(Matthew 26:26). This Is Appendix 159 From The Companion Bible. A figure of speech consists of a word or words
used out of the ordinary sense, or order; just as we call a person dressed
out of the ordinary manner or fashion a "figure": both
attract our attention; and, in the case of words, the one and only object
is in order to call the reader's attention to what is thus emphasized. For
examples see the notes on Matthew
16:6 : where, had the
Lord said "the doctrine of the Pharisees is like
leaven", that would have been the Figure Simile (Appendix 6). Had He
said "the doctrine of the Pharisees is leaven"
the Figure in this case would have been Metaphor (Appendix 6); by
which, instead of saying one thing is like another, it is
carried over (as the word Metaphor means), and states that
the one thing is the other. But in Matthew
16:6, the Lord used
another Figure altogether, Videlicet: Hypocatastasis (from
hupo = under (Appendix 104.
xviii), kata = down (Appendix 104. x),
and stasis = a stationing), which means putting one of the
two words (which are necessary in the case of
Simile and Metaphor) down underneath, that is
to say, out of sight, and thus implying it. He said,
"beware of the leaven", thus implying the word
"doctrine", which He really meant; and , by thus attracting
the disciples attention to His words, thereby emphasized them.
In these three Figures we have a Positive,
Comparative, and Superlative emphasis. The essence of Simile
is resemblance; the essence of metaphor is
representation (as in the case of a portrait, which is
representative of some person); the essence of
hypocatastasis is implication, where only one
word is mentioned and another is implied.
Through non-acquaintance with Figures of Speech every
Figure is to-day called "Metaphor". But this is not the
case. A Metaphor is a special Figure different and disticnt
from all others.
"This is My body" is the Figure
Metaphor : and the Figure lies in the Verb
"IS", which, as in this case, always means
"represents", and must always be so expressed. It can
never mean " is changed into". Hence in the Figure
Metaphor, the Verb "represents" can always be
substituted for "is". For example :
"The field is (or represents) the
world" (Matthew 13: "The good seed are (represent) the sons of the
kingdom" (Matthew 13: "The reapers are (represent) angels"
(Matthew 13: "The odours are (represent) the prayers of the
saints" (Revelation 5: "The seven heads are (represent) seven
mountains" (Revelation 17: "This cup is (represents) the new
covenant" ( "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not
(does it not represent) the blood of Christ?" ( Furthermore, it is a fundamental law in Greek
grammar, without exception, that the Article, Pronoun, and Adjective
must agree in gender with the Noun to which they refer. For
example, in Matthew 16: So here : the Pronoun "this" is Neuter,
and cannot agree with artos (= bread) because
artos is Masculine. It must refer to what is Neuter; and
this could only be the whole act of breaking the bread,
which would be Neuter also; or to klasma, the broken piece
(which is also Neuter).
In like manner, when He said (in verse For, what was the Lord doing? He was making the New
Covenant foretold in Jeremiah 31: Now, "blood" was shed, and
sacrificially used, only in connection with two things, the
making of a covenant, and the making of
atonement. In the former, the victim which made or ratified
the covenant was slain and the body divided in two, the parties to the
covenant passing between (see notes on Genesis
15: At the last supper this New Covenant was made; and
Peter's proclamation in Acts 2: In the last supper the Lord was not
instituting anything with a view to the Secret (the
"Mystery" to be yet revealed in the Prison Epistles); but
was substituting bread and wine for the Paschal Lamb (the
type being exhausted in the Antitype), because of the new meaning which
the Passover should henceforth convey. It was to be the
Memorial, not of the Exodus from Egypt, but of the
Exodus which the Lord afterward accomplished in Jerusalem
(Luke 9:
1Poterion being put by Metonymy (of Ajunct), Appendix 6, for the contents, for the "cup" itself could not be swallowed. |