Metaphors, Tropes, Allegories, Riddles, Proverbs, Catachresis:
A metaphor is a trope, by which a word is diverted from its proper and original meaning to another, this for the sake of comparison, or because there is some analogy between the visible likeness or image; and/or to give an imaginative comparison to the thing indicated.
Of all the means in the art of speaking and writing, the metaphor is that which is most frequently used in Scripture. A metaphor is used to enrich one’s mind with two ideas at the same time, they being the truth and the similitude. Following are several passages that should illustrate the idea quite well in the description of a metaphor.
Deuteronomy 32:42, “I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh.”
This first metaphor, “I will make mine arrows drunk with blood,” is borrowed from the idea of excessive and uncontrolled drinking. Excessive drinking as a way of life will ruin physically, mentally, and morally.
The comparison: It is to announce a great loss of blood = (life,) and the total ruin and destruction which would come upon the disobedient Israelites if they continue in their ways.
The second metaphor, God said, “And my sword shall devour flesh,” is drawn from the live image of a hungry beast, having a ravenous appetite for flesh.
This metaphor gives us an animated and lively picture that presents to the readers mind the impossibility of there being any escape from the wrath and judgments of God, should He be provoked. In His hand He carries a two edged sword in which no sinner can escape.
Psalms 139:2, The Psalmist wrote, “Thou understandest my thought afar off.”
Here the metaphor is taken from the prospect of a distant object. But in a correct sense the phrase assures all believers that God, by His presence, knows our innermost thoughts well before they come into our hearts, or are spoken with our mouths.
So in order to understand a metaphor correctly, it should be observed that the foundation of each metaphor consists in a likeness or similarity between the thing from which it is drawn and that which it is applied. When the resemblance is shown in one or more expressions, it is termed a simple metaphor.
When it is pursued with a variety of expressions, or there is a continued assemblage of metaphors, it is called an allegory.
When a metaphor is hidden in, included, or involved in a short sentence, it being obscure and ambiguous, it is called a riddle.
If it is conveyed in a short saying only, it is a proverb; and if the metaphorical representation is delivered in the form of a history, it is a parable.
When the resemblance seems to be far-fetched one, as in,
Revelation 1:12, “I turned to see the voice that spake with me,” it is termed a catachresis. A catachresis is used the least of all the above.
The metaphor is indispensable and a great necessity in the Scriptures. With this tool, the writers of Scriptures were given the opportunity to impart the things of God to men. Scriptural metaphors may be classified under four headings, natural, artificial, sacred, and historical.
Nature furnished the first and the most abundant, exuberate, colorful, and complete sources of imagery in the Bible. Example, Light and darkness are commonly made use of in most all languages as meaning prosperity and adversity. A great deal of light implies a larger proportion of joy and prosperity, and vise versa.
1. Isaiah 13:9-10, “The day of the LORD cometh, — He shall destroy the sinners thereof — the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.”
2. Isaiah 59:9, “We wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness.”
3. Joel 2:10, “The sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.” Also see Isa. 30:26, 60:19-20. Jer.15:9. Amos 8:9. Micah 3:6.
The same metaphors of light and darkness are also used to mean knowledge and ignorance.
1. Isaiah 8:20, “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”
2. Isaiah 9:2, “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.”
Ephesians 5:8, “ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light.” See also Matt.4:16.
At times the sun, moon, and stars, figuratively represent kings, queens, and princes or rulers.
1. Isaiah 24:23, “Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed.
2. Ezekiel 32:7, God said, “I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light.”
“The lights of heaven,” are at times applied to give us the conception of God’s mighty powers and of the glory of His kingdom.
Psalms 84:11, The Lord is said to be a sun and shield; a sun to give light to His people and a shield to protect them from the power of darkness.
Christ is said to the “sun of righteousness.” As the natural sun supplies, renews, and restores life to nature, Christ shines with the new light of life and immortality to those who at one time sat in darkness and in the shadow of death.
For today’s Christian church, we are to receive Christ under this glorious character of Light.
Isaiah 60:1, “Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee,” as in,
1 Timothy 3:16, K.J.V. “God was manifest in the flesh.” John wrote that Jesus said of Himself, “I am the Light of the world.”
In the absence of Christ, His place is taken by the light of Scriptures, which is,
Psalms 119:125, “A lamp unto our feet,” and a light unto our paths. The words of prophesy are as a light shining in a dark place; and as we grow in the word, it is by the light of a lamp.
The moon is used as an emblem of the church, which receives it light from Christ, just as the moon does from the sun. Making new the light of the moon each night signifies the renewing of the light of the body of believers, the church of Christ.
The angels or minister of the churches mentioned in Revelation 2 and 3, are signified by the seven stars. Ministers are to hold forth the truth of the word of life, and the light shines forth from them before the Christian community, just as the stars show their light to the world in the evening. This is why Christians are called, “The children of the light.”
In the lands of little rain, intolerable heat, where the ground become hard as clay, the plants and grasses wither, and the watering holes dry out; rain is always hoped for and welcomed. And in case like this flowing springs, showers, and nightly dews which fertilize the fields, give man a pleasing image, so these pictures are used as metaphors.
Isaiah 41:18, God said, “I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.”
Isaiah 35:1-6-7, “The desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. — for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. and the parched ground shall become a pool, etc.”
The blessing of the Gospel are portrayed under the metaphors of the following:
Of dew,
Isaiah 26:19, “Thy dead men shall live, — Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.”
Of moderate rains,
Hosea 6:3, “He shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.”
Of gentle streams and running waters,
Isaiah 27:3, “I will water it every moment.”
Isaiah 44:3, “I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground.”
On the other side of the coin, no metaphor is more frequently used than that in which calamities are expressed, this under a deluge or flood of water. The Jewish people seemed to be very familiar with this form of metaphor. This was the nature and state of their country, so it was well understood.
The Jordan overflowed its banks annually. In Lebanon and in the neighboring mountains where snow melted and the waters of the river would suddenly descend like a torrent on the land, the whole of the nation would be exposed to flooding rains.
So in metaphors, rains, hail, floods, inundations, and torrents pointed to judgments and destruction,
Isaiah 8:7, “The Lord bringeth up upon them = (Israel) the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks.”
Jeremiah 48:2, “Behold waters rise up out of the north, and shall be an overflow flood, and shall overflow the land.”
Ezekiel 38:22. David alluded to this in,
Psalms 42:7, “All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.”
A class of metaphors is derived from natural objects. Metaphor by which things belonging to creatures and especially to man are attributed to God and the personification, that is, the change of things to persons, and both are closely allied to the metaphor.
Anthropophagous: Things subject to human passions or the application of human passions to God. When considering this, the two following rules must be kept in mind.
That we understand the metaphor in a way and manner suitable to the nature and majesty of the Almighty, refining them from all the imperfections that debase man, then attribute them to God. In doing this we do not ascribe to God, or perceive him as a venerable old man, sitting in heaven to observe and to censure man. Example, Mans eyes may dim with age, but not so the eyes of God.
The eye, being a member of the body by which we see, is used to denote God’s perfect and exact knowledge of all things,
Job 34:21, “For His eyes are upon the ways of man, and He seeth all his goings.”
Psalms 11:4, “For thou hast said, my doctrine is pure, and I am clean in thine eyes.”
Hebrews 4:13, “Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him –.”
God’s watchful providence,
Deuteronomy 11:12, “A land which the LORD thy God careth for: the eyes of the LORD thy God are always upon it.” Also,
1 Kings 9:3, “And the LORD said, unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me:”
Psalms 34:15, “The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.”
Ears are attributed to Him to signify His gracious acceptance of His people’s prayers.
Psalms 10:17, “LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear.”
Psalms 31:2, “Bow down thine ear to me.”
As to the notice of the sin’s of men see,
James 5:4, “Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabbath.”
By His arm, we are to understand His power, strength, see,
Exodus 15:16, “Fear and dread shall fall upon them: by the greatness of thine arm they shall be as still as a stone.”
His right hand.
Psalms 118:15-16, “The right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly. The right hand of the LORD is exalted: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly.”
His works are expressed by His fingers,
Exodus 8:19, “This is the finger of God.”
Psalms 8:3, “When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained.”
His love and compassion by His bowels,
Isaiah 63:15, “Where is thy zeal and thy strength, and the sounding of thy bowels and of thy mercies toward me? are they restrained?”
Jeremiah 31:20, “Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the LORD.”
Through the bowels of the mercy of God,
Luke 1:78, “Whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,”
The Jewish writers took many of their figures from the ordinary occupations and customs of life. Example, the people were a nation of farmers and shepherds, the rulers of families and governors possessed great flocks and herds which they tended, and many applied themselves to agriculture.
Every Israelite received their allotted portion of land which they tended. This would then be passed to their children. Numerous metaphors in Scripture come from these occupations of farming and the tending of sheep. Two were to guard and to keep. We see objects such as barns, threshing floors, etc. used in a most sublime way, yet were a force to the most important subjects.
Habakkuk 3:12, “Thou didst thresh the heathen in anger.”
Jehovah threshes out the heathen, and trample them beneath His feet.
Joel 3:13, “Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.”
Jeremiah 51:33. Isa.21:10, “O my threshing, and the corn of my floor: that which I have heard of the LORD of hosts.”
Micah 4:13, “Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass: and thou shalt beat in pieces many people.”
The allusion in the N.T. of a country setting and the shepherd are almost as numerous as those in the O.T.
Matthew 13:38. The world is compared to a field; the children of the kingdom to wheat, and the children of the wicked to tares.
The end of the world is the harvest. The angels are the reapers.
Matthew 13:39, “And the reapers are the angels.”
A preacher of the word is the sower.
Matthew 13:3, “Behold, a sower went forth to sow.”
The word of God is the seed. The heart of man is the ground.
Luke 8:15, “But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.”
Hebrews 6:7. “For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God.”
The cares, riches, and pleasures of life are the thorns.
Luke 8:14, “And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with the cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection (maturity.)”
Hebrews 6:8, “But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.”
The preparation of the heart of man for repentance is to plough and break up the unplowed ground.
Death which cuts down the flowers of the field is a mower.
Hosea 10:12, “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till He come and rain righteousness upon you.”
Psalms 90:6, “In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth.”
The minister, who serves under God is His husbandry, the laborer.
Matthew 9:37-38, “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, and that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.”
1 Corinthians 3:9, “For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.”
The wicked among men are stubble.
Isaiah 47:14, “Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them.”
The temptations and trial of God fearing men and women are the sifting of the wheat.
Luke 22:31, “The Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat.”
When Jehovah is described as coming to execute His judgment, to deliver the saints, to destroy His enemies, and to show His power upon earth, the description is taken from that scene which was exhibited on Mt. Sinai as He delivered the law. Examples are mentioned in,
Psalms 18:7 thru 15. Please read.
Micah 1:3-4, “The LORD cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth. And the mountains shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, and as the waters that are poured down a steep place.”
I hope you enjoyed reading this subject as much as I enjoyed doing it. There is so much more, so do some further research, for it will enhance your understanding of Scriptures, and the Lord will bless you mightily.
Phillip LaSpino www.seekfirstwisdom.com