Bible Lexicons

Bullinger's Figures of Speech Used in the BibleBullinger's Figures of Speech

Chronographia; or Description of Time

Chron´-o-graph´-i-a, from χρόνος (chronos), time, and γράφεῖν (graphein), to write. It is called by the Latins, TEMPORIS DESCRIPTIO, a description of the time.

The Figure is used, when, by the addition of the time, something explanatory is given which helps to the understanding of what is said; or, supplies some important fact; or, implies some extra lesson.

All such expressions, as "then" or "at that time," should be noticed; and attention should be directed to the time to see when it was, and why the particular time should have been thus described or referred to. See

Matthew 11:25-26.-"At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight."

Why is this specially marked by the words "at that time"? Because it was the time when John the Baptist questioned Him (11:2-6); when the people are rebuked for having said that John had a devil, and Christ was a glutton and drunkard (16-19); when the cities, in which most of His mighty works were done, repented not, and had their "woe" pronounced (20-24). "At that time," Jesus said, "Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight." In other words, He found rest "at that time," in the hour of what man would call disappointment and failure, in the Father’s will. And then, He turns to His weary and heavy-laden servants, and invites them to come and find their rest where He found His; and thus to wear His yoke, and find His rest. (See this passage under other Figures: viz., Synecdoche, Catachresis, Idiom, and Parechesis.)

John 10:22.-"And it was winter." This brief description of time, is intended to convey to us a sense of the humiliation and rejection of the Lord Jesus. The next verse tells how He "walked in Solomon’s porch," on the bleak summit of Mount Moriah, to keep Himself warm; no one asking Him to house or inviting Him even into such of the Temple Chambers as had fires in them.

See also Mark 6:48. Acts 2:15; Acts 10:3; Acts 10:9, etc.

When the description is confined to the circumstances, it is called