The ox has always been the symbol of agriculture, as Suidas terms it, who relates that the Egyptian Apis was a certain wealthy person, who, during a famine at Alexandria, relieved the people; at whose death they erected a temple to his memory, in which an ox was nourished, as the hieroglyphic of husbandry. And Abarbanel says, "Therefore Jeroboam chose the appearance of an ox from the chariot of the cherubim, because it is the sign of abundance of corn and blessing of the nations." And so it is represented in Greek coins, an ox with an ear of corn, or a plough, to denote the fertility of the country. And the daughter of Zion is compared by Micah, iv. 12, 13, to this animal, in a beautiful allegory.

See under Calf.

PALM. Branches of palm trees are the symbol of joy after a victory, attended with antecedent sufferings.

By the Mosaical law, Lev. xxiii. 40, they were used as a token of joy at the feast of tabernacles.

And they were used on any solemn occasion of joy, as after a victory or deliverance. 1 Macca. xiii.

51; John xii. 13.

With Philo, the palm is the symbol of victory. Alleg. 1. 2. p. 50. And Plutarch (Sympos. 1. 8, c. 4), gives the same signification, assigning the reason of it, from the natural property of the palm tree to rise up against pressure. Hence palma for victory, of which numerous examples might be given from Horace, Cicero, Plautus, Ovid, Terence, and others.

And hence the toga of a triumphing emperor was called palmata, as having branches of palms painted thereon. Martial, b. 7, ep. 3. Servius ad Aen. 1. 2.

Ps. xcii. 12," The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree." Cardan observes, that the palm tree continues long in its youthful state; so that he who plants one, will scarcely live to see the fruit of it.

Rev. vii. 9, " Palms in their hands."

"Quid per palmas nisi præmia victoriæ designantur," &c.; i. e. what is meant by palms here, but the rewards of victory? For these are wont to be given only to conquerors. Hence also it is written of those, who in the contest of martyrdom have overcome the ancient enemy, and now rejoice as victors in their native region, that they have palms in their hands. Gregor. Magn. in Ezek. 1. 2, p. 17.

It is easy to see what the multitude had in view, when they carried palm branches before the Saviour, John xii. 13. Their actions and words corresponded

“ Hosanna, (i. e. save us) blessed is the king of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord."

The ancients always speak of it as a stately and noble tree. It was esteemed an emblem of honour, and made use of as a reward of victory. "Plurimarum palmarum homo," was a proverbial expression among the Romans, for a soldier of merit. Pliny speaks of the various species of palms, and of the great repute in which they were held by the Babylonians. He says, that the noblest of them were styled the royal palms, and supposes that they were so called from their being set apart for the king's use. But they were very early an emblem of royalty, and it is a circumstance included in their original name, Povi. We find from Apuleius, that Mercury, the Hermes of Egypt, was represented with a palm branch in his hand, and his priests at Hermapolis used to

have them stuck in their sandals, on the outside. The goddess Isis was thus represented, and we may infer that Hermes had the like ornaments, which the Greeks mistook for feathers, and have, in consequence of it, added wings to his feet. The Jews used to carry boughs of the same tree at some of their festivals, and particularly at the celebration of their nuptials. In how great estimation this tree was held of old, we may learn from many passages in the sacred writings. Solomon says to his espoused, "How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights, thy stature is like a palm tree." And the Psalmist, for an encouragement to holiness, says, "That the righteous

shall flourish like the palm tree," Ps. xciii. 12, for the palm was supposed to rise under a weight, and to thrive in proportion to its being depressed.

The ancients had an opinion that the palm was immortal, at least, if it did die, it recovered again, and obtained a second life by renewal. Hence the story of the bird styled the Phoenix, is thought to have been borrowed from this tree. We find it to have been an emblem of immortality among all nations, sacred and profane. The blessed in heaven are represented in the Apocalypse by John, " as standing before the throne in white robes, with branches of palm in their hands." The notion of this plant being an emblem of royalty prevailed so far, that when our Saviour made his last entrance into Jerusalem, the people took branches of palm trees, and accosted him as a prince, crying, " Hosanna, blessed is the king of Israel;" John xii. 13.

The branch of a palm tree was called bai in Egypt, and it had the same name in other places. Baia, ßara,

from which our English bay, are used for palm branches by John, in the passage just quoted.

Judea was denoted by a palm tree, because that country abounded particularly in palms, and because the Jews used the leaves in their sacred rites, and they had a solemnity called by that name, -whence on Roman coins we see a palm tree, and a female sitting sad under it, with this inscription, Judæa capta.

PAPS are explained by the Oneirocritics to signify sons and daughters, and the symbol is very adequate, the breasts being designed for the nurture of children.

Hence Job xxi. 24, to express that a man has great substance to uphold his family, says, "His breasts are full of milk." But the original term here is supposed by some to mean bowels or intestines, rather than breasts. See Parkhurst on Other, and Durell on the passage.

In Hosea ix. 14, a miscarrying womb, and dry breasts, signify loss or want of children.

PARADISE. Luke xxiii. 43; 2 Cor. xii. 4 Rev. ii. 7.

Paradise signifies a garden, park, or inclosure, full of valuable trees, fruits, and herbs, in short, a garden of pleasure, such as that in which our first parents were placed in a state of innocence, called by the Hebrew name of Oden or Eden; i. e. pleasure.

Hence it is the symbol of joy, happiness, delight. The original term peredes, occurs in Nehem. ii. 8, where it is called "the king's forest," or paradise of trees; in Eccles. ii. 5, "I made me gardens;" i. e. paradises; and Cant. iv. 13, Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates."

66

It is supposed to be derived from pered to separate, and the Arabic des to hide, as denoting a secret enclosure, or separate covert. The word is applied in this sense by Herodotus, Xenophon, and Diodorus Siculus. There is a passage in Xenophon's Oeconomics, where Socrates says, " That the king of Persia, wherever he is, takes particular care to have gardens or inclosures, which are called paradises, full of every thing beautiful and good that the earth can produce."

Such were the noi xgiμaço, or pensile gardens of the Persians, which Diodorus Siculus mentions, which were situated near the royal palace. Such also were the gardens of Lucullus, of which Plutarch speaks. And the gardens of Sallust which Aurelian loved to dwell in. See Vopiscus.

Julius Pollux, Onomasticon, l. 9, c. 12, observes, "Paradise seems to be a barbaric name, but like many other Persic words, it came by use to be admitted into the Greek language."

From the pleasantness of such a place, paradise is in general the symbol of any pleasant or happy state, as in Ezek. xxviii. 13, “ Thou hast been in Eden, the garden of God."

66

Ezekiel here, in his prophecy against Tyre, whose merchants traded to all parts of the earth, observes, that they had been at the garden of God, and that they brought thence precious stones, &c. Whence it may be conjectured, that the site of paradise was near Babylon, between Korna and Bassora, and amongst the domains of the Assyrian empire. Shuckford, v. 4, p. 125, &c.

With Philo, Paradise is the 'symbol of virtue conferring peace, ease, and joy. And, according to the