Is Jesus a Thief?: A look at the colorful figures of speech in Scripture

Reprinted with permission from the author. This article originally appeared in Discipleship Journal, Issue 89 Sep/Oct1995.

“I enjoy helping others get the most from their Bible study,” says Lance. “Learning how to deal with figurative language is a step in that process.”

Language is God’s handiwork.Those He inspired to write the Scriptures—from Moses and the prophets to Jesus, Paul, Peter, and John—became language masters. Often, God led them to use literary techniques to communicate His Word. One of the most common of these techniques is figures of speech. Found in all literature, figures of speech have been called the “ornaments of language.” They allow the author to transform a simple literal idea into a clearer, more graphic image for the reader. Let’s take a look at some of the most frequently used figures of speech in the Bible.

Figures of Comparison
Simile: A comparison in which something is said to be “like” or “as” another thing.
Example: ”As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God” (Ps. 42:1).

Metaphor: A comparison in which it is said that something “is” another thing.

Example: ”Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path” (Ps. 119:105).

How to interpret: Similes and metaphors force us to stop and consider how one thing compares with another. How is the longing of our souls like the longings of a deer? In what ways is God’s Word a lamp and a light? Once we see what they share in common, we will understand what God is saying to us.

We must be careful not to press the comparisons too far, beyond what they could have meant to the original audience. It would be wrong to conclude from Rev. 16:15 that Jesus is a thief! When He said, “Behold, I come like a thief,” the point of comparison is that of unexpectedness, not questionable character. In comparing Christians to salt in Mt. 5:13, Jesus did not have every contemporary use of salt in mind. In ancient times, salt was not used to de-ice roads! Thus it would be incorrect to say that one meaning is that Christians are to melt people’s cold-heartedness toward God.

As with all interpretation, immediate context is our surest safeguard. Notice that Rev. 16:15 is in a context of alertness and readiness in the midst of turmoil. Knowing that Jesus could come any moment, as unexpectedly as a thief, believers are never to relax their faithfulness. The salt metaphor, like its corollary of light, comes on the heels of the beatitudes, which describe the countercultural attitudes of believers. However, we are not to step out of our culture but to be change agents within our culture, preserving what is good and demonstrating by our lives the reality of God.

Figures that Intensify
Hyperbole: An intentional exaggeration or overstatement designed to achieve an emotional effect.
Examples: ”If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple” (Lk. 14:26).

“So the Pharisees said to one another, ‘See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!’” (Jn. 12:19).

How to interpret: The use of hyperbole is more common than you may think. We have all said something like, “I wrote until my hand fell off!” or, “I danced until I dropped!” While hands do not fall off and rarely do people drop from dancing, hyperbole is a way of expressing the emotional truth about something…the way it feels to us. It is also a way of abruptly getting another’s attention. The examples above illustrate both purposes.

Jesus’ words in Lk. 14:26 seem extreme. That should alert us to the use of hyperbole. If we took these words literally, they would contradict the abundant biblical teaching on honoring one’s parents and loving all people (even enemies), not to mention the teachings against hate (see 1 Jn. 4:20). This is an example of Jesus driving home a point in a way that forces us to take note of it. With further reflection, we realize that Jesus is saying that love for Him should take precedence over all other affections and allegiances, making them seem like “hate” by comparison.
The Pharisees in Jn. 12:19 show us hyperbole to express a strong feeling…that of exasperation. It would be nice if the whole world was going after Jesus, but this has never been the case either then or now. But if we were Pharisees in 30 AD watching crowds flocking around Jesus, it might have felt like everyone was abandoning us in favor of Jesus. The Pharisees were frustrated at the loss of their influence over the people.

The key to interpreting hyperbole is never to take it literally but to look for the ways in which it is either expressing what is emotionally true or serving to grab our attention. But before we tame a saying too much, we should wrestle with how radical Jesus’ teachings really are.

Figures of Contrast
Irony: Intentionally saying the opposite of what is meant.
Examples: ”As for you O house of Israel, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Go and serve your idols, every one of you!” (Ezk. 20:39).

“Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich!” (1 Cor. 4:8).

How to interpret: Here is another figure of speech that should be familiar to us. You might be asked, “How was the meeting with your boss?” and answer sarcastically, “Can’t wait till the next one!” This is irony. It is easy to pick up on in a conversation because intonation tips us off. But we must be more alert to catch it in the written text. Irony is used not to hide meaning, but to add greater force and vividness. I’m not likely to mistake your meaning as wanting to meet with your boss again, but using irony says it more vividly.

In Ezk. 20:39, God is surely not commanding His people to break the second commandment and worship other gods. Rather, as the context points out, Israel is already doing this. God really wants them to worship Him. He is allowing Israel to go on their chosen path, promising the discipline of judgment. He works in the same way today.

In a similar way, Paul uses irony to address spiritual pride in Corinth, saying the opposite of what he really thinks to be true. Far from being a commendation, 1 Cor. 4:8 condemns the Corinthians’ false self-perceptions. They thought they had arrived spiritually! By using irony, Paul portrays their folly more vividly and forcefully. He knows that neither he nor they, nor any of us this side of eternity, can claim perfection. There is no place for spiritual pride in our lives.

In the Bible, irony is usually found in situations of rebuke or ridicule. Often there is an intent to censure or criticize concealed in an ironic statement. As the context will always show, irony cannot be true if taken at face value. It is the opposite meaning that the author wants to convey.

Figures of Association
Metonymy: Substituting one thing for another closely related to it.
Example: ”Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own” (2 Sam. 12:10).

Synecdoche: A part is substituted for the whole or the whole for a part.

Examples: ”They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks” (Is. 2:4).

“Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach” (Phil. 3:19).

How to interpret: While the names may be unfamiliar, these too are figures we use fairly often. We might say, “I don’t agree with anything the White House is doing,” referring to the President and his staff. Or we may speak of a friend being ruined by “the bottle,” by which we mean drunkenness. These are both examples of metonymy. Similarly, we might read that the city imposed a curfew on children under 18. Here, “city” refers to the government, not the entire town.

When we come across metonymy, we should pause to ask ourselves why the writer chose to say things this way. What do the images suggest? Don’t make the mistake of interpreting too narrowly or literally.

In 2 Sam. 12:10, the prophet Nathan was not telling David that he would always have a sword in his house. Rather, “sword” is associated with violence and “house” refers to David’s family. Because he had sown seeds of violence against the innocent Uriah, violence would plague David and his family. However, the word ”sword” conjures up a more vivid image, and the use of “house” indicates the pervasive consequences of David’s sin. How wide a circle the influence of one person’s sin can become!

Coming to our examples of synecdoche, Isaiah was not reducing the Israelites to fighting with slingshots and bows and arrows. By mentioning a part—swords and spears—he was using synecdoche to refer to all instruments of war. There was coming a day of total disarmament.

In Phil. 3:19, Paul refers to the enemies of Christianity as those whose god is their stomach. Do they really worship their stomachs? As a use of synecdoche, we must look for an association. We typically associate the stomach with appetite. Paul intends this to represent all the fruitless appetites of a life lived in the flesh and not in the Spirit. Consider, though, how readily we can all identify through the word “stomach” with a vivid image of cravings.

The Bible is indeed the inspired Word of God. We can more fully appreciate its meaning because God chose so many ornaments—figures of speech—by which to communicate His truth. The Bible is not dry but uses language that causes vivid images to pop into our minds. The more we contemplate the meaning of these images, the greater will be our appreciation of God’s Word, and the better prepared we will be to apply it to our lives.