Figurative Language: The Syndoche

A Synecdoche is a trope in which,

1. The whole is put for a part;
2. A part is put for the whole.
3. A certain number for an uncertain one.
4. A general name for a particular one.
5. Special words for general ones.

Following are a few examples to illustrate a Synecdoche.

The Roman Empire was but a small part of the world, yet it was a remarkable part of the world. In various verses, the Roman Empire is referred to as the world. 

1. Acts 24:5, “For we have found this man a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world (Roman Empire.)”

2. Revelation 3:10, “I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world (Roman empire,) to try them that dwell upon the earth.”

The world is referred to as the earth, which is a part of it.

1. 2 Peter 3:6, “Whereby the world (earth) that then was, being overflowed with water, perished.”

2. Romans 1:8, “I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world (earth.)”

3. 1 John 5:19, “We know that we are of God, and the whole world (earth) lieth in wickedness.”

When the whole is put for a part: As the man for the soul,

Luke 16:23, “In hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.” Here the rich man, Abraham, and Lazarus, are respectively put for their souls;

Man is sometimes put for the body. In the following passages, Jesus is put for His dead body.

1. John 19:42, “There laid they Jesus.”

2. John 20:2, “They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulcher, and we know not where they have laid Him.”

3. John 20:13, “They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid Him.”

4. Luke 24:3, “They entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.”

Time is put for a PART of time, as in,

1. Daniel 2:4, “O king, live for ever,” which simply means, we wish you a long life and reign.

2. Genesis 17:19, “I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.” Here the words everlasting covenant means, as long as the Jewish policy subsists, or until Messiah come,

Genesis 49:10, “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, not a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be.”

Exodus 21:6, concerning a servant who shall say, “I love my master, — I will not go out free: his master shall — bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever.” The expression “for ever,” meaning the year of jubilee.”

Another class of Synecdoche may be referring to the plural number, which is sometimes put for the singular.

In the following, only one of these things, or persons mentioned is to be understood.

1. Genesis 8:4, “upon the mountains of Ararat.” This term “mountains,” is referring to the top of the mountainous range.

2. Amos 6:10, “by the sides (side) of the house.”

3. Jonah 1:5, “Jonah was gone down into the sides (side) of the ship.”

4. Matthew 21:7, “And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set Him thereon,” compared with,

Zechariah 9:9, “thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

5. Mark 1:2, “As it is written in the prophets.” Prophets refer to Malachi.

6. John 6:45, “It is written in the prophets,” referring to Isaiah.

7. Acts 13:40-41, “Beware therefore, let that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets; Behold, — I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you,” referring to Habakkuk.

Where children, is put for child:

1. Genesis 21:7, “Sarah should have given children (one child) suck?”

2. Genesis 46:7, “His sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters.” Jacob had but one daughter, verse 15. and one grand-daughter, verse 17.

3. So also the “sons” of Dan, verse 23, Dan having but one son.

4. Also the “cities” of Gilead where Jephtare is said to have been buried, is mentioned in Judges 12:7. Jephthah was buried in but one city in that region.

5. Our Savior speaks of Himself in the plural number,

John 3:2, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, we speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.”

When sometimes the part is put for the whole:

1. In Genesis 1:5-8-13-19-23-31, where the evening and the morning, being the principal parts of the day, are put for the entire day.

2. When the soul is put for the whole man, as in,

Acts 27:37, “We were in all in the ship two hundred threescore and sixteen souls .”

3. Genesis 12:5, “the souls that they had gotten in Haran.”

4. Genesis 17:14, Exododus 12:19, “That soul shall be cut off.”

5. Leviticus 4:2, “If a soul shall sin.”

6. Acts 2:41, “there were added unto them about three thousand souls.”

When the singular number is put for the plural, this usually takes place when the Scriptures speak of the multitude collectively. 

1. Genesis 3:8, Tree in the Hebrew is put for trees.

2. Genesis 49:6, “in their anger they slew a man,” meaning they slew many men.

3. Exodus 14:17, “I (God) will get me honour upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host,” host meaning the whole multitude of his chariots which are numbered (600) in verse 7.

4. Exodus 15:1-21, “the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.” This is put collectively for the horses and horse-men who were in the Egyptian army.

5. Exodus 23:28, “I will — drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before thee.” This speaks collectively of the whole of their people.

6. The following verses speak of the oxen, strokes, turtles, cranes, swallows, etc. collectively as a whole.

A. Isaiah 1:3, “The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib,”
B. Jeremiah 8:7, “The stork in heaven — the turtle and the crane and the swallow.”
C. Joel 1:4, “the palmerworm — the locust, — cancerworm, — caterpillar eaten.”
d. Revelation 21:21, “the street of the city,” meaning streets of the city.”

Frequently a certain or definite number is put for an uncertain and indefinite number. At times we will find double meaning, “much, or, sufficient. This is found in,

1. Isaiah 40:2, “she (Jerusalem) hath received of the LORD’S hand double for all her sins.”

2. Isaiah 61:7, “For your shame ye shall have double.”

3. Jeremiah 16:18, “I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double.”

4. Zechariah 9:12, “I declare that I will render double unto thee.”

5. Revelation 18:6, “double unto her double according to her works.”

“Twice,” meaning several times, as in, Psalms 62:11, “God
hath spoken once; twice have I heard this.”

“Five,” meaning a few,

1 Corinthians 14:19, “Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding.” In this same verse, ten thousand are put for many, “ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.” “ten,” for many,

Genesis 31:7, “your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten time.”

1 Samuel 1:8, “Am not I better to thee than ten sons?”

Frequently we have seven, for an indefinite number.

Genesis 4:15, “Vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.”

Leviticus 26:18-21-24-28, “I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins.”

Ruth 4:15, “thy daughter in law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons.”

1 Samuel 2:5, “the barren hath born seven.”

Psalms 12:6, “the words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.”

Psalms 119:164, “Seven times a day do I praise thee.”

Proverbs 24:16, “A just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again.”

Proverbs 26:25, “For there are seven abominations in his heart.”

Isaiah 4:1, “In that day seven women shall take hold of one man.”

Jeremiah 15:9, “She that hath borne seven languisheth.”

Ezekiel 39:9-12, “Seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them.”

Matthew 12:45, “Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself.”

One hundred is put for many, or indefinately, see,

Ecclesiastes 6:3, “If a man beget an hundred children.”

Ecclesiastes 8:12, “Though a sinner do evil an hundred times.”

Proverbs 17:10, “A reproof entereth more into a wise man than an hundred stripes into a fool.”

Matthew 19:29, “Every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, — shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.”

Luke 8:8, “Other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold.”

A thousand is said to be a great many,

Exodus 20:6, “Shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me.”

Exodus 34:7, “Keeping mercy for thousands.”

Deuteronomy 1:11, “The LORD God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as ye are.”

1 Samuel 18:7, “Saul hath slain his thousands.”

Numbers 10:36, “Return O LORD, unto the many thousands of Israel.”

Ten thousand thousand for a countless host,

Psalms 3:6, “I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people.”

Daniel 7:10, “Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him.”

Revelation 5:11, “I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne — the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands.”

When a general name is put for a particular one:

Mark 16:15, “Preach the gospel to every creature,” where every creature means all mankind.

As flesh denotes all mankind:

Genesis 6:12, “All flesh had corrupted His way upon the earth.”

Psalms 145:21, “Let all flesh bless His holy name for ever and ever.”

Isaiah 40:5-6, “The glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.”

Isaiah 66:23, “All flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.”

Matthew 24:22, “Except these days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved.”

Luke 3:6, “All flesh shall see the salvation of God.”

Romans 3:20, “By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight.”

Sometimes special words or particular names are put for such as are general.

Jehovah in Psalms 46:9, is said to break the bow, and cut the spear in sunder, and to burn the chariot in fire. This meaning, God destroys all the weapons of war, and blesses the world with peace.

In Daniel 12:2, we read, many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake; some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Here many is put for all that have died.

So man, generally, is put for all mankind, both male and female,

Psalms 1:1, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly.”

Mark 16:16, “He (any person) that believeth.”

Numerous similar passages might be addressed. Father is put for any ancestor,

Psalms 22:4, “Our fathers trusted in thee.”

Psalms 44:1, “Our fathers have told us.”

Psalms 106:6, “We have sinned with our fathers.”

Father is used at times for grandfather: 

2 Samuel 9:7, “I will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy father’s sake.”

Daniel 5:11, “thy father made master (chief) of the magicians.”

Mother is sometimes used for grandmother; 

1 Kings 15:10-13, compare with verses 2-8.

Brother for kinsman,

Genesis 13:8, “we are brethren.”

Genesis 14:14, Abram heard that his brother was taken captive,” with,

Genesis 12:5, “Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son.”

Matthew 12:46, “Behold, his mother and his brethren (brothers) stood without.”

John 7:3-5, “Neither did his brethren believe in him.”

In the same way, SON is put for any of the posterity; Laban is said to be Nahor’s son, in Genesis 29:5, This when Labab was the son of bethuel, and the grandson or nephew of Nahor.

Compare, Genesis 22:20-23, with Genesis 24:29.

Rebekah is called Abraham’s brother’s daughter, Genesis 24:48.

Father and mother intending all superiors,

Exodus 20:12, “Honour thy father and thy mother.”

Also in the manner, the Greeks, who are the most eminent of the heathen nations, are put for the whole Gentile world, see in,

Romans 1:16, “to the Jews first, and also to the Greek.”

Galatians 3:28, Colossians 3:11, “There is neither Jew nor Greek.”

Bread means all the necessities of life, see in,

Matthew 6:11, and numerous other places, “Give us this day our daily bread.”

The fatherless and widows are put for any who are in distress or affliction,

Isaiah 1:17-23, “They judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.”

James 1:27, “To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction.”

Hope the above information can be a learning tool for us all.

Phillip LaSpino www.seekfirstwisdom.com