Figures of Speech .... used in the Bible? important to know?

[Deleted User]

In just about all discussions ( threads) here I have noticed how some participants appear to either have little or no knowledge of figures of speech or they give the impression as if they deem the use of figures of speech in the Biblical text and perhaps any other text as not really important.

Are there figures of speech used in the Biblical text? are there many or only few? what constitutes a figure of speech?

Is there any importance to recognize figures of speech in the Biblical text for understanding correctly what the text teaches? Or can figures of speech be more or less ignored and everything written in the Bible is to be understood literally?

Keep_Smiling_4_Jesus

If believe Jesus is God, then more of the Bible is simply literally true along with being interconnected & consistent: Scripture explains Scripture. Jesus taught using parables, which is a figure of speech that literally fulfilled Isaiah 6:9 prophecy. Scripture interpretation preference is literal (while recognizing Bible has figure of speech and symbolic language: e.g. pluck your eye out or cut your hand off since it is profitable for part of body to perish rather than whole body be thrown into hell).

If believe Jesus is not God, then the Bible has many more figures of speech. Scripture interpretation preference for words of/about Jesus is a figure of speech (clearly separate from God), especially when Jesus declares He is God in a Jewish cultural way or NT authors declare Jesus is The Word (eternally God) in human flesh.

Is John 14:1 "πιστεύετε εἰς τὸν θεόν, καὶ εἰς ἐμὲ πιστεύετε" a figure of speech or command from Jesus to His disciples to believe in Jesus as God ?

πιστεύετε parsing => verb, present, active, indicative OR imperative, 2nd person, plural (ye be believing)

Preposition εἰς has different objects (believing to/toward/in): τὸν θεόν (The God) and ἐμὲ (Me = Jesus) that has word order emphasis for Believe In Jesus

Keep Smiling 😀

[Deleted User]

@Keep_Smiling_4_Jesus

If believe Jesus is God, then more of the Bible is simply literally true ...

...

If believe Jesus is not God, then the Bible has many more figures of speech.

This shows your apparent ignorance concerning the use of figures of speech.

Whether or not an author uses a figure of speech in his text (spoken or written) has NOTHING to do with what theology a hearer or reader may have. The author decides if he will express something by means of a figure of speech or not ... whether someone ever listens to the speech or reads the text or not.

Aside from this point, your points about John 14:1 have all to do with your particular "Jesus theology" and how you interpret what is stated in that verse ... they have nothing to do with the topic of the thread and are beside the point

Keep_Smiling_4_Jesus

@Wolfgang Aside from this point, your points about John 14:1 have all to do with your particular "Jesus theology" and how you interpret what is stated in that verse ... they have nothing to do with the topic of the thread and are beside the point

Thank you for confirming personal theology belief filters reception of Scripture text. My question about John 14:1 being a figure of speech or command from Jesus to His disciples to believe in Jesus as God ? was a follow-up to the first question in this thread:

@Wolfgang Are there figures of speech used in the Biblical text?

If believe Jesus is not God, then John 14:1 cannot be understood as Jesus commanding His disciples to believe in Jesus as God so needs a figurative (fantasy) explanation for the simple words Jesus spoke. Instead of confirming figure of speech (from your faith point of view), John 14:1 plain textual points were labeled as having "nothing to do with the topic of this thread and are beside the point."

My "Jesus theology" seeks spiritual assistance from One God to hear & obey God's scripture, which has literal and figurative language.

Keep Smiling 😀

[Deleted User]

From what you, KeepSmiling4Jesus, wrote in your recent reply, it seems that you - once again - did not understand what I tried to communicate and point out to you. Having experienced this now numerous times, I conclude that I better just save time and effort to reply to your posts in order to try and clarify or point out something to you ... for the simple reason that I acknowledge my lack of ability to do so successfully. My attempts are seemingly insufficient and unclear or worse. Thus, my current resolve to leave it at that as far as your posts are concerned