Jupiter, the Sun, and the other gods, upon the mountains; Cyrop. 1. 8, p. 647, ed. Hutch.

Jupiter speaks of Hector as sacrificing to him, onthe summits of Ida. See II. 22, 171.

Great disorders and commotions, especially when kingdoms are moved by hostile invasions, are expressed in the Prophetic style, by carrying or casting mountains into the midst of the sea; See Ps. xlvi. 2,

"Therefore we will not fear though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the

It is said in Rev. xvi. 20, " And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found." The phrase is taken from those mighty earthquakes, in which every thing is thrown into confusion, and even mountains are swallowed up, or change their forms. See Rev. vi. 14.

These mystic mountains in the Apocalypse mean kingdoms and states, which were no longer found, because overturned to make way for the Kingdom of Christ, mentioned by Daniel, which was to fill the whole earth.

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When David says, Ps. xxx. 7, " Lord, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong," he means, the stability of his kingdom.

Vitringa, in commenting on Isaiah ii. 14, "and upon all the high mountains," &c. has these words, "Hoc est, ad subvertenda Regna et Respublicas, sive societates majores et minores, quæ suis limitibus circumscriptæ, si probe sint confirmatæ, alte in mundo emineant, celebres sint fama amplitudinis, potentiæ, auctoritatis, adeo ut difficilius adeantur, destruantur ac

loco moveantur. Vere gerunt figuram et emblema montium et collium."

MOUTH, according to the Oneirocritics, denotes the house of the party; and by analogy, the teeth are the servants of the household.

The mouth also signifies the words that proceed out of it, which, in the sacred style, are the same as commands and actions, because they imply the effects of the thoughts; words or commands being the means used to communicate the thoughts and decrees to those that are to execute them.

Hence, for a person or thing to come out of the mouth of another, signifies to be constituted and commanded, to become an agent or minister under a superior power. Thus :

Rev. xvi. 13, "I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet."

Rev. xvi. 14, "For they are the spirits of devils working miracles," &c.

Rev. i. 16, "Out of his mouth went a sharp sword.” Rev. xi. 4, " He shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth."

Rev. xii. 15," The serpent cast out of his mouth water."

Rev. ix. 19," Their power is in their mouths, and in their tails."

Rev. xi. 5, "If any hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth."

The Word of God, or the word that proceeds out of his mouth, signifies sometimes the actions of God's providence, his commands, whereby he rules the

worlds, and brings all things to his purpose; and sometimes that Divine Person, or emanated substance of himself, who executes his commands as a minister, and by a metonymy of the abstract for the concrete usual in holy writ, and in the eastern nations, is called the Word of God.

MYRTLE. The myrtle tree was an emblem of

peace.

It is mentioned in the following passages, Neh. viii. 15; Isa. xli. 19; lv. 13; Zech. i. 8.

The Hebrew term is Hedes, from which Hadassah, the original name of Esther. The note of the Chaldee Targum on this passage seems remarkable: " They called her Hedese, or Hadassah, because she was just, and the just are those that are compared myrtle."

to

The Jews had a proverb, "The myrtle standing among nettles, is still called a myrtle;" meaning, that a godly man living amongst the wicked, is still a godly man, like Lot in Sodom.

Catullus celebrates it, el. 62,

"Bona cum bona

Nupsit alite virgo,

Floridis velut enitens

Myrtus Asiæ ramulis."

and Lucian admires its beauty, in Amor. v. 4, μugg.vn, &c. "the myrtle, and several other trees, which excel in beauty."

On which account Pausanius says it was dedicated to Venus, along with the rose.

And hence Virgil has, Eclog. 7,

"Formosa myrtus Veneri, sua laurea Phœbo."

In external beauty and fragrance, it is considered

to be a fit emblem of the Christian church, as adorned with the various graces of the Spirit.

The myrtle is a lowly and tender shrub, and therefore the more resembles the saints. Horace applies to it the epithet fragilis, frail; and Virgil calls it tener, tender. And Aristophanes terms it magdevia uvęta, virgin myrtle. It is very fragrant; hence Horace, lib. 2, od. 15:

"Myrtus, et omnis copia narium,
Spargent olivetis odorem
Fertilibus."

And Athæneus, lib. 15, Deipnos., observes," that the Egyptian myrtle is acknowledged to excel all others in the sweetness of its fragrance, as Theophrastus writes.

And Ovid, lib. 3, Art. Amor. v. 690,

"Ros maris et lauri, nigraque myrtus olent."

The myrtle is an evergreen. So the Jews, in their Targum, say of Esther: The name of Esther is Hadassah, or myrtle; for, as the myrtle never withers, winter or summer, so the righteous always flourish, both in this world and that which is to come.

It was used at festivals, as Horace remarks, 1. 1, od. 4:

"Nunc decet aut viridi nitidum caput impedire myrto, Aut flore, terræ quem ferunt soluta."

And Josephus mentions, that at the feast of tabernacles, they carried branches of myrtle in their hands.

NAKEDNESS, signifies sin or folly. Thus in Gen. iii. 7, it is taken for sin in general. And in Exod. xxxii. 25; and Ezek. xvi. 36; and 2 Chron. xxviii. 19, for idolatry. And so elsewhere in the Scriptures

all kinds of vice, but idolatry in particular, come under the notion of filthiness, or nakedness, or sores. And therefore to be in the highest degree naked, is to be guilty of idolatry.

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Nakedness signifies also guilt, shame, poverty, or misery, as being the consequence of punishment of sin, and of idolatry in particular, a crime which God never leaves unpunished. Thus in Jer. xlix. 10, “ I have made Esau bare," &c. signifies the destruction of Esau, God having exposed them naked and defenceless to the invaders. So in Isa. xlvii. 3,

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Thy nakedness shall be uncovered; even thy shame shall be seen,"

is interpreted in the next line by

"I will take full vengeance, neither will I suffer man to intercede with me ;"

in other words, Babylon should be humbled, and made a slave.

The Indian interpreter explains this symbol, of distress, poverty, and disgrace.

The nakedness of enemies is explained by the interpreters of omens, as signifying, that by some discovery of their secrets, a way would be made to vanquish them in the end. See a remarkable instance in Procopius, quoted by Daubuz.

The nakedness of a land, Gen. xlii. 9, signifies the weak and ruined parts of it, where the country lies most open and exposed to danger.

There is an admonition in Rev. xvi. 15, couched in terms which include this symbol," Behold I come as a thief; blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame," i. e. let all who would faithfully persevere, watch over