Symbols and Similitudes

How Nave’s arranged it

• Trees of life and knowledgeGenesis 2:9Genesis 2:17Genesis 3:3Genesis 3:24Revelation 22:2
• RainbowGenesis 9:12Genesis 9:13
• Circumcision, of the covenant of AbrahamGenesis 17:11Romans 4:11
• Passover, of the sparing of the firstborn, and of the atonement made by ChristExodus 12:3–281 Corinthians 5:7
• Of the divine presence, the pillar of cloudExodus 13:21Exodus 13:22Exodus 14:19Exodus 14:20Exodus 19:9Exodus 19:16
• Thunder on Mount SinaiExodus 19:9Exodus 19:16
• Darkness, of God' s inscrutabilityExodus 20:21Leviticus 16:21 Kings 8:12Psalms 18:11Psalms 97:2Hebrews 12:18Hebrews 12:19
• The rock that was struck, of ChristExodus 17:61 Corinthians 10:4
• The sprinkled blood, of the covenantExodus 24:8
• Wine, of the atoning bloodMatthew 26:27–29Mark 14:23–25Luke 22:17Luke 22:18Luke 22:20
• The bronze serpent, of ChristNumbers 21:8Numbers 21:9John 3:14
• Sacrificial animalsGenesis 15:8–11John 1:29John 1:36

The passages, in Bible order (216)

The same references, sorted Genesis to Revelation. The first 16 are quoted in full; the rest are one click beneath them, book by book.

1. Genesis 2:9

   Out of the ground the LORD God gave growth to every tree that is pleasing to the eye and good for food. And in the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

   ›Commentary on Genesis 2:91 voice

   “Its prominent position where it must have been an object of daily observation and interest, was admirably fitted to keep man habitually in mind of God and futurity. tree of the knowledge of good and evil--so called because it was a test of obedience by which our first parents were to be tried, whether they would be good or bad, obey God or break His commands.

   Everything gathered on Genesis 2:9→

   Verse page →Original language →

2. Genesis 2:17

   but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”

   ›Commentary on Genesis 2:172 voices

   “What is the difference between saying 'ye shall die' and 'ye shall die the death'? We ought to point out that there is nothing superfluous in the command of God. Here is my solution. Since life and death are contradictory ideas, in unaffected language we say 'we live in life' and 'die in death.'

   “Knowing once more how the will of man could sway to either side, in anticipation God secured the grace given them by a command and by the place where he put them. For he brought them into his own garden and gave them a law so that, if they kept the grace and remained good, they might still keep the life in paradise without sorrow or pain or care, besides having the promise of incorruption in heaven.

   Everything gathered on Genesis 2:17→

   Verse page →Original language →

3. Genesis 3:3

   but about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You must not eat of it or touch it, or you will die.’”

   ›Commentary on Genesis 3:31 voice

   “The manner in which the devil proceeded in the temptation was of great cunning, because he proceeded by testing, impelling, and enticing. For he conducted his test through questioning, he impelled through assurance, and he enticed through promise.

   Everything gathered on Genesis 3:3→

   Verse page →Original language →

4. Genesis 3:24

   So He drove out the man and stationed cherubim on the east side of the Garden of Eden, along with a whirling sword of flame to guard the way to the tree of life.

   ›Commentary on Genesis 3:242 voices

   “He might justly have chased him out of the world, Job xviii, 18, but he only chased him out of the garden: he might justly have cast him down to hell, as the angels that sinned were, when they were shut out from the heavenly paradise, 2 Pet. ii, 4, but man was only sent to till the ground out of which he was taken. He was only sent to a place of toil, not to a place of torment.

   “So he drove out the man - Three things are noted here: 1. God’s displeasure against sinful man, evidenced by his expelling him from this place of blessedness; 2. Man’s unfitness for the place, of which he had rendered himself unworthy by his ingratitude and transgression; and, 3. His reluctance to leave this place of happiness. He was, as we may naturally conclude, unwilling to depart, and God drove him out. He placed at the east - מכדם mikkedem, or before the garden of Eden, before what may be conceived its gate or entrance; Cherubims, הכרבים hakkerubim, The cherubim.

   Everything gathered on Genesis 3:24→

   Verse page →Original language →

5. Genesis 9:12

   And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between Me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come:

   Verse page →Original language →

6. Genesis 9:13

   I have set My rainbow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.

   ›Commentary on Genesis 9:132 voices

   “I do set my bow in the cloud--set, that is, constitute or appoint. This common and familiar phenomenon being made the pledge of peace, its appearance when showers began to fall would be welcomed with the liveliest feelings of joy.

   “I do set my bow in the cloud - On the origin and nature of the rainbow there had been a great variety of conjectures, till Anthony de Dominis, bishop of Spalatro, in a treatise of his published by Bartholus in 1611, partly suggested the true cause of this phenomenon, which was afterwards fully explained and demonstrated by Sir Isaac Newton. To enter into this subject here in detail would be improper; and therefore the less informed reader must have recourse to treatises on Optics for its full explanation.

   Everything gathered on Genesis 9:13→

   Verse page →Original language →

7. Genesis 15:8–11

   But Abram replied, “Lord GOD, how can I know that I will possess it?”

   ›Commentary on Genesis 15:8–112 voices

   “And he said, Lord God - אדני יהוה Adonai Yehovah, my Lord Jehovah. Adonai is the word which the Jews in reading always substitute for Jehovah, as they count it impious to pronounce this name.

   “Note, Those that are satisfied themselves should desire that others also may be satisfied of the truth of God's promises. John sent his disciples to Christ, not so much for his own satisfaction as for theirs, Matt. xi. Canaan was a type of heaven.

   Everything gathered on Genesis 15:8–11→

   Verse page →Original language →

8. Genesis 17:11

   You are to circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and this will be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.

   ›Commentary on Genesis 17:112 voices

   “I know that this part of the text is disturbing to many. Indeed, if circumcision is a good thing, it should be maintained today as well. If it is useless, it never should have been mandated in the first place, particularly not by divine precept. But, inasmuch as the apostle said, "Abraham received the sign of circumcision," certainly the sign is not the reality itself but points to another reality. That is, it is not the truth but points to the truth.

   “And it shall be a token - לאות leoth, for a sign of spiritual things; for the circumcision made in the flesh was designed to signify the purification of the heart from all unrighteousness, as God particularly showed in the law itself. See Deu 10:16; see also Rom 2:25-29;Col 2:11. And it was a seal of that righteousness or justification that comes by faith, Rom 4:11. That some of the Jews had a just notion of its spiritual intention, is plain from many passages in the Chaldee paraphrases and in the Jewish writers.

   Everything gathered on Genesis 17:11→

   Verse page →Original language →

9. Genesis 24:13–15

   Here I am, standing beside the spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water.

   ›Commentary on Genesis 24:13–152 voices

   “Behold, I stand here by the well of water,.... Wishing, hoping, and expecting that something would turn out that would direct and instruct what further to do, and that would lead on to the business he came about: and the daughters of the men of the city came out to draw water; which was the usual custom in those parts about that time. So Homer speaks (w) of meeting a girl before the city υδρευουση, drawing or fetching water.

   “(2.) He pleads God's covenant with his master Abraham: O God of my master Abraham, show kindness to him. Note, As the children of good parents, so the servants of good masters, have peculiar encouragement in the prayers they offer to God for prosperity and success.

   Everything gathered on Genesis 24:13–15→

   Verse page →Original language →

10. Genesis 24:42–44

    So when I came to the spring today, I prayed: O LORD, God of my master Abraham, if only You would make my journey a success!

    ›Commentary on Genesis 24:42–441 voice

    “O Lord God of my master - As Abraham was the friend of God, Eliezer makes use of this to give weight and consequence to his petitions.

    Everything gathered on Genesis 24:42–44→

    Verse page →Original language →

11. Exodus 12:3–28

    Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man must select a lamb for his family, one per household.

    ›Commentary on Exodus 12:3–282 voices

    “It is observable that, amid all the hurry and bustle of such a departure, their serious attention was to be given to a solemn act of religion. a lamb for an house--a kid might be taken (Ex 12:5). The service was to be a domestic one, for the deliverance was to be from an evil threatened to every house in Egypt.

    “A lamb - The Hebrew word is general, meaning either a sheep or a goat - male or female - and of any age; the age and sex are therefore epecially defined in the following verse. The direction to select the lamb on the tenth day, the fourth day before it was offered, was intended to secure due care in the preparation for the great national festival. The custom certainly fell into desuetude at a later period, but probably not before the destruction of the temple.

    Everything gathered on Exodus 12:3–28→

    Verse page →Original language →

12. Exodus 13:21

    And the LORD went before them in a pillar of cloud to guide their way by day, and in a pillar of fire to give them light by night, so that they could travel by day or night.

    ›Commentary on Exodus 13:212 voices

    “The Shechinah or appearance of the divine Majesty, which was a precious manifestation of the eternal Word, who in the fulness of time was to be made flesh, and dwell among us. Christ was with the church in the wilderness, 1 Cor. x, 9.

    “Pillar of cloud - The Lord Himself did for the Israelites by preternatural means that which armies were obliged to do for themselves by natural agents. The Persians and Greeks used fire and smoke as signals in their marches, and in a well-known papyrus, the commander of an Egyptian expedition is called “A flame in the darkness at the head of his soldiers.” By this sign then of the pillar of cloud, the Lord showed Himself as their leader and general Exo 15:3, Exo 15:6.

    Everything gathered on Exodus 13:21→

    Verse page →Original language →

13. Exodus 13:22

    Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place before the people.

    ›Commentary on Exodus 13:221 voice

    “He took not away the pillar of the cloud - Neither Jews nor Gentiles are agreed how long the cloud continued with the Israelites. It is very probable that it first visited them at Succoth, if it did not accompany them from Rameses; and that it continued with them till they came to the river Jordan, to pass over opposite to Jericho, for after that it appears that the ark alone was their guide, as it always marched at their head.

    Everything gathered on Exodus 13:22→

    Verse page →Original language →

14. Exodus 14:19

    And the angel of God, who had gone before the camp of Israel, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from before them and stood behind them,

    ›Commentary on Exodus 14:191 voice

    “The angel of God - It has been thought by some that the angel, i.e., messenger, of the Lord, and the pillar of cloud, mean here the same thing. An angel might assume the appearance of a cloud; and even a material cloud thus particularly appointed might be called an angel or messenger of the Lord, for such is the literal import of the word מלאך malach, an angel.

    Everything gathered on Exodus 14:19→

    Verse page →Original language →

15. Exodus 14:20

    so that it came between the camps of Egypt and Israel. The cloud was there in the darkness, but it lit up the night. So all night long neither camp went near the other.

    ›Commentary on Exodus 14:201 voice

    “Therefore this darkness of the body has been placed between us and God, like the cloud of old between the Egyptians and the Hebrews. This is perhaps what is meant by "He made darkness his separate place," namely, our dullness, through which few can see even a little.

    Everything gathered on Exodus 14:20→

    Verse page →Original language →

16. Exodus 17:6

    Behold, I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. And when you strike the rock, water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel.

    ›Commentary on Exodus 17:61 voice

    “I will stand before thee there, upon the rock in Horeb - The rock, הצור hatstsur. It seems as if God had directed the attention of Moses to a particular rock, with which he was well acquainted; for every part of the mount and its vicinity must have been well known to Moses during the time he kept Jethro’s flocks in those quarters.

    Everything gathered on Exodus 17:6→

    Verse page →Original language →