Consequently the dark sayings are not the product of ignorance, but of

wisdom.  This Greek word ainigma translates the Hebrew chidah which primarily

means 'to tie knots, to be twisted or involved'.  In Judges 14, this Hebrew

word occurs eight times and is translated 'riddle' in the A.V.  It occurs in

the Psalms twice, 'I will open my dark saying' (Psa. 49:4), 'I will utter

dark sayings of old' (Psa. 78:2) both of which are quoted in Matthew 13,

where the word 'parable' first occurs in the New Testament together with the

first occurrence of the word 'mystery', and Daniel speaks prophetically of a

future king of fierce countenance, who shall understand 'dark sentences'

(Dan. 8:23).  The LXX renders the Hebrew, 'dark saying', in the Psalms and in

Daniel by the Greek problema, a word of wide range in classical Greek

including a problem in geometry or in logic.  In Deuteronomy 28:37 we have

one passage in the Old Testament  where ainigma is used to translate the

Hebrew shammah, 'astonishment', a word which comes from the root shammam,

whose primary meaning is silence, then to be dumb with astonishment,

desolation, solitary, and waste.

Finally, ainigmastistes, 'to speak in a dark saying, to use a proverb'

is found in Numbers 21:27, and translates the Hebrew word mashal.  The

primary meaning of mashal is to rule, reign or have dominion, and then it was

used of an authoritative saying or Proverb.  This twofold meaning is

exhibited in the A.V. of Joel 2:17 where the text reads, 'The heathen should

rule over them' but which is given as an alternative in the margin, 'the

heathen should use a byeword against them'.  Ezekiel 19:11 employs the word

of 'them that bare rule', but in the same prophecy, on either side of this

reference, the word occurs to speak or use a proverb or parable (Ezek. 12:23;

16:44; 17:2; 18:2,3; 20:49 and 24:3).  The substantive, proverb, or parable,

occurs eight times in this prophecy of Ezekiel.  We discover from these

references, that a proverb could be a typical human figure as well as a

spoken word (Ezek. 14:8), and it could be used as a synonym for a riddle

(Ezek. 17:2).

We return with this added information to the apostle's words in 1

Corinthians 13:12:

'For now we see through a glass, darkly'.

If Paul himself with all the illumination he had received could thus speak,

what care and what moderation should characterize our handling of the Word of

God.  So far as the way of salvation is concerned, we believe the simpler

elements of the Gospel are written in such terms, that the wayfaring man,

though a fool, need not err therein, but when we recognize the all -covering

problem of revelation, namely, to speak to men in human terms of matters that

belong to the invisible world of spirit, where laws that govern a world of

time, space, sense and appearance, have no place, and where other laws obtain

that are utterly unknown and inconceivable to us here in this life; we may

then begin to appreciate the reason why it must still be said, even though we

have a Book given by inspiration of God, that now, in this life we can see

but by means of a mirror in an enigma.  Parable, riddle and dark saying meet

us on every hand, not only in obvious passages such as Matthew 13 with its

parables of the mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens, but in ordinary

speech, and we shall discover that figures abound, and a failure to recognize

the universal sway of symbolism in everyday speech, accounts for many a

controversy that need never have occurred.  It is our hope that some

indications of this character of every communication made to, or by man will

be made a little clearer as we proceed, and by the admittance and acceptance