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Author Topic:   Hyperbole in the Bible
Jon
Inactive Member


Message 60 of 124 (640463)
11-09-2011 11:05 PM
Reply to: Message 46 by Panda
11-06-2011 2:10 PM


Re: Still Clueless
From reading your opening post, it seems like you are taking the IDist's stance of "I'll know it when I see it."
How else does one recognize figurative language?

Love your enemies!

This message is a reply to:
 Message 46 by Panda, posted 11-06-2011 2:10 PM Panda has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 62 by Panda, posted 11-10-2011 5:32 AM Jon has replied

  
Jon
Inactive Member


Message 73 of 124 (640531)
11-10-2011 11:47 AM
Reply to: Message 62 by Panda
11-10-2011 5:32 AM


Re: Still Clueless
Jon writes:
Panda writes:
From reading your opening post, it seems like you are taking the IDist's stance of "I'll know it when I see it."
How else does one recognize figurative language?
How would you identify hyperbole in the bible?
How would you differentiate 'hyperbole' from 'extraordinary truth'?
Wasn't that pretty much answered with the rhetorical question I presented to you?
When I see hyperbole, or any other figurative language, I'll know it.
There is no formula.
Jon

Love your enemies!

This message is a reply to:
 Message 62 by Panda, posted 11-10-2011 5:32 AM Panda has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 75 by Panda, posted 11-10-2011 12:31 PM Jon has replied

  
Jon
Inactive Member


Message 90 of 124 (640657)
11-11-2011 12:59 PM
Reply to: Message 75 by Panda
11-10-2011 12:31 PM


Re: Still Clueless
Jon writes:
When I see hyperbole, or any other figurative language, I'll know it.
How?
I am not sure I can be much clearer. There is no formula. I cannot give you a list of rules or checks that I can use to recognize figurative language.
But when I see it, I will know I have seen it.
And do you think that "I'll just know" is a 100% reliable method of identifying hyperbole?
No methods are 100% reliable. But when it comes to recognizing figurative language, "I'll know it when I see it" is the only method we have.
Jon

Love your enemies!

This message is a reply to:
 Message 75 by Panda, posted 11-10-2011 12:31 PM Panda has seen this message but not replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 91 by NoNukes, posted 11-11-2011 1:22 PM Jon has replied
 Message 94 by Bailey, posted 11-11-2011 2:15 PM Jon has replied

  
Jon
Inactive Member


Message 97 of 124 (640705)
11-12-2011 12:42 AM
Reply to: Message 94 by Bailey
11-11-2011 2:15 PM


Re: A Better Way?
Learning about the author’s culture, time and place assists us in understanding their expressions.
We have a hard time with figuration in scriptures when lacking that valuable information.
It also helps to understand the purpose and limits of a given literary technique.
All of that certainly helps us identify figurative language...
... when we see it.

Love your enemies!

This message is a reply to:
 Message 94 by Bailey, posted 11-11-2011 2:15 PM Bailey has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 102 by Bailey, posted 11-12-2011 4:09 PM Jon has not replied

  
Jon
Inactive Member


Message 98 of 124 (640706)
11-12-2011 12:43 AM
Reply to: Message 91 by NoNukes
11-11-2011 1:22 PM


Re: Still Clueless
I think it is possible to do much better than that, and to do so fairly reliably.
Then I suppose you can lay out a method?

Love your enemies!

This message is a reply to:
 Message 91 by NoNukes, posted 11-11-2011 1:22 PM NoNukes has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 100 by NoNukes, posted 11-12-2011 12:01 PM Jon has replied

  
Jon
Inactive Member


Message 105 of 124 (640776)
11-13-2011 2:30 AM
Reply to: Message 100 by NoNukes
11-12-2011 12:01 PM


Re: Still Clueless
Jon writes:
Then I suppose you can lay out a method?
I think I can. I believe we can easily spot most of the literary devices in the Bible by determining which descriptions are meant not to be taken literally base on context. If we know more about the idioms and means of expression that were commonly used by Biblical authors, we should be able to identify almost every such instance.
Of course, there will be some things that cannot be clearly classify, and we may never know the scope of exaggeration present in some of those descriptions that we correctly identify as not literal. But those things we cannot identify are likely only a tiny portion of the entire text.
Then what's the method?

Love your enemies!

This message is a reply to:
 Message 100 by NoNukes, posted 11-12-2011 12:01 PM NoNukes has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 106 by NoNukes, posted 11-13-2011 4:50 AM Jon has replied

  
Jon
Inactive Member


Message 109 of 124 (640802)
11-13-2011 11:50 AM
Reply to: Message 106 by NoNukes
11-13-2011 4:50 AM


Re: Still Clueless
I just gave you the method.
You gave me no such thing. You merely told me all of the things we might look at to help us decide whether a particular line of text is figurative or not...
... upon seeing it of course.
Or to put it another way, if I had no idea what figurative language was, your 'method' wouldn't help me understand it in any way whatsoever.
Jon

Love your enemies!

This message is a reply to:
 Message 106 by NoNukes, posted 11-13-2011 4:50 AM NoNukes has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 110 by NoNukes, posted 11-13-2011 1:14 PM Jon has not replied

  
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