Hebrew, the language is Greek. But
scholars note that John's Greek here is different from that of his
Gospel, and is indeed peculiar to itself, with new grammatical
adjustments, as though better to express his Hebrew thought. Yet, like
the Gospel, it is an easy Greek to learn and to understand. It is as
though the Old Testament were the warp of a new bit of fabric, with the
New as the shuttle-threads, and yet with such additions as makes the
pattern stand out much more definite and clear, and the colours in it
more pronounced. Thus this end-book is a weaving of both Old and New
into a new bit of fabric, but with a more distinct pattern than either.

This explains the use of the symbolism which is so marked here. The
picture language of John's Revelation has seemed very puzzling. It has
seemed like a new language, to which we had neither grammar nor
dictionary, and the intended meaning of which we could only guess at.
But this is because we are Westerners and a bit set in our western way.
And possibly, too, though we dislike to confess it, because we have not
gotten a clear, simple grasp of this old Book of God as a whole. The
Bible is an Oriental book, written in the characteristic picture
language of the Orient.

The truth is that the symbol or picture language is meant to make the
book _easier of understanding_. We simply need to learn how to read
picture language, not whimsically, but sensibly according to the laws of
picture language. The symbolism or picture sees things as they look at
the moment the picture is taken. The picture is meant to give one
general distinct impression of the thing being presented, the details of
the picture being of value only as they give coloring to that one
general impression. It is concerned, not at all, or only in the most
incidental way, with the process by which the thing came to the point
pictured.

There is a rare wisdom in the use of this picture language. It is really
the common language not of the Orient merely, but of all the world. In
our western half of the globe it is the language of the street, the
common crowd, the common exchange of life, and of children. It is the
language of the primitive peoples of all parts of the world. Everywhere
the conventionalized book-language is spoken by the few. The picture,
with its companion, the story, is the universal, the original, the
natural language of the race.

On the mere human side here is one secret of the freshness of the