Principle 23
HERMENEUTICS
PRINCIPLE 23
Understand the Use of Language
We can divide the use of language into two broad categories: literal language and figurative language. In literal language, the writer uses the customary sese and meaning of the words or expressions. In figurative language, the writer expresses one concept in terms of another.
Suppose someone said to you, “It’s summer now, but winter is coming, so be prepared.” If that person was using literal language, then he or she was referring to the literal seasons of the year. However, if the speaker was your teacher warning you about your grade in school, the teacher would be using figurative language. “It’s ‘summer’ now, and your grade may seem fine. But ‘winter’ is coming, so get ready for the final exam!”
The Bible uses both literal and figurative language. We’ve already seen that Hebrew poetry uses a lot of figurative language. In this principle, we’ll look at some different categories of speech in figurative language.
Simile
A simile is an explicitly stated comparison, using the words like or as. “He ran as fast as a cheetah,” and “Her injured leg swelled up like a balloon!” are similes. Here are some examples of simile in the Bible.
Psalm 42:1
“As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God.” In the previous principle, we looked at emblematic parallelism as a structure of Hebrew poetry. This type of poetry uses word pictures, and they’re often similes. See also Proverbs 26:1-2.
Exodus 24:17
“…the glory of the Lord appeared at the summit like a consuming fire.” The glory of the Lord was not literal fire; it was like fire.
Luke 10:3
“Now go, and remember that I am sending you out as lambs among wolves.” Jesus used simile in the New Testament when He sent out His disciples. He used simile again in Luke 13:34.
Metaphor
A metaphor is a comparison by direct assertion. If you sing the children’s song, “I’m a little teapot,” you’re not saying that you look like a teapot (simile), you are saying that you are a teapot (metaphor)! In the motions for this song, the singer is acting like an actual teapot.
Hosea 7:8
“The people of Israel mingle with godless foreigners, making themselves as worthless as a half-baked cake! Here the tribe of Ephraim, the largest tribe in the northern kingdom, had gone spiritually astray. The prophet Hosea compares the tribe to something like a half-cooked pancake because it had no moral strength or structure. Jeremiah 2:14 would be another Old Testament example of a metaphor.
John 6:35, 10:9, 15:5
In the gospel of John, our Lord made several well-known “I am” statements, such as “I am the Bread of Life,” “I am the Door,” and “I am the Vine.” These are metaphors.
Personification
Personification is used when a thing is represented as a person. Remember the United Airlines slogan, “Fly the friendly skies”? This is a personification because the sky is not a person; it cannot be friendly! Personification is also used in Scripture.
Psalm 114:3-6
Speaking about the Red Sea at the time of the Exodus, this psalm says, “The Red Sea saw them coming and hurried out of their way! The water of the Jordan River turned away.”
Matthew 6:34
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told His disciples, “Tomorrow will worry about its own things.” Days do not literally worry, but when a day is personified, it can!
Euphemism
A euphemism is a less direct word or phrase used to avoid saying something offensive, distasteful, or socially unacceptable. We use euphemisms when we speak of death by saying “passed away,” or refer to people as “between jobs” when they are unemployed. In 1 Samuel 24:3, Saul might have been saying that he was using the “rest room” when he went into the cave. If you look at various translations, you will see some other interesting euphemisms for what Saul was doing!
Hyperbole
Hyperbole (pronounced hy-per-bol-ee) is exaggerated language that is used to create emphasis. “I told you a million times to clean up your room!” is hyperbole. Some Christians are troubled when they find hyperbole in the Bible because they think the Bible is lying. However, hyperbole is nt lying. It’s an acceptable figure of speech in Hebrew and Greek, as well as in English.
Judges 7:12
“The armies of Midian, Amalek, and the people of the east had settled in the valley like a swarm of locusts. Their camels were like grains of sand on the seashore—too many to count!”
This description of the enemy’s army says their camels were “like grains of sand on the seashore.” There weren’t literally that many camels, but hyperbole tells us that there were a lot of camels! See also Deuteronomy 9:1 and 1 Kings 10:27.
Luke 14:26
“If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life.”
Here’s a New Testament example of hyperbole. The Lord didn’t mean that we should literally show malice or hatred toward our family members. But compared to our devotion and love for Christ, it will be as if we “hate” our family members. This is purposeful exaggeration for emphasis. The last verse in the gospel of John is probably hyperbole also (John 21:25).
Idiom
An idiom is an expression that has specific meaning to a particular culture. “She put her foot in her mouth” would be difficult for someone from another culture to understand and translate sensibly. Every culture has its own idioms, and the Bible uses idioms specific to the cultures of those times. Understanding that there are idioms in the Bible can prevent us from coming up with otherwise nonsensical interpretations.
Galatians 4:15
“Where is that joyful and grateful spirit you felt then? I am sure you would have taken out your own eyes and given them to me if it had been possible.”
Some Christians think this verse supports the idea that Paul had eye trouble, but “pluck out your eyes” was a common expression for saying you would give up everything for someone else. Knowing that this was an idiom guards us from wrongly interpreting it.
Matthew 12:40
“For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.”
Critics like to point to this verse as an error in the Bible, but this phrase is an idiom. In the Jewish culture, any part of a day was counted as a day and night, even though it was not a complete 24-hour period. Thus, Good Friday afternoon to Easter Sunday morning would be expressed as three days and nights in that culture. We don’t have to say the crucifixion happened on Wednesday or Thursday to interpret this passage. Just for the record, if the third day of Luke 24:21 was Sunday, the first day had to be Friday!
Irony
When a writer or speaker uses irony, words are used to communicate the exact opposite of what the literal language means. If your golf game was rained out, you might say with irony, “What great weather we’re having!” Obviously, this is the exact opposite of reality. Although irony is easy to pick up when you hear it, because of the tone of the speaker’s voice, it’s sometimes more difficult to detect in written form. The Bible does contain examples of irony.
1 Corinthians 4:8
“You think you already have everything you need. You think you are already rich. You have begun to reign in God’s kingdom without us! I wish you really were reigning already, for then we would be reigning with you.”
Here, the apostle Paul rebuked the Corinthians for their wrong attitude and their reluctance to suffer for the sake of Christ. It seems the Corinthians may have been saying that if they were children of the King, they should be living like kings! Paul said that he wished they could “reign as kings,” but now is not the time for reigning — now is the time for suffering for Christ. The time for reigning will come later, when the Lord returns. Paul used irony to communicate his point. See also 2 Corinthians 12:13 and 16.
Many other figures of speech are used in the Bible, but the examples given above are especially important for proper interpretation. Don’t try to explain away figurative language by interpreting it in a literal way, and don’t explain away literal language by saying it’s figurative. Knowing the different types of literature and recognizing the use of language will help us to better understand God’s message to us.