Crossword: Personalities from the Old Testament

Across



 4. He killed a lion in a pit on a snowy day. 2 Sam.23:20 

 6. She had weak eyes. Gen.29:17 

 7. A skillful hunter and a hungry but thoughtless man. Gen.25:27 

10. He shut the mouths of lions. Heb.11:33 

11. He drove like a madman, and deposed Jezebel. 2 Kings 9:20 

13. He and his house chose to serve the Lord. Josh.24:15 

15. The friend of God. Jas.2:23 

17. A king with a heart like God's. Acts 13:22. 

18. Moses' great-great-great grandfather. Ex.2:1 

19. We are children of this free woman. Gal.4:31

Down

   1. A priest of this god was Joseph's father-in-law. Gen.41:45 

   2. He threshed wheat in a winepress. Judg.8:11 

   3. They have rushed for profit in this man's error. Jude 11 

   4. The god of the Canaanites. 1 Kings 18:25 

   5. He held up Moses' arm during battle. Ex. 17:12 

   8. He asked for wisdom and knowledge but not wealth. 2 Chr.1:11 

   9. This man's hand was against everyone. Gen.16:12 

 10. A traitorous Edomite. 1 Sam.22:18 

 12. He walked through the fire. Dan.3:26 

 14. His name is Fool and folly goes with him.1 Sam.25:25 

 16. The humblest man on the face of the earth. Num.12:3

Figures of speech used in the Bible (8)

        When we finished (7) in this series, we had never heard the word ‘merism’, and even today it doesn’t show up in our Webster’s dictionary as a word in its own right. A search of Wikipedia indicates that the meaning is “the combination of two contrasting words, to refer to an entirety. For example, when we mean to say that someone searched thoroughly, everywhere, we often say that someone ‘searched high and low’. …Merisms also figure in a number of familiar English expressions. The phrase ‘lock, stock and barrel’ originally referred to the parts of a gun, by counting off several of its more conspicuous parts; it has come to refer to the whole of anything that has constituent parts. And we all know ‘hook, line, and sinker’! Basically, {the phrase} and everything in between— all-encompassing.” 

        “Merisms are conspicuous features of Biblical poetry. For example, in Genesis 1:1, when God creates ‘the heavens and the earth’, the two parts combine to indicate that God created the whole universe. Similarly, in Psalm 139:2, the psalmist declares that God knows ‘my downsitting and mine uprising’ , indicating that God knows all the psalmist's actions.’ [See Bruce Waltke (2007), A Commentary on Micah] 

        A few more examples  include, ‘from Dan to Beersheba’ [1 Sam.3:20], ‘from the sole of the foot to the top of the head’ [Isa.1:6], ‘the Alpha and the Omega’ [Rev.1:8], ‘in him are yea and in him amen’ [2 Cor.1:20], ‘from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting’ [Isa.45:6], ‘there was evening and there was morning—the first day’ [Gen.1:5], ‘flowing with milk and honey’ [Ex.3:8], ‘head or tail’ [Isa.19:15], ‘the First and the Last’ [Rev.22:13], and ‘the Beginning and the End’ [Rev.22:13]. 

Figures of Speech Used in the Bible (7)

        Acrostics are invaluable to every Sunday School teacher and youth worker at one time or another. The same is true of some Bible writers. One author, E.W.Bullinger, claims there are thirteen such constructions in the scriptures. Once again I went to my high school English textbook for a definition but this time there was no listing. Instead, Merriam-Webster gave me this answer for “acrostic”:— “a composition usually in verse in which sets of letters (as the initial or final letters of the lines) taken in order form a word or phrase or a regular sequence of letters of the alphabet.” 

        It's a sad fact that acrostics don't carry over in translation so our English Bible doesn't show them. The greatest acrostic in the Old Testament is probably Psalm 119, but the only indication we get is the Hebrew letters before each section. The Hebrew alphabet (I'm told) has 22 letters. Psalm 119 has those 22 letters indicated in many Bibles, and each of those letters is followed by eight verses. Each of those eight verses in turn starts with the Hebrew letter at its heading, Aleph, Beth, Gimel, etc. Bullinger has attempted a demonstration like so:— 

A 

Ah! The happinesses of the perfect...

Ah! The happinesses of the keeper…

Assuredly they have…

As to Thy commandments…

Ah! Lord…

Ashamed, then I…

All my heart…

All Thy statutes…

B

By what means…

By every means…

Besides, I have…

Etc., etc.

        An acrostic can serve at least three purposes— it can give a challenge to the “constructor”, it can give literary pleasure to the reader and it can show the completeness of the text. An acrostic is like a jigsaw puzzle—when a piece is missing, it's obvious. Psalm 145 is an acrostic. Again, each verse starts with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet but in the KJV, the letter Nun [“N”] is missing and so verse 13b is also missing. The NIV restores this verse, reading “The Lord is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made.” 

      Just to note a few other instances, Proverbs 31:10-31 is “a perfect alphabetical acrostic, marking and calling our attention to this song of praise of a virtuous woman.” Other Psalms have acrostics too, as well as the first four chapters of Lamentations. According to Bullinger, there may even be acrostics spelling out the name of the Lord in the book of Esther. 

        According to Unger's Bible Dictionary, “the most famous of all ancient acrostics is the one used by ancient Christians as a secret symbol of faith. This is the Greek word ichthus, fish, formed from the initial letters of five titles of our Lord, 'Jesus Christ, God's Son, Saviour.' ” 

Figures of Speech Used in the Bible (6)

        Simply put, personification attributes intelligence to plants, to inanimate objects, and even to abstract ideas. As always with figures of speech, powerful images force their way into our thinking. And, as often happens, unbelievers wrest the images to strange ends. Because the scriptures say that 'the morning stars sang together', (Job 38:7) one commentator concluded that Christians think that all stars are living beings!

        Putting such simplistic thinking aside, we can get immense satisfaction from the imagery the Bible presents. For instance, God made two great lights, 'the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night.' Gen.1:16. Then, in Joseph‘s dream, 'my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.' Gen.37:7.

        Perhaps the most personifications in scripture are found in the Psalms: 'The heavens declare the glory of God.' Psa.19:1. 'Will the dust praise you?' Psa.30:9. 'Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls.' Psa.42:7. 'Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me.' Psa.43:3. 'Why gaze in envy, O rugged mountains?' Psa.68:16. 'Righteousness and peace kiss each other.' Psa.85:10.

        A few other well-known personifications are 'the mountains and hills will burst into song before you and all the trees of the field will clap their hands' Isa.55:12; 'When the keepers of the house tremble.' Eccl.12:3; and 'Awake, O sword, against my shepherd.' Zech.13:7. 

        Moving into the New Testament, we read that Jesus 'rebuked the winds and the waves.' Mat.8:26. When the Pharisees asked Jesus to rebuke his disciples, He said, 'If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.' Luke 19:40. One final example for now is Paul‘s statement in 1 Cor.15:26: 'The last enemy to be destroyed is death.'

Figures of Speech Used in the Bible (5)

        The most important and the commonest figure of speech is metaphor. Once again, my Grade 11 textbook comes in handy: ―"A metaphor states that a person or a thing is some other person or thing. 'That man is like a fox' is a simile. 'That man is a fox' is a metaphor. The metaphor is a briefer, stronger, and more vivid figure than a simile. It has become so common in speech that many ordinary expressions, originally metaphorical, have lost their metaphorical meaning, such as 'she dropped her eyes', 'fertile words', a 'harrowing experience'."

        There are so many metaphors in the Bible that one hardly knows where to begin. Let‘s start with Christ, Himself—He‘s 'the bright Morning Star.' Rev.22:16. 'The Lord is my rock, my fortress…my shield.' Psa.18:2. 'The Lord is my light and my salvation.' Psa.27:1. And remember 'a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valley.' Song 2:1.

        David condemns the guilty in Psa.5:9, by saying, 'Their throat is an open grave.' In Psa.40:3, he states, 'the poison of vipers is on their lips.'

        The New Testament is full of metaphors as well: 'You are the salt of the earth.' Matt.5:13. 'You are the light of the world.' Matt.5:14. 'You are God‘s field, God‘s building.' 1 Cor.3:9. 'I am the bread of life.' John 6:35. 'I am the gate for the sheep.' John 10:7. 'I am the way.' John 14:6.

        Jude gives a whole stream of metaphors: 'These men are…clouds without rain…autumn trees…wild waves of the sea…wandering stars. Jude 12,13. 

Figures of Speech Used in the Bible (4)

        Arguably the most frequent figure of speech in the Bible is simile. The dictionary definition is simple— “a figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, used to make a description more emphatic or vivid.” It is often introduced by like or as, occasionally by as if or than. In a sense the words ‘childlike’ and ‘lifelike’ are similes, and even the words ‘cowardly’ and ‘saintly’. 

     If you look up like and as in a concordance, there are hundreds of occurrences. A few examples are “manna…was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey,” Ex.16:31. Goliath’s “spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod,” 1 Sam.17:7 and the king “will be like rain falling on a mown field.” Psa.72:6. Sometimes the challenge is to find exactly what the comparison is— How do wafers made with honey taste? How big was a weaver’s rod? How is the king like rain? 

        An Old Testament example using than would be “wash me, and I will be whiter than snow,” Psa.51:7. 

    Of course, there are countless beautiful similes in the New Testament too: “He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove.” Mat.3:16. “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter.” Acts 8:32. “Our lowly bodies…will be like his glorious body.” Php 3:21, and “the builder of a house has greater honour than the house itself.” Heb.3:3. 

The Death of Words (2)

        Don’t look for Part (1) in this blog—C.S.Lewis wrote that back in 1944. This post corroborates Lewis’ opinion. In fact, Rose Macaulay was right, too, about words ‘now used only in a bad sense’. One of Lewis’ examples was ‘gentleman’. At one time a man either was a gentleman or he wasn’t. The word began to die when it started to need modifiers: a ‘true’ gentleman, a ‘real’ gentleman. 

        A personal example is appropriate. I recently posted on a blog, a favourite quotation of mine from the prophet Isaiah: ‘Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters.’ (Isa.55:1) In less than twenty-four hours, I felt compelled to take it down because ‘Ho’ no longer means (in spite of Merriam-Webster) ‘an interjection used especially to attract attention to something specified’, for example ‘land ho’. 

      There is a difficulty inherent in some families of words, especially those attempting to describe wonderful or amazing persons or experiences. By the very nature of their use, they become old fast. If you had a great snow boarding run, it was ‘wicked’. If an acquaintance won the lottery, it might be ‘sick’, meaning you were envious. 

        There is a word now in current everyday language, that really offends my high school Latin lessons. Courtrooms look for credible witnesses. How has ‘incredible’ ever come to mean amazing or spectacular or wonderful? In fact, I have sat through several recent sermons in which God was described time after time as ‘incredible’! If God is incredible, the English language has lost its meaning. I want a credible God. 

        The most important word that Lewis felt was in danger was ‘Christian’. He feared that it was losing its power whenever it became simply a modifier, as in ‘Christian moral standards’, or ‘Christian name’. He thought it was on its way to meaning just ‘good’. In a way he was right. Current usage leans toward the modified ‘Christ-follower’, reminiscent of the ‘true’ gentleman. In the wider secular world, he was wrong—the word ‘Christian’ is being expunged—the world wants nothing to do with it. 

        So, how do matters stand today? Yes, words are dying (even ordinary, non-comparative ones). We can think of at least four contributing factors: an exuberant search for superlatives, a contrarian use of opposites, a sly use of euphemisms, and an uninformed, uncaring misuse of otherwise precise words. 

        Even the Bible complains of this problem. Isaiah (again) shows the partial decay of the word ‘liberal’ when he says, ‘The vile person shall no more be called liberal.’ (32:5). Human nature wants something bigger, better, greater, cuter, worse, more horrific, or just plain new. Then it deploys these changes into the language and drives the old words into their graves. It always has.