Apokatastasis.wiki

Tapeinosis

Demeaning

Tapeinosis is the figure in which a thing is expressed in diminished or weakened form — not in order to actually reduce it but to intensify its effect. Bullinger draws a sharp line against Meiosis: in Meiosis one thing is diminished in order to magnify another; in Tapeinosis the very same thing is — through apparent reduction — heightened. The figure operates by understatement: “no small matter” for “an enormous one”, “not few” for “very many”, “not the least” for “the greatest”.

Etymology

Greek ταπείνωσις (tapeinôsis), “humbling”, “lowering”. The Greeks also called the figure ἀντενaντίωσις (antenantiosis), from ἀντί (anti, “over against”) and ἐναντίος (enantios, “opposite”) — “opposition” as a figure. When Tapeinosis appears within a parenthesis it is also called ἀναίρεσις (anairesis).

Definition

Bullinger distinguishes two operative forms. In positive Tapeinosis a word with literally minor content (such as “few”, “some”, “sick”) is used for a far larger reality. In negative Tapeinosis (Antenantiosis in the strict sense) the writer achieves the same by negation: “I do not hold guiltless” means “I hold guilty”, “no small thing” means “an enormous one”. In both cases the actual meaning emerges only when the reader corrects the apparent diminution — and that very act of correction lends the figure its emphasis.

Biblical Examples

1. Positive Tapeinosis — a diminutive word for a much larger reality:

“One” (Heb. אֶחָד) in plural = a few, some:

• Gen. 27:44 — “Tarry with him a few (lit. ‘one’) days, until thy brother’s fury turn away”. We learn from 29:20 that Jacob’s love for Rachel was such that the seven years felt like “a few days”.

“Some” (Greek τις) in plural = the majority:

• Rom. 3:3 — “For what if some did not believe?” Our attention is at once directed to the opposite: it was only “some” who believed, while the nation as a whole did not.
• 1 Tim. 4:1 — “…in the latter times some shall depart from the faith”. A vast number will be deceived by seducing spirits and demons in those last days.
• Gal. 2:6 — “But of these who seemed to be somewhat”. They seemed to be something; in reality they were nothing (cf. 6:3).

“Sick/weak” for “dead in sin”:

• Rom. 5:6 — “When we were yet without strength” (ἀσθενῶν, asthenôn, “sick”). We were in fact “dead in trespasses”, but described here as “infirm”; the real state appears in what follows: “ungodly”, “sinners”, “enemies” (vv. 6-10).

“Rebuke” for the heavy excommunication:

• 2 Cor. 2:6 — “Sufficient to such a man is this punishment” (ἐπιτιμία). The “rebuke” is the excommunication itself — a severe discipline.

2. Negative Tapeinosis — intensifying through denial:

• Exod. 20:7 — “The Lord will not hold him guiltless” — i.e. He will hold him fully guilty of breaking the whole law.
• Num. 21:23 — “Sihon would not suffer Israel to pass through his border” — Hebrew: “would not give permission”, i.e. he did more than refuse: he opposed even with force.
• Ps. 43:1 — “Plead my cause against an ungodly nation” (margin: “unmerciful”). Hebrew לֹא חָסִיד (lô chahsîd) = “not merciful”, meaning cruel and malignant.
• Ps. 51:17 — “A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise” — i.e. Thou wilt graciously accept and bless.
• Ps. 78:50 — “He spared not their soul from death” — i.e. He gave their life over to the pestilence.
• Ps. 83:1 — “Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still” — i.e. Arise, speak, deliver!
• Ps. 84:11 — “No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly” — i.e. He will give them every good thing.
• Ps. 107:38 — “And suffereth not their cattle to decrease” — i.e. He will multiply their cattle abundantly.
• Prov. 12:3 — “A man shall not be established by wickedness” — i.e. he shall be overthrown.
• Prov. 17:21 — “The father of a fool hath no joy” — i.e. he hath plenty of sorrow.
• Prov. 18:5 — “It is not good to accept the person of the wicked” — i.e. it is hateful in God’s sight.
• Prov. 30:25 — “The ants are a people not strong” — i.e. very weak.
• Isa. 14:6 — “And none hindereth” — i.e. all help.
• Isa. 42:3 — “A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench” — i.e. He will strengthen the bruised reed and kindle the smouldering wick to flame.
• Jer. 2:8 — “The prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit” — i.e. that led to their ruin.
• Zech. 8:17 — “Love no false oath” — i.e. hate every such oath.
• Matt. 2:6 — “And thou Bethlehem… art not the least among the princes of Juda” — i.e. thou art the greatest!
• Matt. 12:32 — “It shall not be forgiven him” — i.e. he shall have the heaviest punishment in this life and the next (cf. Mark 3:29).
• John 6:37 — “Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out” — far more is implied than literally said: not only will I not cast him out, but I will receive, preserve, defend; he shall never perish, nor shall any pluck him out of my hand.

Related Figures

• meiosis — related but distinct: in Meiosis one thing is diminished to magnify another
• litotes — Latin term often associated with Tapeinosis
• parenthesis — Anaeresis names Tapeinosis within parenthesis
• ellipsis — see John 6:37 (link with Repeated Negation)

Source

E.W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech Used in the Bible (1898), pp. 159-164.