Parables of the Old Testament Explained
By Edward Craig Mitchell
Pastor of the New-Jerusalem (or Swedenborgian) Church, St. Paul, Minn.
1903
PREFACE.
The Sacred Scriptures are the Word of God, written in a Divine way, and for a Divine purpose.
The Divine Word contains messages from God, as a Spiritual Being, to men as spiritual beings. But, in order to bring down the truth to the apprehension of natural-minded men, spiritual truths must be presented in corresponding natural ideas, in natural imagery.
"I, Jehovah, thy God, have also spoken by the prophets, and have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets." (Hosea xii. 9, 10.)
Hence the Bible has a spirit and a body, between which there is the relation of correspondence, as inward and outward counterparts.
The word "parable" is used in three senses:
1, as an enigma, or obscure saying;
2, as any figurative discourse; and
3, as a fictitious, but possible, narrative, invented to convey and illustrate a truth.
The parables of the New Testament are strictly within the third class. But, on the same exact basis, there are very few parables in the Old Testament. And so, for the treatment of the parables of the Old Testament, the second definition is adopted, which includes, also, fables and visions.
Every parable has at least three senses, 1, its narrative sense; 2, its figurative meaning, as applied to other natural persons and things; and 3, its spiritual meaning, illustrating principles operating in the mind.
The system of interpretation here employed is that known as "The Science of Correspondences," made known to the Church through Emanuel Swedenborg.
As it seemed best to have each explanation of a parable complete in itself, some repetition was unavoidable. E. C. M., ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA, February 21, 1903.
Contents.
I. Judges ix.:8-15 Trees Choosing a King
II. Judges xiv.:4, 5, 12, 14. Samson's Riddle
III. 2 Samuel xii.:1-4. Nathan's Parable of the Ewe-Lamb
IV. 2 Samuel xiv.:5-7, 11. The Revengers of Blood
V. 1 Kings xx.:39, 40. The Escaped Prisoner
VI. 2 Kings xiv.:9. The Ambitious Thistle
VII. Isaiah v.:1-7. The Wasted Vineyard
VIII. Jeremiah i.:11-4. The Almond Rod and Seething Pot
IX. Jeremiah xiii.:1-7. The Marred Girdle
X. Jeremiah xvii.:2-6. The Potter's Vessel Marred
XI. Jeremiah xix.:1, 2, 10, 11. The Potter's Vessel Broken
XII. Jeremiah xxiv.:1, 2. The Two Baskets of Figs
XIII. Jeremiah xxvii.:2, 3, 6; xxxivvv.:1, 2, 10, 12, 13. Jeremiah's Bonds and Yokes
XIV. Jeremiah xliii.:8-10. Hiding the Stones in the Mortar
XV. Ezekiel i:4-16. Infolding Fire, Living Creatures and Wheels
XVI. Ezekiel i.:8-10; iii.:1-4, 14. Eating the Roll of a Book
XVII. Ezekiel iv.:1-13. The Siege of Jerusalem
XVIII. Ezekiel v.:1-5. Ezekiel Cutting Off His Hair, etc.
XIX. Ezekiel viii.:1-16. Jerusalem's Idolatry
XX. Ezekiel ix.:1-6, 11; x.:1, 2, 7. The Slaughter in Jerusalem
XXI. Ezekiel xii.:1-7. Ezekiel Removing His Goods
XXII. Ezekiel xii.:18-20. Eating with Quaking and Drinking
XXIII. Ezekiel xiii.:17-23. The False Prophetesses
XXIV. Ezekiel xv. The vine of Jerusalem
XXV. Ezekiel xvii.:2-10. The Eagles and the Vine
XXVI. Ezekiel xviii.:1, 2. Eating Sour Grapes
XXVII. Ezekiel xix.:1-9. The Lioness and Her Whelps
XXVIII. Ezekiel xix.:10-14. Israel's Mother as a Vine
XXIX. Ezekiel xxiv.:3-12. Jerusalem as a Boiling Flesh-Pot
XXX. Ezekiel xxxi.:3-12. The Assyrian a Cedar in Lebanon
XXXI. Ezekiel xxxiv.:1-6, 9-11. The Evil Shepherd
XXXII. Ezekiel xxxvii.:1-14. The Dry Bones Revived
XXXIII. Ezekiel xxxvii.:16-23. The Two Sticks Joined
XXXIV. Ezekiel xxxix.:17-21. Invitation to the Great Sacrifice
XXXV. Ezekiel xlvii.:1-9. Water Flowing From the Lord's House
XXXVI. Daniel ii.:31-45. Nebuchadnezzar's Dream of the Great Image
XXXVII. Daniel iv.:10-28. Nebuchadnezzar's Dream of the Great Tree
XXXVIII. Daniel v. The Feast. The Handwriting on the Wall
XXXIX. Daniel vii. : 2-19, 23-27. Vision of the Four Beasts
XL. Daniel viii. 2-26. The Ram and He-Goat
XLI.Zechariah i.: 8-11. The Man Among the Myrtle Trees
XLII. Zechariah i.:18-21. The Horses and Four Creatures
XLIII. Zechariah ii.:18-20. The Man with a Measuring-Line
XLIV. Zechariah iii. Vision of Joshua, the High Priest
XLV. Zechariah iv.:1-7, 11-14. Golden Candlestick and Olive Trees
XLVI. Zechariah v.:1-4. The Flying Roll
XLVII. Zechariah v.:5-11. The Women and the Ephah
XLVIII. Zechariah vi.:1-8. Four Chariots and Horses