Hermen Who?

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Hermen Who?

• Part 3 Understanding the Biblical Figures of
  Speech and Literature

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• 1. HYPERBOLE
• A hyperbole is an exaggeration used for effectan
  overstatement.
• If everything Jesus ever did was written down,
  the world could not hold all the books that would
  be written (John 2125).

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• 2. METAPHOR
• A simile makes a comparison by using a word such
  as like Life is like a circus. A metaphor is
  a similar comparison, except that it omits the
  word like The world is a stage.
• This is My body (Luke 2219)?

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• 3. ANTHROPOMORPHISM
• Do rivers have hands to clap (Psalm 988)?
• Does God have eyes (Psalm 3318), although He is
  spirit (John 424)?
• Anthropomorphisms in the Bible describe nonhuman
  objects as though they have human
  characteristics.

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• 3. ANTHROPOMORPHISM
• But how do we understand those verses that say
  God repents (Exodus 3212 Jeremiah 188
  relents, regrets, NKJV)?
• Does God change His mind? Or do these verses
  describe God from a human point of view?

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• 4. PARABLE
• THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ALLEGORY AND PARABLE IS
  IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND
• An allegory is a totally made-up story. Even the
  details of an allegory may be significant.
  Pilgrims Progress is the classic example of
  allegory in which even minute details refer to
  other things.

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• 4. PARABLE
• THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ALLEGORY AND PARABLE IS
  IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND
• But a parable is a story taken from everyday
  life. In a parable the speaker may not treat the
  details as important. They may be given to help
  the reader picture the situation more clearly.

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• 4. PARABLE
• Although a few parables have allegorical
  elements, most parables teach only one main
  point.

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• 4. PARABLE
• But what about the parable of the judge (Luke
  18114)? If the woman represents the disciple,
  is God the unjust judge?

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• 4. PARABLE
• Is the purpose of the parable of the rich man and
  Lazarus (Luke 161931) to teach that you cannot
  travel between heaven and hell?

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• 5. PROPHECY
• 1. WHAT THE PROPHET FORESAW AS ONE EVENT MAY
  ACTUALLY BE TWO OR MORE
• The Old Testament thought of the Day of the
  Lord (Isaiah 212) as one event. But the last
  days actually began at Pentecost (Acts 220) and
  will conclude at Christs return (2 Thessalonians
  22).

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• 5. PROPHECY
• 2. PROPHECY EXISTS OF BOTH FORETELLING AND
  TELLING FORTH
• NATHAN DAVID

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• 2 Samuel 127-10 (NIV) Then Nathan said to
  David, You are the man! This is what the Lord,
  the God of Israel, says I anointed you king
  over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of
  Saul. I gave your masters house to you, and your
  masters wives into your arms. I gave you the
  house of Israel and Judah.

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• And if all this had been too little, I would have
  given you even more. Why did you despise the word
  of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes?
  You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword
  and took his wife to be your own.

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• You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.
  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.

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• 6. POETRY
• Hebrew poetry does not concentrate on rhythm or
  rhyme. It expresses itself by parallelism.

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• TWO PHRASES ARE JOINED SO THAT THE SECOND REPEATS
  THE FIRST WITH DIFFERENT WORDS
• Psalm 952 (NIV) Let us come before him with
  thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.

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• THE SECOND STATES THE OPPOSITE OF THE FIRST
• Proverbs 155 (NIV) A fool spurns his fathers
  discipline, but whoever heeds correction shows
  prudence.

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• THE SECOND ADDS A NEW THOUGHT TO THE FIRST
• Proverbs 153 (NIV) The eyes of the Lord are
  everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the
  good.

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• SOMETIMES THE COUPLET WILL BE ARRANGED WITH THE
  SECOND PHRASE REVERSING THE ORDER OF THE FIRST
• Proverbs 1521 (NIV) Folly delights a man who
  lacks judgment, but a man of understanding keeps
  a straight course.

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• Therefore, when interpreting poetry, the Bible
  student must recognize the type of parallelism
  being used, since the phrases interpret each
  other.
• In addition, poetry often stresses emotional flow
  rather than logical precision.

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• 7. APOCALYPTIC
• THE KEY TO INTERPRETING THESE FIGURES LIES IN THE
  BOOK ITSELF

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• In 120 the seven stars are interpreted as
  representing the seven angels, and the seven
  lampstands stand for the seven churches.
• In 17910 the seven-headed beast stands for the
  seven hills.
• In 1718 the woman is identified as the city that
  rules the earth.

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• Therefore, to understand Apocalyptic Literature
  and Revelation in particular, we must interpret
  the imagery as very figurative.
• The images are describing things and spiritual
  realities in figurative language.

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• 8. WISDOM
• Old Testament wisdom literature is found mainly
  in Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes.

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• 8. WISDOM
• NB - Since wisdom gives practical hints on how to
  cope with life and its problems, it often
  consists of rules of thumb rather than
  universally applicable promises.

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• Proverbs 226 Train up a child in the way he
  should go, and when he is old he will not depart
  from it.

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• This is not a categorical imperative that works
  in every situation.
• Biblical wisdom sayings must be used with due
  caution and great discernment (Proverbs 116).

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• 9. HISTORY

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