Metaphor
Metaphor is an implicit comparison in which one thing is expressed as if it were another, without use of a comparison word. Where simile says “X is like Y,” Metaphor says: “X is Y.” The identification is more direct and forceful; the distance between the literal and the figurative is entirely bridged.
Etymology
From the Greek μεταφορά (metaphora): meta (over/across) + pherein (carry). A Metaphor “carries” the name or property of one thing over to another. In Latin translatio (transfer). Bullinger treats Metaphor as the mother figure of comparative imagery: simile is the extended form, allegory the sustained form.
Definition
Metaphor posits an identity between two unlike things — not a likeness but a being. The reader is invited to activate the figurative dimension and recognize which attribute of the image applies to the subject. Bullinger emphasizes that biblical metaphors are theologically precise: the chosen image unveils aspects of reality that literal language cannot express.
Biblical Examples
The “I am” statements of Jesus — self-revelation:
- Jn. 6:35 — “I am the bread of life”
- Jn. 8:12 — “I am the light of the world”
- Jn. 10:9 — “I am the Door”
- Jn. 10:11 — “I am the good Shepherd”
- Jn. 11:25 — “I am the Resurrection and the Life”
- Jn. 14:6 — “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life”
- Jn. 15:1 — “I am the true Vine, and My Father is the Farmer”
The believers — identity and calling:
- Mt. 5:13-14 — “You are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world”
- 1Cor. 3:9 — “For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building”
- 1Pet. 2:9 — “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession”
God and nature — divine identity:
- Ps. 18:2 — “The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer… my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold”
- Ps. 23:1 — “The LORD is my Shepherd”
- Isa. 9:6 — “And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace”
The kingdom and gospel:
- 1Cor. 3:6 — “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase”
- Eph. 2:20 — “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Jesus Christ Himself being the cornerstone”
Stephen-Jones — Universal Reconciliation (examples)
Bibliology — foundation metaphor:
- Jones (Bibliology) — “Undermining the foundation under universalism” — the metaphor points to the scriptural ground of Universal Reconciliation; Scripture itself is the bearing structure on which the doctrine rests.
Ecclesiology — conciliar systems as instruments:
- Jones (Ecclesiology) — “Conciliar systems became instruments of dogmatic uniformation” — the metaphor presents councils as tools, not as organs of truth; they manipulate doctrine rather than establish it.
Eschatology — breaking power:
- Jones (Eschatology) — “The schools of Origen wanted to break the power” — the metaphor of power as something physically broken; the theological opponents wanted to destroy not just the idea but the institutional force of universalism.
Hamartiology — purifying fire:
- Jones (Hamartiology) — “Purifying fire” — fire is metaphor for God’s purifying judgment, not punitive. This differs radically from the Latin purgatory; the Greco-patristic metaphor points to transformation, not punishment.
Prolegomena — proto-source-critical question:
- Jones (Prolegomena) — “Proto-source-critical question” — the prefix proto- (original) is used metaphorically to describe hermeneutical method; the question itself is an archaeological inquiry into the history of theology.
Bibliology — turning point:
- Jones (Bibliology) — “turning point” — a critical textual passage or interpretive moment that shifts the direction of theological development; the metaphor implies movement and directional change as historical-theological force.
Soteriology — bringing goodness:
- Jones (Soteriology) — “Bringing God’s goodness” — goodness as something one brings in, introduces, adds to the universe; soteriology as filling the universe with divine property rather than its destruction through eternal condemnation.
George-Warnock — The Vision and the Appointment (examples)
Prolegomena — watchtower stance:
- Warnock (Prolegomena) — “One stands watch and waits until God speaks” (Hab. 2:1). Prophetic epistemology uses the metaphor of a watchtower as a position of receptivity and readiness. Not active seeking, but faithful waiting on God’s initiative. This metaphor breaks with the active mentality of human questioning.
Pneumatology — love as atmosphere:
- Warnock (Pneumatology) — “Love is the atmosphere in which all the gifts of God bloom and reach their appointed destiny.” The agape-love (1 Cor. 12:31) is not an end but a medium. Just as atmosphere surrounds and nourishes everything, divine love encompasses all spiritual gifts with meaning and purpose.
Pneumatology — highway of gifts:
- Warnock (Pneumatology) — “Love is the highway on which the gifts are meant to travel.” The gifts of the Spirit are not independent purpose but movement toward agape. Without love, gifts are like “sounding brass” (1 Cor. 13:1-2) — technically functional but spiritually empty.
Hamartiology/Theodicy — the furnace of adversity:
- Warnock (Hamartiology) — “The furnace was God’s appointed means to bring Job into a deeper knowledge of Himself.” Suffering is metaphorically a furnace — a process of refining and transformation, not punishment. Satan’s access is divinely permitted as an instrument for forming the elect (Job paradigm).
Eschatology — affliction as formation:
- Warnock (Hamartiology) — “The eschatological appointment is not to avoid suffering but transformation through it.” Suffering is not something to escape but to endure faithfully. The furnace metaphor suggests that adversity is no anomaly but part of God’s appointed process of fulfillment.
Mount Zion as dwelling place:
- Warnock (Eschatology) — “We have not come to Mount Sinai, with its terrors, but to Mount Zion — the city of the living God. This is our inheritance. This is our appointed place” (Heb. 12:22-24). The mountain is metaphor for spiritual reality — not a future arrival but a present position in heavenly realities.
Nee-Lee — The Knowledge of Life (examples)
Life and Death as Metaphors for Spiritual State
Nee-Lee uses “life” and “death” not literally but as metaphors for two opposite spiritual realities (Chapter 5 The Sense of Life):
The sense of death causes us to sense the element of death. The elements of death are: weakness, emptiness, depression, darkness, and pain.
Here “weakness,” “emptiness,” “darkness,” “pain” are not physical states but metaphors indicating the absence of God’s working. Death is not literal death but spiritual inertia.
The sense of life makes us feel strong and satisfied. … The sense of life makes us feel lively, bright, and comfortable.
“Strong,” “bright,” “lively” are metaphors for God’s active provision and creative power in the believer. “Sense of life” is metaphor for consciousness of God’s life working in us.
Law of the Spirit of Life as Metaphor for Divine Power
Nee-Lee proposes that divine law is not externally imposed but internally operative as “law of life”:
The law of the Spirit of life is responsible in us for all matters of life, giving us a certain sense anytime and anywhere.
Here “law” is not literal legislation but metaphor for the inherent operation of God’s life in us. As the natural laws of physics work inexorably and inevitably, so the “law of the Spirit of life” works unfailingly — the metaphor brings divine working into human consciousness.
Minding the Flesh versus Minding the Spirit
Whenever we mind the flesh, we will immediately have these feelings of death. … When we live in the spirit, follow the spirit, and mind the spirit, we feel strong and satisfied within.
“Mind” here is metaphor for intentional attention and chosen direction. “Flesh” and “spirit” are not biological categories but spiritual orientations. The metaphor of “minding” (being directed toward) encapsulates spiritual reality as conscious preference.
Elements of Death: Weakness, Emptiness, Darkness, Pain
Nee-Lee constructs a metaphorical system in which the abstract reality of sin/separation and grace/provision is expressed in concretely felt states:
- Weakness = inability, dependence on God’s power
- Emptiness = abandonment, absence of divine filling
- Darkness = ignorance, absence of divine revelation
- Pain = suffering, consequence of distance from God’s rest
These metaphors are not arbitrary: they form an integrated system expressing the negative experience of meaningless action according to the soul.
”Being Past Feeling” — Metaphor for Hardened Insensitivity
Ephesians 4:19 says that the Gentiles “being past feeling gave themselves up to licentiousness.” … When a man sins and does wickedness, we cannot say that he has no feeling, but at least we can say that he has laid aside his feelings.
“Feeling” here is metaphor for the inward conscience/the spiritual feeler. “Laid aside” (rejected) suggests active choice to become blind to inner warning. The metaphor indicates that sin is not thoughtless happenings but conscious suppression of inward guidance.
Adam’s Deep Sleep as Type of the Cross (Nee-Lee b10)
Nee-Lee uses Adam’s deep sleep (Genesis 2:21) as a metaphorical type of Christ’s death on the cross:
“The Bible says that God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and Adam slept (Gen. 2:21). We know that sleep here is a type of death. While Adam slept, a rib was taken out of his side, and Eve was built.”
Sleep is metaphor for death, but more significantly — for self-surrender. Out of Adam’s body comes a helper-companion. Christ’s sacrifice parallels this: out of His side at the cross flows the church:
“The Lord Jesus was willing to lose something so that a glorious church would come forth.”
The metaphor is not merely symbolic but typological: what Adam in creation prefigures (the type), Christ fulfills at the cross (the antitype).
Blood and Water: Redemption and Life (Nee-Lee b10)
Two metaphorical elements flow from Christ’s side:
“The blood is for redemption, and the water is for life.”
Blood = juridical redemption (debt-payment, atonement)
Water = organic life (regeneration, bringing forth the bride)
These two elements are not separate but a twofold aspect of the same operation. Blood operates in the juridical domain; water speaks of life-generation. The metaphor shows that redemption is both juridical and organic — not merely clearing debt, but generating a bride.
Redemption as a Valley Between Two Mountain Peaks (Nee-Lee b10)
Nee-Lee portrays redemption in a topographic metaphor:
“As one travels from one mountain peak to another, redemption is found at the lowest point of the valley.”
The valley is neither higher nor lower than the mountains; it is the space between. This metaphor illustrates a theological truth: redemption is not a new order above creation, but the restoration of what was intended in creation. God’s plan was not changed by the Fall; redemption merely completes what was already purposed. The valley between peaks symbolizes the path of restoration.
George-Warnock — Beauty for Ashes (examples)
Beauty for Ashes (Warnock)
Soteriology/Eschatology — Manasseh and Ephraim:
Warnock (Soteriology) — “Manasseh (‘making to forget’): letting go of the past — former failures, former successes, former wounds. Ephraim (‘double fruitfulness’): the double portion that follows genuine release.”
The metaphor extended: beauty for ashes begins with complete release of what was (Manasseh) and ends in double restoration (Ephraim).
Grace Without Condition:
Warnock (Soteriology) — “God does not restore us to where we were. He brings us to double fruitfulness — but only after Manasseh, only after the old is genuinely released.”
Essential: this is not repair but progression to more. Double fruitfulness — not mere restoration to original state.
Freedom from Condemnation:
Warnock (Soteriology) — “Once genuine repentance has occurred, accusation ceases. Warnock challenges self-condemnation as failure to receive what God has given. Where God has forgiven, continued self-accusation is refusal of grace.”
The metaphor extended: beauty for ashes requires accepting what God does. Self-condemnation refuses the beauty offered as replacement.
Ecclesiology — Church after Purification:
Warnock (Ecclesiology) — “Human organizational structures built outside the dominion of the Spirit will be brought to desolation. But God’s Church — the elect remade by God’s Spirit — will receive beauty.”
The metaphor marking God’s plan: the old institutional ash will burn completely. What remains is beauty — not rebuilding of the old, but wholly new creation in Christ.
Prisoners of the Lord (Warnock)
Soteriology/Ecclesiology — Joseph as Type of Imprisoned-Exalted:
Warnock (Soteriology) — “Joseph’s captivity is interpreted not as abandonment but as elevation to God’s purpose, though incomprehensible to Joseph at the time.”
Joseph in Potiphar’s prison: biologically constrained, yet actually on trajectory to kingship. God uses captivity as forge for kingship.
Paul’s Authority from Suffering:
Warnock — “Paul’s self-identification as ‘the prisoner of the Lord’ (Ephesians 4:1) is paradigmatic: true apostolic authority springs from voluntary surrender to divine constraint.”
The inversion: not power through independence (dictatorial strength) but power through surrender (apostolic authority). This breaking of self-will makes ministry pure.
Pure Ministry:
Warnock (Soteriology) — “Those who fully dedicate themselves to God’s will become His prisoners — their freedom to act independently is surrendered. This constraint is painful but necessary to develop the discipline required to rule in the Kingdom.”
The logic is paradoxical but theologically inevitable: captivity under God trains kings.
Spiritual Famine (Warnock)
Ecclesiology/Eschatology — Coming purification by hunger:
Warnock (Eschatology) — “A coming spiritual famine — difficulty hearing God’s authentic voice amid religious clamor — will drive the Church to genuine repentance and recognition of Him whom they rejected.”
The metaphor marks no ordinary circumstance but divine instrument: the Spirit will silence religious noise and leave only those who genuinely hunger. This is painful but purifying.
Joseph as Life-Source:
Warnock (Christology/Soteriology) — “The rejected becomes the life-source for his pursuers.”
Joseph in Egypt — full of food amid famine — is type of Christ: he whom his brothers rejected becomes their only hope. The famine is the means whereby they are driven to Him.
Related Figures
- simile — explicit comparison (“like”/“as”); Metaphor is the implicit, more forceful form
- allegory — sustained Metaphor over multiple elements
- metonymy — also a name-transfer, but based on association, not likeness
Source
E.W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech Used in the Bible (1898), pp. 735-743.