(Matthew 26:26). This Is Appendix 159 From The Companion Bible.
A figure of speech consists of a word or words used out of the ordinary sense, or order; just as we call a person dressed out of the ordinary manner or fashion a "figure": both attract our attention; and, in the case of words, the one and only object is in order to call the reader's attention to what is thus emphasized. For examples see the notes on Matthew 16:6 : where, had the Lord said "the doctrine of the Pharisees is like leaven", that would have been the Figure Simile (Appendix 6). Had He said "the doctrine of the Pharisees is leaven" the Figure in this case would have been Metaphor (Appendix 6); by which, instead of saying one thing is like another, it is carried over (as the word Metaphor means), and states that the one thing is the other. But in Matthew 16:6, the Lord used another Figure altogether, Videlicet: Hypocatastasis (from hupo = under (Appendix 104. xviii), kata = down (Appendix 104. x), and stasis = a stationing), which means putting one of the two words (which are necessary in the case of Simile and Metaphor) down underneath, that is to say, out of sight, and thus implying it. He said, "beware of the leaven", thus implying the word "doctrine", which He really meant; and , by thus attracting the disciples attention to His words, thereby emphasized them.
In these three Figures we have a Positive, Comparative, and Superlative emphasis. The essence of Simile is resemblance; the essence of metaphor is representation (as in the case of a portrait, which is representative of some person); the essence of hypocatastasis is implication, where only one word is mentioned and another is implied.
Through non-acquaintance with Figures of Speech every Figure is to-day called "Metaphor". But this is not the case. A Metaphor is a special Figure different and disticnt from all others.
"This is My body" is the Figure Metaphor : and the Figure lies in the Verb "IS", which, as in this case, always means "represents", and must always be so expressed. It can never mean " is changed into". Hence in the Figure Metaphor, the Verb "represents" can always be substituted for "is". For example :
"The field is (or represents) the world" (Matthew 13:
"The good seed are (represent) the sons of the kingdom" (Matthew 13:
"The reapers are (represent) angels" (Matthew 13:
"The odours are (represent) the prayers of the saints" (Revelation 5:
"The seven heads are (represent) seven mountains" (Revelation 17:
"This cup is (represents) the new covenant" (
"The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not (does it not represent) the blood of Christ?" (
Furthermore, it is a fundamental law in Greek grammar, without exception, that the Article, Pronoun, and Adjective must agree in gender with the Noun to which they refer. For example, in Matthew 16:
So here : the Pronoun "this" is Neuter, and cannot agree with artos (= bread) because artos is Masculine. It must refer to what is Neuter; and this could only be the whole act of breaking the bread, which would be Neuter also; or to klasma, the broken piece (which is also Neuter).
In like manner, when He said (in verse
For, what was the Lord doing? He was making the New Covenant foretold in Jeremiah 31:
Now, "blood" was shed, and sacrificially used, only in connection with two things, the making of a covenant, and the making of atonement. In the former, the victim which made or ratified the covenant was slain and the body divided in two, the parties to the covenant passing between (see notes on Genesis 15:
At the last supper this New Covenant was made; and Peter's proclamation in Acts 2:
In the last supper the Lord was not instituting anything with a view to the Secret (the "Mystery" to be yet revealed in the Prison Epistles); but was substituting bread and wine for the Paschal Lamb (the type being exhausted in the Antitype), because of the new meaning which the Passover should henceforth convey. It was to be the Memorial, not of the Exodus from Egypt, but of the Exodus which the Lord afterward accomplished in Jerusalem (Luke 9:
1Poterion being put by Metonymy (of Ajunct), Appendix 6, for the contents, for the "cup" itself could not be swallowed.
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