In the Book of Abraham and the interpretations offered of various figures in the facsimiles, we read of something being said “to signify” something else. For instance, in facsimile 1, figure 12, we read:
Raukeeyang,
signifying expanse, or the firmament over our heads; but in this case, in
relation to this subject, the Egyptians meant it to signify Shaumau, to be
high, or the heavens, answering to the Hebrew word, Shaumahyeem.
“To signify” and like-terms (e.g.,
signifies) does not mean “translation of” from one language into another;
instead, it means to make something known by something else. An analogy would
be how giving thumbs up would “signify” a good job. Note how it is used in Webster’s 1828
dictionary:
SIG'NIFY, verb
transitive [Latin significo; signum, a sign, and facio, to make.]
1. To
make known something, either by signs or words; to express or communicate to
another any idea, thought, wish, a hod, wink, gesture, signal or other sign. A
man signifies his mind by his voice or by written characters; he may signify his
mind by a nod or other motion, provided the person to whom he directs it,
understands what is intend by it. A general or an admiral signifies his
commands by signals to officers as a distance.
2. To
mean; to have or contain a certain sense. The word sabbath signifies rest.
Less, in composition, as in faithless, signifies destitution or want. The
prefix re, in recommend, seldom signifies any thing.
3. To
import; to weigh; to have consequence; used in particular phrases; as, it
signifies much or little; it signifies nothing. What does it signify?
What signify the splendors of a court? Confession of sin
without reformation of life, can signify nothing in the view
of God.
4. To
make known; to declare. The government should signify to the
protestants of Ireland that want of silver is not to be remedied.
SIG'NIFY, verb
intransitive To express meaning with force. [Little Used.]
Note how it is used in literature
contemporary with Joseph Smith:
Ans. The
would soul in English, nephesh in Hebrew, phyche in Greek, and anima
in Latin, &c. signifies not only the conscious and active principle in man,
which thinks and reasons, loves and hates, hopes and fears, and which is the
proper agent in virtue or vice, but it is used also to signify the principle of
animal life and motion in a living creature. (Isaac Watts, The
World to Come [1816], 39-40)
Jupiter
upon an eagle, to signify the sublimity of his dominion . . . Neptune with a
trident, to signify the commander of a fleet, composed of three squadrons . . .
Æ, a giant head with 50 heads and 100 hands, to signify Neptune with his men in
a ship of 50 oars; Thoth, with a dog's head, and wings at his cap and feet, and
a caduceus writhed about with two serpents, to signify a man of craft, and an
ambassador who reconciled two contending nations; Pan, with a pipe and the legs
of a goat, to signify a man delighted with piping and dancing . . (Hugh Clark, A
Short and Easy Introduction to Heraldry, in Two Parts [1827], 118)
The Hebrew
word (כביד) which
is commonly translated glory is used in such a manner as might be
expected from the signification of the words from whence it comes. Sometimes it
is used to signify what is internal, inherent, or in the possession
of the person: and sometimes for emanation, exhibition or communication
of this internal glory: and sometimes for the knowledge, or sense
of these, in those to whom the exhibition or communication is made; or an expression
of this knowledge, sense, or effect. And here I would note, that agreeable to
the use of the word in the Old Testament, is the Greek word (δοξα) in the New.
For as the word (כביד) is generally translated by the just mentioned Greek word (δοξα) in the
septuagint; so it is apparent that the word is designed to be used to signify
the same thing in the New Testament with the other in the Old. . . . The word
glory denotes sometimes what is internal: When the word is used
to signify what is within, or in the possession of the subject, it very commonly
signifies excellency, dignity or worthiness of regard. Thus, according
to the Hebrew idiom, is as it were, the weight of a thing, as
that by which it is heavy; as to the light, is to be worthless without
value, contemptible. (Jonathan Edwards, Dissertation
of the end for which God created the world [1829], 72)
The
passover was also to be eaten with unleavened bread; which St. Paul interprets
to signify sincerity and purity of heart in opposition to malice, wickedness,
and falsehood, and which must necessarily accompany faith in Christ in order to
his being our passover, that is, our protection from the wrath of God, and our
Redeemer from spiritual bondage and misery. (1 Cor. v. 7, 8.) (Thomas Hartwell
Horne, An
Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures
[1833], 309)
