Metaphor
Implied comparison
Metaphor is an implied comparison in which one thing is expressed as though it were another, without any comparative word. Where simile says “X is like Y,” Metaphor says “X is Y.” The identification is more direct and more powerful; the distance between the literal and the figurative is fully bridged.
Etymology
From the Greek μεταφορά (metaphora): meta (over/across) + pherein (to carry). A metaphor “carries” the name or property of one thing over to another. In Latin translatio (transference). Bullinger treats Metaphor as the parent figure of comparison-images: simile is its explicit form, allegory its sustained form.
Definition
Metaphor asserts an identity between two unlike things — not a resemblance but a being. The reader is invited to activate the figurative dimension and recognise which attribute of the image applies to the subject. Bullinger emphasises that biblical metaphors are theologically precise: the chosen imagery reveals aspects of reality that literal language cannot express.
Biblical Examples
The “I am” statements of Jesus — self-disclosure:
- John 6:35 — “I am the bread of life”
- John 8:12 — “I am the light of the world”
- John 10:9 — “I am the door”
- John 10:11 — “I am the good shepherd”
- John 11:25 — “I am the resurrection, and the life”
- John 14:6 — “I am the way, the truth, and the life”
- John 15:1 — “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman”
Believers — identity and calling:
- Matt. 5:13-14 — “Ye are the salt of the earth… Ye are the light of the world”
- 1Cor. 3:9 — “For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building”
- 1Pet. 2:9 — “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people”
God and the natural world — divine identity:
- Ps. 18:2 — “The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength… my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower”
- Ps. 23:1 — “The LORD is my shepherd”
- Isa. 9:6 — “And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace”
The kingdom and the gospel:
- 1Cor. 3:6 — “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase”
- Eph. 2:20 — “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone”
Related Stylistic Figures
- simile — explicit comparison (“like”/“as”); Metaphor is the implied, bolder form
- allegory — sustained Metaphor across multiple elements
- metonymy — also a transference of name, but based on association rather than resemblance
Source
E.W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech Used in the Bible (1898), pp. 735-743.