Study Guide

2. Pronouncing Transliterated Hebrew and Greek Words, page 15, provides a rough and ready way to approximate the pronunciation of the original languages of the Bible. This system can help members of the class understand each other when a Greek or Hebrew word comes up in the discussion.

3. You can use the table of Contents, pages 5 - 8, to see if a word about which you are curious is covered in the book. If it is, you can find the Greek and Hebrew words that lie behind it and can see how else the word is used in the Bible.4. If you know a particular word in one of the original languages of the Bible, you can look it up in the Index to the Hebrew and Greek Words, pages 283 - 295, to see the various ways the word has been translated into English.

4. If you know a particular word in one of the original languages of the Bible, you can look it up in the Index to the Hebrew and Greek Words, pages 283 - 295, to see the various ways the word has been translated into English.

5. If you have questions about a particular verse you are studying, you can check to see if that verse appears in the Index of Bible Citations. If the verse is one of those cited, the entry in the Index will show you which words from the verse are explicated in the book.

6. You can expand your understanding of any biblical metaphor by pursuing the cross references in the entry for that particular word. The associated words to which you can refer are marked with an asterisk (*).

Bible Study by Subject

From Literal to Literary provides ways for studying the Bible subject by subject. Many subjects are possible. Here are all of the metaphors arranged under a few of them.

1. Jesus

Examine the metaphors his early followers used to convey their thoughts and feelings about him. Depending on how many sessions you have and how long each session will run, you can study the metaphors one at a time or in groups. Some possible groupings:

Rescue: advocate, Christ, mediator, redeemer, savior

Ritual: bread, lamb, sacrifice

Authority: judge, king, lord

Occupation: priest, shepherd, teacher

Inanimate: gate, light, vine, way, yoke

Abstractions: truth, word, name, Emmanuel

Son: Son of David, Son of Man, Son of God

The story: virgin birth, parable, Judas, cross, passion, resurrection, ascension

2. Encounters with the Divine

Explore metaphors that the biblical authors and editors used in writing about experiences through which people felt themselves to be connected with the realm of God:

Connection: covenant, epiphany, angel, star, hand, feet

        Divine functions: creation (see also creature), redemption, salvation

        Personal Names (not used as Jesus metaphors): Abba, father, God, Holy Spirit

        Conceptual Names: lion, love, wisdom, rock

God’s realm: kingdom, heaven, eternal, throne

Attributes: power, mercy, jealous, holy, fire

Opposition: demon, evil, Satan, sin

3. The Church

Roles: disciple, deacon, priest, bishop, apostle, ambassador

Worship: atonement, propitiation, sacrifice, baptize, liturgy, eucharist, bread, wine, worship, yeast

Chronological rhythm: Sabbath, Easter, Pentecost

Relationships: community, fellowship, sisters and brothers, charisma

Function: body, church, progressive, way

Order: authority, discipline, doctrine, dogma, orthodoxy, tithe

The Others: heathen, heresy, hypocrite, idolater, Jew, pagan, Pharisee, Philistine, circumcise

4. Social Issues

The system: law, justice, scapegoat, poor

Domestic arrangements: marriage, mother, father, family, house

Sex: know (lie with), feet, Magdalene, hand

Gays and Lesbians: abomination, sodomite, homosexual

Business: usury, slavery

Last Things: Armageddon, apocalypse

5. Personal Religion

Definitions: religion, spiritual, doubt, agnostic, atheist, panentheism

The self: body, flesh, mind, soul, spirit

Inner conflicts: lust/love, sin/faith, despair/hope, evil/good

Behavior: pray, bless, curse, woe, honor, obey, tempt, blasphemy

In wrong: fool, fear, trespass, guilt, shame, hell, death

Getting right: baptism, forgive, confession, repentance, patience

Put right: born again, grace, justification, reconciliation, resurrection, salvation

6. More metaphors

Scripture: Bible, gospel, myth, miracle, mystery, example, instruct, behold

Ideals: paradise, peace, perfect, vision, purity, apple of the eye

Icons: Adam, Eve, Jerusalem, Samaritan, steward, widow’s mite, fish