01.09d. Various Figures of the Bible (5)

SEC. 67. SARCASM.--This is from the Greek sarkasmos, from sarkadzein, to tear flesh like dogs; to bite the lips in rage; to speak bitterly; to sneer. Webster says of it:

"A keen, reproachful expression; a satirical remark uttered with some degree of scorn or contempt; a taunt; a gibe; a cutting jest."

It is so related to irony that it is quite common for them to be regarded as the same. It differs, however, from the usual form of irony in its severity and evident spitefulness. It is only used for the purpose of reproof and condemnation, and when the soul is too angry to secrete its bitterness. It is used to condemn some action by seeming to order it, or decide the claims of those who are condemned.

"And they plaited a crown of thorns and put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand; and they kneeled down before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!" (Mat 27:29).

"In like manner also the chief priests mocking him among themselves with the scribes said, He saved others; himself he cannot save. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, that we may see and believe" (Mark 15:31-32). The Saviour uses sarcasm in His fierce condemnation of the self-righteousness of the Jews. They were punctilious in the payment of tithing on mint and dill and rue; they were strict in keeping the traditions of the fathers, but had little respect for the authority of God Himself.

"And he said unto them, Full well do ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your tradition" (Mark 7:9). In Paul’s anger at the high priest at Jerusalem (Acts 23:3-5), he gives vent to his feelings by the use of this figure. And when God told the Jews to get drunk and spew, He used the severest form of sarcasm.

SEC. 68. HYPERBOLE.--Greek huper, above, over, beyond; and bolee, from bolein, to throw. Webster says:

"A figure of speech in which the expression is an exaggeration of a meaning intended to be conveyed, or by which things are represented as much greater or less, better or worse, than they really are; a statement which exaggerates through passion or intense excitement."

"And there we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, which come of the Nephilim: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight" (Num 13:33). This was the report of the ten spies whose faith failed them. And, according to Deu 1:28, they also said: "The cities are great and fenced up to heaven." In Deu 9:1, Moses repeats this to the Israelites just before they passed over the Jordan. In Gen 41:49, it is said that Joseph "laid up corn as the sand of the sea, very much." God said to Abraham (Gen 13:16), "And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth; so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered." When the Midianites had overrun the land of Israel, for several years, the Lord raised up Gideon for their deliverance. But the insignificance of the army of the Lord, when compared to the Midianites and the help they had provided, is strongly expressed by Jdg 7:12 : "And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like locusts for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand which is upon the sea shore for multitude."

"And the Philistines assembled themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the sea shore in multitude" (1Sa 13:5).

"And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even an the sand that is on the sea shore" (1Ki 4:29).

"But I am a worm, and no man;
A reproach of men, and despised of the people" (Psa 22:6).

Again, in Psa 22:14-15 :

"I am poured out like water,
And all my bones are out of joint:
My heart is like wax;
It is melted in the midst of my bowels.
My strength is dried up like a potsherd;
And my tongue cleaveth to my jaws;
And thou hast brought me into the dust of death."

David expresses his sorrow in a very strong light in Psa 6:6-7 :

"I am weary with my groaning;
Every night make I my bed to swim;
I water my couch with my tears.
Mine eye wasteth away because of grief;
It waxeth old because of all mine adversaries."

"And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that should be written" (John 21:25).

"All the nations are as nothing before him; they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity" (Psa 40:17).

"Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, was this grace given" (Eph 3:8).

There need be no rule for the interpretation of the hyperbole, except to keep before the mind the purpose of the author, and the language will interpret itself. It is simply an intensification, and not used with any intent to misrepresent the facts in the case. Of course, to make these statements literal will find the Bible guilty of many falsehoods; but when we treat such figures in the Scriptures as we treat them elsewhere, there is no danger of failing to comprehend them.

SEC. 69. THE APOSTROPHE.--Greek apo, from, and strephein, to turn, a turning from, or away from. In rhetoric it is a turning away from the real auditory, and addressing an imaginary one.

(1.) When this audience is from the inanimate world, it is common to call it Personification. Yet there is a clear distinction between ascribing to them powers and volition and knowledge which do not belong to them, and addressing a speech to them. Personification is present, but it is not all; the turning aside from the regular discourse, and speaking to another than the real audience, makes it Apostrophe.

"O thou sword of the Lord, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? Put up thyself into thy scabbard; rest, and be still. How canst thou be quiet, seeing the Lord hath given thee a charge?" (Jer 47:6-7).

"O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?" (1Co 15:55).

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killeth the prophets, and stoneth them that are sent unto her! how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her own brood under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord" (Luk 13:34-35).

(2.) When the address is to an absent person, it is pure apostrophe.

"And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept: and as he went, thus he said, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!" (2Sa 18:33). This is an address to the absent son as though he were present, and is the unmixed apostrophe. The finest and boldest apostrophe found in any book is to be read in Isa 14:9-20. It is properly regarded as the prophet’s address to the king of Babylon. The man of God had seen his work of disaster until he was sick at heart, and now that the Lord permits him to see what is reserved for that power that had trampled every other to the ground, he delivers the matter with zest:

"Hell from beneath is moved for thee, to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. All they shall answer and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us? Thy pomp is brought down to hell, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and worms cover thee. How art thou fallen from heaven, O day star, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst lay low the nations! And thou saidst in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; and I will sit upon the mount of congregation, in the uttermost parts of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the uttermost parts of the pit. They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, they shall consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; that made the world as a wilderness, and overthrew the cities thereof, that let not loose his prisoners to their home? All the kings of the nations, all of them, sleep in glory, every one in his own house. But thou art cast forth away from thy sepulchre like an abominable branch, clothed with the slain, that are thrust through with the sword, that go down to the stones of the pit as a carcass trodden under foot. Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, thou hast slain thy people; the seed of evil-doers shall not be named forever" (Isa 14:9-20). This is a most wonderful address, especially when we realize that the prophet was talking to a man who was not yet born, and whose end was two hundred years away. He might have presented this in the usual form of prophecy, but he could not have given to it the strength and force that was desired. Hence he calls up the king of Babylon, and delivers to him the sentence of death, and even permits the slain kings to rise up from the grave and taunt him for not having a place in which to be buried; and the unseen is set into a roar of laughter at the pretensions of this mighty man.

SEC. 70. PERSONIFICATION.--This is a figure of speech by which inanimate beings are spoken of as animated, or endowed with life and volition; animals are endowed with feelings akin to those of men. This is well suited to an imaginary condition of mind, and therefore frequently employed in the Hebrew Scriptures. Indeed, it is now a staple in the market of communication, and we use it so commonly ourselves that we have almost ceased to think of it as a figure of speech.

"And it came to pass, as he made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them: and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods" (Num 16:31-32). The earth opening her mouth indicates volition, and intent to remove those rebels against the Lord and His servant.

"Be not therefore anxious for the morrow: for the morrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof" (Mat 6:34).

Here is a day or some period of time spoken of as having the reason and interest of men.

"The sea saw it, and fled
Jordan was driven back.
The mountains skipped like rams,
The little hills like young sheep" (Psa 114:3-4).

"The mountains saw thee, and were afraid;
The tempest of waters passed by
The deep uttered his voice,
And lifted up his hands on high.
The sun and moon stood still in their habitation;
At the light of throe arrows as they went" (Hab 3:10-11).

Here the mountains, the sea, and the sun and the moon are endowed with powers which belong to the human race, and are not in the choice of inanimate things.

"If any man thinketh himself to be religious, while he bridleth not his tongue but deceiveth his heart, this man’s religion is vain" (Jas 1:26). In this text the apostle ascribes to the tongue of man an independent power, as if it were some ferocious animal. In Jas 3:9-10, he has another use of it, very much the same.

Job, in his valuation of wisdom and search for understanding, says some beautiful things respecting its home being in the mind of God.

"The deep saith, It is not in me:
And the sea saith, It is not with me" (Job 28:14).

"Destruction and Death say,
We have heard a rumour thereof with our ears" (Job 28:22). In these texts the sea and death and destruction are regarded as considering questions which are worthy of the best minds of mortals.

"The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing. Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us" (Isa 14:7-8). This was the rejoicing of nature at the thought of the destruction of the king of Babylon. Isaiah sees everything as conforming to the feelings of the people of the Lord respecting the breaking down of that power that had retained them in bondage away from their own land. So again, when he is permitted to see the dews returning home, it seems to him as if the very land itself will be frantic with joy at the sight, once more, of the children of that country.

"For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands" (Isa 55:12).

Thus he gives to them all the volition and thought and feeling that belonged even to men.

"Go up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots; and let the mighty men go forth: Cush and Put, that handle the shield; and the Ludim, that handle and bend the bow. For that day is a day of the Lord, the Lord of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour and be satiate, and shall drink its fill of their blood" (Jer 46:9-10).

Here the horses and chariots and the sword are filled with animation, and have desires that are to be satisfied with the destruction of those who oppose their country.

Fables can only be constructed by the use of this figure of speech. From first to last, human ability must be ascribed to the lower animals, or to inanimate creatures.

SEC. 71. INTERROGATION.--This is a figure of speech when it is employed for the purpose of affirming or denying with great force. It is no longer an inquiry into any proposition, but the end of it. By it the affirmation or denial is made, and is to be understood as the conclusion of all investigation, and is only referred to because it will serve as a basis for some conclusion which it is desired to reach.

"Nicodemus saith unto them (he that came to him before, being one of them), Doth our law judge a man, except it first hear from himself and know what he doeth?" (John 7:50-51).

He meant to say that the law did not permit any man to he condemned without first having been heard, and he meant to say it with force.

"Am I not free? am I not an apostle? have I not seen Jesus our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord?" (1Co 9:1)

Surely Paul does not ask these questions for the sake of any light he might gain respecting them. He meant to say, These things are so, and you know them to be so; these are facts about which there is no doubt.

"Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? have all gifts of healings? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?" (1Co 12:29-30).

Here are seven questions to which a negative answer was expected. Indeed, they are presented as if they were the conclusion on the subject--as if he had said: You know that all are not apostles, etc.

"Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to do service for the sake of them that shall inherit salvation?" (Heb 1:14).

It was not because Paul, or any one else, doubted that the angels were ministering spirits, that he puts the question, but because on that point there was no dispute, as if he had said, You know that they fill that mission. Job indulges this style, and the Lord, when He speaks to Job, presents the thought with great force in this way.

"Canst thou by searching find out God?
Canst then find out the Almighty unto perfection?" (Job 11:7).

Zophar the Naamathite, tries this form of emphasis (see Job 20:4-5):

"Knowest thou not this of old time,
Since man was placed upon earth,
That the triumphing of the wicked is short,
And the joy of the godless but for a moment?"

He is not inquiring after anything that Job might know on that subject, but using this figure as the best way of enforcing his thought. When the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind (Job 38:1-41, Job 41:1-34), everything, almost, was put in this terse way:

"Who is this that darkeneth counsel
By words without knowledge?"
"Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?" "
Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days began!"
"Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea?"
"Have the gates of death been revealed unto thee?"
"Hast thou entered the treasuries of the snow?"
"Hath the rain a father?"
"Out of whose womb came the ice?"
"Canst thou bind the cluster of the Pleiades,
Or loose the bands of Orion?"

These are but a few for the whole; for God’s reproof of this man was by the use of the Interrogative, making him to understand that he had undertaken to speak on subjects with which he was not acquainted. The reproof had its desired effect, for he was made to feel that his knowledge was not equal to the topics on which he had spoken. But one of the finest figures of this kind is to be read in Rom 8:31-35 :

"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not also with him freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth; who is he that shall condemn? It is Christ Jesus that died, yea rather, that was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" (Rom 8:31-35).

SEC. 72. PROLEPSIS.--This is from the Greek pro, before, and lambanein, to take; hence to take beforehand. Of this figure Webster says:

"’1. (Rhet.) A figure by which objections are anticipated or prevented’--BISHOP BRAMHALL.

"’2. An error in chronology, when an event is dated before the actual time: a species of anachronism’--THEOBOLD.

"3. A necessary truth or assumption; a first or assumed principle." The works on Rhetoric seem to know nothing of this figure, and yet it is one of the most common in all languages. In the Scriptures we have Bethel spoken of at the time that Abraham came into the land of Canaan (Gen 2:8), and yet at the time of Jacob’s flight from the face of his brother, he slept there; and because of the visitation of the angels it received its name (Gen 28:10-19). When the writer gave the account, it lead long been known by that name, and he therefore speaks of it by the name commonly spoken by the people. So with Hebron; it was called Mamre, and Hebron is a later name; but because it was known by that name when the account is written, it is so denominated in the earlier record (Gen 13:18; Gen 23:2; Gen 35:27; Gen 14:14). In this way Moses is said to have seen as far north as to Dan (Deu 34:1-5). In Jos 19:47, the country is described, indicating that place in the far north where a portion of the tribe dispossessed the people of Laish, or Leshem, and built up a city, and called it Dan. But there was no place by that name when Moses looked from the top of Nebo; and certainly not when Abraham pursued the kings of the east. The account is completed, then, after the tribe had built up that city; and the name is carried back on the same principle by which we speak of "President Garfield, when, he was a boy." We do not mean to say that he was then President, but because he afterwards came to that position, we feel that we can carry back these honors, in mentioning his earlier life. So we hear of what General Grant did when he was a boy. He was not General then, but as the people have become accustomed to calling him General, we do so when referring to his early life.

"And the man called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living" (Gen 3:20). At that time she was not a mother of any one. But when Moses wrote, she stood at the maternal head of the race. So he borrows from the then present knowledge and lends to Adam.

"And the man said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh" (Gen 2:23-24). The ordination of marriage would seem to be from Adam. In Mat 19:5, the Saviour indicates that it was from God. But it is quite certain that God did not proceed at that time to instruct Adam on that subject. But long before Moses wrote the account of the beginning, marriage had been ordained, and the remark is thrown in here when the man and his wife were created, because at the time of the writing the institution had long been known. The Saviour is right in attributing it to the Father, for He was its author. In Gen 10:1-32 and Gen 11:1-32, where the three sons of Noah are written up, with their posterity, the form of writing is frequently proleptic. The account runs many centuries in advance of the time. The history had been made when Moses wrote the account, and therefore he borrows from that future record.

"And the Lord said unto her,
Two nations are in thy womb,
And two peoples shall be separated even from thy bowels;
And the one people shall be stronger than the other people.
And the elder shall serve the younger" (Gen 25:23). This would be strange, if literally true. There were the potencies; and from those two sons should spring two nations, and by the figure of prolepsis they are said to be present.

"Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus, of Bethany, of the. village of Mary and her sister Martha. And it was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick" (John 11:1-2). This anointing did not occur yet for about three months, but John speaks of it as having already taken place, because when he wrote the account it was generally known that she did this (John 12:5). So in Mat 10:4, Judas is mentioned as the one who betrayed Christ, and yet it was more than a year before the betrayal took place. He dates the event ahead, because at the time of writing it was known to almost every one who it was that betrayed Him. On the same principle the Saviour says (Mat 22:30), "For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as angels in heaven." Here they are spoken of as having passed into the resurrection state already, and they were a long ways from it; but in the contemplation of that condition He correctly speaks of it as present, and puts "they are," for they will be. When the object is high, the intervening distance becomes trivial. Hence the Messianic prophecies are generally spoken of as if the event was just at hand, or even in the past. "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given" (Isa 9:6). In view of the ascension and coronation that were soon to follow, Jesus came to His disciples and said, "All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth" (Mat 28:18).

Care must be taken that we do not avoid any facts respecting the time of any event. It will be easy to say that any reference to time, present or past, is a proleptic statement. We must be sure that we are not making a contradiction in the word of God by the introduction of this figure. However, there is but little danger in the hands of any conscientious man, for the presence of the figure is so guarded that there is no mistaking it. And when there is no such necessity laid upon us, we will do better not to regard the language as proleptic.

SEC. 73. PARALLELISM.--Greek parallelismos, from para, beside, and allelo, each. As a figure of speech, it is placing beside each other several lines having the same or similar import. Bishop Lowth maintains that it is the sole characteristic of Hebrew poetry; that it is a certain equality, resemblance, or relationship, between the members of each period; so that in two lines, or members of the same period, things shall answer to things, and words to words, as if fitted to each other by a kind of measure or rule. Such is the general strain of Hebrew poetry. The origin of this form of poetical composition among the Hebrews, is supposed to be the chanting of songs, when one company or choir answers another. It is understood that Moses and Miriam (Exo 15:1-27), conducted their joyful singing in that way. In 1Sa 18:7, it is quite certain that the women in their praises of David and Saul gave a song in this way. So it was when Deborah and Barak rejoiced against Sisera and his men, that they sang back and forth at each other in this responsive way. But to call this the origin of parallelism is certainly to miss the facts. The mind is most likely to give off poetry when highly wrought by love, triumph, or anger. There are few poets among farmers on level land, who pass their time in an even way. The imagination necessary to that kind of composition is not aroused. But those who live in mountainous countries, and are frequently thrown into a highly excited condition, will dream and talk in poetry. In the song of Deborah and Barak it is clear that the construction was the result of an exultant state of mind. They are not now angry, but they rejoice that their enemies have been destroyed. But in the response of Mary to Elizabeth, it can be seen that her heart is overflowing with love and gratitude to God for his wonderful works.

"And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
For he hath looked upon the low estate of his handmaiden.
For, behold, from henceforth
All generations shall call me blessed.
For he that is mighty hath done to me great things;
And holy is his name.
And his mercy is unto generations and generations
On them that fear him.
He hath shewed strength with his arm;
He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their heart.
He hath put down princes from their thrones,
And hath exalted them of low degree.
The hungry he hath filled with good things;
And the rich he hath sent empty away.
He hath holpen Israel his servant,
That he might remember mercy;
(As he spake unto our fathers)
Toward Abraham and his seed forever", (Luk 1:46-55). A careful reading of this address will cause any one to see the parallel lines and rhythm in the heart wrought to the highest tension with love for and praise to God. But when Laban followed the fleeing Jacob out of Paddan-aram, and overtook him in the mountains of Gilead, his mind was highly wrought, but in a very different way.

"What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen away unawares to me,
And carried away my daughters, as captives of the sword?
Wherefore didst thou flee secretly,
And steal away from me;
And didst not tell me, that I might have sent thee away with mirth,
And with songs, with tabret, and with harp?" (Gen 31:26-28).

Laban makes a search for his teraphim, and finds nothing that was his, and Jacob is angry, and chides in the same way:

"What is my trespass?
What is my sin,
That thou hast hotly pursued after me?
Whereas thou hast felt about all my stuff,
What hast thou found of all thy household stuff?
Set it here before my brethren and thy brethren,
That they may judge betwixt us two" (Gen 31:36-37).

I think it certain that this figure of speech has had its origin in the passions of the people, for it suited well as a method of giving vent to their feelings. A short, crisp, terse sentence or statement, and another following just like it in sentiment, gives the emphasis that is in a heart full of love or anger.

There are so many forms of parallelism that it will be better to treat it under the several heads into which it is naturally divided.