Navigating some interesting figures of speech used in the Bible:
Allusion: It is an indirect reference to something
that can be understood from the cultural context.
E.g. John 8:58, “Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say
to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”
Today, many people and events from the Bible have become
allusions in the English language, such as when we refer to someone as being a
“good Samaritan,” or having “the patience of Job,” or “the wisdom of Solomon,”
or even having an unhealthy desire for something that is a “forbidden fruit.”[i]
Anthropomorphism: This is a type of personification
that ascribes human characteristics (such as human actions, emotions, or
physical attributes) to God. This
projection of human characteristics onto God was done in order to make Him more
understandable to us. It is the language
of appearance, of describing God in human terms.[ii]
Genesis 6:6, “And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on
the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.”
Apostrophe: This is an indirect type of
personification, where the speaker addresses an inanimate object, or himself or
herself, or others who cannot or do not respond to the statement or question.[iii]
Psalm 43:5, “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are
you disquieted within me?”
Isaiah 44:23, “Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it.
Shout, you lower parts of the earth, break forth into singing, you mountains, O
forest, and every tree in it!”
Personification: This is the attribution of human
characteristics to non-human objects (usually the divine, inanimate things, or
abstract ideas), and is done as a rhetorical device.[iv]
Psalm 77:16, “The waters saw You, O God; The waters saw You,
they were afraid; The depths also trembled.”
Proverbs 1:20-21, “Wisdom calls aloud outside; She raises
her voice in the open squares. She cries out in the chief concourses at the
openings of the gates in the city she speaks her words.”
Hyperbole: This is a use of exaggeration for emphasis
or rhetorical effect.[v]
II Chronicles 1:15, “Also the king made silver and gold as
common in Jerusalem as stones.”
Mark 9:43, “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life
maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall
never be quenched.”
John 12:19, “The Pharisees therefore said among themselves,
“You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after
Him!”
It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seen you
plant in the ground. (Mark 4:31)[vi]
If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and
mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters - yes, even his own
life - he cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:26)
If your right eyes causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw
it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole
body to be thrown into hell. (Matt. 5:29)
Imagery: This is the use of vivid or figurative
language to represent objects, actions, or ideas.[vii]
Revelation 12:1, “Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a
woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a
garland of twelve stars.”
Merism: This is a listing of opposite parts to
signify a whole or a totality. For
example, the division of “night/day” and “darkness/noonday” in the Psalm below
means “all the time.”[viii]
Psalm 91:5-6, “You shall not be afraid of the terror by
night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in
darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.”
Metaphor: A metaphor is a figure of speech comparing
two seemingly unlike things without the use of “like” and “as”.
Psalm 23:1 “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.” Here,
the comparison is direct.
Psalm 3:3; 84:11; 91:4 use metaphors.[ix]
James 3:6, “And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity.”[x]
You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its
saltiness, how can it be made salty again? (Matt. 5:13)
Now I want you to realise that the head of every man is
Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. (1
Cor. 11:3)
And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the
beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might
have the supremacy. (Col. 1:18)[xi]
Simile: A simile is a figure of speech used to
compare one thing with another often using “like” or “as”. Hyperbole or
exaggeration is also used frequently for emphasis. It is used to introduce
concrete images with abstract concepts. They follow an easy formula of “X is
like Y.”
Psalm 1:3 “That person is like a tree planted by streams of
water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.” Here, the comparison is done using “Like.”
Psalm 5:12; 17:8; 131:2 can be taken as examples of similes.[xii]
Matthew 28:3, “His countenance was like lightning, and his
clothing as white as snow.”[xiii]
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!
You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the
inside are full or dead men's bones and everything unclean. (Matt. 23:27)[xiv]
His head and hair were white like wool, as white a snow, and
his eyes were like burning fire. (Rev. 1:14)[xv]
For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has
gone by, or like a watch in the night. (Psalm 90:4)[xvi]
Metonymy: It is a literary device where a word, name,
or expression is used as a substitute for something else with which it closely
associates. Or simply put, one name or noun is used instead of another but they
must be closely related. It is of four kinds: of the cause, of the effect, of
the subject, of the adjunct.
Psalm 7:10 “My shield is God Most High, who saves the
upright in heart.” Here, “Shield” stands for “God’s protection.”
Psalm 22:16 “Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles
me; they pierce my hands and my feet.” Here, “Dogs” stand for “Opponents or
enemies.”
Some other verses using metonymy are Psalm 5:9; 18:2; 57:9;
73:9.[xvii]
Leviticus 26:6, “I will give peace in the land, and you
shall lie down, and none will make you afraid; I will rid the land of evil
beasts, and the sword will not go through your land.”
Revelation 1:18, “And I have the keys of Hades and of
Death.”[xviii]
Synecdoche: It is a literary device in which a part
is made to represent the whole or vice versa. Here, an exchange is made between
two associated ideas. One should not confuse it with metonymy.
In Psalm 44:6 when David says, ” I put no trust in my bow“,
here the bow stands for all weapons.
In Psalm 1:1, “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the
counsel of the wicked”, the word man does not only denote a particular person
but rather the whole of humankind.[xix]
II Kings 8:9, “So Hazael went to meet him and took a present
with him, of every good thing of Damascus, forty camel-loads.”
Ephesians 6:12, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and
blood.”[xx]
Anaphora: This is a literary device in which a word
or expression is repeated at the beginning of a number of sentences, clauses,
or phrases. The Song of songs and the book of Psalms contain many instances of
anaphora.
Psalm 115: 12-13, “The Lord remembers us and will bless us:
He will bless his people Israel, he will bless the house of Aaron, he will
bless those who fear the Lord— small and great alike.” We can see the anaphoric
repetition of “He will bless”.
Song of songs 4:1 is another example.[xxi]
Paradox: This is a statement that seems to be
illogical or contradictory on the surface, but it actually conveys a deeper
truth.[xxii]
Matthew 16:25, “For whoever desires to save his life will
lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”
Parallelism: This is a figure of speech in which two
or more clauses are related to each other through the lines of a poetic
structure in order to make a larger point.[xxiii]
Matthew 7:7-8, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and
you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks
receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”
Symbolism: This is the use of symbols to represent
ideas or qualities, giving meaning or character to something.[xxiv]
Revelation 13:1, “Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I
saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on
his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name.”
Type: This is a literary foreshadowing, where one
person or thing serves as a metaphorical prefigure (type) of another that is to
come later. In the Bible, this is a
person or thing (as is found in the Old Testament) prefiguring another person
or thing (as is found in the New Testament).
For example, the bronze snake pole that the people looked to serves as a
type, or prefiguring, of the Cross.[xxv]
Numbers 21:9, “So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on
a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the
bronze serpent, he lived.”
John 3:14-15, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in
Him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Hendiadys: The combination of two or three things to
express the same meaning.[xxvi]
The Lord is my light and my salvation -
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life -
of whom shall I be afraid? (Psalm 27:1)
Some sat in darkness and the deepest gloom,
prisoners suffering in iron chains,
for they had rebelled against the words of God. (Psalm
107:10)
...encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives
worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory. (1 Thess. 2:12)
May the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May
your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ. (1 Thess. 5:23)
...while we wait for the blessed hope - the glorious
appearing of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ. (Tit. 2:13)
Irony: Stating one thing while meaning the exact
opposite. When used to taunt and ridicule irony is called sarcasm.[xxvii]
Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save
you when you are in trouble! (Judges 10:14)
When David returned home to bless his household, Michal
daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, "How the king of Israel
has distinguished himself today, disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of
his servants as any vulgar fellow would!" (2 Sam. 6:20)
When he arrived, the king asked him, "Micaiah, shall we
go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall we refrain?
"Attack and be victorious," he answered, "For
the Lord will give it into the king's hand." (1 Kings 22:15)
The Job replied:
"Doubtless you are the people, and wisdom will die with
you." (Job 12:1-2)
Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in
his words. They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians.
"Teacher," they said, "we know you are a man of integrity and
that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren't swayed
by men because you pay no attention to who they are." (Matt. 22:15-16)
...and they twisted together a crown of thorns and set it
upon his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and
mocked him. "Hail, king of the Jews" they said. (Matt. 27:29)
Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich!
You have become kings - and that without us! How I wish that you really had
become kings so that we might be kings with you! (1 Cor. 4:8)
[i] Alex
Carmichael, “What Kinds of Literary Techniques Are Used in the Bible?,” Christian
Apologetics & Research Ministry, May 24, 2012, accessed July 5, 2022,
https://carm.org/about-the-bible/what-kinds-of-literary-techniques-are-used-in-the-bible/.
[ii] Ibid.
[iii] Ibid.
[iv] Ibid.
[v] Ibid.
[vi] Bradshaw,
“Figures of Speech in the Bible.”
[vii] Carmichael,
“What Kinds of Literary Techniques Are Used in the Bible?”
[viii]
Ibid.
[ix] Sarah
Karki, “Figures of Speech in Poetical Books Part 1,” Sarah Karki, July
12, 2020, accessed July 5, 2022, https://sarah.com.np/figures-of-speech-in-poetical-books-part-1/.
[x] Carmichael,
“What Kinds of Literary Techniques Are Used in the Bible?”
[xi] Bradshaw,
“Figures of Speech in the Bible.”
[xii] Karki,
“Figures of Speech in Poetical Books Part 1.”
[xiii]
Carmichael,
“What Kinds of Literary Techniques Are Used in the Bible?”
[xiv] Bradshaw,
“Figures of Speech in the Bible.”
[xv] Ibid.
[xvi] Ibid.
[xvii]
Karki,
“Figures of Speech in Poetical Books Part 1.”
[xviii]
Carmichael,
“What Kinds of Literary Techniques Are Used in the Bible?”
[xix] Karki,
“Figures of Speech in Poetical Books Part 1.”
[xx] Carmichael,
“What Kinds of Literary Techniques Are Used in the Bible?”
[xxi] Karki,
“Figures of Speech in Poetical Books Part 1.”
[xxii]
Carmichael,
“What Kinds of Literary Techniques Are Used in the Bible?”
[xxiii]
Ibid.
[xxiv]
Ibid.
[xxv] Ibid.
[xxvi]
Bradshaw,
“Figures of Speech in the Bible.”
[xxvii]
Ibid.
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