A Key to Open Scripture Metaphors, Book 1 · Chapter 2
CHAP. II. Of a Metonymie of the Effect.
A Metonymie of the Effect is, when the Effect is put for the Efficient Cause, which is done three ways, as,
1. When the Action or the Effect is put for the Author or Person effecting.
2. When a thing Effected by an instrument, is put for the Instrument or Organical Cause.
3. When the Effect is put for the thing or action Effecting.
1. The Action or Effect is put for the Author or person Effecting.
AS Gen. 15.1. I am (says Jehovah to Abraham) thy exceeding great Reward, that is, I am a most liberal giver of Reward, Deut. 30.20. He is thy Life and length of Days, that is, he is the Cause of it, Gen. 49.18. I have waited for thy Salvation, that is, the promised Messiah, the Author of Salvation, as Luke 2.30. Where Simeon says, Mine eyes have seen thy Salvation, that is Christ.*foreign. All flesh shall see foreign the Salvation of God, that is, a Saviour, See Esa. 49.6. &c. Psal. 3.3, 4. and 106.20. and 27.1. Thou art my Light, Salvation, Strength, &c. that is, the Author and Cause of them; so Psal. 18.2. and 22.20. and 33.20. and 46.2. Jer. 16.19. and 23.6. John 11.25. and 14.6. 1 Cor. 1.30. Eph. 2.14. 1 John 5.20. And Heb. 5.9. Rom. 15.5, 13. 2 Cor. 1.3. Luke 1.50.
Luke 11.14. And he (viz. Jesus) was casting out a Devil, and it was Dumb; that is, he made the man (in whom he was,) dumb, or suffered him not to speak, and so was the cause of dumbness. See Matth. 9.32, 33. and Mark 9.17, 25. Luke 13.11.
It is said, Gen. 26.35. That Esaus wives were a grief of mind (or as the hebrew says, bitterness of Spirit) unto Isaac and Rebecca, that is the Cause of sadness and trouble of Spirit. See Gen. 25.23. Nehem. 12.31. Rom. 13.3. Rulers are not a terror (that is a cause of terror) to good men. 2 Cor. 1.14. we are your rejoycing, as ye are ours— (the Greek is foreign, which signifies glorying or boasting) that is,foreign, timor. the cause of your rejoycing or glorying, inasmuch as we instructed you in the Gospel which is the way of Salvation, and you likewise are our glory, inasmuch as we have won you to Christ, 1 Thess. 2.19, 20. Rom. 5.2.
2. When a thing Effected by an Instrument, is put for the Instrument or Organical Cause.
GLory is put for the Tongue, Psal. 16.9. My Heart is glad and my glory rejoyceth, that is, my Tongue, because it is the Organ by which God is (and ought to be) gloryfied, sutable to Acts 2.26. Therefore did my heart Rejoyce and my Tongue was glad. See Psal. 30.12, 13. and 5.7, 9.
[Power] is put for the Organ exerting power, as Rom. 1.16. The Gospel is (foreign) the power of God unto Salvation to every one that Beleiveth, that is, the Gospel is the means or organ by which God exerts or puts forth the power of his Salvation to Beleivers, Eph. 1.19.
[Victory] is put for the Instrument of overcoming, as 1 John 5.4. This is the victory that overcometh the world, even your Faith— that is, the Instrument of victory, Eph. 6.16.
Life is put for the means of its preservation, Deut. 24.26. No man shall take the nether or the upper Milstone to pledge, for he taketh a mans Life (or foreign Soul) to pledge, foreign Nephesh.that is the Instruments that are necessary for the preservation of Life Prov. 7.27. Life is put for food or maintenance, Luke 15.12. He divided unto them, (foreign his Life,) that is his Estate, or as we translate it, (his living) Hesiod lib. 2. calls money the soul of a man.
foreign.
3. When the Effect is put for the Thing or Action Effecting.
THis Species of a Metonymie is distinctly found in Nouns and Verbs, as when the Effect is put for the cause materially, as 2 Kings 4.10. There is death in the pot— that is, deadly poyson, which will cause Death. So Death is put for great perils and dangers, troubles or Calamities which cause Death. Exod. 10.17. Rom. 7.24. 2 Cor. 1.10. and 11.23. And for the Plague, Rev. 6.8. See Prov. 11.23. Jer. 3.24. Shame is put for an Idol, Jer. 11.13. Hos. 9.10. The reason of the Name you may see Jer. 48.13. And Moab shall be ashamed of Kemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel their confidence. See Ezek. 44.18. Hosea 12.1. Ephraim dayly increaseth lies and desolation, that is, he commits such evils, that nothing can be expected but Desolation and Calamity.
See more Examples, Lam. 2.14. 1 Cor. 12.6, 8. 1 Cor. 14.3. He that Prophecyeth, speaketh unto men *So the Greek foreign, &c.Edification, and Exhortation, and Comfort, that is an Edifying, Exhorting, and Comforting speech.
Sometimes the Effect is put formally for the Cause. as Deut. 30.15. I have set before thee this day, Life and Good, Death and Evil, that is, I have clearly shewed, and lay'd before thee what is the cause and original of each, or for what cause and reason, either of these was to come upon thee, viz. To Love and obey God brings Life and Good; but Rebellion, Sin, and Disobedience brings Death and Evil, as the following verses make evident. This is called, Jer. 21.8. The way of Life and Death. See more Deut. 32.47. Prov. 19.3. and 20.1. Esa. 28.12. This is rest, that is, the Cause of rest, or the way and manner of arriving to it. Hosea 4.18. Their drink is sowre (or gone) that is, their cause of recess from God, or that which made them backslide, as verse 11. Whoredom and Wine, and New Wine take away the Heart. Which words, (viz. take away the Heart) are Emphatical, for they denote that they were (as it were) wallowing in these Evils, when they gave themselves to Whoredom and Drunkenness. They saw and knew what was better,Video Meliora, probo que Deteriora sequor. Ovid. and approved them, but they followed the worse, and so the Devil keeps them that are drowned in these Wickednesses (as it were) Captives, 2 Tim. 2.26. for the hebrew word here, is used when they speak of such as such as are taken and detained by force, Gen. 14.11, 12. Josh. 11.19, 23, &c. Micah 1.5. What is the Transgression of Jacob? Is not Samaria? And what are the High Places of Judah? Are they not Jerusalem? That is, as Kimchi (in lib. Radicum) expounds it, what was the Cause of the defection of Jacob? Was it not the Cities of Samaria, &c. See Hab. 2.5. John 3.19. And this is the Judgment or Condemnation, that is, the cause of it, John 12.50. And I know that his Commandement is Life Everlasting; that is, the Cause or Organ by which Everlasting Life is obtained, for he speaks of saving knowledge by the Gospel, Rom. 7.7. Is the Law sin, that is, the Cause of sin in or by it self? So Rom. 8.6. For to be carnally minded is Death: But to be Spiritually minded is Life and Peace, that is, the cause of Death, and the Cause of Life and Peace, as verse 10. See Phil. 1.13. Heb. 6.1. and 19. 14. and Rom. 6.23.
[In Verbs,] To JOY and REJOYCE, are put for to be freed, or delivered from Evil, and to be or do well, which is the Cause of Joy, Psal. 70.4. Let all those that seek thee Rejoyce, and be glad in thee— that is, let them be freed from all evil, that they may have cause of Joy. The Cause and Effect are joyned, Psal. 5.11, 12, 13. To be Ashamed and Confounded signifies a falling into calamities, and be exposed to violence which is the Cause of Confusion, Psal. 25.1, 2. and 3.19, 20. and 31.1, 2. and 119.115, 116, &c.
[To please] signifies good behaviour and honest respect, which is the cause of complacency, as Rom. 15.2. Let every one of us please his Neighbour for good to edification. See Erasmus upon the place, 1 Cor. 10.33.
[Hast or Flight] is put for Shame and Confusion, Esa. 28.16. He that beleiveth shall not make hast, that is, he shall not be confounded, as Rom. 9.33. and 10.11. 1 Pet. 2.6. The Effect and Consequence of Confusion is flight, or a hasty getting away from the sight of men— This also signifies calamities and punishments as limited before. See Psal. 74.15. Esa. 28.28. Eccl. 11.1. Job 28.5. Psal. 104. 13, 14. Esa. 47.2. and 33.12. Josh. 11.8. and 13.6.