66 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 



dictates of inspiration. In the prophecies of Jeremiah, the king- 

 dom of Egypt is compared to 'a very fair heifer/ (Jer. xlvi. 20); 

 and the same allusion is involved in these words of Hosea: ' And 

 Ephraim is as a heifer that is taught, and loveth to tread out the 

 corn ; but I passed over upon her fair neck,' Hos. x. 11. 



An air of grandeur and majesty has been remarked in the mo- 

 tion and attitudes of this animal, which justify the figure Moses em- 

 ploys in the blessing which he pronounces on the tribe of Joseph: 

 * His glory is like the firstling of his bullock ;' the generosity of his 

 heart, and the majesty of his presence, Avere conspieuou* in the 

 amiable and dignified father of that tribe,* the preserver of his fami- 

 ly, and an eminent type of our gracious Redeemer. 



The playful disposition of a young ox, the son of the herd, as 

 the Hebrews beautifully call him, has been remarked by writers of 

 every age. It is therefore with strict propriety that the Hebrew 

 bard compares the shaking of the earth, and the reeling of the 

 mountains with all their forests, when Jehovah descended in terri- 

 ble majesty, to deliver the law from the top of Sinai, to the frisk- 

 ings of a young calf: 'He maketh them also to skip like a calf: 

 Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn,' Psalms xxix. 6. The 

 prophet Jeremiah is supposed, by ancient interpreters, to refer to 

 the same circumstance, where he foretels the ruin of Babylon: 

 'Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of 

 mine heritage : because ye are grown fat,' or sport, 'as the heifer at 

 grass, and bellow as bulls.' A similar allusion is made by Malachi, 

 when he describes the glorious appearance of the promised Messi- 

 ah, and the joy of his people : 'But unto you that fear my name, 

 shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings ; 

 and ye shall go forth and grow up, (or gambol,) as calves of the 

 stall,' Mai. iv. 2. 



The strength of this animal is too remarkable to require descrip- 

 tion ; and his courage and fierceness are so great, that he ventures 

 at times to combat the lion himself. Nor is he more celebrated for 

 these qualities, than for his disposition to unite with those of his 

 kind against their common enemy, For these reasons he has been 

 chosen by the spirit of inspiration, to symboli/ethe powerful, fierce 

 and implacable enemies of our blessed Redeemer ; who, forgetting 

 their personal animosities, combined against his precious life, and 

 succeeded in procuring his crucifixion: 'Many bulls have com- 

 passed me; strong bulls of Bashan have beset me around,' Ps. 

 xxii. 12. Nor can we conceive a more striking and appropriate 

 symbol of a fierce and ruthless warrior; an instance of which oc- 

 elli's in that supplication of David ; 'Rebuke the company of the 

 spearmen, the multitude of the bulls, with the calves of the people, 

 till every one submit himself with pieces of silver,' Ps. Ixviii. 30. 

 In the sublime description of Isaiah, which seems to refer to some 

 great revolutions, to be effected in times long posterior to the age 

 in'which he flourished ; probably in these last days, antecedent to 

 the millennial state of the church , the complete destruction of her 



