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A52486
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Divine eloquence, or, An essay upon the tropes and figures contained in the Holy Scriptures and reduced under the proper titles & rhetorick also several texts of Scripture which fall in with the figures are briefly interpreted, especially those which seem to favour the papist or the Socinian.
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Norwood, Cornelius.
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1694
(1694)
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Wing N1344; ESTC R30070
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55,272
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145
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be once prepar'd and disposed to follow Christ unless we also persevere in our Course after him Now then the Bridegroom is Christ himself the time of the Wedding is at his last coming the night is the melancholy state and condition of the Church in the World the Virgins are they that make profession of the purity of the Gospel and the wise Virgins are the true Believers that are constantly provided in their Hearts to receive him at his coming making an holy Life and Practice their daily Business through the assistance of Divine Grace which is the Oil that burneth howsoever it be not always in actual exercise but the foolish ones are they in the Church who have been very negligent to excite and cherish the Gifts and Graces of the Holy Spirit the Lamps are their Hearts which are unprovided the Slumber is their Remissness and Cessation from continual exercise of Piety without expectation of Christ's sudden appearance caused chiefly through the Infirmity of the Flesh that is unactive and tired out through his long delays of coming The Holy Scripture is very full of Allegories of all sorts See Job 20. 12 13. c. 27. v. 20. c. 28. v. 9. Psal 23. v. 1. 69. 1 2 3. 75. 8. 80. v. 8 9 10. Prov. 3. 8. Isai 1. 5 6 7. 30. 30. Matt. 3. 10 12. 5-13 7 3 4 5 6. 9. 14. Luk 9. 62. Rom. 11. 16 17 18. But I should be too tedious should I give you an accurate view of the particular Instances belonging to this Figure METALEPSIS Metalepsis multiplies a Trope in one word when one improper term serves to express another by it till you arrive at the most proper one of all Matt. 21. 20. All the City was moved The word City here signifies Jerusalem the general term comprehending the particular by Synecdoche generis and Jerusalem denotes the Inhabitants of it by a Metonymy of the Subject Lament 4. 4. The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for very thirst here first by the extreme thirst of the sucking Infant is signified the barren and dry breasts of the Mother and by her Want of Milk extreme Hunger and Famine and by Famine the dismal Poverty and Misery of the People Four kinds of a Trope There are four sorts of a Trope Metonymy Irony Metaphor Synecdoche METONYMY Metonymy of the cause when the name of the very Person serves to express the act or operation proceeding from him thus The Holy Spirit sometimes signifies only regeneration or a new birth which is the peculiar efficacy of the third Person in the Blessed Trinity Psal 51. 10. Renew a Right spirit within me and to the very same purpose see Ezek. 36. 26. Eph. 4. 23. Rom. 12. 2. all which places seem to imply nothing less than a moral change wrought in our Souls by the Influence of divine grace whereby we become regenerate or born again 1 Thess 5. 19. 't is the admonition of St. Paul not to quench the Spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a similitude borrowed from the fire of the ancient Altars which was continually to be preserved alive and so here he must not extinguish the Gifts of the Spirit but keep them in constant exercise such are Grace Charity meekness c. See Matt. 25. 8. 2 Tim. 1. 6. The very same Apostle commands us to stir up the Gift of the Holy Spirit that is Grace or Faith or Godliness or some other divine Quality which is excited in us by the mighty energy power or operation of the Holy Ghost Spirit also sometimes signifies a divine power or energy reigning in the Soul of the regenerate Man See Luke 1. 46 47. My soul doth magnifie the Lord and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour There are not a few other places of Scripture where you will find the word Spirit is often made use of to express the new Man and spiritual strength Rom. 1. 9. Galat. 3. 3. Acts 17. 16. 2 Kings 2. 9. It was the earnest request of Elisha to Elijah let a double portion of thy Spirit be upon me that is give me an extraordinary measure of the gift of Prophecy and power in working Mirecles which are here called the portion of thy Spirit as being the peculiar gifts of the Holy Spirit conferred upon us See Num. 11. 25. 2 Kings 4. 1 and 42. Dan. 5. 12. Daniel had a more excellent spirit that is a more eminent gift of the spirit more knowledge and more understanding Numb 11. 25. The Spirit of the Lord rested upon the seventy Elders that is the Gift of Prophecy and Prediction Acts 19. 2. We have not so much as heard whether there be Any Holy Ghost that is we are very much Strangers to the virtue power or influence of him And you find afterwards they received the Holy Ghost that is the divine Inspirations of him which did eminently appear in the Gift of languages and of power of working Miracles and other kind of Wonders To the same purpose see Acts 1. 5. Jo. 7. 39. Rev. 1. 10. I was in the Spirit that is in a Rapture or Ecstasie in which the Understanding is exalted after a wonderfull manner to the Contemplation of Heavenly things Ezek. 37. 1. The hand of the Lord carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord that is by a vision occasioned by him where you see in both these places the Spirit the efficient Cause is put for the Effect proceeding from him Luke 16. 29. They have Moses and the Prophets that is the Books of Moses where by a Metonymy of the efficient Cause the Author is put for his Writings See Luke 24. 27. Eph. 4. 20. But ye have not so learned Christ that is the Gospel and Doctrines delivered by him Acts 2. 4. They began to speak with Other tongues that is with different sorts of languages Prov. 25. 15. A Soft Tongue breaketh the Bones that is a mild and courteous way of speaking softens the hardest Heart and most obstinate Resolutions where you see in both these places of Scripture the instrumental Cause signifies the Effect it self produced by it Gen. 11. 1. And the whole earth was of One lip that is of one language and uniform way of speaking Instrumentum pro Effectu ipso Job 31. 6. Let God weigh me in an even Balance the instrument of Equity and Justice for equity it self and so without a Metaphor the Phrase signifies no more but Let God try and examine me impartially Ezek. 7. 15. the Sword is without and the Pestilence and the Famine within that is death and ruin is scattered every where and is signified by those which are the unhappy instruments of it Matt. 10. 34. I came not to send Peace but a Sword that is variance and death and persecution instrumentum pro Re effecta Not that our Saviour's Coming was the proper Cause of such Unhappiness but so it should eventually happen out upon his appearance in our Nature because his
sometimes afraid to venture at a phrase or a fineness of a period lest they should deviate more from the true sence and signification of the Text and after all you will discover some elegant Turns and some Beauties of Rhetorick in the Translations which do not so clearly shine out in the very Original which I have purposely inserted sometimes to let my Reader see that if our Translators lose in one place yet they gain in another As to my own part I shall only tell you this that I was extreamly pleased when any Figure was lodg'd upon any Text of Scripture that seem'd to favour and countenance any false doctrines especially the Romish or the Socinian that I might take an occasion to make a little inroad into them and recover them from the unkind and false imprisonment of the enemy and when several other Texts of Scripture were in darkness and obscurity or under any difficulty I have endeavour'd to let in more light into them by an easie explication or a short paraphrase upon the words which perhaps were not always so very plain and obvious at least to every man's capacity and apprehension Sir I will now trouble you no farther but I hope you will receive it kindly as if in this Essay some things at least were tolerable Farewell Divine Eloquence OR AN ESSAY Upon the Tropes Figures Contained in the Holy Scriptures A TROPE A Trope is nothing else but the change of a word from its natural Signification into another whereby the Idea of any thing is more sensible to us Instance Matt. 4. 19. And I will make you Fishers of men that is Instruments of drawing and converting men unto God and our Saviour useth the term by way of allusion to them that being their former Employ Psal 65. 14. The valleys says our Psalmist shall stand so thick with Corn that they shall Laugh and Sing that is A very plentifull harvest is the occasion of joy and pleasantness laughing or singing are the proper expressions of a gay and chearfull Spirit and so those terms applied to other things by way of Analogy represent to us the excessive joy and pleasure of Plenty Luke 13. 32. Go and tell that Fox meaning Herod that crafty and politick Dissembler and the application of the term gives us a fuller notion of his Hypocrisie I shall here set down only three Affections belonging to a Trope leaving the fourth to those who are more industrious to find it out viz. Hyperbole Allegory Metalepsis HYPERBOLE Hyperbole from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to exceed This Figure represents things greater lesser or better than they are in their own natures and this sort of Trope is extremely usefull when our ordinary terms are so very weak that they carry in them no proportion with the notices of our mind and so the soul for fear of speaking too little presently flies out and enlargeth too much but let no one fansie that the use of this Figure is in the least unlawfull for if we sometimes express ourselves in the highest or in the lowest degree imaginable yet 't is no Lye for we have not the least intention to deceive any one but we only fly so extravagantly high that our discourse may come down with more force into the minds of our audience and give them such a sense of what we are talking as may oblige them to conceive 't is highly impossible or else to enlarge their thoughts about it 2 Sam. 1. 23. of the latter kind Saul and Jonathan were swifter than Eagles they were stronger than Lions and by such sensible Idea's and familiar Resemblances you conceive still but an higher notion of their mighty strength and activity Gen. 32. 12. Thy Seed shall be as the Sand of the sea which cannot be numbred for multitude and the Comparison only implies that his family should be exceeding numerous Psal 107. 26. The Waves of the sea Mount up to Heaven and go Down again to the Deep that is the foaming Waters are carried up exceedingly high and they tumble down again into the lowest places of the Earth See Luke 10. 15. to the same purpose Rom 9. 3. I could Wish that my self were Accursed from Christ and as One cut off from the Communion of his Church for my Brethren and Kinsmen according to the flesh which Wish was absolutely a thing impossible yet such a kind of Imprecation could not but give the Jews an infinite Assurance of St. Paul's excessive Love and Charity to them See John 21. 25. the World it Self could not Contain the books that should be written a figurative expression very large Gen. 11. 4. Let us Build a Tower whose Top may reach up unto Heaven that is rise up exceeding high and lofty There are two sorts of this Figure Hyperbole Auxesis and Meiosis Aaxesis James 4. 1. From whence come Wars and fightings among you Wars is a word that carries in the very sound of it a publick Dispute and Engagement of Nations against one another but the term here is only made use of by way of amplification and signifies the private quarrels and animosities of Christians among themselves Judges 5. 4 5. Lord when thou Marchedst out of Edom the earth Trembled and the heavens Dropped the clouds also Dropped with water the mountains Melted before the Lord Not that all these wonderfull Effects did then actually come to pass but they are here specified to give us a mighty notion of God's presence and how the most sacred Majesty of it strikes an universal Fear and Consternation every where Meiosis Meiosis a Figure of diminution when we use a less word or expression than the matter requires James 4. 17. To him that Knoweth to doe Good and doth it Not to Him it is Sin but not a sin of the least degree as the phrase at first sight seems to import but of a very great Aggravation being against Reason and Reflection and so a very dangerous and presumptive sin Matt. 5. 19. Whosoever shall break one of the least of these commandments and shall teach men so shall be the Least in the king dom of Heaven 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a very soft expression and much milder than such sort of false Teachers can pretend to deserve but indeed it signifies such shall be accounted as nothing and insignificant in the Church of God 1 Cor. 10. 5. But with Many of them God was not Well pleased A very soft and favourable expression God was not well pleased 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whereas it is very plain by the Consequence that he was extremely angry insomuch that in the fury of his displeasure they were presently cut off and destroyed in the wilderness Matt. 3. 11. But he that Cometh after Me is Mightier than I whose Shooes I am not Worthy to Bear This was spoken by St. John not without the greatest sense of his own unworthiness even to that degree that he thinks himself not worthy to perform the offices of the meanest Servant