RHETORICAL FIGURES IN THE BIBLE

ITE CLASSIFICATIO
M N FIGURE TYPE DESCRIPTION TEXT BIBLE QUOTE
Figure that consists of expressly comparing one thing with
another, to give a vivid and effective idea of one of them. "He was to me like a bear lurking, like
1 SIMIL Lamentations 3:9
Example: Your words are like a whirlwind that lifts everything a lion in hiding."
in its path.
COMPARISON
Implicit comparison. It differs from the simile in being a
"Jesus took bread and blessed and
shorter and more forceful form of expression and in
2 METAFORA broke it and said, take, eat; this is my Matthew 26:26
transforming words from their literal meaning to a new and
body."
remarkable one.
Redundancy. It is to add unnecessary words or words with a "Ye shall eat no leavened thing: in all
3 PLEONASM repetitive idea for the understanding of the thought, thus your dwellings ye shall eat Exodus 12:20
giving strength to the expressions. unleavened bread."
DICTION "Joseph gathered wheat as the sand
Exaggeration. It is the figure by which a thing is represented as
of the sea, exceeding much, so that it
4 HYPERBOLE much larger or smaller than it really is, in order to present it Genesis 41:19
could not be numbered, because it
vividly to the imagination.
was without number."
A synecdoche is a literary device that uses a part of something
to refer to a whole. It is of rhetorical character, where all that "After this I will pour out of my Spirit
5 SINECDOQUE Joel 2:29
something or object is fully symbolized. Or to say something in upon all flesh."
RELATIONSHIP
a "figurative sense".
It is the practice of replacing the main word with a word that is " ….. Moses and the prophets you
6 METONYM Luke 16:29
closely related to it. have; hear them."
A paradox in the literature refers to the use of concepts or
"that we are distressed in every way
ideas that are contradictory to each other, but nevertheless,
7 SIMPLE PARADOX but not distressed; in distress, but not 2 corinthians 4:8
when placed together possess significant value at various
in despair".
levels.
The purpose of euphemisms is to replace unpleasant and
"and that one took hold of him by his
8 EUPHEMISM serious words with kinder ones in order to hide the harshness Genesis 39.12
garment, saying, Sleep with me....."
of the word.
The use of irony in literature refers to playing with words in
such a way that the meaning implied in the word/sentence is "......And when you find him, let me
IRONY OF CONTRAST
9 actually different from the literal meaning derived. Often, irony know, that I also may go and worship Matthew 2:8
DECEPTION
is used to suggest the sharp contrast of the literal meaning him."
posed.
It is irony itself when it turns to a bitter or biting, cruel, "and they said one to the other
10 SARCARMO Genesis 37: 19
insulting tone. behold, the dreamer has come".
or lilote: from the Greek "litotés" = plainness or simplicity, by
"And Abraham answered and said,
this figure something or someone is diminished in order to put
11 ATTENTION Behold, I have begun to speak to my Genesis 18:27