BIBLICAL FIGURES OF SPEECH

Virgil Warren, PhD PDF

Interpretation Getting the Point Book

BIBLICAL FIGURES OF SPEECH

Virgil Warren, PhD

( ) = observations not expressly made by scripture itself

Boldface headings represent clusters of images.

* means the concordance has been used to create the list

Note distinction between figures of speech and figures of thought.

Note also the distinction between schemes (figures of thought) and tropes (= figures of words).

Figures of thought are represented by parables, allegories, Christ-Adam parallel, Hagar-Sarah, and so on. The words are literal, but their referent is substituted for the reality you mean. Hugh Blair, Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Littres (Vol. 1). Carbondale, IL: SIU Press, 1965. 275 pp.

Part I: The Images Used

Abide/abode

Being in fellowship with

Abraham-Isaac-Jacob, events surrounding the life of

Hagar-Sarah (Galatians 4:21-31)

Abraham-Isaac-Jacob (Romans 9:6-13)

Esau-Jacob (Hebrews 12:17)

Jacob’s Ladder: Jesus identifies himself with Jacob’s Ladder (John 1:51).

Abraham was reckoned righteous at a time before circumcision was instituted (Romans

4:10-13).

Abraham’s sojourning in Palestine depicts the mentality toward the material world that

Christians have (Hebrews 11:8-10, 13-16).

The Adam-Christ parallel

Romans 5:12-21; 1 Corinthians 15:21-23, 45-49

Adoption

Romans 7:15, 23; Galatians 4:5-6

Adorning

Adorning the gospel by good works (Titus 2:10)

(Adult; see “Full-Grown Man”)

*Advocate (Paraclete, Comforter)

A Johannine term for the Holy Spirit (John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7)

A Johannine term for Jesus Christ (1 John 2:1)

Ambassadors

2 Corinthians 5:20; Ephesians 6:20

Anchor (see "Seafaring Imagery”)

Animal imageries

1 Peter 5:8 (roaring lion looking for someone to eat); 2 Timothy 4:17

Camel: “It is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:23-24; Mark 10:25; Luke 18:25).

(Asps; see “Vipers”)

Athletic games

Boxing (1 Corinthians 9:26; 2 Timothy 4:7?)

Living the Christian life is like running a race (Hebrews 12:1-3).

Ministering is like running a race (Galatians 2:2; 2 Timothy 4:7).

Receiving the garland if he contends according to the rules (2 Timothy 2:5)

Baby

In contrast to an adult/full-grown man, one who is a beginner in spiritual instruction

(1 Corinthians 3:1-2; Hebrews 5:13; 1 Peter 2:2)

Babylon

A cryptogram for Rome (1 Peter 5:13; Revelation 14:8; 16:19; 17:5; 18:2, 10, 21)

Baptism

a. Cleansing (1 Corinthians 6:11?; Ephesians 5:26?; Titus 3:5; Hebrews 10:22)

b. Being overwhelmed

Holy Spirit and fire (Matthew 3:11 = Mark 1:8 = Luke 3:16 = John 1:33)

Baptism of suffering (Matthew 20:22-23 = Mark 10:38-39; Luke 12:50;

1 Corinthians 15:29?)

Baptism is a burial, picturing the death-resurrection of Jesus Christ, the most distinctive event in his life. Inasmuch as baptism is immersion it pictures burial—burial of the old way of life based in the flesh and the way of life that derives from values based only in fleshly considerations (Romans 6).

Baptism is done in water, symbolizing cleansing.

In baptism a person is passive, correlating with salvation as grace by the

other.

In baptism the eyes are shut, breathing stops, hearing stops, as in death.

c. Represents the Spirit

John the Baptist uses his baptism in water as an analogy for baptism in the Holy

Spirit.

In 2 Peter 3:21 water saves, gives life, as it did to Noah (via buoyancy), so it does now because water gives life: Jesus is a life-giving Spirit (1 Corinthians 15). “Water of Life”

Barren

Fruitless (James 2)

Before/behind

Being “behind” someone means letting him be in charge (Matthew 16:23)

Being “ahead” of someone means being superior or being in charge of (John 1:30).

Beget

Incarnation

Resurrection

Enthronement

Conversion

(Binding/Loosing; see “Keys”)

Birds

“Birds gathering around a carcass” is a picture of people gathered around a center of

attention, as at Christ’s return (Luke 17:37 = Matthew 24:28).

Birth images

Born

Paul speaks of himself as born out of due season, by which he means he was not part of the original cluster of Christ’s appearances. In that respect he is like a lamb or other animal born at the wrong time of the year. It is doubtful that he means premature birth since he compares it to being “later” than expected.

*“Born of woman” means “human being” (Luke 7:28; Matthew 11:11).

Travail represents extreme suffering (Isaiah 13:8; 21:3-4; 26:17-18; Matthew 24:8 =

Mark 13:8).

Travail represents extreme suffering in a loving God’s universe (Proverbs 3:6 >

Hebrews 12).

Travail in birth is overshadowed by the joy of the child born (John 16:21-22; Isaiah

66:[7-]10-14).

*Travail in childbirth is something that cannot be escaped (1 Thessalonians 5:3; Hosea

13:13; Micah 4:9-10).

The conversion of someone that a person yearns hard to see change. Paul is in travail

again till Christ be formed in the Galatians (Galatians 4:19).

Israel’s rebirth as a nation was quick as a woman delivering before her travail begins

(Isaiah 66:7-9).

The whole creation suffers waiting for deliverance (Romans 8:22).

“Born again,” new birth, regeneration

John 3:3-7, being “born again” (or “from above”) is being born of the water and the

spirit; it represents beginning again from a different starting point.

Titus 3:5, a statement associated with baptism, called a “washing of regeneration”

Compare Matthew 19:28, an end-time statement about the restoration of all things

Paul calls (re)converting someone giving birth to them (Galatians 4:19).

James 1:18 says, “Christ gave us birth by the word of truth.”

Christ needs to be reformed in the Galatians, and Paul is in travail till they are

reborn in Christ (Galatians 4:19).

1 Peter 1:3 says, “Christ has begotten us again to a living hope.”

(Blindness; see “Sight,” “Eyes”)

Blood

Blood being on someone’s head means his taking responsibility for his death (Matthew

27:25, Acts 5:28).

Drinking Jesus’ blood represents internalizing his values, power, identity (John 6:51-

58).

“Born of blood” is an expression for physical birth (John 1:13).

(Blow on; see “Breathe on”)

Body figure

Matthew 5:29-30

1 Corinthians 12:12-30; 10:16-17

Romans 12:3-8

Ephesus 3:6; 4:4, 16-17

Comparisons involved between the church (a group of people) and a body

a. All the parts are needed; there are no jobless organs (no nascent or vestigial

organs)

b. All the parts are not equally important

c. All the parts do not do the same things

d. Some parts are not essential for the existence of the organism although their absence may make it less efficient and effective; not equally important but equally necessary.

e. Some of the less important parts may nevertheless require more attention to keep them functional. They are parts that we must deliberately do something for (cp. weaker brother)

f. Unity and harmoniousness of the parts ideally and intentionally

g. Interdependency

h. Compenetration

i. Reciprocal interaction

j. Diversity

k. What affects one affects them all; when one hurts they all hurt, so to speak.

l. The body is a self-(re-)generating system; it “builds itself up.”

m. We should not take the members of the body and make them members of a harlot (1 Corinthians 6:15-18). Paul calls for sanctity of the one relative to the other in contrast to foreign identification (1 Corinthians 7:14).

n. When an eye or hand “offends” you, it is better to amputate it than let it ruin the whole body (Matthew 5:29-30). Applicable to church discipline (“a little leaven leavens the whole lump”) or perhaps divorce in the home setting.

o. Weakness or loss of a member can be compensated for to some extent by the intensification of other capacities. The loss of sight increases the sensitivity of hearing and touch. Compensation

p. The basis of worth lies in making a contribution to the operation of the body, which amounts to love; and that is where Paul moves to in 1 Corinthians 13, having mentioned the body figure in 12:12-31. Love is the giving of oneself, or action for the welfare of others—the whole (body). In 1 Corinthians 12 the attributes of the individual members are tied in with the gifts a member has. Those “gifts” are “given” specifically for ministry to the rest. The approach to worth contrasts with competition, as demonstrated in the attitude, “I don’t need you.” The idea is not to get worth by setting others at naught. Worth is (1) a matter of action that fulfills purpose. Worth is also (2) a matter of belonging in contrast to the feeling, “I am not part of the body.” The basic problem among the Corinthians was the competitive mentality that manifested itself in the division problem (Chronicles 1-4) and in the aberrant use of spiritual gifts.

q. It is possible to get rid of a part of the body rather than let it ruin the rest.

example of the one and the many

r. No one organ is the whole thing.

s. Body figure measures worth in a complementary framework; a person has worth by making the contribution God wants a heart to make (as shown by the way he made it), not by being better than a knee or more indispensable than a fingernail.

t. Body members do not act for themselves (hence, tongues are not for the

person?).

u. Some body parts function for/in the body itself; some function for purposes

beyond it.

Body parts

Feet: putting someone under your feet/footstool means subjecting them (Psalm 110:1; Matthew 22:44; 26:64; Mark 12:36; 16:19; Luke 20:42; Acts 2:25 (Psalm 16:8), 34; Hebrews 1:13; 1 Corinthians 15:25, 27)

Eye represents awareness.

Ear represents paying attention to something.

Tongue represents communication.

Face to face/mouth to mouth represents direct contact rather than through an

intermediary.

Hand represents agency;

“Not letting one hand know what the other one is doing” represents doing

something in secret rather than for show.

Right hand represents preferred or privileged position (Psalm 110:1 < Matthew 22:44; Mark 12:36; Luke 20:42; Acts 2:25 (Psalm 16:8), 34; Hebrews 1:13; 10:12; 1 Peter 3:22)

Heart

“Being troubled” means a person is uncertain/fearful/worried (John 14:1, 27)

= “soul being troubled” (John 12:27).

= “troubled in spirit” (John 13:21).

Hebrew idiom has a general fondness for “body parts” imagery: “every eye will see him” (vs. everyone will see him); “by the hand of” = agency; “face/mouth to mouth/face” = directly; etc.

Boxing

1 Corinthians 9:26

Bread

Food serves as an image for spiritual sustenance (John 6:27; Matthew 4:3-4 = Luke 4:3-

4). (See also “Blood,” “Flesh,” “Communion.”)

Breathing on someone

Jesus “breathed on” the disciples in John 20:22 as a symbolic act that represented the

giving of the Spirit to them (“insufflation,” ἐνεφύσησεν, enephysēsen)

(Bridegroom; see “Weddings”)

*Bridle

Restrain or direct the tongue (James 1:26; 3:2)

Building figures

Cornerstone

Jesus Christ is the cornerstone for the church (Psalm 11:22; 118:22-23 + Isaiah 28:16 < Matthew 21:42-44; Luke 20:17-18; Acts 4:11; Romans 9:32-33; 1 Peter 2:6-8; cp. Ephesians 2:10)

Foundation

Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders (Matthew 7:24-27 = Luke 6:46-49)

Christ as the foundation of the church (1 Corinthians 3:9-15)

In 1 Corinthians 3 the foundation emphasizes salvation.

In Matthew/Luke Sermon on the Mount/Plain, the foundation emphasizes Christ’s

Lordship.

The apostles and prophets as the foundation of the church with Christ as the

cornerstone (Ephesians 2:19d-22; cp. Romans 15:20)

Jesus nicknames Simon as Peter/Cephas (Matthew 10:2 = Mark 3:16 = Luke 6:14;

cp. John 1:42; 2 Timothy 2:19).

Represents the first principles of Christianity (Hebrews 5:1)

The fact that Jesus is the Messiah is the foundation on which Christ builds his

church (Matthew 18:17-18).

Peter’s name meant “rock,” and he was so named by Jesus (Matthew 4:18; 10:2; John 1:40-42) as a picture of a good foundation like the large rock that Caesarea was built on (Matthew 16:13ff.).

Prominent people in the church are like pillars* in a building (Galatians 2:9; cp.

Revelation 3:12; cp. 1 Timothy 3:15, where the church is the pillar of truth.

Habitation/temple/house/tabernacle

Church as the habitation of God in the Spirit (Ephesians 3:22; 1 Corinthians 3:16-

17; 6:19? [probably a reference to an individual’s body]; 1 Peter 2:4-8)

The individual’s body is the temple of the Spirit (John 2:19-22; Mark 14:58;

1 Corinthians 16:19)

See also “slave.”

Is “Servant of the Lord” an analogy to Jesus or a prediction of Jesus (cp. Hagar-Sarah,

First-Second Adam, Jonah, temple, etc.)?

Shepherd/pastor-sheep

Lambs among wolves represents innocent/harmless people among dangerous ones

(Luke 10:3; Matthew 10:16).

A label for the leadership/eldership/apostleship in the church (John 21:15-17; 20:28-29;

Ephesians 4:11; Acts 20:28-30).

Three roles come off the shepherd image

1. Feeding

2. Ruling

3. Protecting (Acts 20:29)

Leaders teaching is like shepherds feeding sheep (John 21:15-17).

Christ is the Lamb of God (John 1:29, 36; Acts 8:32; 1 Peter 1:19, no spot or blemish).

Flock/sheep as a label for the followers of Jesus (Luke 12:32)

Sheep are highly dependent animals; they have no way to defend themselves against predators.

If sheep get lost, the shepherd has the responsibility of going after them; ministers have a responsibility for taking the initiative in going after Christians who stray from the group/flock.

Sheep will not follow someone besides their own shepherd; they recognize his voice over other voices (John 10:5, 14; cp. 16, 27).

“I am a good shepherd” (John 10:7-18); Christ is the chief shepherd (1 Peter 5:4; cp.

Psalm 23).

A shepherd is different from a thief:

He goes in at the door rather than climb in some other way (John 10:1).

A shepherd is different from a hireling:

He does not run when he sees wolf coming, but protects the flock—he lays

down his life in so doing (John 10:11b-13).

He cares for the sheep (John 10:13; 21:15-17).

He knows his sheep; even though sheep look a lot alike, the person that is

around them all the time can tell them apart (John 10:14).

A shepherd is different from a wolf.

He does not scatter them (John 10:12).

He does not snatch them to harm them (John 10:12).

There are other sheep that Jesus wants to bring into one flock (John 10:16).

The one who feeds a flock drinks the milk from the flock, illustrating the idea that those

who minister to the church are supported by the believers (2 Corinthians 9:7c).

False shepherds use the flock to feed themselves, comparable to leaders that see the

church as a place to benefit themselves (Jude 12).

As killing the shepherd scatters the sheep, so killing Jesus disperses his disciples

(Matthew 26:31 = Mark 14:27 < Zechariah 13:7; John 16:32).

Going out and looking for the lost minority while leaving the majority in safety represents the idea that there is greater joy over conversion than continued goodness (Luke 15:3-7 = Matthew 18:12-14).

Disoriented, confused people are like sheep without a shepherd (Matthew 9:36; Mark

6:34; Numbers 27:17; Ezekiel 34:5; Zachariah 10:2; 1 Kings 22:17).

Christ was not sent to the Gentiles in his first coming, but only to the lost sheep of the

house of Israel (Matthew 15:24; 10:5-6).

Sickness

Spiritually weak (1 Corinthians 11:30)

*Sifting

A picture for putting someone through trials (Luke 22:31; Amos 9:9; Isaiah 30:28)

Sight/blindness

Physical blindness is compared to spiritual blindness (John 9:35-41; note context of the

healing of the man born blind). (“To see” means “to understand.”)

Being cross-eyed is like trying to operate by two frames of reference (Matthew 6:22-

23).

Being in the dark so long that they cannot see anymore (1 John 2:11)

Blind leading the blind are like teachers that do not know what they are talking about

(Matthew 15:14; Luke 6:39).

(See also “Eyes.”)

Sky (See also “Weather.”)

Slave/slavery

Irresponsible slaves were scourged in proportion to their irresponsibility (Luke 12:46-

48).

Romans 1:1; 2 Corinthians 4:5; Philippians 1:1; 2 Timothy 2:24; Titus 1:1

Parable of the Unmerciful Servant (Matthew 18:23-25)

A follower of Jesus Christ turns over everything to the master.

A slave cannot serve two masters (Matthew 6:24; Luke 16:13).

Judaizers were, so to speak, making slaves out of the Gentiles (Galatians 2:4).

Being under law is like being in slavery (Galatians 4:3, 9; 5:1).

Aggressive, pushy, overbearing, presumptuous people make slaves out of other people

(2 Corinthians 11:10).

John the Baptist did not consider himself worthy to carry Jesus’ shoes (Matthew 3:11).

John the Baptist did not consider himself worthy to untie Jesus’ sandals for him (Luke

3:16; John 1:27).

Someone addicted to sin or in the sin state is pictured as a slave to sin (John 8:32-36).

A servant who is faithful while his master is not around is like a disciple of Jesus faithful at the time of Christ’s unpredictable return (Matthew 24:42-51 = Luke 12:41-48).

(See also “Stewards.”)

A steward to be relieved of his stewardship might make preparations for the future as

the unrighteous steward did (Luke 16:1-13).

A slave’s work is first for the master and then for himself (Luke 17:7-10).

A slave can never do enough; he has to take the attitude that he is unprofitable no

matter what (Luke 17:7-10).

What a slave is given to work with does not belong to him, but to his master and what

he produces more also belongs to the master (Luke 19:11-27). (cp. “Stewards”)

Servants are supposed to be responsible while the master is gone (Luke 19:11-27; 20:9-

18).

Sleep

(See essay on “Soul-Sleeping.”)

As a picture for death (1 Kings 2:10; Daniel 12:2; Matthew 27:52; [Mark 5:39?]; Mark 13:33-37; John 11:11-14; Acts 7:60; 13:36; 1 Corinthians 15:6, 18, 20, 51; 1 Peter 4:13-18; 2 Peter 3:4)

There is no movement; the person is not accomplishing anything—he is “resting.”

The eyes are shut.

The person is in a prone position.

The person is unaware of what is going on around him.

Lost condition(?): 1 Corinthians 11:30 (“and not a few are asleep”)

(Snakes; see “Vipers.”)

Sojourners

A picture of the temporary and essentially foreign nature of the world’s environment for

Christian people (1 Peter 2:11)

(See also “Diaspora/Dispersion.”)

(Soldier; see “Warfare Imagery.”)

Solomon

Jesus is greater than Solomon, whom the Queen of Sheba/the South came to see (Matthew 12:42; Luke 11:31). Jesus uses this example along with that of Naaman and the widow of Sarepta/Zarephath to illustrate God’s concern for more than just the Jews.

Sowing-reaping/seed

The law of harvest: you reap what you sow (Galatians 6:7-8; cp. Matthew 7:16-20;

12:33; 7:43-44; Luke 6:43-45; James 3:12).

Harvesting is like converting people (Luke 10:2).

“Preaching the Word” is like sowing seed and “hearing it and taking it to heart” is like

having it planted in you (James 1:21).

The seed and its plant is compared to resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:35-38).

The seed itself has to cease existing before the plant can become.

The thing sown differs from what comes from it.

A seed has to “die” to produce the plant.

A person has to give up autonomous identity in order to amount to anything for

God: John 12:24-25.

Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:3-23; Mark 4:3-20)

Different kinds of soil represent different degrees of readiness to accept the word and different levels of productivity from it. Shallow (rocky) soil represents short-lived enthusiasm for the gospel, but it does not last because the wheat does not have enough root to keep it from being scorched by the hot sun. Hard soil represents the disinterested. Birds represent other influences that remove the word from the situation. Thorny soil represents good potential that is choked out by distracting interests. Good soil produces different amounts.

Parable of the Tares

Weed seeds (or briars) grow also among the blades of wheat because they have been planted in the soil by contrary influences in the field (enemies of the landowner).

Good and evil people grow together until the harvest, which occurs at the end.

Good and evil are not separated during the growing season because their intertwined roots mean that any effort to extract the weeds now would end up destroying some of the wheat in the process.

The field represents the world.

Angels are the reapers.

The good seed are sons of the kingdom.

The bad seed are sons of the evil one.

The enemy is the devil.

The harvest is the end of the world.

The tares are gathered up at the end and burned (Matthew 13:40-42).

Parable of Sowing-Reaping (Mark 4:26-28)

Parable of the Mustard Seed (Matthew 13:31-32; Mark 4:30-32; Luke 13:18-19)

From something very small comes something comparatively large.

Firstfruits (Romans 11:16; 16:5; 1 Corinthians 16:15)

(Serves as a picture for many situations where one example will be followed by many more and serve as the epitome for the rest) (Cp. “firstborn.”)

1. Christian converts are firstfruits from among people (James 1:18).

Similarly, the household of Stephanus was the firstfruits of Achaia

(1 Corinthians 16:15), and Epaenetus was the firstfruits of Asia (Romans 16:5).

2. “Firstfruits” conveys a sense of specialness and especially valued (Revelation 14:4) speaks of the saved as firstfruits without implying necessarily that the rest will also be saved.

3. Christ is the firstfruits of resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:20, 23).

4. The Spirit is the firstfruits of salvation in anticipation of the redemption of the body at the resurrection (Romans 5:23; cp. the Holy Spirit as an “earnest” in Ephesians 1:14).

The one who sows eats some of the produce from the harvest, illustrating supporting those who minister to the believers (2 Corinthians 9:10-11ff.). Not muzzling the ox while threshing represents living on the basis of your work.

The one who threshes eats some of what he produces, illustrating supporting those

who minister to the believers (2 Corinthians 9:10-11ff.).

Various ones contribute different activities to the planting-reaping process.

Paul planted, Apollos watered, and God gave the increase (1 Corinthians 3:6-8).

God is the most important because he gives the increase (1 Corinthians 3:7).

People are paid according to their labor (1 Corinthians 3:8).

Jesus was sending his apostles to reap that on which they had not bestowed any

labor (John 4:38).

“White unto harvest” symbolizes readiness to hear the gospel (John 4:35).

Wages are paid to those who labor in the harvest. (Harvesting is not just to protect the

grain or get God’s work done)

Land that grows briars and thistles instead of the crops it was sown to bear will be burned off, symbolizing the trials, sufferings, punishments that come to those disobedient to the message they have received (Hebrews 6:7-8).

Threshing with oxen on a threshing floor

The chaff represents worthless material that is unstable (the wind can be used to

blow it away); winnowing (Luke 3:17 = Matthew 3:12).

Large harvest needs lots of laborers; many people to be converted need many workers

in the kingdom and there are so few of them (Matthew 9:37-38).

See also “Plant Imagery” and “Trees.”

Mustard-seed parable (Luke 13:18-19 = Matthew 13:31-32 = Mark 4:30-32). The

mustard seed illustrates a large consequence from a small cause.

(Speck; see “Mote.”)

Stars

Wandering stars (Jude 13)

Stone

A stone’s throw becomes a loose measure of distance (Luke 22:41).

(See also “Building Figures.”)

Stumbling

Means to be/cause a problem (Matthew 5:29; 11:6; 13:21, 57; 24:10; 26:31; Mark 6:3;

John 6:61; 16:1)

Sinning is like stumbling; it “trips you up” (James 2:10).

Stumbling represents a minor incident that brings up a problem for someone. The angels would take care of the Messiah to the extent that they would catch him in such cases so he would not fall (Psalm 91:12 < Luke 4:11 = Matthew 4:6).

Stumbling can mean to get someone confused or cause them to doubt and perhaps act

accordingly (John 16:1).

Stumbling can contrast with falling down completely (Romans 11:11).

Stumbling block

Psalm 59:22; Isaiah 28:16; John 11:9-10; Romans 9:32-33; 11:9, 11; 14:13, 21; 1 Corinthians 1:23; 8:9, 13; 10:32; Galatians 5:11; 1 Peter 2:6, 8; Jude 24; Revelation 2:14

Something that throws people “off the track”

Messiah proved to be a stumbling block to the Jews (Isaiah 8:14; Romans 9:32-33;

1 Peter 2:8; cp. Jeremiah 6:21).

Suffering

**Weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 8:12; 13:42, 50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30; Luke

13:28)

Woman in travail

Gnawing their tongues for pain (Revelation 16:10)

Sword

Represents turmoil and division (Matthew10:34)

Tabernacle/temple

The veil in the tabernacle signified that the way into the true Holy of Holies was not yet

made known while the first tabernacle was still standing (Hebrews 9:6-10).

The wall between the Court of the Men of Israel and the Court of the Gentiles

represents a separation that has been torn down in Christ (Ephesians 2:14).

Our bodies are tabernacles of the self (1 Corinthians 5:1; 2 Peter 1:13-14).

Our bodies are tabernacles of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19; John 2:19-22; Mark

14:58).

The body of Jesus is a functional equivalent for the Jerusalem temple (John 2:19-22).

Tearing it down and rebuilding it became an image for getting rid of the old system and

replacing it with a new one.

Changing over from the Old Covenant to the New is pictured as destroying the temple (and rebuilding it in three days; Matthew 26:61 = Mark 14:58; Matthew 27:40 = Mark 15:29; John 2:19-22; Acts 6:14).

*Taste

Acute experience

taste of death (Matthew 16:28; Mark 9:1; Luke 9:27; John 8:52; Hebrews 2:9)

benefits of salvation (Hebrews 6:4-5; 1 Peter 2:3)

Temperature imagery

Lukewarmness represents unsavory taste (Revelation 3:15-16).

Coldness is a loss of a characteristic like love (Matthew 24:12).

(Testament; see “Covenant.”)

(Thief; see “Robbery.”)

Thorns

“Thorn in the flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:5-10)

(Threshing; see “Sowing-Reaping/Harvesting-Seed.”)

Tomb

(See also “Graves.”)

“Whitewashed tombs” represent outer appearance of goodness with inner evil.

“Hidden tombs” represent hidden sources of defilement (Luke 11:44).

Touch

A euphemism for sexual intercourse (1 Corinthians 7:1)

Trap

2 Timothy 2:26; 2 Corinthians 11:20; James 1:14 (temptation traps you)

Travail

John 16:21

The beginning of good things is often in pain.

The subsequent joy overshadows the previous pain.

Unescapable coming things

Travel imagery

Gates (Matthew 7:13-14)

Wide and narrow path (Matthew 7:13-14)

Walking* as an image for living life, conducting oneself (Mark 7:15; Luke 1:6; John 6:66; 8:12; 11:9-10; 12:35; Acts 9:31; 14:16; 21:21, 24; Romans 4:12; 6:4; 8:1, 6; 13:13; 14:15; 1 Corinthians 3:3; 7:17; 2 Corinthians 4:2; 5:7; 10:2-3; 12:18; Galatians 2:14; 5:6, 25; 6:16; Ephesians 2:2, 10; 4:1, 17; 5:2, 8, 15; Philippians 3:16-18; Colossians 1:10; 2:6; 3:7; 4:5; 1 Peter 2:12; 4:1, 12; 2 Peter 3:6, 11; 1 Peter 4:3; 2 Peter 2:10; 3:3; 1 John 1:6-7; 2:6, 11; 2 John 4, 62; 3 John 3-4; Jude 16, 18)

Leading

Following

Treading

“To be tread on” or “trodden down” means “to be run over” (Luke 21:24; Revelation

11:2).

Treasure

A householder brings out of his treasure things new and old (Matthew 13:51-52).

Bringing things out of one’s treasure is like the mouth speaking out of the things stored

in the heart (Matthew 12:35).

The gospel is a treasure, as Paul says, carried in clay pots, God’s messengers (2

Corinthians 4:7).

The contrast between the value of the contents and the value of the containers

(2 Corinthians 4:7)

The Parable of the Pearl of Great Price (Matthew 13:45-46)

A person ought to sell everything lesser that he has in order to get this one treasure.

The Parable of the Treasure in a Field (Matthew 13:44)

“Laying up treasure” means putting your concerns in something or relying on something

(Matthew 6:19-21; Luke 12:33-34; 18:22).

Earthly treasure deteriorates/rusts; thieves steal it; moths ruin it; heavenly treasure

does not have these weaknesses.

Where your treasure is your heart will also be; that is, where you put what you consider important (mental activity) is where your affections will be centered (emotions; Matthew 6: ?; Luke 12:34).

Tree

Being under one’s fig tree or eating from one’s fig tree refers to a situation of stability,

peace (Micah 4:4; 1 Kings 4:25; Zechariah 3:10; 2 Kings 18:31; Isaiah 36:16).

Romans 11:16b-24: The Olive Tree

Wild branches have been grafted into the Abrahamic olive tree.

If the branches wild or natural do not bear fruit, they will be trimmed out of the tree.

Gentiles are to see themselves as brought into the Abrahamic tree because its root

nourishes the branches; the branches do not nourish the root.

Trees that do not bear fruit are cut down and thrown into the fire (Matthew 3:10 = Luke

3:9).

Fruitless trees (Jude 12), blown over by the wind and uprooted, represent false leaders.

The measure of a good or bad fruit tree is only whether it has good or bad fruit, not whether it is pretty (as a decorative tree might be, or goodness on the basis of Abraham’s origin; Matthew 7:17-18 = Luke 6:45; 12:33 = Luke 6:43-44, particularly). It is not what they look like or sound like; those are things that “don’t count.”

The cursing of the fig tree was evidently an object lesson about fruitlessness despite a “show” of fruitfulness (by putting out leaves; Matthew 21:18-20 = Mark 11:12-14, 20-21).

A fig tree puts out leaves before summer; hence, its leaves become a way of predicting

the future—the near future at least (Mark 13:28-30; Matthew 24:32; Luke 21:30).

As a fig tree loses its fruit in a storm, so will the elements be moved in the end times

(Revelation 6:13; cp. Isaiah 34:4).

Laying an ax at the foot of a tree represents impending destruction.

Green tree represents a time of relative prosperity (vs. dry? Luke 23:31)

Tutor

Galatians 3:24-25

Unclean/uncleanness

a. Sickness, b. Sin, c. Ceremonial defilement, d. Dirty

Applied to “evil” spirits (demons; Matthew 10:1; 12:43; Mark 1:23, 26, 27; 3:11, 30; 5:2, 8, 13; 6:7; 7:25; 9:25; Luke 4:33, 36; 6:18; 8:29; 9:42; 11:24; Acts 5:16; 8:7; Revelation 16:13; 18:2)

Illegitimate children (1 Corinthians 7:14)

Ceremonially defiled (Acts 10:14, 28; 11:8; 2 Corinthians 6:17)

Filthy acting person (Ephesians 5:5?)

Sickness like leprosy (Luke 5:12-14)

Vapor/Steam/Mist

Vapor represents transitoriness (James 4:14)

Mists driven by the wind represents instability (2 Peter 2:17)

*Vessel

The body is a vessel (1 Peter 4:4).

The human person is a vessel (of divine service; Acts 9:15; 2 Corinthians 4:7;

2 Timothy 2:20; 1 Peter 3:7).

(Vine; see “Plant Imagery”)

Vineyard

Evil behavior (Romans 1:24; 6:19)

Parable of Laborers in a Vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16)

Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen (Matthew 21:33-46; Mark 12:1-12; Luke 20:9-19)

The one that plants a vineyard eats from the fruit of it (1 Corinthians 9:7b, 8-10ff.).

Patience is needed for the result (conclusion of the matter) even as a husbandman has to

wait a long time for the harvest (James 5:7)

Parable of the Two Sons (Matthew 21:28-32)

Workers in a vineyard complement each other’s work of ministry. They work together

for the same project; hence, a comment against division.

God is the most prominent member in this effort; the ministers take no credit for the

results any more than a gardener causes plants to grow.

Vipers

Represent wisdom (Matthew 10:16)

(See also “Sons/Offspring of Vipers” and “Family Relations Imagery.”)

Vultures

As they are gathered around a carcass, so will the center of attention be at Christ’s

coming (Matthew 24:28).

Wages

Wages stand for the consequences of actions.

“The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23; cp. 2 Peter 2:15).

Support for ministry is called “wages” (2 Corinthians 11:8).

John 4:36

Walk

Conduct of life. Walking is something that a person continuously does; especially would this have been the case in the ancient world. Furthermore, walking is an image that corresponds with way or path. Way is a typical picture for a pattern of belief or living. Walking the way refers then to the active conduct of life according to such a pattern.

Warfare imagery

*War of words (2 Timothy 2:14 [λογομαχέω, logomacheō, a once-used word];

1 Timothy 6:4 [λογομαχία, a once-used word])

Armor (Ephesians 6:10-20; 1 Peter 5:8 < Wisdom 5:17ff.).

Soldier (2 Timothy 2:3-4)

Soldiers do not get entangled in the affairs of public life (2 Timothy 2:4).

Soldiers do not serve at their own expense (2 Corinthians 9:7a).

Being captured by Satan (2 Timothy 2:26; 3:6)

Lording it over people—or, bringing them under law—is like capturing them

(2 Corinthians 11:10).

Considering ahead of time whether you have the strength to wage this war (Luke 14:31-

32)

Water

John 4:10-15

Water as a symbol for the word

a) a “life-giving” message

b) quenches thirst

Water as a symbol for the Holy Spirit (John 7:38-39)

Water as a symbol for cleansing/purification

Water as a symbol for life-giving resource

Water as a symbol for vast numbers of people (Revelation)

Way/Road

A way/road represents a way of life.

*The Way became a term for early Christianity: Acts 9:2; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22

Preparing the road for someone means getting ready for him (Malachi 3:1; Isaiah 40:3-

5 < Matthew 3:3 = Mark 1:2-3 = Luke 3:4-6 = John 1:23).

Weather

We use the way the sky looks as a way of predicting the weather; so also we use the

way things are going as a way to project the future (Matthew 16:2-4; Luke 12:54-56).

Boanerges: Jesus nicknamed James and John “Sons of Thunder” because of their

temperament (? Mark 3:16; cp. Luke 9:54; Mark 9:38).

Weddings

Parable of the Ten Virgins

The sons of the bridegroom cannot be sad (hence, fast) while the bridegroom is around

(Matthew 9:14-16 = Mark 2:18-20 = Luke 5:33-35).

Parable of the Marriage Feast and the Slighted Invitation (Matthew 22:2-14; Luke

14:16-24)

Jesus had the bride, not John because the latter was not the Messiah (John 3:29).

John called himself a friend of the Bridegroom/Jesus (John 3:29) to indicate his

secondary position and his joy at seeing the other person’s importance.

*Weeping and gnashing of teeth

As a standard phrase it stands for (extreme) suffering (Matthew 24:51; 8:12; 13:42, 50;

22:13; 25:30; Luke 13:28).

Wheat

Sifting someone like wheat means putting him through hard experiences (Luke 22:31;

Amos 9:9; Isaiah 30:28).

Widow of Zarephath/Sarepta

In Luke 4:26 Jesus uses the help Elijah gave to this widow during the 3½ years of drought as a picture of God’s concern for non-Jews. (See also “Jonah,” “Solomon,” “Naaman.”).

*Wind

Represents the trials and tests of life (Matthew 7:25, 27; cp. James 3:4?)

Represents the Spirit (John 3)

Winds blowing in different directions represent contrary influences on people that

confuse them (Ephesians 4:14).

Wind on the threshing floor is used to blow the chaff—profitless, unstable material—

out of the seed.

“The four winds” refers to “all directions” (Matthew 24:31 = Mark 13:27; Revelation

7:1; Daniel 7:2; Zechariah 2:6).

Wine

A person that has old wine does not want to go to new, which is comparable to observing that a person who experiences the better does not want to go back to the lesser (Luke 5:39).

Wineskins

You do not put new wine into old wineskins as compared to trying to put certain contents into containers unnatural to hold those contents (Matthew 9:12 = Mark 2:22 = Luke 5:37-38).

Compare re-creation, born-again vs. circumcision.

(Winnowing; see “Sowing-Reaping/Harvesting-Seed.”)

Womb

Opening the womb means being the firstborn (Luke 2:23).

Source

Word

Christ is called the word of God because he declared him (John 1:18; John 1:1, 14).

World

The material realm in contrast to heaven

The typical evil society of people (John 15:18-19; 16:8)

Political/material

The (a) world has people as its content, and (b) people are generally evil; hence, the

connection between the creation and evil.

Yeast (See “Leaven.”)

*Yoke

Fellow workers are yoke fellows (Philippians 4:3).

Christians should not yoke themselves together with unbelievers (2 Corinthians 6:14).

Accepting Christ’s way of living is like taking an easy yoke on yourself (Matthew

11:29-30).

Putting circumcision and obedience to the law of Moses on Gentiles is like putting too

big a yoke on them that they cannot handle (Acts 15:10; Galatians 5:1).

Being a slave is like being under a yoke (1Timothy 6:1).

Part II: The Ideas Represented by Images

Agency

The arm of God

The finger of God (Luke 11:20; Exodus 8:19)

The hand of God

Invisible agency like what causes the wind to blow (John 3:8)

Abrogating the law

Nailing it to the cross

Tearing down the temple and rebuilding a temple in its place

Dying to get out from under Mosaism (death-resurrection)

Animal imagery

Dove: harmlessness

Fox: slyness (Luke 13:32)

Lion: strength, destruction

Scorpion: surprising harm/pain

Sheep: dependency

Snakes/vipers/dragon/reptiles: wisdom, deception, repulsiveness

Wolf

Antecedent-consequence images

a. Result

Wages

Inheritance

Fruit

b. Correlation between kind of cause and kind of effect

Grapes do not come from thorns.

Figs do not come from thistles.

Flesh is what comes from flesh.

Spirit is what comes from spirit.

c. Small cause for large result

*Bridle/bit (James 3:3)

Rudder of a ship (James 3:3)

Spark of fire (James 3:6)

Mustard seed relative to the plant that comes from it

d. Inescapable consequences

A millstone tied around the neck and the person thrown into the ocean (Matthew

18:6; Mark 9:2; Luke 17:2)

Heading toward the pangs of childbirth

A stone falling on someone and grinding him to dust (Matthew 21:44)

Apostasy (returning to something previously left)

A washed sow returning to the mud hole (Proverbs 26:11; 2 Peter 2:22)

A dog eating his own vomit (Proverbs 26:11; 2 Peter 2:22)

Atonement

Belonging in (Christ); citizenship; sonship

Imageries: (What the Bible Says About Salvation, pp. 65-68)

a. Ransom (Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45; Luke 24:21; John 8:34-36; Romans 3:24; 6:16-18; 1 Corinthians 1:30; Ephesians 1:7, 14; Colossians 1:14; 1Timothy 2:7; Titus 2:14; Hebrews 9:12, 15; 1 Peter 1:18-19)

b. The brazen serpent Moses held up on a standard (John 3:14-15 < Numbers 21:4-9)

c. Healing (Isaiah 53:5; 1 Peter 2:24; Hebrews 12:13; John 3:14-15)

d. Whipping boy (Isaiah 53:54-55, 57-58)

e. Animal sacrifice (Hebrews 10:1-12 < Psalm 40:6-8; John 1:29, 36; Isaiah 53:7; Acts 8:32; 1 Peter 1:19; Revelation 5:6, 8, 12, 13, etc.; Matthew 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:14-20; Romans 3:21-26; Galatians 3:13; Hebrews 9:26; 1 Peter 2:24)

f. Scapegoat (Leviticus 16:1-28)

g. Purification (Hebrews 1:3; John 8:9; Acts 15:9; 23:1; 24:16; 1 Timothy 1:5, 19; 3:9; 2 Timothy 1:3; Titus 2:14; Hebrews 9:9, 13-14; 10:2, 22; 13:18; 1 Peter 2:19; 3:16, 21; 1 John 1:7-9; Revelation 7:14)

h. Founder (Hebrews 2:10; 12:2; Acts 3:15; 5:31)

i. Conqueror (Hebrews 2:14-15; Matthew 16:18; Mark 3:27; John 8:34; Romans 6:16;

8:37-39; 1 Corinthians 15:55-57; 2 Timothy 1:10; 1 John 3:8)

j. Propitiation (Romans 3:25; Hebrews 2:17; 1 John 2:2; 4:10; Romans 5:10; 11:28)

k. Example (1 Peter 2:21-23; Luke 7:47; John 15:13)

l. Representation (Hebrews 2:5-18 < Psalm 8:4-6)

m. Priest: (Hebrews 5-10)

n. Prophet (Hebrews 1:1-4)

o. Testator (Hebrews 9:15-22)

p. Primogenitor (Colossians 1:13-24)

q. Begetter (1 Peter 1:23)

*r. Purchaser (1 Corinthians 6:20; 7:23; 2 Peter 2:1; Acts 20:28; Revelation 5:9; 14:3-

Change

The inability to change something

The leopard cannot change its spots (Jeremiah 13:23).

The Ethiopian cannot change his skin (Jeremiah 13:23).

A person cannot change his hair to a different color (Matthew 5:36).

By anxiety you cannot make yourself taller (Matthew 6:27).

Danger

Sending out sheep among wolves (Matthew 10:16; Luke 10:3)

Death

Exodus (2 Peter 1:15; Luke 9:31)

Going to sleep

Deception

A wolf in sheep skin (Matthew 7:15)

Adder/asps/vipers/snakes (Psalm 140:3 < Matthew 3:7 = Luke 3:7; 12:34; 23:33;

Romans 3:13)

Degree

Intensity

Girding yourself up

Racing/running

Warfare/fighting

Intense perception: taste

Lack of intensity: lukewarmness

Difficult or impossible things

Camel to go through a needle’s eye (Matthew 19:23-24; Mark 10:25; Luke 18:25)

Enduring a hard experience

Drinking a cup (Matthew 20:23-23; 26:42 = Luke 22:42 = John 18:11)

Being baptized

Travail in childbirth

Evangelizing

Fishing (Matthew 4:19; Mark 1:17; Luke 5:10)

Harvesting

Exactness

The width of a hair (Judges 20:16)

Experiencing something perceptively

Taste (Mark 9:9)

Seeing: “Shall not see the kingdom.”

Faith

The power of faith is pictured as:

Moving mountains (Matthew 17:20; 21:21 = Mark 11:23; 1 Corinthians 13:2)

Uprooting a tree and throwing it into the sea

Withering a fig tree (Matthew 21:21; Luke 17:6)

Illustration of Elijah (James 5:17-18)

Abraham epitomizes faithfulness.

Followers of Jesus

Christians

Lambs

Sheep

Disciples

Living Stones

Pillars in the temple of God

Foreign/Alien Matter

Chaff

Dross

The man at a wedding feast without a wedding garment

Weeds/tares in a field of wheat

Mote/speck in a person’s eye

Leaven

Offending hand

Offending eye

Rock in a love feast

Future

South wind means that the weather will be hot (Luke 12:55).

Cloud in the west means that there will be a shower (Luke 12:54).

Evening sky is red means fair weather is coming (Matthew 16:2).

Morning sky is red and lowering means that there will be foul weather (Matthew

16:3).

Gentleness of Jesus

Not breaking a bruised reed (Matthew 12:20)

Not putting out smoking flax

Grace

People will return graciousness like meal shaken together, pressed down and running

over (Luke 6:38).

Harmlessness

Doves (Matthew 10:16)

Lambs (Luke 10:3)

Hell/Judgment Consequences

Being burned in Gehenna

Burning bundles of weeds at harvest time

Burning chaff

Burning fruitless trees after they have been cut down

Breaking off/cutting out fruitless branches (Romans 11:17, 22)

Burning off a field (Hebrews 6)

Fines and imprisonment (Matthew 5:23-26; Luke 13:57-59)

Outer darkness

Throwing salt out on the pathway (Matthew 5:13)

Holy Spirit

Called an earnest (Ephesians 1:14)

Called a firstfruit (Romans 8:23, appositive genitive?)

Humility

Like a slave Jesus took a towel and washed the feet of his disciples.

Jesus took a little child and picked him up as an object lesson to his disciples.

Identity

Exclusiveness of identity

Slavery: a person can be the servant of only one master.

Marriage: a woman can be the wife of only one husband (at a time).

Establishing identity

Circumcision

Baptism

Entrance into a sphere (εἰς)

Giving up autonomous identity

Becoming a slave of Jesus Christ

A seed has to “die” to produce the plant and its fruit (John 12:24; cp. 1 Corinthians

15:36-37).

Imperception

Darkness (Ephesians 5:14)

Hardening of heart (Mark 6:52; 8:17-21; cp. Romans 11:7-8, 25)

Blindness

Deafness

Dead (Ephesians 5:14)

Eyes were holden

Sleep (Ephesians 5:14)

Incompatibility

New wine in old wineskins (Matthew 9:17; Mark 2:22; Luke 5:37-38)

UnSanforized cloth on a Sanforized garment (Matthew 9:16)

Incongruity

a. Bitter and sweet water coming from the same spring (cp. to cursing and blessing

with the same tongue; James 3:9-12).

b. Compare item under “incompatibility”

c. Good fruit from bad trees, and so on (Matthew 7:17ff.)

Influence

A city set on a hill (Matthew 5:14)

The blowing of the wind (Ephesians 4:14)

Light (Matthew 5:15-16)

Invisible realities known by their effects:

Leaven

Wind

Spirit’s indwelling

Inner/Outer

Cleaning up appearances, ceremonial washings regulations, but not changing the heart is compared to washing the outside of the cup and platter but not the inside (Matthew 23:25-26; Luke 11:39-41).

Whitewashed sepulchers (Matthew 23:27-29ff.)

Insensitivity

Hardness

Dead

Stiff-necked (stubborn? Proud?)

Ears dull of hearing

Eyes dull of seeing

Instability

A reed blowing in the wind

Chaff driven by the wind

A ship tossed to and fro in the wind (Ephesians 4:14)

The waves of the sea blown around by the wind (James 1:6; Jude 12)

Internal Sources of Quality

Effulgence (direct shining) vs. reflection (Hebrews 1:3)

Being salt that supplies flavor vs. food that receives flavor from the salt (Mark 9:50)

Having the law of God written on the heart rather than on external tablets of stone

(Jeremiah 31; 2 Corinthians 3)

Indwelling of the Holy Spirit/Christ

Jesus

Son

Only Begotten Son

Firstborn

Teacher (John 13:13)

Word

Good Shepherd

High Priest

King

Lord/Master (κύριος, kyrios; John 13:13)

Pioneer/Forerunner

Bread of Life (manna)

Light of the World

Water of Life

The Vine

Apostle

Son of Man

Messiah/Christ

The Door of the Sheep (John 10:7)

Resurrection (John 11:25)

Joy over improvement in comparison to goodness

Matthew 18:12-13; Luke 15:4-7

Judgment Day

Like settling up business accounts

Like settling up responsibilities and performances (Matthew 25:14-30)

Like separating sheep from goats (Matthew 25:32-33 < Ezekiel 34:17, cp. 20)

Like separating chaff from wheat

Like separating wheat from tares/weeds

Law

Ceasing of the law to have jurisdiction over us

a. dying

b. abrogation/annulment

c. nailing the law to the cross (Colossians 2:14; cp. Romans 10:4; Galatians 3:13; 5:1)

Leadership/greatness, proper

Jesus washed his disciples’ feet.

Jesus used a little child to represent the mentality of greatness in the kingdom.

Leaders who do not know what they are doing are like blind people trying to lead blind

people (Matthew 15:14; Luke 6:39).

Loudness

Noise of battle

Many waters: the crashing of waves against the shore

Thunder

Number

*Sand by the seashore (Genesis 22:17; 32:12; 41:49; Joshua 11:4; 1 Samuel 13:5; 1 Kings 4:20, 29; Job 29:18; Psalm 78:27; 139:18; Isaiah 10:22; 48:19; Jeremiah 15:8; 33:22; Hosea 1:10; Habakkuk 1:9; Romans 9:27; Hebrews 11:12; Revelation 20:8)

*Stars in the sky (Genesis 15:5; 22:17; 26:4; 32:12; Hebrews 11:12; Deuteronomy 1:10; 10:22; 28:62; Exodus 32:13; 1 Chronicles 27:23; Nehemiah 9:23; Psalm 147:4; Daniel 12:3; Nahum 3:16)

The hairs on the head (Matthew 10:30 = Luke 12:7)

Cloud (Hebrews 12:1)

Water

Omniscience

Hairs of your head are numbered (Matthew 10:30 = Luke 12:7)

God knows when a sparrow falls to the ground (Matthew 10:29 = Luke 12:6)

Ordeal

Drinking a cup (Matthew 20:22 = Mark 10:38, 39; Matthew 26:39, 42; Luke 22:42;

John 18:11 < Isaiah 51:17, 22; Jeremiah 49:12)

Being baptized with a baptism (Mark 10:38-39; Luke 12:50)

Taking up a cross

Being in travail

Outsider

Samaritan

Publican (Matthew 18:17)

Gentiles/uncircumcised (Matthew 18:17)

Person in the outer darkness

Person outside the wedding feast

The five foolish virgins

Overcoming obstacles/opposition

Putting something/someone under your feet (Ephesians 1:22)

Overwhelming opposition

Baptism

Flood

Patience/endurance/steadfastness

Job symbolizes patience/endurance (James 5:11).

The prophets who spoke for the Lord are examples of endurance (James 5:10).

A husbandman waiting for the fruit of the vineyard (James 5:7)

Prayer

The effectiveness of prayer is represented by Elijah (James 5:17-18).

A friend will help especially if the requester is urgent about his request even though

responding will inconvenience the one who answers it (Luke 11:5-8).

The parable of the Unjust Judge and the Importunate Widow (Luke 18:1-8)

Knocking on a door is like praying/asking God for something (Matthew 7:8; Luke

11:1).

Private (vs. public)

Inner chamber vs. housetops (Luke 12:3)

Darkness (vs. light) (= night vs. daylight; Luke 12:3)

Hid (vs. revealed; Luke 12:2)

Whispered in the ear (vs. shouted from the housetops; Luke 12:3)

Closet (vs. street corners; Matthew 6:5, 6)

Provision (divine)

Provides for:

The lilies (Matthew 6:28-30; Luke 12:27)

Ravens/sparrows (Luke 12:24)

Grass (Luke 12:28)

(Public vs. Private; see “Private” vs. “Public”)

Purification

Water represents cleansing.

Fire represents purification, especially that kind that comes from enduring trials.

Winnowing blows the chaff out of the mixture of wheat and chaff.

Circumcision

Pruning trees (Romans 11), grape vines (under the image of cleansing—John 15:2)

Amputation: cutting off a hand/foot that “offends” (Matthew 5:29-30; 18:8; Mark

9:43-44)

Removing an eye that “offends” (Matthew 5:29; Mark 9:47)

Quick

Blink of an eye (1 Corinthians 15:52)

Readiness/Preparedness

Loins girded up (Luke 12:35)

Lamps trimmed/burning (Luke 12:35)

Watchmen watching

The returning of a master at a time when the slave in charge does not expect (Matthew

24:45-51)

The decision of God to take a man’s life (Luke 12:16-21, The Parable of the Rich Fool)

The Parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25:1-13)

The Parable of the Ten Talents

The Parable of the Ten Pounds

Relationship to God

Lack of relationship

Lostness as with a lamb/sheep

Death (John 8:51-53)

Presence of relationship

Being found

Life

Resurrection

Jonah in the whale three days and nights (Luke 11:29; Matthew 12:39-40)

Road

A road/way represents a way of life

*The Way became a term for early Christianity (Acts 9:2; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22)

Preparing the road for someone means getting ready for them (Malachi 3:1; Isaiah 40:3-

5 > Matthew 3:3 = Mark 1:2-3 = Luke 3:4-6 = John 1:23).

Salvation

Salvation is set forth in:

Creation/re-creation terms (Galatians 6:15)

Birth terms (John 3:3-9; 1 Peter 1:3, 22; Titus 3:5)

Purchasing terms: Buying, ransoming

Rebirth/new birth (John 3:3-9; Titus 3:5)

Restoration of the image (Colossians 3:10)

Resurrection

Sanctification

Justification

(Re-)grafting into the olive tree

Circumcision

Baptism in the Holy Spirit

Putting off the old man/putting on the new man/putting on Christ (Colossians 3:9-10;

Galatians 3:27)

Sand

Innumerableness (Psalm 139:18)

Heaviness (Proverbs 27:3; Job 6:3)

Insecure as a foundation (Matthew 7:26)

Sandals

Not worthy to untie sandals = humility statement (Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:7; Luke 3:16)

Satan

Dragon

Serpent/snake

Beelzebub/Beelzeboul (“lord of the fly”)

Savior, Jesus as

Sacrificial imagery

He is called the “Lamb of God” (John 1:29, 36; Revelation 5:6, 8, 12, 13; 6:1; 1

John 3:5)

Self-Denial

Taking up the cross and following Jesus (Matthew10:38; 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23;

14:27)

Sin

Is like dirt that makes spots on a person (James 1:27)

Is like a piece of sawdust in a person’s eye (Matthew 7:3-5)

Is like a beam in a person’s eye (Matthew 7:3-5)

Size

Small size represents lack of importance; amount represents degree

Smallness

Mustard seed (relationally speaking)

Mote/speck of dust (Matthew 7:3-5)

The Hebrew יֹד (yod, Matthew 5:18)

The tittles (horns on Hebrew letters; Matthew 5:18)

Gnat (Mathew 23:24)

Largeness

God’s greatness is pictured by saying that “heaven is his throne and earth is his footstool” (Isaiah 66:1; Acts 7:49; Matthew 5:34-35; 23:22?); moon, stars, and sky are the work of God’s “fingers” (Psalm 8:3)

Camel vs. a gnat (Matthew 23:24)

The eye of a needle (Matthew 19:24 = Mark 10:25 = Luke 18:25)

Spirit (Holy)

Wind (John 3)

Water

Oil (olive)

Dove (Matthew 3:16 = Mark 1:10 = Luke 3:22 = John 1:32-33)

Tongues of fire (Acts 2:2; cp. burning bush?)

Paraclete/Comforter/Advocate

Giving/receiving the Spirit

Insufflation (John 20:22)

Filling of the Spirit

Outpouring of the Spirit

Shedding forth of the Spirit

Giving the Spirit

Being baptized in the Spirit

Speaking for God/evangelizing

Fishing (Matthew 4:19; Mark 1:17; Luke 5:10)

*Ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20; Ephesians 6:20; Philemon 9 [manuscript variant])

*Apostles (Luke 6:13, etc.)

Going after stray sheep (Matthew 18:12-13; Luke 15:3-7)

Stars

Multitude

Height (Job 22:12; Isaiah 14:13)

Suffering among good things

Discipline of a child

Childbirth pains

Temporary abode of Christians in the world

Diaspora/Dispersion

Sojourners

Pilgrims (Hebrews 11:13)

Total new system

Re-birth/born again (John 3; Titus 3:5)

Re-creation/new creature (Galatians 6:15)

New wineskins

Resurrection (Romans 6)

Ascension

Transitoriness

Grass, which is here today and gone tomorrow (Matthew 6:30)

Water vapor (James 4:14)

Understanding

Coming to understand

enlightenment

Unfaithfulness

Adultery (and fornication)

Breaking a covenant

Being brought into what is not naturally yours

Adoption

Naturalization

Grafting wild olive branches into the Abrahamic olive tree

Unproductiveness

Trees that do not bear fruit

Valuing something

Exaltation

Treasuring

Weighty

Sand (Proverbs 27:3; Job 6:3)

Stone (Proverbs 27:3)

Wisdom/Slyness

Serpent (Matthew 10:16)

Fox (Luke 13:32)

Not being able to satisfy people: kids playing (Matthew 11:16-19)

Making something publicly known is “shouting it from the housetops” (Matthew 10:27).

Doing good to everyone: God sends rain on the just and unjust and shines his sun on the good and evil (Matthew 5:45).

PART III: MIXED METAPHORS

1. The body is said to be both like a tent and like clothes in the same illustration (2 Corinthians 5:1-10; 2 Peter 1:13-14); “putting of” normally has to do with taking off clothes, but here it is combined with tabernacle imagery.

PART IV: SYMBOLIC GESTURES/PERFORMATIVE ACTS

(note footwashing application)

1. Pilate washed his hands of the matter (Matthew 27:24-26).

2. Shaking dust off your feet at someone (Matthew 10:14; Mark 6:11; Acts 13:51)

3. Tearing one’s clothes (Job 2:12)

4. Baptism

5. Communion

6. Jesus washing the disciples’ feet

7. Taking a child in his arms

8. Having the disciples take two swords into the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 23:38)

9. Agabus bound himself with a girdle.

10. Jesus wrote (doodling?) in the sand at the temple (woman taken in adultery).

11. Gnashing at/on someone with the teeth (Acts 7:54)

12. Throwing dirt into the air (Acts 22:23; 2 Samuel 16:13; Revelation 18:19; Joshua

7:6; Lamentations 2:10; Job 2:12)

13. Sitting in sackcloth and ashes is a sign of repentance.

14. Shaking out one’s garment (Acts 18:6)

15. Put fingers in the ears of a deaf man, spat, touched his tongue, and sighed and

looked up to heaven (Mark 7:31-35)

16. Jesus spat on the eyes of a blind man (Mark 8:23).

17. Spreading garments and palm branches along the route of a dignitary (Mark 11:8)

18. Jesus cursed the fig tree (Mark 11:12-14, 20-21).

19. Beating the chest (Luke 23:48)

20. Pouring on Jesus’ head/feet (Matthew 26:6-13 = Mark 14:3-9 = John 12:1-8; Luke

7:36-50)

21. Giving the sop to Judas (John 13:24-30)

22. The betrayal kiss (Mark 14:45; Luke 22:47-48)

23. Taking a coin and showing it to the Pharisees and then asking whose image and

superscription was on it

24. Cleansing the temple

25. The widow’s mite (Luke 21:1-4)

26. Asking the woman at the well for water (John 3:5ff.)

27. In the upper room after the resurrection, Jesus blew on the disciples as a picture of giving them the Holy Spirit (John 20:22)

28. Shaving the head

29. Anointing with oil

30. Stopping the ears (Acts 7:57)

31. Putting the hand under the thigh (Genesis 24:2-9; 47:29-31)

32. Taking a shoe and giving it to another person as an attestation (Ruth 4:7-12;

Deuteronomy 25:8-10)

33. Taking a shoe from off the feet and spitting in the face of the man who refuses to raise up children (Deuteronomy 25:8-10)

34. Holding up hands in prayer or worship (2 Timothy 2:8)

35. Prostrating oneself in front of another person to show allegiance, deference, and so

36. Wearing the veil as a symbol of submission to the authority of a husband

(1 Corinthians 11:4-16)

37. Shaking out their raiments (Acts 28:6; Nehemiah 5:13)

VIVID WAYS OF SAYING THINGS

1. If the children had been quiet at Christ’s Triumphal Entry, the very stones would have cried out (Luke 19:40; Habakkuk 2:11; cp. Joshua 24:27).

2. Days will come when there will not be one stone on top of another (Luke 21:6).

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