109) of Metaphor and the present article will be found to supplement one another. ;
ii. SYMBOLS IN SCRIPTURE.—The extent to which symbolism pervades the Biblical literature is a doubtful question. The following may be regarded as the surest instances :—
(a) The word ‘dshéra, which had all along, in the sense of ‘gracious,’ been an attribute of ‘Astarte, and hence appears also as a personal name for her (DK 15" [=2 Ch 15] 18202) K 217237) came im later times to be used mainly as the name for the symbol of this goddess, namely a tree, in allusion to the fruitfulness of the life of nature (Ex 34", Dt 7° etc., 2Ch 34’),—Further, the hammanim (Lv 26%, Is 178 27°, Ezk 646, 2 Ch 14° 34*7 e¢ ai.) were miniature obelisks, which represented the sun’s rays. They were symbols of the sun-god who in Pheen. inseriptions is called son Sya or 5ya apn, and the like (cf. Bloch, Phén. Glossar, p. 22). —The mazzébéth, again (‘pillars,’ Gn 28'8 etc.), were not set up on their own account. They were not meant to be dwelling-places of the Deity, but were symbols, expressive of gratitude for a Divine revelation (Gn 28” 31} ete.) ; primitive altars (cf. Ex 20%, Is 191°) ; allusions to the rock (Zi), which formed the surest ground of trust for Israel (Dt 324-15. 18 ete. ; Stilistik, p. 995-34); or they were symbols of the twelve tribes of Israel (Ex 244, cf. 1 K 18%),