Figurative Language Used in Bible Old Testament
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Figurative Language Used in Bible Old Testament
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Figurative Language Used in Bible Old Testament
Felisita Ronsmin1, Ni Putu Cahyani Putri Utami 2
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1,2English Literature, Faculty of Foreign Languages, Mahasaraswati Denpasar University Correspondence Email: 1[email protected], 2[email protected]
Abstract
This article aimed to analyze the figurative language used in the Bible Old Testament. The objectives of this research are to find out types of figurative language and the meanings in the Bible Old Testament. To analyze the data, the author uses the main theory proposed by Knickerbocker and Reninger (1963) entitled Interpreting Literature and the theory of meaning proposed by Leech (1981) entitled Semantics. This article analyzed the data by using a qualitative method. The data were collected by reading the Bible, taking note and classifying the sentences that contain figurative language. The data was taken from the Bible Old Testament. The types of figurative language found in Bible Old Testament were simile (3 items or 37,5%), metaphor (1 item or 12,5%), personification (1 item or 12,5%), paradox (1 item or 12,5%), and hyperbole (2 items or 25%). Simile is the dominant type and there are 3 types with the least result found in the Bible Old Testament namely metaphor, personification, and paradox.
Keywords: figurative language, meaning, bible old testament
Abstrak
Artikel ini menganalis makna bahasa kiasan yang ditemukan dalam alkitab Perjanjian lama. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui jenis-jenis bahasa kiasan dan maknanya di dalam alkitab perjanjian lama. Dalam menganalisis data, teori utama yang digunakan dalam artikel ini adalah teori yang dikemukakan oleh Knickerbocker dan Renninger (1963) dalam buku berjudul “Interpreting Literature” dan kedua, teori makna yang dikemukakan oleh Leech (1981) dalam buku berjudul “Semantics”. Artikel ini menganalisis data dengan menggunakan metode kualitatif. Penulis mengumpulkan data dengan cara membaca dan memahami isi dari alkitab, serta mencatat dan mengklasifikasikan setiap kalimat yang mengandung bahasa kiasan. Data tersebut diambil dari alkitab perjanjian lama. Jenis makna Bahasa kiasan yang ditemukan dalam alkitab perjanjian lama adalah simile (3 data atau 37,5%), personifikasi (1 data atau 12,5%), hiperbola (2 data atau 25%), metafora (1 data atau 12,5%), dan paradoks (1 data atau 12,5%). Simile adalah jenis tipe yang paling banyak ditemukan dan personifikasi, metafora, dan paradoks adalah jenis tipe yang muncul paling sedikit ditemukan dalam alkitab perjanjian lama.
Kata kunci: bahasa kiasan, makna, Alkitab perjanjian lama
Language is a challenging issue to focus upon. Language is an organized pattern in which every section takes an important section, which is related to other sections. The purpose of language is used to express reaction, and to let out our thoughts, ideas, emotions and feelings. According to Wibowo (2001:3), language is a fabric of symbols that are significant and communicative sound which are capricious and ordinary, which is utilized as a means of communicating by a class of human beings to utter the feelings and notions.
The study of language is called linguistics. There are five core types which one of them calls semantics. Semantics is a part of language that studies meaning in sentences. In semantics, there
were several parts, and one of those parts was called figurative language. In addition, figurative language is a language which uses a figure of speech or a way of saying something and meaning another in order to convey a complicated meaning, colorful writing, and clarity. Figurative language is when you use a word or phrase that does not have its normal in everyday conversation or literal meaning. Writers can use figurative language to make their work more interesting or more dramatic than literal language. As stated by Giroux and Williston (1974: 10), figurative language is language which departs from the straight forward use of the words. It creates a special effect, clarifies an idea, and makes writing more colorful and forceful.
A good translator should understand types of meaning that exist in the texts, because it is understood that there are many types of meaning. There are many types of figurative language such as: metaphor, simile, dead metaphor, hyperbola, irony, personification, metonymy, paradox, and allusion. In general, the figurative language is differentiated into four groups: confirmation, comparison, opposition, and allusion. These figurative languages are famous in society, and also in the field of education. The types of figurative languages can be found or used in the Bible Old Testament, because it can be used by humans in daily life, especially Christians to see the messages and also commands which of course strengthen mankind and also grow the faith. Sometimes, people find complexity to find out what a scribe intends in a bible, because what usually says is not always the same as what he or she aims to express.
According to the Oxford Dictionary (2008; 37) Bible is the holy book of the Jewish and Christian religions. The bible have two parts such as: the Old Testament and the New Testament. In this study, the author used the Bible Old Testament. The Old Testament is the first section of the whole Bible. The Bible Old Testament is one of the spiritual book of the Christian religion, the contents of the bible aims to tell the history of the Earth from the very beginning, to the spread of Christianity and the story of Israel in the bible there are messages and commands of God to strengthen mankind and also grow the faith. The objectives of this research are to find out types of figurative language and the meaning used in the Bible Old Testament.
There are several reasons the writer studies figurative language. First, Figurative language is used in literature such as poetry, drama, prose, song, and also in the bible. Second, figurative language relates to the use of words in a way that strays from the conventional order and meaning in order to express a complex meaning, and dramatic writing. The last reason is that figurative language can be employed to confirm, suggest, and connect with the audience and clarify your intended message.
The writer deliver some previous related studies about figurative language from theses and journal that will be explained below:
The first review is Arifah’s thesis (2016) entitled Figurative Language Analysis in five John Legend’s Songs. The second related study of figurative language was taken from the thesis of Miru (2019) under the title “An Analysis of
Figurative Language Found in Hillsong Church Song Lyrics”. The third was taken from the article of Wijayanti (2017), with the title An Analysis of Figurative Language Used in Paulo Coelho’s Adultery Novel. The fourth related study of figurative language was the thesis of Amung (2022) under the title “An Analysis of Figurative Language Found in Bible New Testament”. The last related study was taken from Datus (2020) entitled “An Analysis of Metaphor Fo und in the Bible”. Based on the previous related literature, the similarities are analyzed about classes of figurative language. While the difference is the classification in terms of data source, this study takes the data source from the Bible Old Testament. The writer wants to improve the understanding of the hidden meanings that contain in the Bible Old Testament and the writer is readable in analyzing the figurative language because the books contain figurative language such as simile, hyperbole, metaphor, personification, etc. By using figurative language, some people who are non-native speakers will find it difficult to understand the core meaning of some sentences that are contained in the bible. Therefore, in this research, the writer focuses on analyzing the hidden meaning of each type of figurative language that is found in the Bible Old Testament to help writer find out the literal meaning.
The data of this research were taken from the Bible Old Testament, i.e., Psalm, Proverb, Job, Revelations, Deuteronomy, 2 Samuel, and Song of Songs. The method used in analyzing the data in this study is the qualitative method. In collecting data, the writers used observation methods by taking some steps: read the bible frequently in order to understand the contents of bible; taking note and underlining the words, sentences and phrases that include figurative language in any part; and classified the data based on types of figurative language. This research used the main theory proposed by Knickerbocker and Reninger (1963: 367) to find out types of figurative language, and supporting theory or the theory of meaning proposed by Leech (1981: 9-19). The finding of this study was presented by the formal and informal method.
After analyzing the data from the Bible Old Testament, the researcher found five types of figurative language. They are: simile 3 data or 37,5%, metaphor 1 data or 12,5%, personification 1 data or 12,5%, hyperbola 2 data or 25% and paradox 1 data or 12,5%. Meanwhile, for the meaning of the figurative language contained in the Bible Old Testament, the researcher found 2 types of meaning, such as; connotative meaning 6 data or 75%, and denotative meaning 2 data or 25%. And the most dominant types of figurative language that are contained in the Bible Old Testament is simile. There are as many as 3 data points or 37,5% of the total, followed by the personification, metaphors, and paradox, each with 1 data point or 12,5% and hyperbole with 2 data or 25%. Meanwhile, for the types of meaning, the most dominant is connotative meaning, which amounts to 6 data points or
75%.Table 1. Types of figurative language in Bible
|
Old Testament | |||
|
No. |
Types of Figurative Language |
Number of Cases |
Percentage |
|
1. |
Simile |
3 |
37,5% |
|
2. |
Metaphor |
1 |
12,5% |
|
3. |
Personification |
1 |
12,5% |
|
4. |
Paradox |
1 |
12,5% |
|
5. |
Hyperbole |
2 |
25% |
|
Total |
8 |
100% | |
Based on the total above, the author found 8 data of the types of figurative language used in the Bible Old Testament. And there are 2 types of meaning namely connotative meaning and denotative meaning. The discussion of the data of figurative language is presented below:
According to Knickerbocker and Reninger (1974: 283), simile is a figure of speech comprising comparison, it draws similarity with the help of the word like and as. The writer analyzed the data of simile as follows:
Data 1
“But the wicked are like the tossing sea, which can’t rest, whose cannot cast up mire and mud.” (Isaiah 57:20)
The data above is categorized as simile because this sentence compares two things such as
“wicked” and “tossing sea”. The connection word that is used in this sentence is the word “like”. Wicked is about people who don't fear God and strays from His way. Then the sea is a place of salty water that covers a large part of the earth.
The data contains connotative meaning, because the meaning of the sentence is beyond its literal meaning. God compares them as the tossing sea because they stray from His way and there is no fear of God before his eyes, therefore the wicked compared as the tossing sea which their life no longer quite but will be as how the sea waving and no longer peaceful but always feel such a tossing sea cause of the way they took to stray from God’s way.
Data 2
“As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.” [Isaiah 66:13]
The data above is categorized as simile because this sentence compares two things such as “mother” and “I”. The connection word that is used in this sentence is the word “as”. Mother is a female parent (Oxford 2008: 286). In addition, a mother is someone who gives birth to a child, and has an important role such as taking care, protecting the children, full of love and she is the one who can understand every problem of her children. The word I in this sentence means God himself.
The data above contains denotative meaning because the purpose in this sentence is the objective meaning of the word or it gives direct meaning. God compares Himself as a mother because as a mother who protects and loves her children so God will do the same thing to protect and love all the people who follow His way and do the good things in their life. Like a mother always being with her children God will never leave all the people who are pleasing to Him. As a mother who is full of love, peace, and kindness, God will be like that to His people who follow Him and be a right person. Even people leave God, He will be faithful waiting for them back to Him.
D a ta 3
“He springs up like a flower and withers away. Like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.” (Job 14:2)
The sentence above is categorized as simile because there is a comparison between two things
such as the word “he” and “flower” then “he” and “shadow”. The connection word that is used in these sentences is the word “like”. “He” is about man or people in the world who were created by the Almighty God. Flower is part of a plant that produces seeds, often brightly coloured (Oxford dictionary 2008:170). Flitting shadow is a dark shape that somebody or something’s form makes on a surface when they are between the light and the surface (Oxford dictionary 2008:403).
The data has connotative meaning, because the meaning of this sentence is beyond its literal meaning. God compares man as a flower because human life is not eternal or as short as flowers, even if it’s blooming sometimes, or giving a colorful, good look, but that’s all temporary and man will die as well. Furthermore, God compares man as a fleeting shadow. In this part, God would like to tell humans that life is not eternal, but it’s like a fleeting shadow which can’t endure and sometimes it can be lost. God compares humans as flowers and fleeting shadows to explain that a human's life is temporary and after death there is no more life, so don’t waste your time that God has already sent to you. Fill your life with good things and become a blessing to others.
Metaphor is a figure of speech, which briefly compares two things. It is considered implied comparison without used words “Like” or “as”. Knickerbocker and Reninger, (1974: 283). The writer analyzed the data of metaphor as follow:
Data 4
“So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it The Lord is peace.” (Judges 6:24)
The data above is classified as a metaphor because it compares directly between “Lord” and “Peace”. Peace is a situation or a period of time in which there is no violence in a country and a state of being calm and quiet, a state of living in friendship with somebody without arguing. (Oxford Dictionary 2008:322)
The data above contains denotative meaning because the meaning in this sentence is the objective meaning of the word or it gives direct meaning. The sentence “the Lord is peace” shows that the Almighty God is Peace. Peace which has a huge meaning, and in this part peace not only talking about a state of being calm, quiet, or no
violence but also known as love and savior. When our life is with God it means that our life will be full of peace, love, joy, and secure. As a Christian who has a struggle or while facing some problems in life should remember that you have a great Father and your Father is peace, so don’t be afraid just pray, believe, and hope in God, because the Lord is peace.
Personification is expressing human characteristics to an object, animals, or an abstract idea. According to Knickerbocker and Reninger (1974: 283) personification is an implied comparison between a non-human thing and a human being. The data of personification was analyzed as follow:
Data 5
“The earth reels like a drunkard, it sways like a hut in the wind. So heavy upon it is the guilt of its rebellion that it falls and never to rise again” (Isaiah 24:20).
The data above is classified as personification because this sentence gives characteristics of human beings to non-human beings. Earth is the world, the planet we live on, and the place where an animal, especially a fox, lives (Oxford Dictionary 2008:141). While drunkard is a person who often gets drunk (Oxford Dictionary 2008:138).
The word drunkard above has a denotative meaning as a person who gets drunk and earth is a place of human and other creation of God to live a life. . However, the word drunkard that consists in the data above has a connotative meaning which is to describe the situation of the people around the world. In this part, the meaning of “the earth reels like a drunkard” is to describe the condition of the world and everything in it when the end of the time comes. As a drunkard the world and everything in it will be unsettled, moving without direction, people can’t control themselves, some have fallen and can’t get up again, because of all of the sin of humans that made God angry. As a drunkard, people can’t save their own life due to the mistake they have made in the world.
Hyperbole is a figure of an overstatement used for special effect, (Knickerbocker and
Reninger 1974: 284). The data of hyperbole was analyzed as follow:
Data 6
“So may all your enemies perish, O Lord! But may they who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strengths.” (Judges 5:31)
The data above is categorized as hyperbole because there is an exaggeration. It can be seen from the phrase “they who love you be like the sun when it rises”.
The word sun in the data has a denotative meaning which means it gives heat and light. The connotative meaning of the word sun above is to describe people who fulfill his life to love and follow the way of God will be as bright as the sun to another person and become a blessing. In real life, no one can become like the sun. The meaning of the sentence “who love you will be like the sun when it rises in its strengths” is to tell that all the people who love, follow, and do the right things for God will be saved, blessed, and they will be full of joy and peace which can spread to the people around them.
Data 7
“In days to come Jacob will take root, Israel will bud and blossom and fill all the world with fruit”. (Isaiah 27:6)
The data above is categorized as hyperbole, because it gives an overstatement and it just doesn’t make sense or it is impossible that a country or Israel will fill the world with fruit.
The data has connotative meaning, because the purpose of this sentence is beyond its literal meaning. In fact, a country can’t fill the world with fruit. The word fruit in this data means as a blessing. People of Israel are already back into God’s way and leaving their old life which is full of sin and becoming a blessing. God welcomes them back in His heart and their blessing and the power of love that God fills in their soul will spread to everyone they meet and everywhere they go.
Paradox is a statement whose surface, obvious meaning seems to be illogical, even incompetent, but which makes good sense upon closer examination, (Knickerbockers and Reninger, 1963:367)
Data 8
“For all of them, deep darkness is their morning, they make friends with the terrors of darkness” (Job 24:17).
The data above is categorized as a type of paradox because these sentences contradict each other. In this data the author said “deep darkness is their morning”, this sentence is showing to not make any sense. The paradox comes up when two things should not be able to exist at the same time. The words ``darkness `` and ''morning `` in the sentence are known as paradox because the statement is showing the opposition. The word “darkness” means something that has no or very little light (Oxford Dictionary 2008:112), but “morning” conceptually means the condition of the time when it's full of light or when the sun rises. Based on classification above, the data contains connotative meaning. The author said “deep darkness is their morning”. Literally this data, deep darkness, means to describe all the people who are full of sin, love to do bad things or crime in their life and often take other people’s property. Whereas, morning in this data means as a good thing, something that is commendable and should be continued. Furthermore, connotatively this data means, the bad habits of some people will be their good habits in their daily life according to their opinion. Their sins are like their good things because they already forgot what kindness is and can’t make a difference between bad and good things. They are already closed by the darkness or their sins so there is no sanctity. They will not feel sorry or regret when they make a mistake.
After the analysis has been completed, the writer recapitulates that the Bible Old Testament contains figurative language. The analysis has two objectives: to find out types of figurative language and to find out the meaning types of figurative language. This research used the theory of Knickerbocker and Reninger (1963: 367) to find out the types of figurative language and also the theory of meaning proposed by Leech (1981: 919). The result of this research found five types of figurative language that were proposed by Knickerbocker and Reninger (1963: 367) and those are the result of this research, 1 of paradox, 1 of metaphor, 2 of hyperbole, 1 of personification, and 3 of simile. And the types of meaning that
proposed by Leech (1981:9-19) found in this article are: 6 of connotative meaning and 2 of denotative meaning.
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