This word is used in the sense of token and pledge; as, when the
Lord gave to Noah the rainbow, as a sign of his covenant, Gen. ix, 12,
13; and when he appointed to Abraham the use of circumcision, as the
seal of the covenant he had made with him and his posterity, Gen. xvii,
11. Sign is also put for a miracle: “Thou shalt do these signs and
wonders in the midst of Egypt,” Exodus iv, 7–9, &c. A sign or token is
often put for the proof or evidence of a thing: For example, “This shall
be a token or sign unto thee, that I have sent thee,” Exod. iii, 12.
“Shew me a sign, that thou talkest with me,” Judges vi, 17, that is a
proof. “What shall be the sign,” or evidence, “that the Lord will heal
me?” 2 Kings xx, 8. This acceptation agrees with the first above
mentioned; as also what is said in Gen. iv, 15, “And the Lord set a mark
or sign upon Cain;” he gave him a pledge that his life should not be
taken away. The signs of heaven, and the signs of the magicians, are the
phenomena of the heavens, and the impostures of magicians, which they
made use of for the purposes of deception: “The Lord frustrateth the
tokens or signs of the liars, and maketh diviners mad,” Isaiah xliv, 25.
“Be not dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the Heathen are dismayed at
them,” Jer. x, 2. To be a sign was farther to be a type, or prediction,
of what should happen. Thus the Prophet Isaiah, viii, 18, “Behold, I and
the children whom the Lord hath given me, are for signs and for wonders
in Israel.” See also Ezek. iv, 3.
Lord gave to Noah the rainbow, as a sign of his covenant, Gen. ix, 12,
13; and when he appointed to Abraham the use of circumcision, as the
seal of the covenant he had made with him and his posterity, Gen. xvii,
11. Sign is also put for a miracle: “Thou shalt do these signs and
wonders in the midst of Egypt,” Exodus iv, 7–9, &c. A sign or token is
often put for the proof or evidence of a thing: For example, “This shall
be a token or sign unto thee, that I have sent thee,” Exod. iii, 12.
“Shew me a sign, that thou talkest with me,” Judges vi, 17, that is a
proof. “What shall be the sign,” or evidence, “that the Lord will heal
me?” 2 Kings xx, 8. This acceptation agrees with the first above
mentioned; as also what is said in Gen. iv, 15, “And the Lord set a mark
or sign upon Cain;” he gave him a pledge that his life should not be
taken away. The signs of heaven, and the signs of the magicians, are the
phenomena of the heavens, and the impostures of magicians, which they
made use of for the purposes of deception: “The Lord frustrateth the
tokens or signs of the liars, and maketh diviners mad,” Isaiah xliv, 25.
“Be not dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the Heathen are dismayed at
them,” Jer. x, 2. To be a sign was farther to be a type, or prediction,
of what should happen. Thus the Prophet Isaiah, viii, 18, “Behold, I and
the children whom the Lord hath given me, are for signs and for wonders
in Israel.” See also Ezek. iv, 3.