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Figures of Speech Used in the Bible
You are about to download the Kindle ebook version of 'Figures of Speech Used in the Bible' by E.W. Bullinger. In this classic work, E.W. Bullinger catalogs and analyzes over 200 types of figures of speech utilized in the Scriptures. No other work of this type approaches the scope and knowledge that E.W. Bullinger had in this field.
One of the most useful and exhaustive of Bible study tools, "Figures of Speech Used in the Bible" by E.W. Bullinger should be in the personal library of anyone who is serious about Bible study.
The writers of the Bible often used figures of speech that were common during their time. In fact, we often use figures of speech in our everyday conversations without paying much attention to it-but we do expect others to understand that we were speaking figuratively and not literally. For example, if we were to say someone is "big as a barn" we would not expect anyone to seriously think they were forty feet long, eighteen feet tall and twenty feet wide. By taking such figures of speech literally it is easy to be lead astray into false doctrines.
The other thing the book is particularly valuable for is literary analysis. The beauty of literature sometimes is its use of various literary devices. Introverted parallelism is an example of a literary device included in the book. This is where two or more items are listed in one order and then in the reverse order. For example Exodus 9:31 where it reads "And the flax and the barley was smitten: for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was bolled." First the order is flax and then barley and then the order changes to barley and then flax. Of course there are a lot of other literary devices such as acrostics, sentences that start or end with the same words, a chapter where each verse starts with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet, or Psalms 69 where there are 22 groups of eight verses where each of the eight verses in that group all start with the same letter.
Whether it is examining these details of the Bible as literature or preventing an exegetic mistake by not understanding a figure of speech, "Figures of Speech Used in the Bible" is highly recommended and should be owned by all Bible students.
About the Author: (courtesy of Wikipedia)
E.W. Bullinger was born in Canterbury, England, a descendant of the noted Swiss reformer Heinrich Bullinger (1504-1557). He was educated at King's College, London, and gained recognition in the field of Biblical languages. He was ordained in the Church of England in 1862.
E.W. Bullinger was noted broadly for three works: A Critical Lexicon and Concordance to the English and Greek New Testament (1877); for his ground-breaking and exhaustive work on Figures of Speech Used in the Bible (1898); and as the primary editor of The Companion Bible (published in 6 parts, beginning in 1909 ; the entire annotated Bible was published posthumously in 1922). These works and many others remain in print to this day.
In 1881, four years after the publication of the Lexicon and Concordance, Archibald Campbell Tait, Archbishop of Canterbury conferred upon Bullinger a Doctor of Divinity degree, citing Bullinger's "eminent service in the Church in the department of Biblical criticism."
One of the most useful and exhaustive of Bible study tools, "Figures of Speech Used in the Bible" by E.W. Bullinger should be in the personal library of anyone who is serious about Bible study.
The writers of the Bible often used figures of speech that were common during their time. In fact, we often use figures of speech in our everyday conversations without paying much attention to it-but we do expect others to understand that we were speaking figuratively and not literally. For example, if we were to say someone is "big as a barn" we would not expect anyone to seriously think they were forty feet long, eighteen feet tall and twenty feet wide. By taking such figures of speech literally it is easy to be lead astray into false doctrines.
The other thing the book is particularly valuable for is literary analysis. The beauty of literature sometimes is its use of various literary devices. Introverted parallelism is an example of a literary device included in the book. This is where two or more items are listed in one order and then in the reverse order. For example Exodus 9:31 where it reads "And the flax and the barley was smitten: for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was bolled." First the order is flax and then barley and then the order changes to barley and then flax. Of course there are a lot of other literary devices such as acrostics, sentences that start or end with the same words, a chapter where each verse starts with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet, or Psalms 69 where there are 22 groups of eight verses where each of the eight verses in that group all start with the same letter.
Whether it is examining these details of the Bible as literature or preventing an exegetic mistake by not understanding a figure of speech, "Figures of Speech Used in the Bible" is highly recommended and should be owned by all Bible students.
About the Author: (courtesy of Wikipedia)
E.W. Bullinger was born in Canterbury, England, a descendant of the noted Swiss reformer Heinrich Bullinger (1504-1557). He was educated at King's College, London, and gained recognition in the field of Biblical languages. He was ordained in the Church of England in 1862.
E.W. Bullinger was noted broadly for three works: A Critical Lexicon and Concordance to the English and Greek New Testament (1877); for his ground-breaking and exhaustive work on Figures of Speech Used in the Bible (1898); and as the primary editor of The Companion Bible (published in 6 parts, beginning in 1909 ; the entire annotated Bible was published posthumously in 1922). These works and many others remain in print to this day.
In 1881, four years after the publication of the Lexicon and Concordance, Archibald Campbell Tait, Archbishop of Canterbury conferred upon Bullinger a Doctor of Divinity degree, citing Bullinger's "eminent service in the Church in the department of Biblical criticism."
1158 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1898
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374 people want to read
About the author
E.W. Bullinger
252 books39 followersE. W. (Ethelbert William) Bullinger was born in England. A direct dissent of Swiss reformer Johann Heinrich Bullinger, a covenant theologian, he was born and raised in a home strongly influenced by Wesleyan Methodist doctrine. An Anglican priest as well as secretary of the Trinitarian Bible Society, he is primarily known as a theologian who published numerous books. He is most commonly known for The Companion Bible.
Some of his theology was and remains controversial, but there is no arguing that he had an in-depth knowledge of Aramaic, Greek and Hebrew. Some of his more popular books still in extant include his Figures of Speech Used in the Bible and Number in Scripture.
Some of his theology was and remains controversial, but there is no arguing that he had an in-depth knowledge of Aramaic, Greek and Hebrew. Some of his more popular books still in extant include his Figures of Speech Used in the Bible and Number in Scripture.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 28, 2025
I looked forward to reading this book because of the information it contained about how Figure of Speech are used in the Bible thereby learning more about the Bible. The books does indeed contain different figures of speech about some of the verses in the Bible but it is not organized in a way that i could use it. I thought it would go systematically through the Bible in an orderly fashion but instead it went through the different categories of figures of speech each highlighting different Bible verses. There is no way to have a Bible verse in mind and then check it against the book. I can not find a way to use. I had such high hopes for this book. To be sure it has a lot of information, but I just cannot find a way to access it.
July 11, 2023
Incredibly helpful volume. I only had access to the 1971 edition, but I'm sure the new edition is excellent.
February 1, 2016
Great insight but tough read because of the use of Roman numerals, older fonts, and layout of the points and sub-points are quite difficult to decipher at times. But at least it forces me to pay attention.
December 6, 2013
Super book for study and research purposes. I do not know Hebrew so this book gives great insight into my study of the scriptures!
February 7, 2015
rrteal@sbcglobal.net
Should be required reading for newbies. Helps to understand the word. End of book references subject areas for faster lookups.
Should be required reading for newbies. Helps to understand the word. End of book references subject areas for faster lookups.
Read
March 25, 2016$15. Hardback. Unmarked except for owner's name. Some wear on dust jacket with small tears on spine. Underlying boards are like new.
August 3, 2020
Dictionary
I love the game Scramble. Because of this, and I'm sure you will laugh, I have come to read dictionaries. This is a great one!
I love the game Scramble. Because of this, and I'm sure you will laugh, I have come to read dictionaries. This is a great one!
September 18, 2020
This is not a book I have read cover to cover, because it's purely a reference book. It's the best one I know of on Biblical figures of speech. However, I have used it often over the years.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews