Antithesis
Opposition of contrasts
Antithesis is the placing of opposing concepts or statements in parallel structure so that the contrast between them stands in sharp relief. The figure works not by comparison but by opposition: each term defines the other and gives it its full meaning.
Etymology
From the Greek ἀντίθεσις (antithesis): anti (against/opposite) + thesis (placing, from tithenai = to place). In Latin also contentio (striving, tension). The essence is the face-to-face placement of two opposing statements in the same syntactic form.
Definition
Antithesis operates through symmetry of opposites: flesh/spirit, death/life, earthly/heavenly, first Adam/last Adam. The parallel structure ensures that both terms carry equal weight; the opposition is not incidental but the load-bearing construction of the utterance. Bullinger classifies this as a figure of change (Wave C) because ordinary linear syntax is transformed into an antithetical pattern.
Biblical Examples
The resurrection — natural body vs. spiritual body (Jones: 1Cor. 15:44-45):
- 1Cor. 15:42-44 — “It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body”
- 1Cor. 15:45 — “The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit”
The conversation with Nicodemus:
- John 3:6 — “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit”
- John 3:31 — “He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth”
The Sermon on the Mount — old versus new:
- Matt. 5:21-22 — “Ye have heard that it was said… but I say unto you…” (repeated pattern, vv. 21-48)
The apostolic letters — grace versus law, flesh versus spirit:
- Rom. 5:15-21 — “but not as the offence, so also is the free gift… if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God… hath abounded unto many”
- 2Cor. 6:8-10 — “by honour and dishonour… by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet well known… as dying, and, behold, we live”
- Gal. 4:22-23 — “the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman… the one after the flesh, and the other by promise”
Proverbs:
- Prov. 14:34 — “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people”
Related Stylistic Figures
- paronomasia — exposes contrast via sound-kinship
- allegory — Gal. 4 employs both allegory and antithesis
- simile — comparison; Antithesis works by opposition, not similarity
Source
E.W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech Used in the Bible (1898), pp. 710-715.