Hyperbole
Exaggeration
Hyperbole is the figure in which more is said than is literally meant, in order to heighten the sense by overstatement. Bullinger calls it the superlative degree applied to verbs, sentences and descriptions — not merely to adjectives. The reader is required to “fold back” the literal expression to its actual measure, and that very act of correction makes the weight of the matter felt.
Etymology
Greek ὑπερβολή (hyperbolê), from ὑπέρ (hyper, “above”, “beyond”) and βάλλειν (ballein, “to throw”) — literally “a casting beyond”, “an overshooting”, “excess”. The Greeks also called the figure ἐπαύξησις (epauxêsis, “growth”, “increase upon”), ὑπεροχή (hyperochê, “superabundance”, “excellence”), and ὑπέρθεσις (hyperthesis, “a placing beyond”, “the superlative”). The Latins rendered it superlatio — a “carrying beyond”, an exaggerating.
Definition
The figure works by amplification. The speaker says more than is literally true — not to deceive, but to accent the real magnitude, intensity, or seriousness of the thing described. The Holy Spirit employs it in Scripture with perfect precision: never without reason, always to direct attention to a greatness that ordinary speech could not adequately convey. Hyperbole appears in four chief forms: (1) plain overstatement of action or condition, (2) hyperbolical comparisons in which two things with no real likeness are set side by side, (3) hyperbolical hypotheses that are themselves impossible but express the greatness of the subject, and (4) hyperbolical commands or prohibitions, which are never meant to be carried out literally.
Bible examples
1. Plain hyperbole — more is said than is literally meant:
- Gen. 41:47 — “In the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls”: one grain produced a handful — hyperbole of prolific increase.
- Gen. 42:28 — “Their heart failed them” (lit. “their heart went out”).
- Ex. 8:17 — “All the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt”: wherever there was dust, it became lice.
- Deut. 1:28 — “The cities are great, and walled up to heaven”, to express their great height (cf. Deut. 9:1).
- Judg. 20:16 — “Every one could sling stones at an hair and not miss”: to describe the proficiency of the Benjamites.
- 1 Sam. 5:12 — “The cry of the city went up to heaven”, to describe the greatness of the cry.
- 1 Sam. 25:37 — Nabal’s “heart died within him, and he became as a stone”: he was terribly frightened and collapsed.
- 1 Kgs. 1:40 — “So that the earth rent with the sound of them”: a hyperbolical description of their rejoicing.
- 1 Kgs. 10:5 — “There was no more spirit in her”: she was dazed with astonishment.
- 2 Chr. 28:9 — “A rage that reacheth up unto heaven”, to express the intensity of the rage.
- Ezra 9:6 — “Our trespass is grown up unto the heavens”, to express the enormity of Israel’s sin.
- Ps. 107:26 — “They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths”, to express the violence of a storm.
- Prov. 23:8 — “The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up”, to express the suffering of regret at receiving benefits from such a host.
- Isa. 14:13 — “I will ascend into heaven”: to express the pride of Lucifer.
- Lam. 2:11 — “My liver is poured upon the earth”: to express the depth of the prophet’s grief.
- Dan. 9:21 — “Gabriel… being caused to fly swiftly” (lit. “with weariness”): with such swiftness as to cause weariness.
- Matt. 21:13 — “My house shall be called a house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves”. The Lord underlines hyperbolically the charge of Mal. 3:8.
- John 12:19 — “Behold, the world is gone after him”. The Lord’s enemies expressed their indignation at the multitudes following Him.
- John 21:25 — “Even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written”: hyperbole of the boundless number of His works.
- Jas. 3:6 — “The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity”.
2. Hyperbolical comparisons — two things linked without real likeness:
“The sand of the sea” and “the dust of the earth” for a vast number:
- Gen. 13:16; Gen. 22:17; Gen. 28:14; 1 Kgs. 4:20; Heb. 11:12 — of Abraham’s seed.
- Judg. 7:12 — of the Midianites.
- 1 Sam. 13:5 — of the Philistines.
- 1 Kgs. 4:29 — of Solomon’s largeness of heart.
- Ps. 78:27 — of the feathered fowl in the wilderness.
Other hyperbolical comparisons:
- 2 Sam. 1:23 — Saul and Jonathan “swifter than eagles, stronger than lions”.
- Job 6:3 — Job’s grief “heavier than the sand of the seas”.
- Jer. 4:13 — “His horses are swifter than eagles”.
3. Hyperbolical hypotheses — impossible in themselves, expressing the greatness of the subject:
- Ps. 139:8-10 — “If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there… If I take the wings of the morning…”: to show the wondrous omnipresence of God.
- Prov. 27:22 — “Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar… yet will not his foolishness depart from him”.
- Obad. 1:4 — “Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down” (cf. Jer. 49:16).
- Matt. 11:23 — “And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shall be brought down to hell”.
- 1 Cor. 13:1-3 — a series of hyperbolical hypotheses to show the all-importance of love.
- Gal. 1:8 — “Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel…”: an inconceivable hypothesis underscoring the importance of the Gospel.
4. Hyperbolical commands or prohibitions — never meant literally, but emphatic:
- Matt. 5:30 — “If thy right hand offend thee, cut it off”. The Lord does not desire mutilation; the hyperbole urges radical removal of whatever causes one to stumble.
- Luke 10:4 — “Salute no man by the way”: a hyperbolical command not to delay with ceremonious greetings.
- Luke 14:26 — “If any man come to me and hate not his father and mother”: this “hate” means “esteem less than me” (cf. Gen. 29:31; Rom. 9:13).
Related figures
- meiosis — the opposite figure: less said than meant, magnifying by apparent diminution
- tapeinosis — kindred figure of demeaning, also intensifying through apparent reduction
- anabasis — frequently combined with Hyperbole in ascending descriptions
- anthropopatheia — Wave C, when Hyperbole is applied to God (e.g. Luke 18:5)
Source
E.W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech Used in the Bible (1898), pp. 423-428.