Questions tagged [metaphor]
A metaphor is a figure of speech that refers to one thing by means of another thing.
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What was Jesus referring to by "the eye of the needle"?
What is the opinion on Jesus's use of the phrase "the eye of a needle" in Mark 10:25:
And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth ...
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Genesis 2 and 3 - Why was nudity suddenly a shame for Adam?
Genesis 2
Adam was created from mud, and Eve was created from one of Adam's ribs. Both had remained naked in the Garden of Eden.
Genesis 2:25
And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and ...
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Does Job's "covenant with [his] eyes" refer to marriage?
Job's final appeal to God includes this assertion of innocence:
I have covenanted with my eyes
Not to gaze on a maiden.—Job 31:1 (NJPS)
The ESV reads this as a rhetorical question:
I have ...
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What does cleanliness have to do with vines in John 15?
In John 15, Jesus uses the image of a vine to discuss his relationship to his Father and to the disciples. But suddenly in verse 3 he says
"Already you are clean because of the word that I have ...
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Does Jesus always use the mustard seed to signify the property of "smallness"?
In Luke, we read:
The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and ...
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Unfamiliar metaphors in Hosea 14:6-7
Hosea 14:5-7 (ESV) reads,
5 I will be like the dew to Israel;
he shall blossom like the lily;
he shall take root like the trees of Lebanon;
6 his shoots shall spread out;
his beauty shall be ...
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How does a believer behold as in the mirror the glory of the Lord in 2 Corinthians 3:18?
But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:18 (...
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In Matthew 5:13-16, who is the implied subject causing the salt to lose its saltiness? What is the theological implication of 'losing the saltiness?
If" (ἐάν) in v.13, unlike natural salt, which cannot lose its saltiness, suggests that for believers—the "salt of the world"—becoming tasteless is a potential outcome. The verb μωρανθῇ (...
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John 12:24--In what way does the grain of wheat die?
John 12:24 23 But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. 24 Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it ...
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What exactly is meant by ' horn' in Psalm 75:5?
We read in Psalm 75:5 with the title : For the director of music. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A psalm of Asaph. A song.
1 We praise you, God,
we praise you, for your Name is near;
people tell ...
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What does Eden represent in Ezekiel 31?
In comparing Egypt to Assyria in Ezekiel 31, Eden is used in the metaphor.
Ezekiel 31:8-9:
The cedars in God's garden could not match [Assyria];
The cypresses could not compare with its boughs,
And ...
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What is the significance of 'earthern vessel' in 'treasure in earthern vessel' of 2 Cor 4:7?
What is the significance of earthen vessel/clay jar in 2 Corinthians 4:7 (NKJV) where Paul talks about the treasure, the light of Christ's gospel?
"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that ...
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How does the father purge the fruitful branch in John 15:2?
John 15:2 KJV
Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
The above metaphor seemingly refers to ...
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How does the Stone hear words in Joshua 24:27?
Stones do not have ears to hear. Yet we learn in [Joshua 24:27] that The-Stone (הָאֶבֶן Ha-Even) was a Witness which שָׁמְעָה "heard" >> כָּל־אִמְרֵי יְהֹוָ֔ה "all [the] Words of ...
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Who is the Assyrian in Ezekiel 31:3
Ezekiel 31:3 Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with
fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature;
and his top was among the thick boughs.
This Assyrian mentioned ...
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