Figures of Speech

Figures of Speech

All language is ruled by laws, but to convey special emphasis of a word or group of words, these general laws of language are purposefully departed from, and other laws of language are invoked, giving the single word or group of words a new form. The Greeks called these departures from normal language use, schemata, meaning “change of forms,” from which the term “figure of speech” originated. When a word or words fail to be true to fact, they are figures of speech and bring an added emphasis to the basic truth of a sentence.

E. W. Bullinger stated in the beginning note of his book Figures of Speech Used in the Bible:

…whenever and wherever it is possible, the words of Scripture are to be understood literally, but when a statement appears to be contrary to our experience, or to known fact, or revealed truth; or seems to be a variance with the general teaching of the Scriptures, then we may reasonably expect that some figure is employed. And as it is employed only to call our attention to some specially designed emphasis, we are at once bound to diligently examine the figure for the purpose of discovering and learning the truth that is thus emphasized.

One phrase above that should be noted is specially designed emphasis. The study of figures of speech needs to be integrally linked with a search for this emphasis. In How to Enjoy the Bible, Bullinger clarified how important this emphasis was: “the Figures, when used in connection with the ‘words which the Holy Ghost teacheth,’ give us the Holy Spirit’s own marking, so to speak, of our Bible…calling our attention to what He desires us to notice for our learning, as being emphatic, and conveying His own special teaching.” Every author has used figures for emphasis on what is important, but it is crucial to our understanding of the Bible to know what God intended to be emphasized in any particular passage. Thus, the search in this field should be to find out what each type of figure emphasizes and how it is used in a verse or passage.

The Aramaic Peshitta New Testament Translation is filled with footnotes and markings in the text itself of the common figures of speech. It is not marking every single figure of speech possible, but marks the ones which contribute to an added understanding of the text. Light of the Word Ministry is developing a simple classification system that will clear up many of the misunderstandings in this field and enable the Bible student to understand what the emphasis from the Holy Spirit is in a particular passage. A figure is always used to add force to the truth presented, emphasis to the word or words and depth of meaning to the entire context. The type of figure determines the emphasis in the following five general ways:

Illustration: this category includes all types of comparisons. The emphasis is on the points of comparison.
Repetition: The repeated word is what is emphasized. The closer the repetition, or the more frequently it is used, the greater is the degree of emphasis.
Meaning: Although this category is broad, the underlying meaning is always emphasized.
Grammar: This category covers all uses that have a grammatical basis. Each figure has an individualemphasis, but is always employed with consistency.
Rhetoric: The general rule of this category is that the word or phrase used with the figure is what is emphasized. There are two subcategories, interjection and parenthesis.

Now that we have looked at the general categories, please study the Figures of Speech code chart and pay particular attention to the column about emphasis. We have listed both the Greek/Latin name and also the English name in order to help with this study.

Table of Figure Codes
Category	Figure	English Name	Definition	Emphasis	Notes	Code
Grammar	Asterismos	Indicating	Employing some word which directs special attention to some particular point of subject	Calls attention to what follows	Examples include the phrase, "truly I say to you"	*
Grammar	Asyndeton	No-Ands	An enumeration of things without conjunctions	The whole unit	It is important to view the group as a whole unit, may have climactic emphasis on last item in list.	a
Rhetoric	Anacoluthon	Non-Sequence	A breaking off the sequence of thought	The new pronoun	Beginning of the change of pronoun is important to note.	ac
Illustration	Allegory	Allegory	Continued comparison by representation or implication	Points of comparison	Allegory is broader term in Semitic languages.	al
Meaning	Antimeria	Exchange of Parts of Speech	The exchange of a noun for an adjective or adverb	The changed word	In genitive phrase, the second noun is an adjective	an
Repetition	Antanaclasis	Word-Clashing	Repetition of the same word in the same sentence, with different meanings	1st meaning used is more important	Homonym - same word has more than one usage.	at
Meaning	Antiptosis	Exchange of Cases	One Case is put for another Case, the governing Noun being used as the Adjective instead of the Noun in regimen	The changed word	The first noun is the adjective	as
Rhetoric	Benedictio	Blessing	An expression of feeling by way of Benediction or blessing	The act of blessing and the blessing itself	The phrase may end with "Amen."	be
Meaning	Anthropopatheia	Condescension	The ascribing of human attributes to God	God's diversity and greatness	Hebrew name is Derech Benai Adam, "the way of the sons of man."	c
Rhetoric	Ellipsis	Omission	Words omitted from a sentence or phrase that are necessary to complete the grammar, but not the sense	The omitted word or concept	There are many kinds of ellipsis	e
Meaning	Euphemismos	Ephemism	Change of what is unpleasant for pleasant	The reality of what is meant	Emphasis is on the unpleasant concept	eu
Illustration	Hypocatastasis	Implication	A declaration that implies the resemblance or representation, comparison by implication	What is compared	There is an implication of similar qualities. Can be a verb or noun.	h
Meaning	Hendiadys	Two for One	Two words used, but one thing meant	The combination of concepts	The one thing meant is greater than the individual meanings of the two words.	he
Meaning	Heterosis	Exchange	Exchange of one accidence of part of speech for another	The correct form	This is especially used with verb tenses.	ht
Rhetoric	Interjectio	Interjection	A parenthetic addition complete in itself, thrown in between, an exclamation	What follows the exclamation	This is a broad figure, covering many kinds of interjections and exclamations.	i
Meaning	Metonymy	Change of Noun	The change of one noun for another related noun	The related noun	There are several types	m
Illustration	Metaphor	Representation	A declaration that one thing is (or represents) another, or comparison by representation	Quality that is compared	Usually has form of the verb "to be"	me
Rhetoric	Meiosis	Belittling	A belittling of something in order to magnify something else	The true meaning	Compare tapeinosis	mi
Meaning	Merismos	Distribution	An enumeration of the parts of a whole that has been mentioned	The whole	Example: "morning and evening" means the whole day	mr
Meaning	Metalepsis	Double Metonymy	Two metony-mies, one contained in the other, but only one expressed	The meaning underneath	There are at least two steps to discover the meaning	mt
Grammar	Polysyndeton	Many-Ands	The repetition of the word "and" at the beginning of successive clauses or sentences	Each connected noun or phrase	Consider each word connected with "and" carefully.	p
Rhetoric	Rhetoric	Parenthesis	A parenthetic addition complete in itself, but needs context to be understood	The following sentence	This is the true figure of parenthesis used as an explanation or description.	pa
Illustration	Parabola	Parable	Comparison by continued resemblance	Points of comparison	Can be an extended simile with more than one point of comparison. Parable is a broader term in Semitic languages.	pb
Illustration	Prosopopoeia	Personification	Things or ideas represented as persons	the action	Human characteristics or actions are given to inanimate objects or abstract ideas.	pe
Meaning	Periphrasis	Circumlocution	When a description is used instead of the name	The action	Example: "lifted up his voice"	pr
Illustration	Simile	Resemblance	A declaration that one thing resembles another, comparison by resemblance	Quality that is compared	Uses "like" or "as" in comparison.	s
Meaning	Synecdoche	Transfer (or Part for Whole)	The exchange of one idea for another associated idea	The implied idea	This figure is often used of time.	sy
Rhetoric	Tapeinosis	Demeaning	A lessening of a thing in order to increase it	The superlative meaning	Differs from meiosis - the word(s) emphasized are the same.	t