Literal vs Figurative Language in the Bible

• Read through the articles and take notes in your workbooks:
• Watch the video: Figurative Language in the Bible - Lesson | Study.com
• Literal language


  Language that is used in its basic, dictionary definition, and not metaphorical or symbolic
• Figurative language


  Language that uses figures of speech, such as metaphors, similes, and analogies, to convey a meaning that is different from the literal definition of the words
• Psalm 51:13


  Literal language
• Psalm 51:13


  • "Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you."
• Isaiah 53:1-2


  Figurative language
• Isaiah 53:1-2


  • "He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground."
• Psalm 33:18-19


  Literal language
• Psalm 33:18-19


  • "But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine."
• Sirach 6:14-16


  Figurative language
• Sirach 6:14-16


  • "A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter:"
• Philemon 1:6


  Literal language
• Philemon 1:6


  • "I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ."
• Sirach 6:8


  Literal language
• Sirach 6:8


  • "Some people will be your friends only when it is convenient for them, but they won't stand by you in trouble."
• Psalm 23:4


  Figurative language
• Psalm 23:4


  • "I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me."
• Psalm 33:4


  Literal language
• Psalm 33:4


  • "For the word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he does."
• The original languages of the scriptures were intended to be read and understood by people of average education and intelligence.
• Legitimate Interpretation


  Discovering what was intended by the writer, not what we think he should have meant.
• Jesus frequently used similes as a device in parables about the Kingdom.

  ex. "Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it" - Matt. 13:45-46
• Metaphor


  Jesus said his people are "the salt of the earth", meaning nothing about their mineral composition, but they are similar to the element in its preservative power.
• Revelation is a book of symbols.
• Synecdoche


  Practice of referencing a whole by naming a part.
• Metonymy


  Names something connected with a thing to represent it.
• Symbolism must not contradict plain Bible truth.
• 1. Figurative interpretation must always be in harmony with the context, including the entire context of the scripture.
• 2. Figurative if the literal meaning involves an impossibility.
• 3. Figurative if the literal sense would demand wrong actions or forbid doing right.
• Trope


  When a word is employed in another than its primary meaning.

  Tropos (Greek): a turn or twist of language.
• 2 Distinct Classes of Figures of Speech

  1. Figures of words: single word
  2. Figures of thought: many words for expression
• Scripture's picturesque language is Palestine's natural manner of speech.
• The Word of God must demand the departure from the literary sense.