Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 164:655 (Jul 2007)
Article: The Use Of Figures Of Speech In The Bible
Author: Michael E. Travers

BSac 164:655 (July-September 2007) p. 277

The Use Of Figures Of Speech In The Bible

Michael E. Travers

Michael E. Travers is Professor of English, Southeastern College at Wake Forest, Wake Forest, North Carolina.

Figures of speech abound in the Bible. In the Old Testament the psalms use figures of speech to represent God as a warrior and a shepherd. The Book of Job includes many figures of speech, such as the sea being shut in with “doors” and clouds described as a “garment” (Job 38:8–9). Also the prophetic books often include figurative language, such as Nineveh being described as a ravaged lions’ den in Nahum 2:11–13. Poems in the Pentateuch use figurative language extensively, specifically those in Exodus 15 and Deuteronomy 32.

The New Testament has many figures of speech as well. In Luke’s nativity account the Te Deum (Luke 1:68–79) and the Nunc Dimittis (2:29–32) make extensive use of light and dark as figures of speech. Many of Jesus’ parables use figurative language. Also the Book of Revelation uses numerous figures of speech. How are figures of speech to be interpreted, and how do they contribute to theology?

More than a century ago Bullinger listed over two hundred kinds of figures of speech in the Bible.1 He wrote that no other “branch of Bible study can be more important, or offer greater promise of substantial reward” than the study of its figures of speech.2 An example of the significance of figures of speech in the Bible is seen in the bread and wine of the Last Supper. Interpretation is so important that disagreement over whether these words are figurative has separated denominations. Christ told His disciples

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that the bread was His body and the cup was His blood in the New Covenant (Matt. 26:26–28; Mark 14:22–24; Luke 22:19–20). Obviously He could not have been speaking literally here, or a miraculous transformation in front of the disciples’ eyes would have occurred—and that did not happen. This metaphor and countless other figures of speech show how important it is to interpret figures of speech appropriately.

Scope And Nature Of Figures Of Speech