The father, by whom it was purchased, is Jehovah, who represents himself as sustaining this relation to the Hebrew nation. The two pieces of money signify Moses and Aaron, through whose mediation the Hebrews were brought out of Egypt.
2. The cat denotes the Assyrians, by whom the ten tribes were carried into captivity.
3. The dog is symbolical of the Babylonians.
4. The staff signifies the Persians.
5. The fire indicates the Grecian empire under Alexander the Great.
6. The water betokens the Roman, or the fourth of the great monarchies to whose dominions the Jews were subjected.
7. The ox is a symbol of the Saracens, who subdued Palestine, and brought it under the caliphate.
8. The butcher that killed the ox denotes the crusaders, by whom the Holy Land was wrested out of the hands of the Saracens.
9. The angel of death signifies the Turkish power, by which the land of Palestine was taken from the Franks, and to which it is still subject.
10. The commencement of the tenth stanza is designed to show that God will take signal vengeance on the Turks, immediately after whose overthrow the Jews are to be restored to their own land, and live under the government of their long-expected Messiah.