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Metaphors
Good, good morning! I’m running a bit late today.
You know how it is. Go to bed too late at night and it gets tough to get started at 5:00 AM.
I’ve been an early riser all my life. Not sure why that is, but my internal time clock goes off every morning just before 5:00.
And it doesn’t seem to matter what time zone I’m in – Hawaiian, Alaskan, Pacific, Mountain, Central, Eastern – you name it – my internal clock adjusts according, and I wake up early.
Anyway……I said yesterday that I would continue my discussions on angels today, but I realized when I was working on today’s piece last night that there were a few details I needed to check with some folks before the article went out.
So, if you don’t mind, ANGELS 2 will wait until tomorrow or Monday.
Got your coffee ready? I’m fixed for the moment with two cups in front of me – one at a drinkable temperature, and another one cooling off ‘cause it’s too hot to even begin to drink.
Sometimes I don’t know how Della does it. She insists that her coffee has to be HOT, HOT !!
And I do mean, HOT! It would scald my lips if I drank coffee that hot.
Guess it’s all a matter of what you get used to, and how you adapt your taste buds.
Dad was the same way. Had to have his coffee almost boiling hot.
Metaphors are a funny thing. Figures of speech.
We use them often in our daily conversations without a second thought.
The reason is because metaphors draw pictures in our minds that illustrate something we are trying to convey often much better than the words we would normally choose.
The English language is notoriously non-metaphorical.
It has become such a hodge-podge of other languages that we often use phrases from other languages in order to better convey our thoughts.
Sometimes we go around a forty-acre field to try and convey certain thoughts and truths.
There! I just used a metaphor. I drew a picture for you from the farming genre of a forty-acre field as a means of demonstrating how difficult it is to reach a certain point.
Back in the mid-1980’s, Della and I went out to Saint Paul Island in the Pribilofs to fill in for my Dad at his church while he sought some medical analysis and tests for physical problems he was experiencing.
While we were, I was studying in the Song of Solomon one morning and discovered that the entire book is one metaphor after another strung together.
Much of Scripture is that way. The Hebrew and Greek languages are – by construction and etymology – graphically pictorial.
Words have many meanings. Each word in Hebrew and Greek draws a picture.
The apostle Paul, for example, used a fistful of words and phrases that come directly from the ancient Olympics.
The word for “sin,” for example, comes from the Olympics.
It is an archery term. It literally translates to “miss the target.”
The word draws a picture of an arrow that has been released in flight, and – because the arrow either has a flaw in its construction, or because the aim was off – deviates from its set path, missing its intended goal.
The word, “submit,” (one of those really nasty words we see throughout Scripture <GRIN>) has many pictures and applications, but let me take a couple that come directly from the ancient games.
Hupeiko, a word that appears only once in the New Testament, is a conjunction of
hupo (used genitively in Greek in the sense of being under something higher) and
eiko (meaning to yield or to give way). This is a word which comes straight out of the Olympics and is applied to combatants. It literally translates to,
“yield, cease resistance.”
We find this word in Hebrews 13:17 in conjunction with the Greek word,
hegoumenos (prince). Our KJV English puts it like this,
“Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves….”
Translating the metaphors makes it read like this, “Do not resist the mandates of princes, governors, viceroys, etc., but give due consideration to them.”
Katagonidzomai is derived from
katago -- which is a conjunction of
kata, and
agonidzomai; and this, in turn, is derived from
agon.
Kata is a preposition which denotes motion, diffusion, or direction -- moving from the higher (state or position) to the lower (state or position).
Agonidzomai is a term which also comes from the Olympic Games, but in this instance was used specifically within gymnastic contests. The apostle Paul is the principal architect of its N.T. usage, and uses it figuratively:
"to contend, struggle, and fight with difficulties and dangers," "to endeavor with strenuous
zeal," and
"to strive with agony." (See, e.g., I Corinthians 9:25; Colossians 1:29, 4:12; I Timothy 4:10, 6:12; II Timothy 4:7.)
Agon is used in the Greek text for (1) the place of assembly for the Olympic Games, (2) a contest between runners, athletes, or charioteers, or (3) metaphorically of any struggle with dangers, annoyances, or obstacles standing in the way. (See Philippians 1:30; Colossians 2:1; I Thessalonians 2:2; I Timothy 6:12; II Timothy 4:7; and Hebrews 12:1.)
Katagonidzomai is used, therefore,
"to struggle against and overcome; to subdue."
(See Hebrews 11:33.)
One of the more controversial Hebrew metaphors appears in the New Testament Greek in Mark 16:18, where our English translations read Jesus saying,
“They shall take up serpents.”
In actual fact, this is one of the oldest of Hebrew metaphors. A sharp-tongued, wily, deceitful man is described frequently as a
“serpent.” Thus, the metaphorical translation of Mark 16:18 actually reads,
“They shall take on sharp-tongued, wily, deceitful men, whose arguments and debates will neither sway nor defeat them.”
After Dad passed away on Good Friday of 1986, Della and I returned to Saint Paul Island to help Mom with a number of tasks and make sure she was OK.
A separate family issue arose with regard to our children that required Della to leave the island and fly to Washington.
In the next few months, while I was on the island, I spent many, many hours researching the hundreds of Hebrew metaphors that abound in the Song of Solomon, and ultimately began re-translating the book into its literal, metaphorical translation.
Some of those metaphors are worth our consideration and discussion today.
In an earlier COFFEE BREAK piece, I made note of the phrase that occurs five times in the Song of Solomon,
“my sister, my spouse.”
This is not a phrase that refers to one’s blood relative, as our English translation might imply. It translates metaphorically to
“my counterpart, my other self.”
This metaphor makes a lot of sense when you take into account some of the phraseology that occurs in the first chapter.
A metaphor that appears not less than four times in Scripture appears here in verse 5. The English translators have translated this phrase,
“I am black.” Over the years, I’ve heard a lot of silly applications and supposed usages of this phrase to imply that Shulammyth – the name applied to the woman described in the Song of Solomon – was either sun-burned or a black person. (I’ll get to her name, momentarily.)
Yet, Jeremiah uses this phrase twice speaking for the Lord to Israel, most notably when he says,
“I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me…” (Jeremiah 8:21)
I am indebted to the labors of William Gesenius, the Hebrew scholar whose masterful work is contained in his Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon, originally published in 1815.
Another scholar – Samuel Tregelles – expanded upon Gesenius’ original work and did additional research in the Hebrew language.
Their labors and research have allowed me to understand and explore the metaphorical nature of the Old Testament Hebrew.
That said, this phrase, “I am black,” comes from a place in Hebrew thought that relates specifically to the relationship between God and man, and more specifically, to the intended relationship between a husband and wife. It applies in this case to the expected union of counterparts.
Behind this metaphor is the following:
“There is a ‘search’ that goes on in the heart of every person – a seeking after one’s counterpart – for their “other self.”
When put into the context of the Song of Solomon 1:5 and used conjunctively with the companion metaphors, the verse actually translates out to read like this:
“Although I am beautiful and desirable for him to look upon, the real answer goes much deeper.
There is a search that goes on in the heart of every person – a seeking after one’s counterpart – for their “other self.”
I have spent my life searching for the man who is my “other self.,” knowing deep inside that when I found him, an inner joining would occur – a linking up to form a whole being instead of two partial beings.
That inner joining occurred when we met and came to know each other.
Just as our society views the tents of Kedar as a symbol of strength, authority, loyalty to family, protectiveness, and the absence of pretense, so does my lord, the King, see built in me a commitment to those values.
He sees in me a mobility, a flexibility, a willingness to pick up and go – to follow him wherever he desires to go.
In the same way the curtains of his chamber shimmer and ripple in their color and transparent beauty, so also does Solomon see an inner transparency to me – and a physical appearance which shimmers and ripples with movement to his great delight.
This is what he looked for in a bride, and why he chose me.”
Now, compare that to our KJV English translation which reads like this:
“I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.”
Dramatic, isn’t it?
Now you can see what the metaphors do to the actual message being conveyed. Simply translating the words into a close English approximation misses the
depth of the truth in what the Holy Spirit is actually saying.
Take a look at the very next verse. The KJV English reads like this,
“Look not upon me because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me; my mother’s children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.”
Now, let’s take a look at the way it reads when you make use of the metaphors.
“Because you normally expect a woman who is taken in marriage to have been prepared indoors, away from the sun, with oils and spices and perfumes for many weeks and months, you look on me with shock because my skin is deeply tanned and weathered.
Ignore that! My preparation came another way! Instead of scrubbing my skin, washing it, and rubbing it with oils and spices, my spirit and inner being have been scrubbed through the washing of trying experiences.
For years have I been in the furnace of affliction with my supposed “friends” and family.
They hated me. They were angry and extremely jealous of me.
My family thought to rid themselves of my presence by forcing me to tend the vineyards.
I was made vulnerable to wild animals, thieves and robbers.
They exposed me to the elements of nature: the storms, the wind and the rain, and the hot sun.
Because I was responsible for keeping several vineyards, I couldn’t keep up with all of them.
Consequently, my own vineyard fell into neglect, and my reputation went with it.
The constant exposure to danger and hard work with the attendant problems, and watching God’s provision and deliverance through those years, developed something in my spirit more important to the King than scrubbed skin, olive oil and spices.”
Wheww! Now you begin to understand the importance of metaphors. It radically alters our understanding of what the Lord is saying to us. It alters our understanding of many of the things that have happened, are happening, and may yet happen to us as we are prepared – as individuals, and as a people – to be joined to the Lord Jesus Christ.
The woman who is speaking in these verses is described in the Hebrew as, “Shulammyth.”
It is literally the feminine of Solomon. Our English translations call her the “Shulamite,” implying a race or nationality or region from which she supposedly came.
Instead of a descriptive ethnicity, the word is a loving reference to her as being Solomon’s counterpart, his other self.
Hence the use of that phrase throughout this book.
Throughout the Scripture, from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21, metaphors abound in ways that often escape our attention.
Numbers are used as metaphors. Let me illustrate.
The number six is the number of man. I won’t repeat everything I wrote a few weeks ago on how the number six applies to man (it is available at MorningCoffee.net if you scroll on down the home page) in the piece, THE SCIENCE & SPIRIT OF SOUND.
The number six is a metaphor.
The number seven is used metaphorically of God the Father.
The number eight is used metaphorically of Jesus Christ.
The number nine is used metaphorically of the Holy Spirit.
What’s interesting – and I don’t have time to get into all of it today – is that these numbers usually appear behind the actual words in triads.
The Hebrew and Greek alphabets contain numerical values for each of the letters.
If you want to take the time, you will find the number, 888, or a mathematical multiple thereof, encapsulated in each of the phrases in Genesis 1,
“And God said…….”
Thus, behind the creation commands are hidden the mathematical metaphor for the Lord Jesus Christ. It was He doing the speaking.
Whenever you see something the Holy Spirit is speaking or doing, you will find the mathematical metaphor, 999, or a multiple thereof, concealed in the values of each of the letters of the words.
One phrase used abusively by many preachers and teachers because they miss the mathematical metaphor is,
“the mark of the beast.”
In actual fact, the Greek text of Revelation 13:18 does not include the article “a.”
It actually reads in part like this,
“…Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast, for it is the number of man.”
What was the number? 666.
The triad of sixes is a metaphor all by itself. It is a metaphor for humanism: man setting himself up to be the final arbiter of himself; man being the final authority.
Thus, what John was describing was the spirit of the age: the spirit of humanism – secular humanism – pervading the thought processes and supplanting God as the final authority.
John’s previous use of the phrase,
“to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads..,”
encapsulates two separate Hebrew metaphors.
The mark in the right hand was the way in which people did business.
This metaphor recurs many, many times throughout both Old and New Testaments.
The mark in the forehead was a metaphor for one’s thinking – one’s thought processes.
Thus John’s warning was to avoid doing business after the manner of the beast, and to refuse humanistic thought.
No warning could possibly be more descriptive of today’s society.
No warning could possibly be more germane to each of us.
Gotta stop, folks! There’s way too much for me to cover on this topic today, but maybe we will be able to take this in segments as time progresses.
Enjoy your coffee, and your weekend. We’ll talk more later.
Have the best day of your life, folks. Blessings on you!
Regner
A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
700 South 6th Street
Sunnyside, Washington 98944
(509) 837-4657
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