Bible Lexicons

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

Simile; or Resemblance

A Declaration that one Thing resembles another; or, Comparison by Resemblance

Sim´-i-le. This is the Latin name of the figure; from similis, like, similar, resembling closely, or in many respects.

This figure has no corresponding Greek name. Indeed it can hardly be called a figure, or an unusual form of expression, seeing it is quite literal, and one of the commonest forms of expression in use. It is a cold, clear, plain statement as to a resemblance between words and things. The whole application of the figure lies in this Resemblance, and not in Representation, as in Metonymy; or in Implication, as in Hypocatastasis; or, in Association, as in Synecdoche.

Accordingly, when this resemblance is not apparent, or is counter to our ordinary perception of things, it jars upon the ear. Such Similes abound in human writings. Hence the pleasure of studying the use of them in the Word of God, where we have the Holy Spirit’s own perfect work.

Many examples could be given of false, or incongruous Similes in human writings. Take, for example, Montgomery’s poem on Satan:* [Note: Quoted in Macbeth’s Might and Mirth of Literature.]

"Lo! the bright dew-bead on the bramble lies,

Like liquid rapture upon Beauty’s eyes."

We fail to see any resemblance between beauteous eyes and a bramble; or, any meaning at all in "liquid rapture."

So Mrs. Browning:

"Then the bitter sea

Inexorably pushed between us both;

And sweeping up the steep with my despair,

Threw us out as a pasture to the stars."

We fail to see any resemblance between a ship and a pasture; and why stars go out to grass; or, when they do, why they should feed on ships and their passengers!

No such inexplicable similes as these can be found in the Scriptures.

When one is used there, it is "for our learning;" and the more we study it the more we may learn.

They are usually marked by the Caph (כ) in Hebrew; and in the Greek by ὡς (hôs), as; καθώς (kathôs), like as; or, by some seventeen other kindred words* [Note: See under the word "AS" in A Critical Lexicon and Concordance, by the same author. Longman and Co 15 s.] ; and the English: "as," "like as," "even as," "like," etc.

Simile differs from Comparison, in that comparison admits of dis-similitudes as well as resemblances.

Simile differs from Allegory (q.v. [Note: Which see.] ) in that allegory names only one of the two things and leaves us to find, and make the resemblance with the other, ourselves.

Simile differs from Metaphor (q.v. [Note: Which see.] ), in that it merely states resemblance, while Metaphor boldly transfers the representation.

Simile differs from Hypocatastasis (q.v. [Note: Which see.] ), in that the latter only implies the resemblance, while Simile states it.

Simile, therefore, is destitute of feeling. It is clear, beautiful, gentle, true to fact, but cold and too deliberate for passion.

All this will be seen as the Similes are studied. They require no explanation. They explain and are intended to explain themselves. It is scarcely necessary to give any examples. They abound throughout the Scripture, and impart to it much of its beauty and force.

Psalms 1:3.-"He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water." Here, the similitude tells us that the man who meditates in God’s word is planted and protected, just as a tree in a garden is cared for as a "tree of the field" is not.

See under Ellipsis, page 97.

Psalms 1:4.-"The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away." The contrast between the driven chaff and the "planted" tree is most striking and solemn.

The two comparisons are the great features of the Psalm, the structure of which is as follows:-

A a 1. The godly blessed in not standing among the ungodly.

b 2, 3-. Comparison (כי אם). "Like a tree."

c -3. Prosperity.

A c 4-. The Contrary: "not so."

b -4. Comparison (כי אם). "Like the chaff."

a 5. The ungodly punished in not standing among the godly.

Then the last verse stands out alone in solemn grandeur as giving the reason for the whole.

Psalms 17:8.-"Keep me as the apple of the eye [is kept]."

Psalms 131:2.-"I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child."

Matthew 7:24-27.-Here we have a magnificent and extended Simile, almost amounting to a parable. It is too long to quote, and too plain to need elucidation. It explains to us very clearly and forcibly its own powerful lesson.

Matthew 9:36.-"They … were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd.

1 Peter 2:25.-"Ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls."

Here we have Simile, which stands in marked contrast to the Proverb in 2 Peter 2:22, as to the "sow." Both the stray sheep and the washed sow "return." But the one returns to the shepherd, and the other to the mire. We may note also that the verb "returned" as used of the "sheep" is the passive form; while, as used of the "sow," it is the active form. Showing that the "sheep" is made to return by a constraining power, while the "sow" returns of its own act and free-will. See under Parœmia.

Sometimes a Simile is really used as a figure, implying not merely a resemblance but the actual thing itself.

Genesis 25:31.-"Sell me as on this day (כַּיּוֹם, kayyôm)": i.e., on this very day. See, too, verse 33.

Numbers 11:1.-The Heb. reads: "And when the People was as murmurers, it was evil in the ears of Jehovah."

Here the resemblance was real: i.e., they were murmurers.

Nehemiah 7:2.-"I gave my brother Hanani … charge over Jerusalem: for he acted as a faithful man (כְּאִיש), etc.": i.e., he was a faithful man.

Isaiah 1:7.-"It is desolate as the overthrow of strangers." See A.V. [Note: The Authorized Version, or current Text of our English Bible, 1611.] margin.

Isaiah 1:9.-"Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah."

Here the words of the godly remnant declare the resemblance; and in the next verse Jehovah endorses it as true; addressing the ungodly but most religious nation actually as "the rulers of Sodom" and "the people of Gomorrah."

Psalms 122:3.-"Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together": i.e., it was a city so built.

Matthew 14:5.-"Because they counted him as a prophet": i.e., as actually a prophet.

Luke 22:44.-"His sweat was as it were great drops of blood": i.e., it was.

John 1:14.-"And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father": i.e., the glory of Him who was really the only begotten Son of the Father.

Romans 9:32.-"Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were (i.e., actually) by the works of the law."

2 Corinthians 2:17.-"We are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ": i.e., we speak really and truly sincere, pure, and Divine words.

2 Corinthians 3:18.-"We are all with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror (κατοπτριζόμενοι, katoptrizomenoi) the glory of the Lord, are trans-figured to the same image, from glory to glory, even as from the Lord-the Spirit": i.e., really by the actual operation of the Holy Spirit. His office is to glorify Christ; and those who are led by the Spirit do occupy themselves with Christ-the heavenly object, and thus become like Him, heavenly, and that without an effort. Indeed, the measure in which we are "filled with the Spirit" is the measure in which we are thus occupied with Christ.

Sometimes the word "as" is followed by the word "so," to strengthen and heighten the comparison, and make it more clear: as in

Isaiah 24:2.-"And it shall be

As with the people,

So with the priest;

As with the servant,

So with his master;

As with the maid,

So with her mistress;

As with the buyer,

So with the seller;

As with the lender,

So with the borrower;

As with the taker of usury,

So with the giver of usury to him."

And all this to show the universality of the judgment which shall make the land empty and desolate.

This is a combination of Syncrisis with this form of Simile.

Isaiah 55:10-11.-

a "As the rain cometh down, and the snow

b From heaven,

c And returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud,

d That it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater.

a So shall my word be that goeth forth

b Out of my mouth:

c It shall not return unto me void,

d But it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it."

Here, in this beautiful comparison, we have in a and a the two things compared, the Word resembling the rain and snow; in b and b we have their source; in c and c, their destiny, not returning void; and in d and d, their end prospering, end the accomplishment of their mission.

"AS" and "SO."

We have collected a number of these examples of the use of "as" and "so" together; and arranged them, not in the sequence of the books of the Bible, or in full; but we have numbered them and placed them so as to illustrate the ways of God in grace:-

1. Sin and death (Romans 5:12). These words explain the mystery of the first and last Adam, and the first and second man: their temptation and its results as shown in Genesis 3:1-24, Matthew 4:1-25, and Romans 6:23. This explains

2. Offence and righteousness: judgment and free gift (Romans 5:18); also

3. Disobedience and obedience: sinners and righteous (Romans 5:19). Hence the eternal results of

4. Sin and death: grace and eternal life (Romans 5:21).

Now we pass from sin and its entrance and consequences to

5. its remedy. The Serpent and the Son of Man (John 3:14). Note the two "musts" (verses 7 and 14); and the parabolic miracle of Numbers 21:5-9. Note the "lifting up" spoken of in John 12:32. The "all" means all without distinction (no longer the one People of Israel) not "all" without exception.

In due time Christ came to be thus "lifted up," and

6. do the Father’s will, and Commandment, and He did (John 14:31), and

7. suffered; Lamb dumb, and so He; etc. (Isaiah 53:7). Hence

8. Once to die, and once offered (Hebrews 9:27-28).

Then

10. to bear testimony of His grace: "Believed" and "done" (Matthew 8:13),

11. yea, of His life-giving grace: Life (John 5:26).

12. God reveals Himself: Heaven and earth; ways and thoughts (Isaiah 55:9), and

13. man, morally: Foolish as a beast (Psalms 73:22).

14. Fathers and sons, etc., ye (Acts 7:51); and

15. physically, the Flower that flourisheth (Psalms 103:15).

Then He reveals

16. His mercy: Heaven high and mercy great (Psalms 103:11),

17. His forgiveness: East from west and trangressions removed (Psalms 103:12),

18. His pity: A father and the Lord (Psalms 103:13), and

19. His love: The Father and I (John 15:9).

Then He reveals

20. our relationships and duties: Many members and one body (Romans 12:4; see 1 Corinthians 12:12-13).

21. Mutual forgiveness: Christ forgave and do ye (Colossians 3:13),

22. Christ-like walk: Received and walk ye (Colossians 2:6).

23. Divine consolations: Sufferings and consolation (2 Corinthians 1:5; 2 Corinthians 1:7).

24. Missionary work: Received and minister (1 Peter 4:10); with

25. the Divine promise, Rain and snow: the word of God (Isaiah 55:10-11); and

26. the Divine support, Thy days and thy strength (Deuteronomy 33:25).

Oh may our desire to do His will be according to,

27. The hart panting, and the soul longing (Psalms 42:1 (2)).

The JEW.

28. All blessing based on God’s original covenant-promise; Stars and seed (Jeremiah 33:22), see especially Genesis 15:5, and Romans 4:18. The covenant of works they brake, see Exodus 24:3; Exodus 24:7 and Jeremiah 31:32, and are now suffering the consequences.

29. The future blessing of Israel will be under the original covenant, of grace: as Mother comforteth, so will I comfort (Isaiah 66:13).

30. Bridegroom and thy God (Isaiah 62:5).

31. The waters of Noah, and wrath (Isaiah 54:9-10).

32. Shepherd seeking and I will seek (Ezekiel 34:12).

The GENTILE. We must not separate what God has joined together, nor join together what God has separated (Matthew 19:6). The Jew, the Gentile, and the Church of God, are distinct in their calling, standing, hope, and destiny (1 Corinthians 10:32). The preaching of the Gospel is not to convert the world, but to take out a People (Acts 15:14); while the world will get worse and worse until Christ suddenly comes.

33. Lightning, and coming (Matthew 24:27).

34. The days of Noah, and the coming of the Son of Man (Matthew 24:37-39).

The CHURCH OF GOD. Christ’s advent will wear a different aspect to the Church. Not like the lightning or a thief, but

35. "this same Jesus." As ye have seen Him go will so come (Acts 1:11). Christ’s resurrection is the type and pledge of ours.

36. As all in Adam die, so all in Christ made alive (1 Corinthians 15:22). Note the "order" (verses 23 and 24).