The Prophetic Telegraph - No.54
A GROSS EXAGGERATION
In our recent Bible Study
meetings we have been going through Revelation in some depth. It has been a
very difficult series, and we have felt so inadequate to unlock the meanings of
the visions John saw. However, much has been learned of spiritual value in our
daily walk, regardless of whether we reached any meaningful conclusions about
the future. We were encouraged to read in chapter one that God has a blessing
for those who READ and those who KEEP the words of "this prophecy",
but He didn't say "those who UNDERSTAND"! However, to lead on to the
main purpose of this paper, we found that Revelation was overflowing with
superlatives. John found it difficult to contain himself when writing of the glories
he'd seen, and expressions like "King of kings, and Lord of
lords", and "ten thousand times ten thousand,
and thousands of thousands round the throne," and "Him
who lives for ever and ever," were just a few examples of
grandiloquent speech. This led us on to investigate the way in which the House
of Israel in Old Testament times used HYPERBOLIC LANGUAGE. The Apostle John was
immersed in that culture, and wrote Revelation as an Israelite, as one who knew
and thought in Hebrew, one who had spent many hours reading the Old Testament
Scriptures. Might it be of some assistance to us to know how the idioms of that
day operated? Would it enable us to interpret Scripture more accurately? Above
all, would it prevent us from making fools of ourselves by insisting on a
LITERAL meaning, when in fact the idiom demanded a more FIGURATIVE
understanding?
Scholars of languages know
literally dozens of recognisable figures of speech, whereas most of us are more
or less aware of just a few, like SIMILE, METAPHOR, PARABLE, and ALLEGORY.
Having access to a scholarly tome on FIGURES OF SPEECH FOUND IN THE BIBLE, I
have been amazed at what I have found, and believe that it will be of great
interest and enlightenment to others if a couple of items can be shared, mainly
on this subject of superlative, or grandiose expression. The first is called
POLYPTOTON, and the second HYPERBOLE.
POLYPTOTON. Polyptoton is
as old as Genesis chapter one. In usage, it repeats a word for the sake of
effect. The A.V. (and indeed many other versions) instead of presenting the
original, interpret it instead. This is a good practice, as long as it is
recognised and understood by the reader. Let us see a few of the examples in
Genesis. I'll give the literal rendering from the Hebrew to begin with, and
follow it with the manner in which WE would speak today.
From these few examples, we
can begin to understand the idiomatic manner of speech of the ancients, and
learn to interpret it correctly. Because of the abundance of references in
Genesis, the Figure is very ancient, and a little searching will reveal that
its force has remained throughout the rest of the written Scriptures, even in
the New Testament. Here is a small cross-section of other examples in the
Bible.
Exodus
Philippians 3:5 A HEBREW of
the HEBREWS. (A THOROUGH GOING Hebrew) 1 Tim.6:15 [And also in Revelation] KING
of KINGS, and LORD of LORDS. (The MOST EXALTED of kings, and MAJESTIC of
lords.) Rev.5:11 MYRIADS of MYRIADS, and THOUSANDS of THOUSANDS. (An EXCEEDING
GREAT NUMBER, PAST COUNTING.) Rev.4:9 ["For ever and ever" in the
A.V.] Unto the AGES of the AGES. (To the MOST DISTANT, or to the REMOTEST, or
even THE MOST EXALTED of ages.)
The translators have
obviously done a good job of rendering this figure throughout the Bible, for
the most part. I think the only place where they have fallen down badly is in
the expression "for ever and ever." It is not even a good rendering
of the original "unto the ages of the ages." And because the Bible
has a lot to say about ages, past, present, and future, they could well have
given us something more realistic to get our teeth into. One thing is certain.
The expression cannot mean "for ever and ever". It refers to some
future age or epoch in which things will happen that have not as yet received
any further exposition from the heavens. In one place in Revelation, John speaks
of "God who lives unto the ages of the ages."
Please don't imagine I'm saying that when the "ages of the ages" are
complete, God won't live any more!! It is only necessary to state that TIME
ITSELF is a creation of God, to realise that He lives OUTSIDE time. That may be
a very difficult concept for the likes of us, who are encapsulated within a
time-frame, but there is no reason why we shouldn't accept the truths relating
to higher and more wonderful things. If we try to imagine God within the
limited dimensional framework in which we exist, then we shall have visualised
a God who is too small, a mere concept of our own impoverished brain, rather
than the Grand Creator of All. HYPERBOLE The word "hyperbole" comes
from Greek, and means "thrown beyond." It describes a certain type of
speech, where the speaker wants to make a point, and force it home with as much
"muscle" as he can avail himself of. And although the first examples
of this are found in Genesis, we find ourselves just as prone to using hyperbole
today as six thousand years ago! Let me gather a few modern examples before we
look into the Bible. First of all, with regard to speed - "lightning
speed", "greased lightning", "whirlwind visit",
"whistle stop tour", "in a split second." Then with regard
to size - "mammoth", "skyscraper", "jumbo-jet",
"stupendous", and very new expressions like "Ginormous",
"Humungous", and "Mega-". Other common expressions -
"making a mountain out of a molehill", "making mincemeat of
someone", "It cleans like a white tornado", We even use
POLYPTOTONS! "It was a big big country", "this was the event of
all events."
No one mistakes the meaning
of these expressions. No one imagines for a minute that a person can travel as
fast as lightning. No one thinks that tall buildings actually "scrape the
sky". No one imagines putting a human being through a mincing machine, or
that a literal tornado has cleaned the kitchen sink! But suppose our language
were to be transmitted to another planet (a "think experiment") where
our words had just been translated into their means of converse. What would
they think? Would they be puzzled by the above quotations? I'm sure that in due
course they would conclude that we just exaggerate for the sake of effect, and
learn to understand the force of meaning accurately. They would learn to take
our HYPERBOLE, our GROSS EXAGGERATIONS, "with a pinch of salt."
How many stars are in the
sky? Under very clear conditions one may be able to count perhaps 3,000. Before
the advent of telescopes, that's about the limit of what man could achieve. But
based upon the use of the world's greatest telescopes I find estimates in
astronomy books such as "100,000,000,000 stars in our Galaxy," and
"1,000,000,000 other Galaxies like our own." The mind boggles at such
figures. They are meaningless. Beyond comprehension. How many grains of sand
are there on your local beach? Have you ever tried to count grains of sand? I
have. I took a small cup full and decided to count how many there would be in
that. Before I had got very far I began to realise what a hopeless job it was,
even for a cup-full. How many specks of dust are there on the earth? It's
pointless asking questions like these. We KNOW that we cannot begin to count.
So what's the point of asking these questions?
In Genesis
It might be instructive to
stay on this figure for a bit. The Lord was in the habit of using this gross
exaggeration on a number of occasions. So also His people. Here are a few more.
Gen.41:49 Joseph gathered corn as the sand of the seashore.
Josh.11:4 All the Canaanite's armies went out, much people, even as
the sand of the seashore in multitude. Judges 7:12 The
Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the East lay along the
valley like locusts for multitude, and their camels were without number, as the
sand of the seashore for multitude. 2 Sam.17:11 I
caused that all
There are many more
examples throughout the Old Testament. Enough has been displayed to make the
point. Clearly the Lord achieved the word He spoke to Abram, because by the
time of Deut.1:10, the number had become "as the stars of
heaven." We need not look for further multiplication. The
promise had been kept in accordance with the meaning of the idiom. Another point
here. Even the grossest form of exaggeration loses its clout after repeated
usage. Hence we find the Lord resorting to a higher dimension of idiomatic
language in Jer.15:8 "Their widows are increased to Me ABOVE
the sand of the seas." It may come as a shock to some, that
the Lord God Almighty should use such gross exaggeration for effect. Would it
not have been sufficient for Him to say to Abram, "I shall
increase your seed so much that in the end you will be unable to count the
number of your offspring." And I would answer, saying,
"But that is EXACTLY what He DID say, in the idiom of the day!" So
universal is the usage of this figure that it is found from Genesis to
Revelation. In Rev.20:8 we are told that after the Millennial Rest is over, Satan
will be loosed, and he will gather the people "as the sand of the
seashore".
Another gross exaggeration
is found in Exodus 20:5. I am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the
fathers upon the children to the 3rd and 4th generation of those who hate me,
but showing mercy to thousands (of generations) of those who love me and keep
my commandments. It is quite legitimate to add the words "of
generations" in this text, because when it is repeated in Deut.7:9 we
read, The Lord your God - - - keeps covenant and mercy with those
who love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations.
What does the Lord mean when He uses language like this? What is "a
thousand generations"? How long would it be? The ultra-literalist would
calculate it on the basis of perhaps 40 years for a generation, so that the
Lord has predicted a period of time in the future amounting to some 40,000
years. But this is nonsense. It is the figure HYPERBOLE, whereby the
overflowing largesse of God's mercy may be understood. He so much wants His
people to love Him and obey Him that He has not language great enough to show
the richness of His blessings to them. But when it comes to those who disobey,
their evils will be cut short after four generations at the most. How gracious
is our God. Whether to those who obey, or those who disobey, His mercy is seen
to shine like the
The use of
"thousand" in Hebrew became synonymous with untold largeness. The
Lord used it, so also His people. In Gen.24:60 we read of Laban saying to
Rebecca, "You are our sister; become the mother of thousands of
millions!" No doubt Rebecca received this compliment in terms
of a known idiom. In fact she became the mother of Jacob and Esau. But Laban
was referring, not so much to her own children, but to all the future
generations as well. He was using a figure of speech equivalent to "the
sand of the seashore for multitude." "One shall chase a thousand, but
two shall put ten thousand to flight." (Deut.32:30) "Saul
has slain his thousands, but David his ten thousands." (1
Sam.18:7) "Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or
with ten thousand rivers of oil?" (Micah 6:7) "The
first man owed ten thousand talents" [About 300 million
pounds, if taken literally] (Matt.18:24). "Although you have
ten thousand teachers, you have not many fathers." (1
Cor.4:15). "I had rather speak five words with understanding,
than ten thousand in an unknown tongue." (1 Cor.14:19) These
are some of the examples of the figurative use of "thousand" and
"ten thousand". In the Apocryphal works the figure is also found.
Here are two useful quotes. "Man forgets that the eyes of the
Lord are ten thousand times as bright as the sun, observing every step men
take, and penetrating every secret." (Ecclus.23:19) And in
the days of Messiah's Kingdom, "The earth shall yield its fruit
ten thousand fold, and on each vine there shall be a thousand branches, and
each branch shall produce a thousand clusters, and each cluster shall produce a
thousand grapes, and each grape a cor of wine." (Baruch 29:5)
I might add, just to magnify the effect, that the COR was the largest liquid
measure, being assessed variously from 75 to 120 gallons! Even today one finds
a perpetuating of this richness of language amongst Jewish people. They know
what they mean. Let's hope the message reaches others as well. Literalists are
in for a hard time if they insist that God must fulfil His word to the letter!
Another form of
exaggeration has to do with height, whether literal or metaphorical. It is
found in such texts as these:- Gen.11:4 Let us build a tower whose
top may reach to heaven. Deut.1:28 (The spies said, on returning) The
cities of
Here is an assortment of
other exaggerations, all of which are the by-products of a rich oriental language.
Numb.13:33 (The spies again) We were in our own sight as
grasshoppers (to the giants). [In point of fact the giants were
about 9ft tall, perhaps some reached 10 feet, awe-inspiring no doubt, but not
as the spies said literally.] Numb.14:8 I will bring you into a land
flowing with milk and honey. [We are so used to this expression,
that even the literalists are content to allow it to be figurative. Otherwise
the land would have been a sticky mess.] Exod.8:17 All the dust of
the land became lice throughout all the
And the New Testament has
its share as well. John
In all of these examples,
there is no literal truth expressed. It could not be otherwise. If we are
looking for a Bible which can be taken THAT literally, then we are in for a
"mountain" of trouble. But once the language is properly understood,
then we begin to understand what the oriental mind was (and still is!) like. I
was assured of this by an Iraqi lady only a few days ago, and have observed it
amongst Jewish people. We of the Western World need to understand the mind of
the Orientals before passing judgment on certain passages of the Bible, and
thereby making fools of ourselves in the process.
Here is an amusing little
snatch of conversation, which was overheard as a lady was phoning her friend.
"Is that you Gladys? -
- -Yes, I thought I might catch you just now. What d'you think of the latest
bombshell to hit the neighbourhood? - - - - Yes it is, isn't it? - - - But you
know, I got wind of something last year, and my Jack says he's smelled a rat
for a long time. Oh well, the handwriting's on the wall now, as they say. - - -
- - Yes dear, I know, the place is simply buzzing with the news - - - Exactly,
they've shown themselves up in their true colours, haven't they? - - - - - -
No, well, living next door as we are, you can't help it. Mind you, they've
always given us the cold shoulder, very off-handed people. - - - - - Yes, I
know dear. There's Maisie who lives opposite. It's a different kettle of fish
for her. - - - That's right. She says they really take the cake, behaving as
though butter wouldn't melt in their mouths. - - - - - - That's right. Exactly,
dear. And now they've cooked their goose, haven't they? - - - - - - Yes, quite
likely from what I hear. Oh well, every dog has his day. - - - - - - What? Oh
no dear! I don't think so. I'm sure you've got the wrong end of the stick
there. - - - - You think she had her nose put out of joint then? Got to the end
of her tether, as they say? - - - - - Well my dear, if he did, then it certainly
put the fat in the fire, didn't it?- - - - - - I know. It's awful, isn't it. He
must have been up to his eyeballs in it, lock, stock and barrel as they say. -
- - - - - - No indeed she hasn't!! She'll have to eat humble pie before she
gets a word out of me! - - - - No, no, dear, now don't get me wrong. I'm not
sitting on my high horse. YOU haven't seen the way she looks daggers at me. - -
- - - Oh Gladys love, you know I'm not one for picking holes, but I can't let
her ride roughshod over me. - - - - -Exactly dear, and when she comes to her
senses, be sure she'll taste the milk of human kindness. - - - - - Oh no! You
MUST be joking! It doesn't ring true. If I were you I'd take THAT with a pinch
of salt. - - - - - - - Well, yes, I can believe THAT. He's been sailing close
to the wind for years. Had a good run for his money while it lasted I suppose
---- Oh I say, Gladys, young Benny's just come in from school, so we'll have to
mind what we say, as the saying goes, 'little pitchers have long ears.' - - - -
- - - Yes, I know. Ah well, it turned out to be his swan song, didn't it? - - -
- - - I know. Remarkable, wasn't it? Just got off by the skin of his teeth. - -
- - - - It was a close shave. Touch and go, right up to the verdict. - - - - -
Right-O dear. Yes, it's our tea-time now as well.- - - - - You can count on me.
I'm a clam. - - - - -That's right. We'll just have to mind our Ps and Qs, won't
we? - - - - - What?!! With HER little urchin? I'm certainly not letting my
Benny out to play with that little bag of tricks! - - - - - Yes, dear. That's
right. It's best to let the dust settle first. - - - - - Bye bye Gladys. I'll
give you a ring tomorrow."
Over 40 examples of figures
of speech have been used in this sketch. Although, on reading it, WE can get a
vague idea of what might have been the subject of their conversation, just
think if it was translated literally into Swahili or Chinese! Some years ago I
was able to take a teaching post in
Finally in this paper, we
must get back to Revelation once again. The study started there because of the
superlatives that John used. And one of the examples focussed on the expression
"for ever and ever." I have already spoken about this briefly as we
reviewed a number of examples of POLYPTOTON, but a little extra attention might
prove to be useful. A number of writers have seen just how bad is the A.V.
translation of the Greek words "Unto the ages of the
ages", but no one seems to know exactly how to translate it
into meaningful English. I saw in the French Bible that it was rendered "aux
siecles des siecles", which was better, allowing the
French-speaking people to make up their own minds about the probable meaning.
The German and Spanish Bibles also have more literal renderings. It seems that
it is only the English Bible that has perpetuated the idea of "for
ever and ever." The more you think about it, the more crazy
it becomes. If "for ever" means an eternity of time, then how can
"and ever" be added to it? Another howler, if I can call it that, may
be found in Eph.3:21, where the A.V. reads "throughout all ages,
world without end, Amen." In the Greek, it is "to
all the generations of the ages of the ages." These are
difficult constructions to translate, but it would have been better to provide
the English reader with a more literal rendering, and leave him to decide,
prayerfully before the Lord, what it means. However, the key word in all these
texts is AGE, from the Greek AION. And it is found in the N.T. used for the
following time-zones.
1. PAST. Eph.3:9 The
mystery which was hidden from the AGES in God.
2. PRESENT. Rom.12:2 Be
not conformed to this AGE.
3. THE END OF
THIS AGE. Matt.13:39-40. The harvest is the completion
of THIS AGE, and the reapers are the Angels.
4. THE COMING
AGE. Mark
5. THE COMING
AGES. Eph.2:7. that in the AGES TO COME He might show
forth the exceeding riches of His grace.
6. AGES IN GENERAL. God's
Son, - - - through Whom He designed the AGES.
Hence, when we read about
ETERNAL LIFE, (literally Age-life), we should think in terms of the special
privilege of living in the COMING AGE, the Age of God's Kingdom, His Millennial
Rest. The expression doesn't contain within itself the idea of TIME, but rather
of superlative quality. The endlessness of this life is proved elsewhere by
Paul's use of the word IMMORTALITY, meaning "deathlessness."
"The ages
of the ages" is therefore best interpreted AWAY FROM the idea of time, and related
to coming ages, probably those BEYOND the Millennium, in which God has much
further work to do. The sense of the expression is again that of quality, or
intensity, or grandeur, rather than the time during which it applies. Beyond
that, I find it difficult to think up an expression which contains the fulness
of meaning.