ALLEGORY

AL'LEGORY, noun [Gr. other, to speak, a forum, an oration.]A figurative sentence or discourse, in which the principal subject is described by another subject resembling it in its properties and circumstances. The principal subject is thus kept out of view, and we are left to collect the intentions of the writer or speaker, by the resemblance of the secondary to the primary subject. allegory is in words that hieroglyphics are in painting. We have a fine example of an allegory in the eightieth Psalm, in which God's chosen people are represented by a vineyard. The distinction in scripture between a parable and an allegory is said to be that a parable is a supposed history, and an allegory a figurative description of real facts. An allegory is called a continued metaphor. The following line in Virgil is an example of an allegory Claudite jam rivos, pueri, sat prata biberunt.Stop the currents, young men, the meadows have drank sufficiently; that is let your music cease, our ears have been sufficiently delighted.

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A figurative mode of discourse, which employs terms literally belonging to one thing, in order to express another. It is strictly a prolonged metaphor. Such are Nathan’s address to David, 2Sa 12:1- 14; Ps 80:1-19, and our Lord’s parable of the sower, Lu 8:5- 15. The expression, "which things are an allegory," Ga 4:24, means that the events in the life of Isaac and Ishmael, mentioned in previous verses, have been allegorically applied.

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Allegory. Allegory
Used only in Gal. 4:24, where the apostle refers to the history of Isaac the free-born, and Ishmael the slave-born, and makes use of it allegorically.

Every parable is an allegory. Nathan (2 Sam. 12:1-4) addresses David in an allegorical narrative. In the eightieth Psalm there is a beautiful allegory: “Thou broughtest a vine out of Egypt,” etc. In Eccl. 12:2-6, there is a striking allegorical description of old age.

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ALLEGORY. → Of the trees seeking a king Jud 9:8-15 → Messiah's kingdom represented under, of the wolf and the lamb dwelling together Isa 11:6-8 → Wilderness to blossom as the rose Isa 35 → The two covenants Ga 4:24 → See PARABLE → See SYMBOL

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a figure of speech, which has been defined by Bishop Marsh, in accordance with its etymology as, "a representation of one thing which is intended to excite the representation of another thing." ("A figurative representation containing a meaning other than and in addition to the literal." "A fable or parable; is a short allegory with one definite moral."--Encyc. Brit.) In every allegory there is a twofold sense--the immediate or historic, which is understood from the words, and the ultimate, which is concerned with the things signified by the words. The allegorical interpretation is not of the words, but of the thing signified by them, and not only may, but actually does, coexist with the literal interpretation in every allegory, whether the narrative in which it is conveyed be of things possible or real. An illustration of this may be seen in (Galatians 4:24) where the apostle gives an allegorical interpretation to the historical narrative of Hagar and Sarah, not treating that narrative as an allegory in itself; as our Authorized Version would lead us to suppose, but drawing from it a deeper sense than is conveyed by the immediate representation. (Addison’s Vision of Mirza and Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress are among the best allegories in all literature.)

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allegory. Allegory, n. a figurative or allusive speech, allusion

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Al″le‐go‐ry (�), n.; pl. Allegories (�). [[L. allegoria, Gr. �, description of one thing under the image of another; � other + � to speak in the assembly, harangue, � place of assembly, fr. � to assemble: cf. F. allégorie.]] 1. 1. A figurative sentence or discourse, in which the principal subject is described by another subject resembling it in its properties and circumstances. The real subject is thus kept out of view, and we are left to collect the intentions of the writer or speaker by the resemblance of the secondary to the primary subject.
2. 2. Anything which represents by suggestive resemblance; an emblem.
3. 3. (Paint. & Sculpt.) A figure representation which has a meaning beyond notion directly conveyed by the object painted or sculptured.
Syn. — Metaphor; fable. — Allegory, Parable. “An allegory differs both from fable and parable, in that the properties of persons are fictitiously represented as attached to things, to which they are as it were transferred. . . . A figure of Peace and Victory crowning some historical personage is an allegory. “I am the Vine, ye are the branches” [John xv. 1-6] is a spoken allegory. In the parable there is no transference of properties. The parable of the sower [Matt. xiii. 3-23] represents all things as according to their proper nature. In the allegory quoted above the properties of the vine and the relation of the branches are transferred to the person of Christ and His apostles and disciples.” C. J. Smith. An allegory is a prolonged metaphor. Bunyan's “Pilgrim's Progress” and Spenser's “Faërie Queene” are celebrated examples of the allegory.