TIP OF THE DAY 113: Speaking with style - rhetorical figures

MJ. Smith

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QUESTION: Give some examples of the tagging of rhetorical figures in the Bible.

ANSWER: Drawn from the list of common Biblical figures and tropes shared earlier.

Erotesis: Rhetorical question

Example: Jeremiah 5:9

figureofSpeech:(description:Interrogating AND name:Erotesis)

propositionalOutline:"Question (Yes)"

sentence:"Interrogative Sentence"

question:(rhetorical:false AND type:Yes/no) which reflects a difference in interpretation.

Irony: Expressing meaning opposite to the literal meaning

Example: Jeremiah 11:15

figureofSpeech:(description:Irony AND name:Eironeia)

figureofSpeech:(description:"Permutation: i.e., a New Name for the Old Thing" AND name:Antiphrasis)

Sarcasm: Cutting or contemptuous remarks; Bullinger does not assign this to any scripture.

Example: 1 Corinthians 4:8-10

figureofSpeech☹description:Irony AND name:Eironeia) i.e. it is not identified as sarcasm by Bullinger

figurativeLanguage:(category:figurativeLanguageCategory:”Metaphor, Structural” AND source:figurativeLanguageTerm:”To Be Physically Filled” AND target:figurativeLanguageTerm:”To Be Spiritually Filled” AND type:figurativeLanguageType:”To Be Physically Filled as To Be Spiritually Filled”)

Antiphrasis: Using words in a sense opposite to their proper meaning

Example: Jeremiah 11:15

figureofSpeech:(description:”Permutation: i.e., a New Name for the Old Thing” AND name:Antiphrasis)

Bullinger: Jer. 11:15.—“What hath my beloved to do in mine house?” What follows clearly shows what is meant by the Antiphrasis in the word “beloved.”[1]

Epanorthosis: Recalling a statement to correct or strengthen it

Example: Proverbs 30:15

figureofSpeech:(description:Correction AND name:Epanorthosis)

QUESTION: Do the results for a search on the Question data set for rhetorical questions match the results for the figure of speech erotesis?

SOFTWARE: Run two Bible searches, one with a search argument of figureofSpeech:name:erotesis, the other with a search argument of question:rhetorical:true.

ANSWER: The question-based results contain many more entries than the figure of speech results. Both contain items that are not in the other. Often the difference is one of interpretation rather than definition.

QUESTION: What are the three classes of irony?

ANSWER: from Bullinger, Ethelbert William. Figures of Speech Used in the Bible. London; New York: Eyre & Spottiswoode; E. & J. B. Young & Co., 1898.

The figure is so called when the speaker intends to convey a sense contrary to the strict signification of the words employed: not with the intention of concealing his real meaning, but for the purpose of adding greater force to it. There are not many examples of this figure in Scripture. Irony has too much of contempt in it to suit the pity which is rather the spirit of the Scriptures.

And, moreover, Irony in the Scriptures is generally connected with serious words which make its use perfectly patent and clear.

There are three classes of Irony:—

1. ANTIPHRASIS, an-tiph´-rasis, from ἀντί (anti), against or opposite, and φράσις (phrasis), a way of speaking (from φράζειν, phrazein, to speak). This name is given to Irony when it consists of one word or a single expression. As when “a court of justice” is called “a court of vengeance.”

2. PERMUTATIO or permutation, when the Irony consists of phrases, and sentences, or longer expressions.

3. SARCASMOS, sar-cas´-mos. Greek, σαρκασμός; (Latin, sarcasmos), from σαρκάζω (sarkazō), to tear flesh as dogs do; hence, a rending or tearing or wounding with cutting words; sarcasm. Irony is so called when it is used as a taunt or in ridicule.

We have not arranged our examples in these three divisions, but have combined these together in five other divisions more simply, thus:—

I.Divine Irony. Where the speaker is Divine.

II.Human Irony. Where the speaker is a human being.

III.Peirastic Irony. Where the words are not spoken ironically in the ordinary sense, but peirastically: i.e., by way of trying or testing (PEIRASTIKOS).

IV.Simulated Irony. Where the words are used by man in dissimulation or hypocrisy.

V.Deceptive Irony. Where the words are not only hypocritical, but false and deceptive.[2]

[1] Ethelbert William Bullinger, Figures of Speech Used in the Bible (London; New York: Eyre & Spottiswoode; E. & J. B. Young & Co., 1898), 809.

[2] Ethelbert William Bullinger, Figures of Speech Used in the Bible (London; New York: Eyre & Spottiswoode; E. & J. B. Young & Co., 1898), 807.