Four creatures and their Gospel interpretation (Jamieson; Fausset; & Brown, A commentary, 1880, NT - vol. 2)
Text: "And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle." Revelation 4:7
Quote:
[...] 8. [...] Almighty — [...] The four living creatures answer by contrast to the four world-powers represented by four beasts. The fathers identified them with the four gospels, Matthew the lion, Mark the ox, Luke the man, John the eagle: these symbols, thus viewed, express not the personal character of the evangelists, but the manifold aspect of Christ in relation to the world (four being the number significant of world-wide extension, e. g., the four quarters of the world) presented by them severally: the lion expressing royalty, as Matthew gives prominence to this feature of Christ; the ox, laborious endurance, Christ's prominent characteristic in Mark; man, brotherly sympathy with the whole race of man, Christ's prominent feature in Luke; the eagle soaring majesty, prominent in John's description of Christ as the Divine Word. [...]
Jamieson, Robert; Fausset, Andrew Robert; Brown, David, A commentary: critical, practical and explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments, with a Bible dictionary, compiled from Dr. Wm. Smith's standard work, a copious index, chronological tables, maps and illustrations, Chicago; New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1880, New Testament - vol. 2, p. 545.
Online Source: archive.org/details/commentarycritic18804jami
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