The Complete Emmet Fox Biblical Symbolism Reference

...The Bible revealed (part 7)

The Bible is a powerful book rich in symbolism and metaphor for those willing to examine it. Emmet Fox was an early 20th Century New Thought Christian minister who taught of the symbolism contained within the Bible. Understanding the Bible and its symbolism is crucial to getting the most from the Bible's spiritual teachings.

This series of posts is the result of time spent over a lengthy period of time carefully taking notes on the Bible symbols that Emmet Fox mentions in his many writings. It is my sincere hope that the reader grasps the value of his message.

Symbolic phrase	Meaning	Book	Page
Sabbath	Period of rest required in all spiritual work. "Unless a seed go into the earth and die, it cannot come up." -Jesus. That was his way of saying that we should make our prayer, do our spiritual work, and then rest from our labors, so that the demonstration can come to fruition.	Ten Commandments	127
Salt , pillar of salt	Death, dead spiritually	Find and use...	106
Salvation	The word "salvation," in the Bible, means perfect health, harmony, and freedom. When you have a strong healthy body so that just to be alive is a joy in itself; when you are living in conditions that are completely harmonious; when your time is filled with joyous and useful activities; when you are increasing daily in understanding of God, and not conscious of any fear - you have Salvation in the Bible sense.	Make Your Life Worthwhile	62
Sapphire	Sapphire means divine truth.	Diagrams For Living	45
Scarlet woman of Babylon	Scarlet woman of Babylon. Woman always stands for the soul and Scarlet always represents the emotional nature and in this case the emotional nature in its negative aspects the scarlet woman takes on many guises for example it is the state of mind where you let your emotions have free reign and run away with your common sense it is the state of mind where you say, "I am going to have fun now I can catch up with God later", it is the state of mind where you say "well evil isn't real so I can do this thing I know I shouldn't do but I can get away with it." Or even if you think evil is real in a philosophical since you say "I can be dishonest and deceitful because God is good and kind and when I have gotten what I want he will forgive me." It is also the state of mind that believes everything it hears or reads, puts the worst construction on it gives in to fear and then decides there is nothing it can do because conditions are too strong for it, these are all various forms of the scarlet woman.	Diagrams For Living	65
Sea	The sea represents the mental aspect of your nature, the subconscious.	Diagrams For Living	42
Sea of glass	Sea of glass means a sea as smooth as a sheet of glass and this is a consciousness which has gotten away from fear.	Alter your life	20
Secret place of the most high	"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." - The Secret Place of the Most High is your own consciousness.	Power Through Constructive Thinking	52
Shadrach, Meshach, & Abednego	They stand for the same thing as the three horsemen on the black, red, and dun horses and also the three sons of Noah - physical body, your feeling nature, and your intellect. Shadrach means , "zealous in this matter" , and represents the feeling nature. Meshach means "where is God?" , it is the body that asks, "where is God?" when it is in pain and agony. Abednego means,"the servant of light" and represents intellect. When these three move together and are balanced, the fourth man emerges - the spiritual presence.	Diagrams For Living	72-73
Shepherd	Keeping of sheep - the right control of thought	Alter your life	106
Shepherd	Sheep mean thoughts, and a shepherd keeps his thoughts - the kind of thoughts you keep will determine the kind of life you have.	Diagrams For Living	56
Silver	Greed of money or money's worth, for material objects that can be bought.	Around the year...	97
Single eye	The "single eye" which Jesus spoke when he said, "When the eye is single the whole body is full of light," meaning that when an individual or nation puts God first, and everything else second, then the whole body, the whole life of that person or that nation, will be healthy and prosperous.	Alter your life	224
Soles of feet	Represents previous lives.	Diagrams For Living	30
Son of man	The son of man is your human personality.	Diagrams For Living	167
Sowing and reaping	To sow a thought, in the Bible sense, means to believe it whole-heartedly.	Make Your Life Worthwhile	92
Sphinx	The sphinx has the body of an animal and the head of a man, and on the forehead a little serpent or adder. The animal represents the physical body, and the man's face and forehead stand for feelings and intellect, the personality or psyche. The adder stands for spirit as spiritual power in us comes up like an adder. So the sphinx represents the fourfold nature of man.	Diagrams For Living	73
Springs	Wells and springs symbolize contact with God, and represent the ever new thoughts and ideas bubbling up into consciousness.	Diagrams For Living	21
Stars	Stars always represent truth that is beyond man's present apprehension.	Diagrams For Living	131
Still waters	Water in the bible symbolizes the soul. To lead me beside still waters means that the power of God in prayer sets my soul at rest, giving me perfect peace.	Power Through Constructive Thinking	46
Stone vs. brick	The noble material is stone, marble being the most refined. Base material is brick. The noble materials always mean the spiritual self, while the base materials stand for the human man, the lower self.	Diagrams For Living	39
Stones	In the Bible, stones stand for spiritual truth.	Make Your Life Worthwhile	87
Strangers	Heathens, enemies, strangers, these mean your own negative thoughts, which are the things that are causing your difficulties. They do not mean other human beings. Wrong thoughts are heathens because they do not know God. They are strangers to your real self, and, of course, they are the only enemies that you can have. All such enemies are to be destroyed, not by wrestling with them which only gives them power, but by righteous judgement - refusing to believe in them.	Make Your Life Worthwhile	67
Tabernacle	The tabernacle is the early concept of the "temple of the living God," which is the body temple.	Diagrams For Living	35
Tabernacle in the wilderness	Represents the human body and mind while we are still in the wilderness, meaning we have gotten out of Egypt (no longer believe that outer things really have power over us) but have not yet been able to prove it by demonstrating all around harmony in practice.	Alter your life	24
Temple of Solomon	Spiritual consciousness which we are all engaged in building	Around the year...	96
Temple of Solomon	That wondrous building, the spiritual consciousness, is called in the Bible, the Temple of Solomon, and we are told two wonderful things about that building. It was built in silence - without any noise, and we know that thought is soundless; and it was built upon a rock - and the Rock is the Christ truth of the Omnipresence and All-Power of God.	Make Your Life Worthwhile	190
Temple of Solomon	The Temple of Solomon stands for the regenerated soul, spiritual consciousness- that which is built upon a rock.	Diagrams For Living	38
The 4 Elements (not exactly biblical symbol)	Earth: physical body. Air: the intellect. Water: feeling nature. Fire: the spiritual or divine part of us. Also seen in book of Daniel, the 3 men thrown in the fiery furnace with the 4th man appearing "like unto the Son of God" - the emergence of the spiritual nature.	Alter your life	21
The 4 Gospels	Matthew ( ox or calf) : Matthew takes people as he finds them on the material plane. Mark ( Lion ) : most intellectual, symbol is lion though, teaches us that the intellect has ultimately to be absorbed by the spiritual nature (though not destroyed - becoming illumined intelligence ). Luke (mans face) : represents the emotional nature, Luke often considered the "human" Gospel for its understanding and toleration of human nature. Luke is symbolized by the face of a man (intellect) meaning the student on the path must make the his emotional nature subject to his intellect, making what he knows control that which he feels, after which comes the spiritualization of both elements. John ( eagle ) : spiritual nature and highest of the Gospels, not the lion as one might expect, the eagle is emotional nature redeemed and purified, after which it too is absorbed in the spiritual nature.	Alter your life	23
The ape	Stands for bodily temptations such as sensuality, addiction to drink, drugs, and so forth	Around the year...	98
The bands of Orion	Bondage to the animal forces within	Diagrams For Living	132
The capital river mentioned several times in Scripture	...the river of life that flows from the throne of God. It means the understanding of Truth that is verily the "waters of life" to those who attain it.	Power Through Constructive Thinking	71
The child	This indwelling power, the inner light, or spiritual idea, is spoken of in the Bible as a child, and throughout the scriptures the child symbolically always stands for this. The spiritual idea that is born to the soul, is described as a child.	Power Through Constructive Thinking	3
The City of God	"The City of God" is mans consciousness. Your consciousness, which is your identity in life, is called a "city" in the Bible.	Power Through Constructive Thinking	72
The cross	The cross as a symbol of physical matter and physical limitation.	Alter your life	107
The cross	In the ancient world, the cross stood for limitation.	Diagrams For Living	185
The devil	The devil means the race mind - The devil came and found nothing in him because his heart was filled with love.	Ten Commandments	127
The Earth	The earth stands for manifestation or expression, and means your body, your home, your business, and your surroundings in general.	Alter your life	46
The earth	The "earth" means your environment, your body, and all the outer conditions that constitute your life experience at the present time.	Alter your life	87
The Firmament	The firmament means understanding. Through the enlightenment, however dim, of the First Day, man has attained a beginning in understanding. To be aware, however vaguely, that error is illusion and without power, is his passport to paradise. "Under the Firmament" is a purely figurative expression meaning anything that is true, and therefore real and under the law of harmony.	Alter your life	38