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From Literal to Literary
The essential reference book for biblical metaphors

A review by Celia Alison Hahn for Congregations,
a publication of the Alban Institute

            Maybe you can't imagine enjoying reading a dictionary, but From Literal to Literary is a fascinating one that could serve as a wonderful tool for preachers. James Adams traces 164 of the most significant words found in the Bible back to their Hebrew and Greek roots, helping readers understand their original meanings, which often were metaphorical.

        Adams makes a clear and compelling case for this approach to religious language in the book's introduction:

"Over the years, many people have abandoned Christianity because their teachers and preachers were metaphorically disabled. Once they discover that religious language is primarily figurative by nature, this experience of faith can open up for them .... Most terms used to express religious concepts began life as the names for concrete objects or observable actions. When sages and prophets needed to express abstract concepts, they seized upon familiar words that would give their followers a vivid picture of what they had in mind." As Adams puts it, "this approach opens up the wisdom of the ancients to twenty-first-century readers ...."

        This approach would be particularly useful to pastors who minister to liberal, skeptical, or academic communities. Pastors can use From Literal to Literary to look up words from the passages from which they plan to preach and receive insightful and intriguing understandings of the text.
For instance, Adams explains that "in both the Hebrew and Greek languages, the word translated sin is based on a metaphor taken from hunting. Both the Hebrew chatah and the Greek hamartia originally meant that the hunter missed what he was shooting at. The arrow fell short of the target."

        Adams' discussion of evil is equally enlightening. He points out that some of the original Hebrew and Greek words translated as evil in many versions of the Bible originally did not necessarily carry the moral connotations of evil. "These words could be used descriptively as well as morally, whereas evil has only moral connotations," Adams writes. For instance, the Greek word poneros, often translated evil, could mean something that is no longer usable for what was intended. For this reason, Adams says, it has been re-translated in some passages of the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, such as in Matthew 6:22-23: "The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness."

        I can't imagine that any preacher would not grow in skill, interest, depth, and relevance from reading From Literal to Literary. Not only does every preacher need this book, but, based on my own experience, I believe even those who are not preachers would gain understanding, new perspectives, and enjoyment from reading it. Indices to Hebrew and Greek words and to Bible citations round out this essential tool for preachers and students of the Bible.