Bible Lexicons

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

Eironeia; or Irony

The Expression of Thought in a form that naturally conveys its opposite

I´-ron-y. Greek, εἰρωνεία (eirôneia), dissimulation. Hence, a dissembling, especially in speech, from εἴρειν (eirein), to speak.

The figure is so called when the speaker intends to convey a sense contrary to the strict signification of the words employed: not with the intention of concealing his real meaning, but for the purpose of adding greater force to it. There are not many examples of this figure in Scripture. Irony has too much of contempt in it to suit the pity which is rather the spirit of the Scriptures.

And, moreover, Irony in the Scriptures is generally connected with serious words which make its use perfectly patent and clear.

There are three classes of Irony:-

1. ANTIPHRASIS, an-tiph´-rasis, from ἀντί (anti), against or opposite, and φράσις (phrasis), a way of speaking (from φράζειν, phrazein, to speak). This name is given to Irony when it consists of one word or a single expression. As when "a court of justice" is called "a court of vengeance."

2. PERMUTATIO or permutation, when the Irony consists of phrases, and sentences, or longer expressions.

3. SARCASMOS, sar-cas´-mos. Greek, σαρκασμός; (Latin, sarcasmos), from σαρκάζω (sarkazô), to tear flesh as dogs do; hence, a rending or tearing or wounding with cutting words; sarcasm. Irony is so called when it is used as a taunt or in ridicule.

We have not arranged our examples in these three divisions, but have combined these together in five other divisions more simply, thus:-

I. Divine Irony. Where the speaker is Divine.

II. Human Irony. Where the speaker is a human being.

III. Peirastic Irony. Where the words are not spoken ironically in the ordinary sense, but peirastically: i.e., by way of trying or testing (PEIRASTIKOS).

IV. Simulated Irony. Where the words are used by man in dissimulation or hypocrisy.

V. Deceptive Irony. Where the words are not only hypocritical, but false and deceptive.

1. Divine Irony:

Where the speaker is Divine

Genesis 3:22.-"And the Lord God said: Behold the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil."

Man had not become "as one of us." He had become a wreck and a ruin, even as man. These words call our attention to verse 5, and show how false was the Serpent’s promise.

Deuteronomy 32:37.-"And he shall say: Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted, Which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink-offerings? let them rise up and help you, and be your protection."

This is Divine Sarcasm; for their gods were no rock or defence, neither did they accept offerings or give help.

Judges 10:14.-"Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation." This was Divine Sarcasm, for those gods could neither hear nor deliver.

Job 38:4.-"Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?" Verse 5. "Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?" So throughout this chapter.

This is the Divine Sarcasm on all scientists who profess to understand and tell us all about the earth, its size, and its shape, and its weight, etc., etc.

Considering the various changes which have taken place during the centuries in what is called "science," we may well lay this question to heart, emphasised as it is by being Divine Irony.

Psalms 60:8 (10).-"Philistia triumph thou over me." This is said ironically; for the truth is put literally in Psalms 108:9 (10): "Over Philistia will I triumph." See margin and compare Exodus 8:9 (5).

Ecclesiastes 11:9 is generally considered to be Irony, but we can hardly so regard it. It is almost too solemn to be Irony. It says: Do it; do all this: "but know thou that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment."

Isaiah 2:10.-"Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord and for the glory of his majesty." This is Irony: to show that neither rocks nor any other shelter can save man from the judgments in "the day of the Lord."

Isaiah 8:9-10.-This Irony is meant to emphasise the fact that; however much men may unite together against God, it will all come to naught. These are the words of God in the mouth of the prophet.

Isaiah 17:3.-"They shall be as the glory of the children of Israel": i.e., the glory of Damascus and Syria shall fade as the glory of Israel had passed away. The word "glory" is thus marked by Antiphrasis to point us to that which had been lost, and the height from which Israel had fallen.

Isaiah 21:5.-This is God’s message to Babylon: to show that all her preparation for defence would not prevent the ultimate cry: "Babylon is fallen, is fallen." See verses 6-9.

Isaiah 29:1.-"Woe to Ariel, to Ariel (i.e., the lion of God), the city where David dwelt!" This glorious title is put by Metonymy (q.v. [Note: Which see.] ) for Jerusalem: and, is used here in order to emphasise, by Irony, the depth to which the City had fallen from the height of its past glory.

Isaiah 50:11.-This is Divine Irony to show the vanity of striving for light and happiness apart from God. It is a solemn warning for all those to-day who are seeking to bring about a millennium without Christ.

Isaiah 57:12.-"I will declare thy righteousness and thy works." These words were addressed, by sarcasm, to an apostate and wicked People. The word "righteousness," by Antiphrasis, marks the fact, which is clear from the words which follow: "For they shall not profit thee." Had the works been really righteous, they would have profited.

Isaiah 57:13.-"When thou criest, let thy companies deliver thee." To show that the abundance of riches or people cannot deliver in the day of trouble.

Jeremiah 7:21.-"Thus saith the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel: Put (or add) your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices and eat flesh." That this was Irony is clear from what follows. They were the sacrifices of hypocrites which Jehovah would not accept.

Jeremiah 11:15.-"What hath my beloved to do in mine house?" What follows clearly shows what is meant by the Antiphrasis in the word "beloved."

Jeremiah 22:20.-"Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up thy voice in Bashan, and cry from the passages." This is Irony, or Sarcasm, addressed to the family of Jehoiakim, who looked to Egypt for help against the king of Babylon: but 2 Kings 24:7 tells us that "the king of Egypt came not again any more out of his land; for the king of Babylon had taken from the river of Egypt unto the river Euphrates all that pertained to the king of Egypt." It was no use, therefore, for Jehoiakim to go up to the passes of Lebanon or Bashan and cry out for those who before had helped.

Jeremiah 46:9.-The words of God to Egypt. Shown to be Irony by verse 10.

Jeremiah 46:11.-"Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt." This is shown to be Irony by the words that follow: "In vain shalt thou use many medicines; for thou shalt not be cured."

Jeremiah 51:8.-"Howl for her (Babylon); take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed." But the context shows that it was destruction, and not healing, that awaited her. So verse 11.

Lamentations 4:21.-"Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom," etc. This is Irony; for judgment is announced in verse 22. The meaning simply is, that, however much Edom might rejoice, the punishment of her iniquity should be accomplished.

Ezekiel 3:24.-"Go, shut thyself within thine house." But the 25th verse shows that however closely he might shut himself up his enemies should find him and bind him.

Ezekiel 20:39.-"As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord God; Go ye, serve ye every one his idols," etc.

It is impossible that Adonai Jehovah should command idolatry. It is Irony, as is clear from the context.

Ezekiel 28:3.-"Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee."

God thus ironically addresses the king of Tyre. Daniel, on account of Divine gifts, was esteemed most wise. But the king of Tyre was a mere man, as verse 2 declares.

Amos 4:4-5.-"Come to Bethel and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three years: And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and publish the free offerings: for this liketh you (i.e., you love to do this), O ye children of Israel."

That this is Irony and sarcasm is clear from the conclusion of the address in verse 12. Deuteronomy 14:28 and Leviticus 7:13 are the passages referred to.

Nahum 3:14.-"Draw thee waters for the siege, fortify thy strongholds": etc.: i.e., prepare as you will, but all your labour will be in vain. (See under Heterosis).

Zechariah 11:13.-"A goodly price."

The word "goodly" is used by Antiphrasis, to denote the opposite.

Malachi 1:9.-"And now, I pray you, beseech God (El) that he will be gracious unto us."

These words are put by God in the mouth of the priests, and His answer is given in what follows.

Mark 7:9.-Here the Irony is beautifully brought out by translating καλῶς (kalôs) "full well." καλῶς means with propriety, suitably, becomingly. It suited the people to set aside the commandment of God, and make void the Word of God by their tradition. This exactly suited and corresponded to the action of those who washed the outside but were defiled within.

See the whole context, which applies with force, to-day, to all mere philanthropists and reformers, who preach a "social" Gospel, in order to raise the ungodly in the social scale, but leave the masses short of that which God requires.

"Well do ye reject." No, ye do evil!

Luke 11:41.-"But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you." It is Irony. It was what the Pharisees taught, but it was not true.

Luke 13:33.-"I must walk to-day, and to-morrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem."

This is a message to Herod, whom He calls (by Hypocatastasis) "that fox" (or that vixen), and the last words are Ironical, as is clear from the solemn exclamation which follows in the next verse.

The sense of the whole passage seems to be:-We are still three days’ walk from Jerusalem. To Jerusalem I must get: to die there: for Jerusalem is become the natural place for prophets to perish in. So you need not threaten me with death from Herod. It is not within his jurisdiction-(see 23:7: "As soon as he knew that He belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction")-that I must die.

John 3:10.-"Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?" This is a species of mild Irony.

John 7:28 is Irony, and refers back to verse 27. "Whom ye know not" points to the fact that they knew not God, and, therefore, they knew not Christ.

1 Corinthians 6:4.-"Set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church."

The next verse shows clearly that this is Irony, and a condemnation of what they had really done. For he asks, "Is it so that there is not a wise man among you? No; not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren?"

2 Corinthians 5:3.-"If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked."

Here, the Irony being missed, the text has been altered in some MSS. (περ, as I suppose, for γε, at least). There is no sense unless the Irony is seen. "If indeed being clothed also, we shall not be found naked," as some of you believe who say "that there is no resurrection of the dead" (1 Corinthians 15:12), and therefore no resurrection body for us to be clothed-upon with.

2 Corinthians 13:5.-"Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves."

The Hyperbaton (q.v. [Note: Which see.] ), by which the pronoun ἑαυτούς (heautous), yourselves, is placed at the beginning of the sentence, (the object before the subject), shows the emphasis which is to be placed upon it, and tells us that this is the serious irony of a grieved heart, and not a general command. These Corinthian saints, having been beguiled by the Jewish enemies of the apostle to question his apostleship, actually sought a proof of Christ speaking in him! So he meets their questionings with another question: "Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me … YOURSELVES examine ye, if ye are in the faith; YOURSELVES prove ye. Know ye not that Jesus Christ is in you except ye be reprobates?"

The answer to this question, thus ironically put, would prove them to be the seals of his ministry, and the real proof of his apostleship.

Here is no command for the saints to-day, no admonition to practise continual self-examination and introspection, to see whether they are in the faith; for Christ is in them. Read the words in connection with the context, and the force of this solemn Irony will be at once seen: and it will be used no more to vex and perplex God’s dear children, by taking words which refer to their state to upset their standing, which is perfect and complete "in Christ."

II. Human Irony:

Where the speaker is a human being

1 Samuel 26:15.-The words of David to Abner: "Art thou not a valiant man? And who is like to thee in Israel?"

This sarcasm was used to show how Abner had neglected his duty.

1 Kings 18:27.-The words of Elijah to the prophets of Baal were sarcasm of the severest kind.

1 Kings 22:15.-The words of the prophet Micaiah to Ahab and Jehoshaphat: "Go, and prosper"; to show by Irony the false prophecies of Ahab’s own prophets.

2 Kings 8:10.-The words of Elisha to Hazael: "Go, say unto him (i.e., the king of Syria), Thou mayest certainly recover: howbeit the Lord hath shewed me that he shall surely die."

By the Irony in the first clause, Elisha stated a fact, that there was no reason why Benhadad should not recover. In the latter clause he revealed to Hazael that he knew he meant to murder him, as it came to pass. Compare verses 11, 14 and 15.

Job 12:2.-"No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you." This powerful Irony is meant to emphasise the fact that Job’s friends had no more knowledge than he: and may be used with great truth of many who arrogate to themselves the right to sit in judgment on their sinful fellow-servants.

Job 26:2-3 -The words of Job to his friend: "How hast thou helped him that is without power," etc.

Matthew 11:19.-"A friend of publicans and sinners." This was said in Irony, but it expresses a blessed fact for all Divinely-convicted sinners.

Luke 15:2.-"This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them." This was said in Irony, but it expresses a most blessed truth for all who know and feel themselves to be sinners.

John 18:38.-"Pilate saith unto him, What is truth?"

By his not waiting for the answer it seems that the question wasnot seriously put. (See under Erotesis). So, his words in

John 19:14.-"Behold your king," were also Irony.

1 Corinthians 4:8.-This verse is true Irony. But other figures are involved. See under Asyndeton, Anabasis, and Metonymy (of the subject).

2 Corinthians 10:12.-In the words, "we dare not," the Apostle intimates, by Irony, that he was far beyond those who thought themselves to be somebodies.

2 Corinthians 11:19.-"Ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise."

2 Corinthians 12:13.-"Forgive me this wrong."

III. Peirastic Irony:

By way of trying or testing

This third kind of Irony is where the words may not mean exactly what they seem to say, but are used by way of trial to the persons to whom they were spoken, not sarcastically, but peirastically: i.e., by way of trying and testing. The Greeks called this PEIRASTIKOS, πειραστικός, fitted for trying and testing; from πειράζω (peirazô), to make proof or trial.

Genesis 19:2.-The angels said to Lot, "Nay; but we will abide in the street all night." This was said to try Lot, to see what he would do; for they were not sent to abide in Sodom at all.

Genesis 22:2.-God said to Abraham, "Take now thy son, thine only son, Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of." God said this (it distinctly says) to try him (not tempt, in our modern use of the word).

Matthew 15:24.-Jesus said to the disciples what was perfectly true as a matter of fact, and as though to endorse their position, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." But it was said by way of trial to the woman’s faith.

So also in verse 26, when He said to her: "It is not meet to take the children’s bread (with emphasis on children, by Antimereia, q.v. [Note: Which see.] ), and to cast it to the little dogs," meaning herself (by Hypocatastasis, q.v. [Note: Which see.] ). See also this verse under Meiosis and Synecdoche.

IV. Simulated Irony:

Where the words in question are used by man either in dissimulation or hypocrisy

Genesis 37:19.-Joseph’s brethren said: "Behold this dreamer cometh." The Heb. is stronger than this, as is partly shown in the margin: "Behold that Master of the dreams, there he comes." They did not mean this, for see verses 5 and 11.

2 Samuel 6:20.-Michal to David: "How glorious was the king of Israel to-day!"

That this was hypocritical is shown by verse 16: "She despised him in her heart." And so David understood it (verses 21, 22). Note that the uncovering of which Michal spoke referred only to his royal robes; as is clear from 1 Chronicles 15:27, which tells us what he was "clothed" with.

Psalms 22:8 (9).-"He trusted in the Lord that he would deliver him."

Most true, but not meant as truth in the lips of His enemies, as is clear from Matthew 27:43. See also under Heterosis.

Isaiah 5:19.-These words are used hypocritically, as is clear from the "Woe" pronounced on the speakers in verse 18.

Matthew 22:16.-The disciples of the Pharisees, and the Herodians say to Christ: "Master, we know that thou art true," etc.

Matthew 27:29.-"Hail, King of the Jews!" So also verses 40, 42 and 43; Mark 15:20, etc.

V. Deceptive Irony:

Where words are clearly false as well as hypocritical

Genesis 3:4-5.-Words clearly false, for Satan knew the opposite: and Eve ought to have known the same, as they flatly contradicted the words of the Lord God.

Matthew 2:8.-Herod says to the wise men: "Go and search for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also" (or that I also may come and worship him).

This was false, for Herod wanted to slay Him, and not to worship Him.